Remember this from May 2017, my post about draping a peplum top? 

Well, "soon" has become "today"!  I was recently working on hemming a wedding dress, and decided to use the Calvin Klein hem for the sheer silk overlay.  The biggest advantage, for me, is that the hem is thin and inconspicuous.  It also looks professional, not Becky-Home-Ecky.  I got some halfway decent photos, so here is the process in pictures! 

Today's post is about Yoko Saito's artwork, and about a skirt I made recently, from the same stash and pattern as the A-line of last week.  It includes a strip of bias-cut wool in very soft taupe colors, appliqued onto a darker wool using Yoko Saito's instructions, so I've taken to calling it my Yoko Saito skirt! 

Yoko Saito is a famous quilter.  Her work is very Japanese in its sensibilities: subtle colors, subtly combined, with impeccable stitching and attention to minute detail.  There are three elements which come together to make a Yoko Saito quilt really distinctive to me: the taupe colors; the complex and often layered applique; and the hand-quilting.  Doing an image search for "Yoko Saito" will give you a pretty good idea of her aesthetic; it's the kind of work that rewards close study.  Be aware as you look that Saito has many students and followers who replicate her style, so not everything you see is definitely made by her; but it represents her school of quilting. 

It has been so long since I've worked on this gift for my brother that it's no wonder if you've forgotten all about it!  (My brother probably thought I'd forgotten about it!)  Allow me to refresh your memory.

In Fall, 2016, I came up with the idea of making a camp shirt for my brother, using the Islander #208 pattern and a Robert Kaufman batik in my brother's preferred colors.  He was enthusiastic. 

So I made a mock-up and sent it to him, only to find that, like many commercial patterns, the shirt had far too much ease.  Though the pattern envelope said my brother's measurements were a Medium (with a Large neck!), in reality, he was probably a small.  At any rate, it was a ton of work with a disappointment at the end, so the wind was taken right out of my sails.  The project slipped to the bottom of the pile until...

April 2017, when I found an older Aloha shirt at a vintage shop and rubbed off its pattern.  I sent the original to my brother, and he confirmed that the fit was good, so I cut out the batik pieces...

And got distracted by other, paying, work, until August 2017, when I gave myself a stern talking to and put the shirt project back on the top of my to-do list for the fall! 

Remember I mentioned that I was making Butterick 6190?  Time for the details of this lovely project! 

My client this time is my friend Rosanne, who shall be attending an autumn ball with me this year!  She picked the pattern and bought it, selecting the top from view D, but the skirt from the other views, since she didn't want a train.  As for the fabric, she requested a dark purple or blue-violet, preferably satin, with silver contrast.  She trusted me to pick the material as she wasn't around when I went shopping.  I've dubbed it the Lady Aubergine gown, because of the eggplant color. 

I have not been very on top of the Dreamstress' Historical Sew Monthly challenges, not for lack of sewing, but because nothing I've done the past year is very historical!  Modern clothing and mending and commissions have been the order of the day.  But April's challenge called to me from the start: 

• April: Circles, Squares & Rectangles – Many historical garments, and the costumes of many people around the world, use basic geometric shapes as their basis. In this challenge make a garment made entirely of squares, rectangles and circles.

Now, I've done rectangular construction before (chemises, pajama pants, et cetera), but don't really enjoy, because I don't really enjoy the fit.  Boxy and relaxed isn't my favorite style for myself.  But then she mentioned circles, and I thought immediately of Teneriffe Lace.  

The Ahsoka Tano dress being done, I had to make a few accessories to really create the character.  The biggest thing was the belt with its apron front.  Then gaiters for the feet, and leggings with diamond-shaped cut-outs.  I'll post about the belt and leggings today, but not the gaiters, because (I'll be honest) I found the gaiters really annoying to do and I'm not happy with them.  They're not bad... just not gonna be in this post.  Maybe I'll post about them in future, when time has passed and I can be objective.