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A shredded seam

5/29/2017

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A friend gave me this slip, which had sentimental value to her, because she thought I'd be charmed by its sweet colors and soft lace.  It was, however, a little the worse for wear. 

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Aloha Shirt - first muslin

5/25/2017

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I developed the urge to make an aloha shirt after seeing this pattern at my local fabric store.  It appealed to me, and I thought making my brother a shirt would be a nice gift.  My dominant love language is Quality Time, followed by Acts of Service, so making people things feels loving*.  And, as it happens, Acts of Service is one of my brother's dominant love languages, and he loves clothes, so I knew he'd appreciate a Karen Roy original!  

*There's some overlap, and debate-about-said-overlap, when it comes to love languages.  The shirt is an item, so this might seem like Gift-Giving, but for me, the act of making it is a mix of quality time and service.  Now my sister's dominant love language is Gift-Giving, so when I send her clothes, she feels the love of the gift while I feel the love of the work I put in. 

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Underbust Corset

5/22/2017

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I made this underbust corset in April, 2014, based on Jacci Jaye's Corset Pattern #1, over on BurdaStyle.  I hand-sewed the entire thing, and later reviewed the pattern.  I'll go into more detail in this post. 
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Pinwheel Shirt (New Look 6961)

5/18/2017

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When I picked this fabric up from the remnants section of Fabric Depot, I loved it for my sister.  A small, busy print, with dark colors, and angular details.  I call it a pinwheel print, because that's what the circular motifs remind me of. 

And look!  Just enough fabric to make a shirt!  Like, seriously... just enough and no more.  (Reminds me of the talk about economies of scale in the comments section of the Fair Price post!)

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Peplum Top - Delivered!

5/15/2017

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So my sister received the peplum top!  We Skyped and I saw how it fit, how it looked, and how she liked it.  Here are the results:
  • It fits!  This gives me confidence to use the sister'd up dress form again. 
  • The peplum works well to accentuate her hips, but it would work better in a fabric with less "stickiness", since the woven cotton tends to catch up on her back as she moves, and not go back down.  Best to wear it with a slippery skirt.
  • On the other hand, the more I see it on her, the less I like its ruffly look.  Though the peplum was fun to drape and I liked the look in the abstract, I could also tell it wasn't right for her personality.  And maybe the horizontal effect is too much for her height. 
  • The sleeves were a mistake.  I could remove them, but since the rest of the top is just wrong enough that she still wouldn't wear it, why bother? 
  • The pattern was a good color and good level of busy-ness for her skin coloring, if a bit too floral for her taste.

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A Fair Price

5/11/2017

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When I was a small child, my dad tried to explain "market value" to me.  Imagine you're selling an old bentwood rocking chair at a flea market.  Two prospective buyers come along.  One says "Cool rocking chair.  Maybe that'd fit on my porch.  I'll give you $20."  The other says "My grandfather used to have a rocking chair just like that!  I've always wanted one but never found one!  It's perfect!"  Who would pay more for the chair? 

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If Buyer 2 knew Buyer 1 had already offered $20, he would surely offer more!  The chair might be worth $50 or $100 to him!  Naturally I asked who was right.  What was the actual value of the chair?  And my dad said it was worth what people were willing to pay.  That was the difference between market value and intrinsic value.​

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Draping a Peplum Top

5/8/2017

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Michael Portuesi, of the Line of Selvage blog, posted recently about Fashion Draping 101, including excellent photos and explanation the purposes of draping.  (Can I just register my envy right now that he gets to take a class on this?!  Lookit how fancy and official his muslin looks!  And a dress-form you can pin into... I swoon!)  If you don't know what fashion draping is, I'll let you read his post rather than repeating the info here.  Here, I'll just dive right into doing it!  

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Modesty

5/4/2017

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​​One of the first projects I ever drafted was a vintage-inspired 
bathing suit.  I make it with a halter top and a pair of shorts for the bottom.  The shorts were poorly drafted (not enough ease in the seat, leading to an unfortunate... um... scantiness in the crotch that prevented me from sitting Indian style), but not bad for a first try.  The fabric was printed cotton.

So, given that I don't swim much, and I never wear shorts, why would I venture so early into bathing suit territory?  Why not draft something simple like a pencil skirt or tunic top?  The answer is simple: it was summer, I was invited to a pool party, and I couldn't find anything in the stores that felt modest.
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Fitting my real body

5/1/2017

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I dream of the perfect fit... of clothes that are simply perfect when I put them on, the grain hanging right, the ease just enough, the curves and shapes flattering.  But in order for my clothes to be perfect, my body image must be accurate!  And (as making my sister's block shows) understanding a body is easier said than done. 

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    Karen Roy

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