Tag Archives: fabric

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PINK TUX BODYSUIT

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Oh my, how I love this new pink bodysuit! It’s the only complete costume I made for Burning Man 2010 (all other costumes had their debuts elsewhere). You bet your ass I listened to a lot of Bowie while making this.

pink tux pink tux pink tux

These pictures were all taken at a Burner Halloween party in downtown LA, with Jason as an exterminator and Cosmo as a space bunny (I made Cosmo’s suit as well). I’m totally impressed that Jason was able to get pictures this good in a dark alley!

Julianne and Jason Julianne and Cosmo

Unfortunately all the supplies for this suit were purchased new, but on the bright side it was less than $25! The fabric is from Joann’s, while most of the trimmings are courtesy of Fabric Planet. It was an incredible amount of pinning to get everything laid out correctly! The thick gold braid was sewn on with my machine (and strategically placed to offer bust support), while the gold ribbon was sewn and glued.

pink tux cummberbund pink tux bowtie pink tux

There’s an invisible zipper down the front, which is made even more invisible by the gold ribbon with the star buttons on either side. I flip-flopped between a rainbow or a simpler color scheme, which explains the multicolored trim for the shirtfront shirring. The gold sequin bowtie was a very timely arrival at Fabric Planet, and my friend Maria Fomich made the nuclear reflector pin for Burning Man.

I love how the cummerbund turned out! It’s a fuchsia sequin chain applique and matching rhinestones on ruched gold lycra. There was an incredible amount of engineering involved in that. I had to negotiate the shortest possible zipper length, because I didn’t want the belt split completely  but I still needed to take the suit off easily. I tried to make the design dynamic but not distracting from the rest of the costume. Another goal was that I hoped the carefully placed decoration would hide some slight belly bulge, and I’m very satisfied with that.

In addition to looking fabulous, this bodysuit is also very comfortable. Originally I cut out the torso a bit too short, and so I had a definite camel toe that was mentally and physically uncomfortable. A diamond-shaped insert at the crotch took care of the tightness, and now I’m right as rain with full range of motion.

pink epaullettes gold tophat The epaulets weren’t part of my design but they were too perfect to pass up. I painted the brass circles with some magenta acrylic paint and added a dab of glitter nail polish and they fit right in.

The gold top hat was made out of cardboard to go with the costume, because I simply couldn’t go out without a top hat! Now all I need is a cane. That lights up and shoots lazers.

gold tophat

Yep, then I’ll be all set!


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WAXED JEANS

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Would you call these pants jeans? The fabric is rather denimy, but I haven’t owned a pair of jeans since 2008 and it feels strange to start up again! I decided to make these pants in anticipation of the arrival of new boots. In one week my wardrobe grew about 10%. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to wear my new boots since the day I got them, but on the bright side it’s been 75º and sunny in LA!

black pants black pants booty black pants

This fabric is so cool! Of course it was from Fabric Planet, but we’re sold out now so don’t try to copy me. The back side of the fabric is a weave of black and gray threads that looks awesome and is soft. The front side of the fabric is jet black and has a waxy coating with a sheen. I’m reminded of painted pants I saw in Europe of couple years ago, complete with tags warning against sitting on white sofas. In fact these pants do turn my legs black (I had to buy a loofa!) and have just about ruined my bike seat.

A few days before starting on these pants I saw a guy in Venice (CA) wearing a mean-looking coat with a green clown on the back of it. When I saw him again on the strand later that week it was his jacket I recognized, and that made me realize that with all the effort and skill I put into my clothes I want strangers to remember them! In a roundabout way, that’s why I did all the stitching on the back pockets. I generally prefer to do my decorative stitching by hand and only use the basic stitches on my machine, but this design was a whim and I’m glad I went for it.

nice ass black pants!

It seems rather ridiculous to me that these pockets took over an hour to make, but then again I was allowing myself to be distracted. I thought the asymmetrical shield shape would be interesting and (hopefully) flattering. The curved stitching line was also in the goal of some booty contouring. I’ll be the first to tell you that I’ve got a nice tush, and sometimes I get preoccupied with making it look even better. Success?

Between the color, the fit, and the shine, these pants have a hard edge, but I think the contrast fabric and the decorative stitching all over softens the look and makes them more my own style. I’ve had black pants in my wardrobe a few times but they’ve never managed to stick around for more than a few wearings. I think this time I will actually keep these not-so-basic black pants!

new boots! And how about these new boots? They’re local and vegan and comfortable–after I did a bit of tailoring in the leg!

Also posted on BurdaStyle and Craftster.

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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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