Wings and Things

It's been a busy week at work, the spring weather is finally showing up a bit! I haven't had a ton of time to work on anything, but here's a bit of  what I've been doing this week.

I think too often I buy really wild fabrics, and end up having to make pretty basically shaped garments out of them, because details would get lost, or be too overwhelming. A few weeks ago, I forced myself to buy some plain, cream cotton to maybe work on something with a more interesting shape.

 

 The idea started with seeing this McQ top with an extended 'flap' over the shoulder. I thought about how to extend the yoke of a shirt to create such a flap, then I started thinking about how it looked like little wings.

So obviously, the answer was to make a shirt with an extended yoke that was a little pair of wings. You can see the altered yoke piece up at the top here. I also had to cut the back armholes a little deeper to compensate for the narrower point where they met the yoke. 

I also made little shaped pockets for the front, just for fun. I used freezer paper like I do with my tiny hand applique to try and get the edges smooth. Worked pretty well, I think.

Attached yoke. The construction was a little weird, had to finish the sleeve hole edges before putting on the yoke. The inside yoke is cut straight across where it joins the body, only the outer one is shaped, like a cowboy-shirt yoke.

 On, I think the wing effect is actually pretty subtle--I was afraid it would be too costumey to wear normally. I promise it doesn't bunch like that normally, I think I accidentally tucked it into my pants.  

From the front, you just get the little 'flaps' like the original shirt. I didn't interface them because I didn't want them super structured, but now I'm think a lightweight interface might have been prudent. I made it pretty cropped, been getting into more unusual shirt proportions lately. 

 Also cut some vanilla short sleeved shirt pieces, just because I've realized I don't have many that I like/like the fit of. I've gained enough muscle at this point that quite a few were just too small and had to go into the donate pile.

 This fabric is so cute, but very busy. I attempted to match the diagonal stripes up at the center front and back (I cut two back pieces, rather than one on a fold) so we'll see how that goes.

In drop-crotch shorts news, when I took out my summer clothes from under the bed, I realized I had a few nice, drapey, oversized tees. I like this one particularly with them. I've also started making a few more pairs of weird pants/shorts, but no pictures yet.

Work it Out!

So the Randomly Selected Winner of my 200th post give away was Lety R-Z, whose adorable needlefelted creations you should absolutely go check out! Congrats to you, and for everyone else, well, I love to get rid of all the junk in my sewing room, so don't be surprised if I do another contest soon!

Not really crafting related, but he's just so cute I had to share. We got another kitty (two is it, I swear) because we were feeling bad about leaving Barry home alone so much, he's a very active, playful cat, and he got lonely. So meet Wharton, his new pal. Wharton is *huge* and he looks like some kind of wild cat, but he's very lazy and docile and sweet (unlike Barry) Poor guy's missing half of an ear too. Both cats were originally street kitties, taken in by PAWS and fostered by our neighbor. After a rocky start, they are beginning to get along really well. 

Okay, on to craft stuff.

So, as I may have mentioned in the previous post that I've begun to get serious about working out again. And while I love my Phillies shorts, I needed another pair or two so I don't have to constantly wash them. And I'm cheap, so making them was the best solution. 

Patterning them out was a little challenging because of the elastic waist band. I ended up pinning it all stretched out to my ironing board and tracing from there. I did two variations, one with the side contrast detail, and one without. For the first pair I decided to go simple. 

I used the weird poly crepe that I posted about last time, and it was actually a great choice. Sewed up super quick and is actually really comfy and cool (I get hot very easily) It probably only took about 2 hours from start to finish. I'll definitely be making more, might get fancy and put some piping on the next ones. 

With my new New Balance Minimus sneakers (which are awesome and comfy by the way, we just got them in the store and I had to get them right away) I'm well on my way to having the most obnoxious work out gear ever. With my increased interest in sports wear, and my tax return check already arrived, I'm starting to get an itch to buy a serger and coverstitcher. I hate serger use on wovens (lazy!!) so I never really wanted one, but if I'm going to start working with knits and stretch, that's a whole different story. I'm in research mode right now. 

