made by Julianne

2

DANCING GYPSY VEST

19 July 2012 by Julianne

Yay new vest! And yay for uncharacteristic photos that still look good. I think if you didn’t know me this picture would be totally plausible. And as unusual as this color scheme is for me, I really dig the design. I took these pictures myself by the way, setting up the iPhone on a tripod. Haven’t quite worked out the lighting situation though, maybe I’ll give it another go today…

The exterior shell is made from a discontinued upholstery fabric. It’s maroon with a gold thread running through, and a beautiful embossed gothic pattern. The green and gold twist gives the vest structure, and those tassels accentuate every move!

One of my favorite details is the cream and gold lace appliqué sewn onto the back. It’s like a necklace for your back.

A row of pressed brass snaps down the front is easy to close and fun to rip open.

Well, the vest and the leggings are in my Etsy shop now, and just about everything is on sale! Plus you can always use the coupon code CottonCandyKitten to get free US shipping.

0

GOLD BUSTIER

16 July 2012 by Julianne

I spent a wonderful two days in New Orleans at the beginning of June. It was a very spontaneous trip, and I can’t believe how much fun and visiting I crammed in!

Even though I haven’t lived there since 2009, I still call everyone on Wilson Drive my neighbors. The lady across the street is Sharon, and I kind of consider her to be a fairy godmother (Robin next door is also a fairy godmother–how lucky to have TWO on the same street!). She’s been in her house for over 20 years, and it’s filled with beautiful rainbows and sparkles. Plus the second-story porch can’t be beat for monitoring the street or catching a cool bayou breeze.

I got lots of wonderful goodies from my 90-minute stay at Sharon’s, one of them being this gold bustier. I don’t know if she ever really used it; it was conspicuously free of Mardi Gras beads or crystals. So I decided to remedy.

It was a little too big, and I decided the easiest way to adjust the size would be to insert a zipper in the center back, taking the bustier in about 3″ at the same time. Under the pretense of testing out the fabric glue from then-work,* I decorated the shit out of the top. Beaded applique, hot-pink sequins, rainbow metallic trim, and glass rhinestones are all firmly attached using Magnatac, which I can confidently recommend at this point.

I also added a cotton jersey lining, which should make the top much more comfortable to wear. At the same time, I sewed on the navy faux-suede fringe and elastic binding at the top. Those white tabs are my lazy-ass strap loops. They don’t really keep the straps on, and I’m not a strapless kind of gal, so I’ll probably just sew the gold straps on permanently.

Now I have a fabulous flashy bustier that is “generic” enough to go with any leggings, and I think Sharon would approve. Perfect for Mardi Gras, Burning Man, or grocery shopping!

Also, I really thought all these photos were in focus! I’m obviously still working out the kinks of my living room/photo studio, and how to take decent pictures of myself since Jason is away at work all day.

*Careful readers will observe that I am correctly using an asterisk to mention that I don’t work at Fabric Planet anymore. I probably won’t go into the details of how that happened, or maybe I will someday. Let’s just say that I think it was wrong but I don’t want to work under those conditions anyway.