first draping

I'm sure you're all curious about what I've been doing with this secret bridal fabric. Unfortunately I have not had a lot of time to work on it, but I wanted to give you a couple of shots. Please ignore the mess and the hot pink bra on the dress form (my form has a very small bust so I need to enhance it with a padded bra). This first shot just shows the general shape of the dress. It will be fitted at the bust (and possibly through the waist) and then have an A-line skirt in the front and a modest train in the back. Here I'm playing with the idea of using long darts in the front rather than princess seams (i.e., making the front out of one piece instead of 3). You can see the pinching that happens at the waist - this is the difficult part of designing for a plus-size figure. The trick is to show off the waist while minimizing the hips (and sometimes the bust).




This shot shows one option for the top of the dress. Ruching draws attention to the waist, while de-emphasizing the hips if done correctly. It can also be used to enhance the bust. If I go along this route, then the bodice will be heavily lined and boned to give the perfect hourglass figure. I would probably not add any fullness to the skirt (i.e., no crinoline).

The other option I'm considering is having the ruching along the bust only. In this case, I would create a fitted underbodice to cinch in the waist and provide structure for the bustline. I would also create a fuller skirt (with crinoline and perhaps pickups) to draw attention away from the hips.

Both options would end in a beautiful dress, but I think the first would be more simple (in terms of style, not difficulty). That makes me want to do the second one (I love a challenge). Either way, I want to do a lace up back and godet train, possibly in red. What do you think?

Simple Shrug Pattern

I'll admit it, I'm a sucker for the remnant rack at Joann's. Anything I can find there for 1/2 price, I'll grab it. Unfortunately, I haven't been doing much with them. So part of my New Year's resolution was to start making things out of them. Today I was inspired by a 24" x 60" black stretchy cotton knit.


I wanted something to throw over my arms when it gets a little chilly, like in the office or when I'm too lazy to put on the heat in my sewing room, but I didn't want something long like my Cardi Wrap. I threw the fabric over my arms like a cape, and that's when I decided to make a simple shrug.

I also decided that I'd post the full "pattern" here for all of you! Feel free to use it to make many many shrugs!

Materials:
- about 20" of 60" wide 2-way stretch fabric. Can have pattern but something with a specific "up" and "down" (like pictures of bunnies) probably wouldn't work too well (since the bunnies would be right side up on the front but upside down on the back).
- ball point needle, size 9 or 11, depending on the thickness of your fabric
- some basic thread - cotton or polyester better than rayon or metallic
- a few pins

Step 1: Drape the fabric over your arms and pin in at least 4 places up your arm. I did wrist, elbow, largest part of bicep, and close to the armpit. This can take a little bit of work to do yourself, or you can have someone else help you. You only need to do this on one arm.


Step 2: Lay your fabric flat (just working on the side you pinned for the moment) and flatten out any wrinkles. I did this by taking out one pin at a time and shifting the fabric a little, then putting the pin back in. Repeat for all the pins. You can carefully try it on again if you want, but if you're using a good 2-way stretch fabric, you shouldn't have a problem.

This picture was a little hard to see where the pins were, so I drew the green line. The top and bottom of your fabric will probably not match up - this is fine.

Step 3: Cut about 1" below the pins (along the green line in the picture above). Stop when you get to the last pin (armpit). In my case, the top piece was completely cut off and the bottom piece was still "dangling".

Step 4: Unpin and unfold your fabric. Fold in half lengthwise (i.e., match up the two sleeves with the fold down the center back). Cut the second sleeve to match the first. Remember to cut both the top and the bottom of the sleeve, and to stop at the armpit.



Step 5: Cut a notch for the armpit, and then cut a gentle slope towards center back. Follow the green line in the picture above. You should have no more "dangling" fabric. If you have any "dangling" on the top, follow the same steps, except you don't need to notch it.

Step 6: Unfold your fabric again, and refold it as you did the first time (i.e., top to bottom). It should look like a long tube. If your fabric has a distinct right and wrong side, the right sides should be together. Pin along the bottom of the sleeves from the wrist to the armpit notch, 1" away from the edge. You can now carefully try it on to make sure the fit is still good.



