Categotry Archives: sewing

BABY GIRAFFES ON BURDA

28 April 2013 by Julianne

My wonderful vintage giraffe blouse is on the front page of BurdaStyle this weekend!

Now that it’s getting some press, I’ll reveal that whenever I wear this blouse, in my head I’m constantly singing a song about baby giraffes going out for ice cream. The words and melody change with every imaginary performance, but that’s the secret theme.

This is my first time on the homepage of Burda, and I’m so excited! It was selected for an inspiration feature on ‘Beautiful Blouses,’ along with some lovely other creations! I’ve been thinking about making a new button-up (or button-down?) with a different vintage fabric that I’ve been hanging onto since 2008, so now I’m definitely inspired.

You can see the blouse on Burda, or with more words and pictures on this blog. It was a great little surprise to discover this morning, and now I know what I’m going to wear today (assuming I ever change out of my bathrobe, yes I’m wearing it now, yes I’m tempted to wear it to buy lighters at the liquor store and get quarters from the laundromat).

MAD MEN CHALLENGE: PSYCHEDELIC BATHROBE

19 April 2013 by Julianne

What’s a weekend without new lounge wear?

Although I’ve never participated in a challenge before, I was immediately jazzed about Julia Bobbin’s Mad Men Challenge. And although I’ve always been in love with the show’s costumes (especially after reading the ultimate Bitchy Kittens Tom and Lorenzo), the period clothing is mostly not my style. However. I had a amazing pattern from my Grandma, and gorgeous vintage cotton from Hawaii (a gift from my step-sister-in-law Ilaan), and damn if I’m not a sucker for over the top lounge wear.

You better believe I’m designing pajamas to coordinate. Who’s coming over for brunch? This robe is begging for champagne cocktails.

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I don’t actually smoke, but I love all the scenes with Betty hanging around her house, chain smoking and drinking wine all day. Hilarity. All the ladies have such amazing wardrobes, including their bathrobes. In fact, I think every main female character has appeared on screen in a robe at this point!

My design combines two luscious bathrobes from the finale of season 5, called The Phantom. Appearing first is drunk Megan’s psychedelic robe, which has the same large flowers and neon colors as my fabric.

Trudy’s robe has the frilliness of my pattern. I’d been planning on adding an organza ruffle with contrasting rolled hem, but while my sample looked amazing it was not very soft against my skin. So I have 7 yards of neon pink 5″ wide bias strips waiting for another project…

I used Butterick 3770; although I couldn’t find an exact date I know it’s from the 60s. I received this pattern after my grandma died, almost a year ago. Knowing that she cut the pattern and made it for herself was a great connection, and reminded me of the wonderfully frilly dresses she would make for my birthdays. The night that I finished the construction, I dreamed that she was holding my hand throughout all my sleepy-time adventures, and it was a pretty great feeling that lasted all of the next day.

I didn’t make any adjustments to the pattern (except the placement of the belt casing and using 4 buttons instead of 5). The arms are a little high, but that seems to be the style and I didn’t want to mess with it. I finished the seams with my serger, but I may come back with some bias tape. If I were to make this robe again (and had more fabric) I would make the skirt a little more flared in the back, to emphasize the cape.

Although I certainly don’t need another robe, I want to make 5 more of these in every wild silky fabric I can find.

Like so many of my projects nowadays, nearly all the materials came from my stash. The only purchase for this robe were 1/3 yd pink satin for the tie and button coverings, 6 yd pink lace, and blue ribbon binding the ruffle, for a total of $8. I had JUST. ENOUGH. FABRIC. In fact, one of the front facings had to be cut separately, because I chose to cut the back as a single piece (I was not loving the very obvious center back seam that the pattern called for).

I love that the shorter version of this robe is called “street length,” so that became the inspiration for this photo shoot.

Ah, I wish I didn’t have to actually work today. I’d much rather drink strawberry margaritas, eat egg rolls, and watch movies on the couch all day. But I might wear this to a potluck tonight.

SOFA CITY MAKEOVER

15 April 2013 by Julianne

Jason picked out a very comfortable sofa for our apartment, and he did it as a bachelor. It’s good for lounging, and when we remove the pillows it’s as wide as a twin bed (for guests!). It’s even got sleek lines, and no extraneous “design details.” But it’s tan. I was overjoyed when he spilled soy sauce on it one night, because I officially had license to recover it.

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All these fabrics were freeeeeeeee. The gorgeous hand-woven top was a gift from my step-sister-in-law Ilaan. The green velvet piping and fuchsia were just taking up space in my fabric cabinet (and were free remnants from my days at Fabric Planet). I probably payed for the cording inside the piping, so this cost maybe $2.

I know from experience that getting a large cushion into a cover is a pain in the ass, and even if you only have to do it once why even bother? So I made this cover like a fitted sheet, but instead of elastic at the bottom edge I used a drawstring so that it can’t come loose. The underside of the cushion is still the tan microsuede, and that’s fine. Since this type of cover is easier to remove and replace, I’m more likely to wash it when it gets dirty, and it used half the fabric since I only covered one side.

The back pillows are covered in an aqua linen that showed up one day, I honestly have no idea where 5 yards of bright linen comes from but I’m not questioning it (I also used this fabric for Jason’s wedding shirt). I did buy the yellow pompom trim from Joann’s, so the pillows cost $4. The long zippers were also in my stash, which is why they are baby pink. But who cares?

I left the back pillows in their original cases, because I should probably not throw them out and where would I store them? At some point I should re-wrap the pillows (foam cores covered in batting and filling) because they get awfully saggy after a couple days.

We’ve also covered the sofa with some pretty rad pillows. These two covers were handmade in Hungary and cost about $20 each. Adding to the sentimentality, the pillows themselves were given by Medora when she left for her first backpacking adventure.

This gorgeous printed cotton came from our friends’ honeymoon in Malaysia. The fringe and invisible zipper were from my stash. I’m pretty sure this is the nicest body pillow on the west side.

This pillow was also a stash-buster. I bought the fabric in New Orleans in 2006; the pattern reminds me of Mardi Gras beads. Fun story: I was on the phone with a friend who left from El Segundo to come to our house in Mar Vista, and during his transit time I made the pillow from start to finish. About 20 minutes. So this pillow is the “Cosmo’s coming over!” pillow.

My wonderful round rainbow tuffet was made in New Orleans in 2007 using scraps as well. It’s firm and great for sitting on the floor.

I also made a fitted sheet for when guests sleep over. The blue seersucker came from my grandma’s fabric stash, although I think I bought it for her years ago.

So now you’ve seen my couch! It’s great for lounging, and napping, and has played host to many friends and wonderful conversations. I can’t tell you how gratifying and meaningful it is when Jason’s old friends come into our home and remark on how cozy and beautiful our apartment is looking nowadays (not that Jason didn’t have the apartment looking nice on his own, but he’s given me free reign to add my own sense of style).