New Project Runway, beeyotches!

[Gallstones]

Our local thrift stores have bag days, anything you can stuff into a bag for $4.00, or whatever.
I go and look for anything made of silk, or cashmere, or wool or eyelet or lace, or has usable trim on it. That kind of thing.
Do you do that?


I look through the jewelry too for things that are beaded, or could be used for cabochons or notions or trim.
Many of the thrift stores have tubs full of patterns, oftentimes vintage patterns. I like looking through them.

[hadespussercats]

You posted a pic of a chiffon blouse a while back-- is that style what you're thinking for the blue? Pretty.

Sometimes with really floppy sheers I've thread basted the fabric to tissue to control it w/out starch. You have to be careful and watch the grain while cutting, but if you don't mind the time you can work with it w/out changing the hand of the fabric. You can even baste the fabric essentially right to the pattern pieces, stitch, and then remove the paper when you're done.

My old job was all about rooting through old boxes of broken jewelry and findings and making fabulous things from them. I loved it.

I used to be a thrift store fanatic-- especially when I was building costumes for shows on the cheap. I don't have the space for a decent hoard these days, which is sad. But I still like to look and think.

I have a friend who's a knitter. She used to get sweaters from thrift stores, un-knit them, re-dye the wool, and knit them back up into something different. I love that sort of thing-- even though I don't knit (takes too long to get to the payoff for me.)

As for the dying-- oh, that link was lovely! I love fabric painting and dying-- was the shop dyer at the millinery studio where I used to work (but I've never done shibori-- someday!) I'm actually hoping to shift more into painting and dying for work. I really enjoy it. I've had the yen a couple times, recently, but I haven't wanted to play with dye while the bun's been cooking...

I love old patterns, too. I have a few-- but I have many more old magazines/tear-outs from old fashion mags, some late Victorian/early Edwardian, and many from the 30's-50's...

[Gallstones]

The blue was a dark cobalt. But there was a light pink one that I liked really well too. I was even thinking beige then it would mimic being naked under the sheer. The idea of that appeals to me.

I cut photos from magazines of colors, trims, details (collars, embroidery, etc) to save for reference. My morgue. Do you keep a morgue?

My Buffalo Bill Cody panel came today. I washed it, laid it out, put my tissue pattern on it---and I don't want to cut it.
I keep trying to find a way to cut it while still preserving as much of it intact as I can.
This happens sometimes too, I get something special and don't want to "ruin" it by cutting it up.

It is going to be a western yoke on an off the rack, sleeveless shirt. A very plain, jewel tone pink shirt.
I have replaced the plastic buttons with mother of pearl.

It needs to be ready to wear by next Saturday. I can get the yokes on easy. But after that I plan on adding piping, embroidery, maybe some applique and beads. That might not happen before the Saturday. Another ongoing project.

Your tissue paper idea for the silk would work too. I have plenty of paper I can use for this kind of thing. And I do, I just didn't think to use it in this case. But that would do the job and save me the hassle of making starch. Might even work better than the starch.

[Gallstones]

Yep, I'm going to use your baste to paper method. I know it will make it easier to work with.

[hadespussercats]

Yep, I'm going to use your baste to paper method. I know it will make it easier to work with.

Your Buffalo Bill panel is lovely. The pattern is so intricate I can see why doing the lay-out and cutting would make you nervous. There are so many different ways you could go, what to feature, where...

I usually just go with the nerves, lay out a possibility, leave while I'm scared, come back, look at it, make sure I didn't do something stupid, leave, come back...

Even if it means you have a lot less time to actually sew, it's good not to rush that step. At least, that's my logic.

You mentioned you've been sleeping less. More time for crafts, though, right? I love working in the wee hours-- though I've been working on being less nocturnal of late.

I do have a magazine morgue. Again, it's way smaller than it used to be-- a few file folders, a few sketchbooks with tear-sheets either tucked in the end-flap or collaged on to a page. I have another friend who uses a tumblr blog for that-- which I think could be a great solution for my storage woes...

[hadespussercats]

Re- not wanting to cut the panel--
This reminds me of a dress at the Costume Institute at the Met-- their oldest, I think-- 1690? About that...

Turns out it used to be very common for women to put together dresses out of whole cloth, shaping by tucking darts under darts or lots of rows of pleating. So, they had a... I think it was a robe anglaise-- the sort of sack-back dress you see in Watteau's paintings, or in "Dangerous Liasons."

A curator noticed that there were older marks-- tiny holes from old stitch-lines. Taking a huge risk, the curator decided to dis-assemble the sack-back dress and follow the old lines-- and that's how they discovered the same fabric, which was quite a bit older than they thought, had once been an entirely different dress.

That sort of thing might be difficult to pull off for a western shirt, though...

[Gallstones]

Ya think?

I bought it to cut it.
I can't not have something appropriate to wear.
I'll cut it.
It will be OK.
Really.

Biting the bullet.


Tomorrow.

[Gallstones]

I cut.
I used the print to determine the shape.
There is nearly one whole panel left.

Basting now.
The edges turn nice too.

[Animavore]

I was hoping this would be something to do with aeroplanes

[Gallstones]

Airplanes.

[Animavore]

Bah! I don't like the American spelling. It comes across as lazy.

[Gallstones]

Bah! I don't like the American spelling. It comes across as lazy.

Bah! I don't like the Brit spelling, it comes across as pretentious and gay.

[Animavore]

Bah! I don't like the American spelling. It comes across as lazy.

Bah! I don't like the Brit spelling, it comes across as pretentious and gay.

Probably because the Brits are

I could call it an 'Eitleán' but that would be silly

[Gallstones]

I could call it ein Flugzeug, but that would be German.

Wo wonst ein Flugzeug? Im Flugzeugshchuppen.

[hadespussercats]

I could call it ein Flugzeug, but that would be German.

Wo wonst ein Flugzeug? Im Flugzeugshchuppen.

Heidi Klum might like that, though...