Speaking of knits, another thrift store purchase is this lovely 4-way stretch knit. It's that sort of cotton-spandex that they made leggings out of in the 80's. Not quite sure yet what it's destined to become. 

Renew the Pledge

First of all, hooray for 200 posts! But that it took so long reminds me that I need to post more. And to post more, I need to work more! But between the cat, and work, and my new interest in exercising, my time seems to slip away.

At the beginning of every new season, when we're getting new shoes in the store, I vow to make lots of wonderful things to wear, and maybe make a couple things and then fall by the wayside. I'm not saying this spring will be any different, but I've begun making the effort again. I think part of the problem is that I really only use recycled fabric, so it's a bit of a grab bag as to whether I can find something appropriate for what I want to make.

Anyhoo, at the thrift store last week I did pick up two fabrics, one of which has already become this lovely pair of shorts.

The fabric was meant for home decor, I think. It's some kind of polished cotton, but it's quite heavy. It sewed up really nicely though. I fudged the fly zip a little, can you tell? Every time I go back and do pants, I forget how to do the pockets and fly, and have to relearn them. 

Back view, got the pockets on pretty nicely this time around. 

And on! They are shorter than what I've worn in the past, but now that I'm getting into shape I'm more comfortable with that. But I'm happy with the fit, just have to put the button on the waistband. 

This is the other fabric I picked up, it's some kind of synthetic crepe. I was hoping it was silk so I could make a shirt out of it (it's very Stella McCartney from a few seasons back) but since it's not, I'm actually thinking about making it into a pair of work-out shorts, just have to trace out a quick pattern from the pair I have. 

Whenever I'm feeling a little lost in my own studio, making Dear Jane blocks helps me get back into focus. These are from earlier this week, it's E-10-13 and F-1 and 2. I think they got me back in the groove a bit. 

In sillier news, Seamus always gets a personalized valentine from me--last year featured his favorite pokemon (Trubbish) This year's got his favorite up-and-coming pro wrestlers, The Shield. 

And, like I promised in the last post, for post #200, I've got a little giveaway! Comment with your email address and I will randomly pick a winner to receive my silly floral lucha mask, as well as some other odds and ends.

Do-Over

So you may notice the rag-rug is now in a different shape. The round shape was warping/turning into a cone, so I sucked it up, cut it all apart and started over. The oval shape seems to be working much better. I'm out of material now, it'll have to get put aside until I can find some more old shirts. 

Finally got around to finishing patching my cape. The lining (some kind of fake silk) had shredded around the armholes, and in a couple other spots, so I covered it with some scraps of silk I had lying around. 

And the red cable knit scarf is finally done! I really should have made it a little longer, but I was really, really sick of doing that cable pattern over and over. And I wanted to start quilting my Irish Chain quilt as my 'hand work' 

Still, it's long enough to wrap around a few times. I'm not totally sure I should block it--I've heard conflicting things about heavily cabled designs. But it does curl a little at the ends....

Very exciting things to be happening soon--Leonore Tawney's estate donated a large amount of materials to Uarts, and a bunch of students and alumns (myself included) have been invited to do work responding to hers. It's a bit of a challenge because my work is very different, but I'm in the pondering/sample making stages. This is a bunch of really lovely fine alpaca that unfortunately, makes my nose run something awful. 

And some spools of linen. The projects aren't due until January, so I have some time to figure it out. Watch for updates!

Also, I'm trying to keep on drawing, so have this little doodle--I scanned it in before I started working on color in case I messed up terribly. 

Hiatus

Well, it's been quite a game-changing few days here, and it seems like I now have to (very unexpectedly!) move apartments by Sunday! So I've already packed up most of my studio, and probably won't be unpacked for a while. Also class starts on Monday, so reallllly got my hands full here. So updates may be a week or so in returning. In the meantime, enjoy this image of my soon-to-be-ex-studio!

Goodbye! Here's hoping the next one will be as nice.