Flower Power

     May 1st, 2015. On this day I officially completed my two 8 month projects of the year—my school's fashion show and yearbook. But since the yearbook is currently printing, today I'm going to focus on the fashion show.

 Even though my collection wasn't very complicated or anything, I've never experienced this amount of stress from sewing. I think it was a combination of my clothes not fitting my models properly, my clothes not looking how I wanted it to, and a lot of distraction and procrastination. But to be fair, this was my first time making so many different types of clothing tailored to different body parts...it's really all a learning process.

I can rant on and on about how stressful it was to prepare for the show. But in the end...I really enjoyed it. I love being up on stage in general. And as I walked down the runway to "Shut up and Dance" all the worries of the past 8 months were forgotten.

I've really learned so much from doing this show. Maybe I spend a little TOO much time on detail...all the detail no one notices on stage. As I raced time, I learned to ignore the tiny flaws in my pieces. But since the show is over now...I'm really excited to start on projects...for myself (as selfish as that sounds)...where I have all the time in the world to focus on detail.

Okay nothing I made in this post made sense....there's just too much to talk about.....

 



I don't think I'll ever stop sewing. But in terms of my fashion career...it has come to a close. =]
And if I had the chance....I would do it all over again.

Well maybe this isn't the end but we'll see.

DIY: Brian Wilson Beard

A couple of weeks ago I had a post of my manicure for a Dodger game. Well...here's me shamelessly posting that bearded picture again because this time I'm going to show how I made it. :-) 

I've searched long and hard for a beard wig within a reasonable price range and I've learned over the years that if you can't find it, just make it. 

Also, I made this super last minute so the picture quality is kind of lame. 

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 MATERIALS:

• Card Stock or Felt
• Fleece
• Glue
• String or Elastic Thread

1. Cut out desired shape of beard. I used card stock, but use anything. I recommend something somewhat durable. Felt is another option. It's also better to use a base the color of your beard. I only had white so I went with it.
2. Cut out a hole for the mouth piece, and two small holes on the side to attach string later.

   3. Cut out strips of fleece and tug on them until they stretch and begin to curl up. Try to mess up the fur on        the fabric to give it a more natural beard look. 

     4.  Curl up the pieces and glue them randomly on to your beard foundation (I used hot glue). Cut up smaller pieces to get in little crevices. 

  5.  Finish your beard by cutting around edges that still show white. Tie a string in the holes (enough to hold around your face). I used elastic thread and it wraps around my ears. Play around with it! For the ponybeard I just braided 3 pieces of fabric, glued it on to the base and tied blue ribbon around to cover up messy edges. 

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And yes. I just categorized this under fashion. 

When I Met You in the Summer...

This is a late post but, after about a month and a half I can say I finally finished my last project for the first year of my fashion class. This strapless floral dress demonstrates many different sewing techniques including boning, lining, and creating invisible seams. I paired it with a pair of simple flesh-toned heels to complete the perfect look for a summer outing.

Itsie Bitsie Birthday OOTD

This was the dress I made for my little cousin's 5th birthday. It's just another girly dress to add to her collection. The bow adds a cute touch and I didn't sew it on so it can be personalized. By playing with different prints and colors I think this dress is perfect to fit the personality of any girl.


Here are just some close-ups of the details:

The last one won't rotate for some reason.

I got the pattern for this dress from an etsy seller. The owner was super helpful in answering my questions and her replies were really quick too! =] She has a lot of other really cute patterns.

Ruby Jean's Closet Etsy Shop Link

This other Etsy seller was really nice in setting up a personal order for the exact amount of fabric I needed for this project. The fabric only took a couple of days to get shipped to me.

Embellish By Andrea Etsy Shop Link

Finally.....here's my cousin modeling the dress

Give Me a Break

This was my first project I ever made for a guy. It's a very loose fitted men's Hawaiian shirt.

I used this lightweight 100% cotton fabric with a tiki and Hawaiian flower print. There's a lot going on and it's a bit tacky but there's nothing wrong with a little fun for a vacation top.

This is the collar. This was probably the hardest part. I had to undo it a couple times before I finally liked it.
And here's a close up of the inside hem. It's serged for a clean finish.

