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After finishing my Through the Looking Glass dress, I wanted a bit of a break from sewing. When I was younger, I always was working on different crafts, and many of them included some sort of fabric or fiber. Over the past week or so, I have been experimenting with some things that I used to do, and other things that I haven't tried but have been intrigued with. The first thing that I have been playing around with is something that I rediscovered this summer- embroidery. I had dabbled with embroidery quite a few years ago, and lately I have been enjoying it again. I did a piece for my Frankenstein dress in October, and a tree during the summer for a collaboration with a writer, so I decided to make something for my Curiosities collection. I have been making a pair of moths to go on shoes for one of the dresses, and lungs for a different dress, and I have plans for other pieces as well! One of my other crafts is fabric stamping. I have done it twice before, once for my Frankenstein dress and once for my Bee skirt, and both times I loved how they turned out. I decided to try it again for one of the dresses in my collection, and I am so pleased with how it turned out. I also rediscovered my fascination with weaving. I got a small frame for Christmas a year or two ago, and after making a square and a half of fabric on it, both of which had terrible tension (that's why I don't knit...), I decided to play around with it again. So far I am loving how meditative the whole exercise is, and I am hoping that my tension improves! The last thing that I have been playing around with over the past bit is felting. I have never done felting before, but it has always interested me. I got a pack from Michaels that included a needle, mat, and wool to try it out, and so far have made three moths and am planning to make many other things. This is another very calming hobby, and I am so glad that I have tried it out. Keep your eyes peeled for felted broaches and critters on my costumes- I don't think I will be able to keep myself from adding bugs to all of my projects now that I have discovered that I can! Over the next few weeks, my blog will be a bit quiet since I am leaving for Germany on March 9. I will be sure to write up a post or two of my travels, but while I am gone, be sure to check out my instagram, where I will be posting much more regularly. ~K
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I finally finished my 1950's styled bee skirt. I printed the bees onto a striped fabric for this project quite a few months ago, however I did not get around to making it until Christmas time. This was made with the same McCalls pattern as my scissors skirt (photos here) and a cotton fabric. This is a very simple pattern, but I love how it looks, and it is easy to figure out fit. ~K
This year was a really huge one for me, especially when it comes to my sewing. I started this blog just a little over a year ago with my Special Project in school, and it has grown very quickly with all of the projects that I have been working on. I also started a makeup and skincare part of the blog (and an instagram here) after I started working at a beauty counter to share about some of the things I have learned through training sessions. When it comes to my sewing, I have grown quite a bit in the past year! I started the year with finishing my Special Project, which took me a semester to make. Not long after that, I started working with MakeFashion. I started out just helping, and ended up making a dress with the help of an engineer! It was hectic and crazy and I loved every minute of it. I also got to go to Mexico with my family this year, celebrated a one year anniversary with my boyfriend, graduated from high school, got accepted into Olds College Fashion Program, got a job, made a dress for a televison pilot, and finished 16 projects (some of which I haven't blogged about yet). I would say that was a pretty successful year! Here is my year in photos: And a quick sneak peak of a project that I haven't posted about yet: Heres to another great and productive year! I can't wait to see whats in store for me
~K I have been filming the current project that I am working on, which is a cotton dress inspired by the movie In the Mood for Love (I talked about this movie in my Movie Recommendations post). The pattern that I am using for it is one from Patterns by Gertie. Because I am filming the process, I do not have tons of pictures of the dress as I make it, but I do have a few behind the scenes pictures while I film myself cutting the pieces out. I will post my video up here once I'm done, and as always, I will have the pictures up here as well. I can't wait to show you the finished dress!
~K I just finished making my 1940's trousers from a vintage Simplicity pattern, and I love them! The pattern came with pieces for a pair of trousers, overalls, as well as a blouse/jacket. I decided to make the trousers, since they are something that I can wear in my everyday life. I also wanted a pair of trousers to bring with me to Germany, so this worked out perfectly! The pants are made of a light-weight mens suiting wool in grey check. This is one of the fabrics that I got the last time I went to Bhatia, and the sheen to it is beautiful! It also drapes very nicely, so I thought it would be nice for these. They close with 5 vintage buttons that I had in my stash. I am so pleased with how these turned out! They are super comfortable, and I can see myself wearing them a ton through fall and winter. The pattern was nice and easy to follow, and it only took me a few days of actually working on them to finish the trousers. These pictures were taken in front of a World War Two era tank that we have in front of our little museum where I live. Thanks for reading! My next project that I have been working on should be up in the next couple of weeks, although we are going somewhere pretty specific to take pictures, so stay tuned!
