I bought 2 factory seconds suede skirts from the FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising Scholarship Store) in downtown L.A. The zippers were broken so I make them into a tote bag. The suede is too thin for shoulder straps so I used belting. I sprayed it with leather protectant, like I do with all my leather clothing and shoes.
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
Sunday, May 22, 2016
Fixing Too Large Cloth Shoes
I love these shoes but the sizes available are too big or too small so I opted for too big and sewed a piece of elastic slightly shorter than the heel length to shorten the shoes slightly. Had to hand sew because even with a free arm sewing machine, it wasn't possible to get at the heel.
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
Adding Pocket to Athleta Dress
I am obsessed with travel clothing as a frequent flyer. I love this casual dress but with no pockets it wasn't as useful as I like.
The surplice neckline has 2 layers of fabric all the way down to the diagonal seam past the hips, so there is plenty of fabric for storage. I can actually put stuff down the front of the dress but looks a little awkward if I were actually going to use it in public. So I installed an invisible zipper on the right side to make a pocket opening. Only problem is the dress is fairly tight fitting so can't put anything thick in the pocket.
The surplice neckline has 2 layers of fabric all the way down to the diagonal seam past the hips, so there is plenty of fabric for storage. I can actually put stuff down the front of the dress but looks a little awkward if I were actually going to use it in public. So I installed an invisible zipper on the right side to make a pocket opening. Only problem is the dress is fairly tight fitting so can't put anything thick in the pocket.
Zipped |
Unzipped |
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
Making an Ex-offcio fly-q lite jacket convertible (to vest)
The ex-officio fly-q lite comes as a jacket or a vest.
I wanted both but didn't want to pack 2 things if I can get away with one so I decided to make the jacket convertible. The hardest part was finding the separating zippers of the right color but I couldn't find the right length (needed 18") so I bought longer ones and cut them off. I sew the zipper ends to the jacket fabric so it wouldn't slide further. Also I decided that I want the zipper pulls on the sleeve part so that when worn as a vest, there is no pull sticking out.
I can vouch that the jacket is well made, I had to take apart 4 seams to detach the sleeves.
Here is a picture of the zipper after installation. I left an inch gap the the armscye so the armhole won't be too inflexible. Also it compensates for any mismatching of the seams. I matched the back yoke seam on the sleeve and body just like the original jacket.
Here as a vest.
I wanted both but didn't want to pack 2 things if I can get away with one so I decided to make the jacket convertible. The hardest part was finding the separating zippers of the right color but I couldn't find the right length (needed 18") so I bought longer ones and cut them off. I sew the zipper ends to the jacket fabric so it wouldn't slide further. Also I decided that I want the zipper pulls on the sleeve part so that when worn as a vest, there is no pull sticking out.
I can vouch that the jacket is well made, I had to take apart 4 seams to detach the sleeves.
Here is a picture of the zipper after installation. I left an inch gap the the armscye so the armhole won't be too inflexible. Also it compensates for any mismatching of the seams. I matched the back yoke seam on the sleeve and body just like the original jacket.
Here as a vest.
And as a jacket.
It took me I think about 8 hours, not counting the hours going to the fabric stores and looking for zippers. The actual sewing took about an hour. I spend about an hour putting in a new zipper stop by bending an eye from an hook and eye and then sewing it down. But as I was sewing I realized the stitches can make the zipper stop and not bother with the eye for the 2nd sleeve. I also make sure the zipper pull are on the sleeves and not the body so they will not show when worn as a vest.
I want to shorten the sleeves but decided too much work, will roll them up instead.
Will be traveling "lite" with my fly-q lite.
Monday, April 4, 2016
Using Pinterest to Organize my Sewing Patterns
I have hundreds of sewing patterns. When I see a style I like I just buy the pattern and someday maybe find the fabric. After I started designing knitwear, I used the patterns for grading. It gives me what the average measurements for whatever dimension I need for whatever size. I even have the same pattern in different sizes to cover the range I need to design for. I google the pattern and pin the pattern to my board, note the size and my physical patterns are in a filing cabinet organized alphabetically and numerically. Easy to find, easy to browse to see what I already have.
I do have one complaint, pattern companies reuse the numbers so through the years there will be 2 or 3 versions of Butterick xxxx but I figure those are few. Also I do have some patterns not on the net yet, I'll have to take a photo and upload them.
My pinterest page is here.
https://www.pinterest.com/tangramknits/my-sewing-patterns/
I do have one complaint, pattern companies reuse the numbers so through the years there will be 2 or 3 versions of Butterick xxxx but I figure those are few. Also I do have some patterns not on the net yet, I'll have to take a photo and upload them.
My pinterest page is here.
https://www.pinterest.com/tangramknits/my-sewing-patterns/
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