This was the first time I ever sewed on buttons all by machine. I thought the button hole could have been better; it's kind of loose and messy. The buttons on the final product was fine...but I did snap two buttons in half before I figured out how to use the machine properly. 

And like always all edges were serged or hemmed for a professional look. 

(I just realized my serger tension looks off......oh well)

Finally, here's my model. I originally made this shirt for my brother but it was too big on him so here's my English teacher.

Fitted Straight Skirt

This was my first time making a fitted garment. It's not the best, it's not perfect, but through this project I was able to learn a variety of new techniques as well as practice my sewing skills. I chose a thick bottomweight fabric. The deep purple and two-textured zebra stripes gives a more edgy feel to the skirt which is perfect considering this is a fitted skirt.

This skirt consisted of 4 darts-2 in the front and 2 in the back. The darts allow the skirt to fit snug around my waist, making the skirt look more professional.

This was my first time installing an invisible zipper and although it wasn't exactly "invisible" I still did my best. (I think this was the only thing I lost points in). Two different Bernina foots were used to put this zipper in.

In order to get my points for this specific project, I had to blind hem the bottom by hand. If this was a skirt done on my own time, I would have just used a machine. I didn't like how hand sewing made the outside of the skirt bumpy, but my teacher wanted us to learn this technique.

The top waistband was topstiched and I have to admit the picture actually makes it a lot cleaner than it actually is. A hook was used to close off the top of the skirt and clearly the picture shows my lack of handsewing skills. But it's all good, the hook is covered when the garment is worn.

My oily forehead, awkward modeling skills, and terrible photo quality doesn't do the skirt any justice. But i couldn't publish this post without an ootd. Being a fitted skirt, this piece is perfect for more formal occasions or when feeling a little more dressy. Since it's winter, I threw on sheer black tights under the skirt. The loose-fitting white top is from H&M and it helps to balance out all the dark colors. 

Get your party pants on.

This was my very first project for my fashion class and everything was made at school. I have on my San Francisco 49ers beanie and of course I'm with Indy (the build-a-bear). I find that I get a lot of hate for wearing my San Francisco gear in LA, but hey, a fan's got to do what a fan's got to do.

Here's a close up of the fabric. I originally wanted a 49ers printed fabric, but since I couldn't find any I searched for anything red and gold and this is what I found. I was debating over whether I should buy this or not because after all it was for a school project.....and there's beer all over it. But whatever. I went for it. Turns out my teacher's really chill because she loved it. Our dress code doesn't allow us to wear pajama pants to school; yet alone one sporting alcohol, so my teacher suggested I wear these to a tailgating party(haha) and one day I think I will.

Okay I suck at taking pictures but here' some more detail. I sewed with a 5/8th seam allowance and I serged the ends for a clean, professional finish. And since cotton flannel doesn't give in to stretch, I added an elastic to make it snug.

And this is just a close up of the bottom hem.

 

This is the pattern I used. I'm an awkward person and I obviously can't model...but I think I at least beat this guy. Anyways here's a link to where you can buy it.
For sizes XM S and M
For sizes L and XL
And here's the company's website for more details.
mccalpattern.mccall.com

So this was the first time I ever sewed anything with a pattern and I'm really happy with the result. I used the same pattern for the pants from my Halloween costume and I plan to use it for many more projects in the future. I'm excited to add another piece to my growing fan cave and since NBA just tipped off I should start thinking of a project to support the Lakers. Hehe. Well thanks for stopping by!

Peace out.

Halloween 2k13

So....this was my Halloween costume for 2013 :)) I was Pebbles and my friend Elle was BamBam from The Flintstones.

I was inspired while eating my breakfast one morning....hehe I love my Fruity Pebbles <3

The only picture I took during the making was this one....hopefully in the future I will have more. Not much material was needed and I think the total cost for both costumes was about $15. 

Yay I love the finished product! :) Since this was my first post I kept things really short and simple. I plan to get in more and more detail as I continue to blog. Hope to see you again soon!

Rock and Roll.

By the way...where's waldo?