~K I had the most incredible opportunity recently to make a costume for a film made by an Albertan director. I worked with Mitchell George from Crooked Cinema to make one costume for their new film Highway Patrolman. I was so thrilled to be able to be a part of this, especially since my goal is to be a movie costumer! You can check out their website here. I made a 1950's styled diner dress for the film, which was great to do since I love the 1950's and have had a bit of an obsession recently with the era. I used the same Burda pattern as I did for my 1950's Blue Dress with a few alterations to it. I made the dress in about 3 and a half days, while working on the side a bit. It was a bit of a tight schedule, but luckily enough this was an easy style to make, and I was able to find the right colour of fabric very quickly. The collar, cuffs, and apron were self drafted, and the dress was based on the Burda pattern. The dress was done mostly on the machine to save time, and finished by hand (button holes, cuffs, and collar were all done by hand). I got quite of few progress pictures of this dress, so this will be a very photo heavy post! I am so thrilled with how this turned out, and with the fact that I got this opportunity! Be sure to keep an eye out on Crooked Cinema, and for when Highway Patrolman comes out!
~K As I had said in my last post, I did move my studio recently! It is easy to see that this room is larger than my last one, which is very nice. I am so pleased to have the extra space now, and I love how everything looks in the room. When I moved everything upstairs, I was pretty surprised at how much I had managed to fit in the last room! Everything in this new studio is from the last one, except for the comfy chair in the corner, which you will see in later pictures in this post. I also have a second book case in this room which was not in the last studio. I am thrilled to be able to fit all of my design books in here! If you would like to see the tour for the last studio, click here
If you are curious about my progress for the bustle dress, I am just doing the finishing touches and then we will get photos once we have the chance. I am working on a video for it as well, which I will post along with the photos. ~K I just recently finished an embroidery project for Voice and Vision, which is a program through my local library. The idea is that there are an equal number of writers and visual artists, and they exchange their work. Each writer will then have a piece of visual art to inspire some writing, and each artist will have some writing to inspire a piece of art. Our deadline was the beginning of August. This is only the second time that I have done a piece of embroidery- the first time was for a school project. So this project was mostly experiments with different stitches and such. I am very pleased with how this turned out, especially since I haven't had much practice before making this. It took me about a month to do, mostly just working on it while I was watching tv (Indian Summers is amazing by the way, and a really great show to stitch to because the costumes are stunning). I have been busy with other things as well over the past few weeks- I have been planning and researching for new projects, getting my proposal ready for MakeFashion, and I just recently got a job as a cosmetician at a drugstore. I have also been sewing, and I am almost finished a section of my newest project. ~K
It only took me more than half a year, but I finally have everything to show you some of the behind scenes when it came to making the Dream Dress for MakeFashion! The reason that this post took so long to become reality is that I actually lost the photos of the dress in progress. Thankfully, I found them so I can give you a bit of an idea of what the inside of the dress looks like, since it actually has more detail on the inside than it does on the outside! The whole process of making this dress for MakeFashion was such a great experience, and I learned so many new techniques! I am very excited to hopefully be able to work with them again.
