Tag Archives: custom

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POCKET SQUARES

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I made some pocket squares for my dad to wear to a Red charity event. He sent a photo of the tie and suit that I needed to match, and left the rest up to me.

pocket squares pocket squares

I think you can all tell that I have a colorful sense of style. My dad, however, tends to be a little more conservative in his dress. I could not trust my own judgment as to which fabrics went with the tie! I agonized over the fabric selection for a while, but then reasoned that if he wanted a boring pocket square he could have gone to JC Penny, but since he asked me to handle it then he knew what he was getting into.

tie and suit to match tie and suit to match

painting polka dots

I picked two printed cottons from Joann, but I wanted a fancier option as well. I went to a few other fabric stores looking for a silky print with no success. I even hit up thrift stores, planning to cut up a men’s dress shirt for the project, but no luck there either. Finally, I just decided to paint my own silk!

I chose two different ABC silks: one is a dull blue, the other is a neutral gray. I didn’t entirely trust the accuracy of the colors in the photos, so I wanted to cover my bases. I used a simple red paint pen, and the 10×10″ square took almost no time to decorate. Hemming was also a breeze of course.

my dad all spruced up

I haven’t seen my dad in over a year! He lives a few miles in from the Atlantic, and I’m a short bike ride to the Pacific. We could hardly be further apart. He and his wife just booked their flight to New Orleans for our wedding reception, so it’ll just be another 6 months.

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DISCO JUMPSUIT

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And I thought it was hard keeping last year’s birthday gift a secret! It was quite a challenge to make this jumpsuit for my boyfriend Jason. We live together and he works from home, so pretty much the only way I was able to get this done in secrecy was by skipping our Sunday game of ultimate frisbee for a month.

Disco Mechanic Elton John ain't got nothing on my man oh the drama

I’d talked about making Jason a fabulous jumpsuit for about a year, and I felt pretty bad that I hadn’t done it in time for Burning Man 2010. The design for this jumpsuit is a cross between 70s gear and mechanics’ coveralls, since throughout the night on the playa Jason has to do some tweaks and repairs on the Sensatron, our art car.

atomic love name tag

I used two similar silver fabrics for the body of the suit–one based on black, the other on white. I ran out of the white silver and wound up using a lame from Joann’s (Lincoln Fabrics had the exact fabric, but I thought $12/yard was too much). Although Jason’s pretty warm-blooded, I lined the suit with some peacock-blue jersey for comfort. Of course all the fabric (except the lame) is from Fabric Planet.

bling! It was a fabulous accident It was a fabulous accident

Since this was to be a surprise, I did the sizing based off of a jumpsuit he already owned (that is way too big for him) paired with pants and a dress shirt, both of which do fit him well. I have trouble sewing for him sometimes because he is so much bigger than I am, but when he put this on for the first time at his party it was perfect! I didn’t need to make any alterations at all, which is pretty rad!

It’s got snaps up the front, which of course is fun to rip open, and snaps on the cuffs. The two chest pockets are embellished with his name and an atomic symbol. I thought about using a nuclear sign, which he uses more often himself, but in this case atomic just felt right.

Speed of light! I make him look good

Fabulous man that he is, he wore his suit when we saw Tron opening weekend at the El Capitan in Hollywood (VIP tickets and a laser show!). We all had a great time and he got lots of positive feedback from everyone.

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JORDAN’S PLAID DRESS

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I promised my friend/boss Jordan I would make her this dress way back in October and only just around to finishing it last week as part of my goal to de-clutter my to-do list. It has the same shape as my striped dress, with some modifications for the plaid.

plaid dress plaid dress plaid dress

The fabric is a printed cotton jersey that of course came from Fabric Planet. It doesn’t have a whole lot of stretch to it, which is fine for this dress on this tiny lady.

plaid dress detail

I didn’t use a pattern for this; instead I took her measurements and drew out the shape of the top using those numbers. It’s always a little strange to be sewing something for someone who is so much smaller (or larger) than me because the pieces all feel wrong, and I have to admit that the first try turned into a new shirt for Jason’s niece. In fact with all the extra fabric I have I made a sundress for my niece’s birthday and will probably be making skirts for the collective nieces, although I’m already getting sick of this fabric!

I love how simple this design is and am looking forward to updating it for warmer seasons!

"You're so happy it's like the Holocaust just ended!" Jordan throws the gang sign for Venice

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