Friday 23 January 2015

Oversew Fashion Awards entry - progress

I have come to a halt with the leather vest, as i am waiting for some black venise lace to arrive from ebay. This is what it looks like at present: I have placed darts in the bust area to get rid of the gape, and resewn the front to get rid of the stud closures. I am playing around with the old collar, and still trying to work out how to incorporate lace into the design, other than as the sleeves. It looks a bit baggy as i can't pin it properly being leather! So anyway today i tackled the spats - or gators or whatever they are called. After going over my pinterest boards, i finally came up with a method - very simply - wrap fabric around my leg and draw a line down the centre back and centre front, then cut and sew and adjust until a nice shape eventually appears. It seems to be working so far. So tonight i cut out the sample spats pattern in some tartan i have had forever. I am sewing a centre front leg seam and they will lace up with eyelets along the centre back leg seam. I am thinking i will make them from the leather jacket sleeves, and add lace here and there to go with the theme for the show. So here are some pictures of the pattern i came up with, and the cut pieces ready to stitch. And here is one sample spat all done with a touch of lace. Fits quite well, Yay! Oh, and i have finished the celtic cross patch for the back of the vest. My next big challenge will be to come up with a pants design which works for the tartan fabric from the skirt...So thats all for now - and with 11 weeks to finish it i think i am on target!

Friday 16 January 2015

2015 fashion show fun!

It's 2015. And already I have managed to enter 2 fashion shows. The inagural Timaru Sewing Centre Fashion Show is on the 25th of March, and i have entered the eveningwear section, with a race day type outfit. This is actually a dress i adapted from the craftsy couture dressmaking tutorial i did last year. Only have the hem and exposed zip to go then finished the dress. (Sorry about the lack of photo progress for this project). I am thinking of making a fascinator to match. Next comes the Oversew Fashion Awards, in May 2015, in Carterton. I think this is their third or fourth show, and i am entering the Luxurious Leather and Lace section. Following are some of my original garments i will be upcycling for this challenge. Loving the hideous padded shouldered leather jacket - $3 at the opshop. (Actually i worked out the shoulder pads are brilliant to pad out my mannequin, so susie has gone up a few cup sizes and become more hourglass at the hips!) Thetartan skirt is one i made with my mum when i was about 15. The theme is old to new so i am looking at current trends, and have gone with the gothic/punk trend emerging. Perfect for tartan and leather. At the moment i am working on a vest with an asymmetrical zip with the leather jacket, and some fitted tartan trousers with the tartan skirt...Here is my rather bizzare looking toile (sample) as i was finding it really hard to pin the leather to fit it properly The armhole is proving to be tricky, as it is so big! Maybe inserts will be needed. Incorporating the lace is challenging me too. I have found my old button cross i made for a jacket when i was at Fashion School, and decided to trim that with lace and add it to the back of the vest. Looks pretty good. How to attach it will be the next challenge, as it is quite heavy! I am looking at making short petal style sleeves for the vest out of lace too. So thats the progress so far - will have a pic of the race day dress in my next ramble...