~K If you would like to see pictures of the final project, here is a link. Since school ended recently (and I am done for good! Until college...), I have been working on a few projects. The first one, which I have brought up before on my blog in my Fabric Haul post, is a late 1940s styled dress with a matching blazer. This one has been a bit weird to work on since its been so warm lately and I am making the set out of a wool suiting. However, I love the fabric that I chose out, and can't wait to keep working on it. This one I am actually going to make a video of me sewing it, so you can see some of my process when it comes to sewing more 'modern' clothes. Another thing that I have been working on is planning for next years MakeFashion show. The call for proposals is coming up quickly, so I have been drawing out my ideas as well as coming up with a budget. I posted a short video of me working on one of the sketches on my Instagram. I have been using these Artist's Loft Dual Tip Markers, which are blend-able markers slightly similar to Copic Markers, and I am loving them! I have also finished my regency stays, which I had mentioned a while ago, and I will do a post on them once I have some good photos. ~K
I have been intrigued with quilting for a while now, but so far I have never tried it. I decided to learn some new skills by making a small quilt as a present for a teacher. The fabric that I used is from a bundle that I received as a gift a while ago. I thought that the colours in the cotton fabrics went so well with the cotton sateen that I decided to use it as a backing for the quilt. The quilting that I did was very simple, since I have only ever tried it on some test pieces, but I like how it turned out. The entire front piece is hand sewn together, and the quilting was done by machine. It was finished off by hand as well. Since this project turned out well, I have some ideas brewing for a pair of 18th century quilted jumps. Jumps are basically a pair of stays without the boning, and they were often worn by working class women. ~K
A few weeks ago I picked up a few things for new projects. I have had a gift card from my boyfriend and his family to Fabricland for months now, so I finally got to use it! The first thing that I grabbed, which I was originally planning for, was a wool blend for a 1940's pattern that I have been wanting to make since the beginning of the year. I am thrilled with the fabric that we found, so I will be making both the dress and the matching blazer with it some time in the near future. I also picked up all of the things that I will need to finish the dress: a zipper, belt buckle, and some buttons. The next thing that I picked up I am very excited about! American Duchess just released their new pattern, inspired by the Red Dress from Outlander. I was impressed by their last patterns, so I didn't hesitate to grab this one. It comes with patterns for a separate top and skirt, along with a pannier pattern, which I will be putting to good use! Another thing that I am thrilled to have picked up was a dress form! I have wanted a dress form for ages, so I ended up choosing that for my grad gift. The last thing that I got was actually a gift. This is one of the most amazing gifts that I have gotten, and I love how it looks in my little sewing room. A family friend was getting rid of a few things, and she gave me this beautiful sewing machine! Since it came with all of its extra parts, I am hoping to be able to get it working so that I can sew with it.
I have been working on a few things to get ready for grad lately, but once grad is over, I will start working on some new projects that I have been planning. Also, we went to the Jane Austen ball last weekend, so stay tuned to see some photos from it! ~Kate I made this dress using a vintage-inspired Burda pattern. I used a patterned cotton, and I would love to make this pattern again, just as a blouse with a peplum. The pattern includes many different types of sleeves as well as collars and other additions to the dress, so you could make many variations of the dress, which I really appreciate. The collar of the dress was really difficult to figure out, but after doing it once, I think it will be easier next time. I would recommend the pattern, but be aware that the instructions aren't very clear all of the time, but with the drawings and some common sense, it is possible to figure it out. ~K
I have recently moved all of my sewing paraphernalia into my own little sewing room! Okay, it doesn't count as a real room, since its actually the storage closet, but its very cozy and cute! Its nice to have my own space to sew in, and its great to be able to close a door and leave out whatever I am currently working on. Since my cat has a habit of eating fabric, this works perfectly to be able to shut him out while I am working. We found this beautiful light that looks stunning in the little space and gives me more light by the sewing machine. I was given the sari a few years ago, so I used it to cover the shelf, which was pretty ugly. I have always been too scared to cut into the sari to make something out of it, so its nice to be able to use it and see it every day. ~K
So the fashion show was on the weekend, and it went almost without a glitch. The show turned out beautifully, and even though there were some things that didn't quite work out on my dress like I wanted it to, I still love how it worked out. I had an incredible technician who helped me, and it made the whole process so much less stressful, even when things went wrong. Everyone who worked on this project was amazing, and I am in awe of their efficiency and how calm everyone was, even during the most fast pace moments before the show. I was working in the team Virtually Vogue, and I had the privileged of working at ARCHEloft in Calgary, a maker space that is open to pretty much everyone. Every single part of this project and the people that I was working with was incredible, and I hope that I will be able to be a part of the event again next year! Okay, enough gushing... here are some photos from the show on Saturday: You can also watch a video from the show here. If you would like to see more photos from the evening, let me know! Tons more will be showing up on the MakeFashion website as well as their facebook page, so keep your eyes peeled if you are interested in seeing all of the other gowns from the event. Check out their instagram, too, since they have been posting photos of every gown at the show.
~K Photos by Kenneth Fung |
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