Step 7: Using a stretch stitch (looks like a lightning bolt), sew up each sleeve from the wrist to the armpit notch, using a 1" seam allowance. If your machine does not have a stretch stitch, you can use a straight stitch with a bit longer than usual stitch length. Make sure to reinforce (backtack) at the wrist and the armpit. If you'd like, you can finish the seams and edges with an overlock or zig-zag stitch, or use a rolled hem for the edges. I took the lazy route and left the edges raw. The wrist edges are actually the selvedges, so no work was needed on them!


This pattern would be great for anybody regardless of size. You could make it more elegant by using a stretch lace or sheer or make it more fun by adding a cuff or collar in a different fabric. Dress it up or down, you can't fail!! Again, feel free to use this pattern to make shrugs for yourself or to sell, but please don't copy the pattern or pictures without linking back to this page. And don't try to sell the pattern with my pictures. That's just wrong. At the very least, take your own pictures.

Etsy Plus Size Finds, or lack thereof

So, my intention was to create a post highlighting some Etsy items designed for plus-size women. I wanted to exclude garments made in multiple sizes (including t-shirts) because as any good designer will tell you, what looks good on a skinny woman is necessarily going to look good on a larger woman. You can't just take the same pattern and blow it up by x percent. Unfortunately, I got to page 25 of the Plus Size category and found only one item that fit this search (and is flattering to a plus-size figure).


Skull Flutter Sleeve Top by diysewrad

So when you see lots of posts in the Etsy forums asking for plus size clothing, remember this. I'm going to try to devote more of my crafting time to plus size, so if you have anything you'd like to see, give me a shout!

creation process

I decided for today's post I'd put up some in-progress shots of a top I've been working on. I picked up two remnant pieces at Joann's that were almost the exact same size - one was a black stretch poly with white polka dots and an interesting mix of green thrown in; the other was solid black poly/spandex mix. At first I toyed with the idea of a skirt, and then decided to make a top.

The original design was going to be a fitted V-neck with an empire seam, and then a looser fit below. I started by cutting out the front and back upper portion (above the empire seam). I purposefully offset the line of green a little to the right of center because I thought it gave it an interesting asymmetrical look. I also liked having different patterns running over the two sides of the bust.

The entire garment was going to be made of the two layers of fabric - the patterned on the outside and the solid as a lining. Since the solid fabric has a tighter stretch to it, it is a bit more snug. This acts kinda like a undergarment, in that it provides a smoother base for the outer layer of fabric.

Silly me, of course, I cut out the lower back piece without leaving enough fabric for the lower front piece. So I tried cutting that piece in half horizontally and attaching it to the front and back that way. The result was not very pleasing. Instead of highlighting the empire line, it just made it look very jumbled. Plus it was about 2" shorter than I had intended. If this had been for a skinny girl, the length probably wouldn't have been much of an issue. But plus size gals are different - there has to be enough coverage.

I was almost ready to give up on this one, throw it in the back of the closet where I would probably never look at it again. But I was thinking about a top I own that has a contrast fabric under the bust line and I thought that idea could work here. I had already cut the black fabric to match the lower pieces, so I just recut them to form a solid band. I fit that to the garment and it looked great.

I added a bit of the polka dot fabric at the bust to make the gathering effect, which I thought just made the neckline that much sexier. I finished off the seams and hem and I absolutely love it. It's sexy without being risque, and I think it's a style many women would like. I will definitely remember this if I come into any other fun stretch fabric.

can't decide...

*Warning: please ignore the bad picture and the wrinkly fabric!

I'm not sure how I feel about this skirt right now. I want it to be kinda punk/goth but not overly so - it should be something that any young woman would feel comfortable wearing. I like the lace up in front (which will actually be lacing through panels with grommets, right now it's just pinned to see the overall picture. I'm also thinking of adding a white lining so the skirt would be reversible - the white side might have the black showing at the top and bottom edges. Or would that be too complex with the zipper and the lacing? Le sigh - this is why I don't do much clothing - I can never make up my mind! It always ends up half-finished because I can't decide which step to take next. So any comments would be appreciated!! Thanks!!