Saturday, March 21, 2015

Vote Jeans Vote

Vote baby vote!



Should have the Emerald City Comic Con process photos up in the next couple of days. The Dalek daypack is taking longer than necessary.

My house needs purging.


So of course I went to an amazing estate sale yesterday, because I need to get rid of stuff. I bought two of these hats (pink center left top) (cream center bottom) and a linen schoolgirl (think Madeline)  (not shown). The pink is utterly perfect - why the vintage guys didn't pick it up, I don't know (they bought the purple fur one ferchrissakes). The cream is going to be a Regency bonnet this week.

I'm going back tomorrow to take photos of the house. I have probably walked by it a hundred times and never noticed it, but it's just....stunning.

Thursday, March 12, 2015

One Palette To Rule Them All



Slid in under the radar on the Pantone 2015 Fall pages was this:  

WOMEN’S AND MEN’S PALETTES

There is one major distinction in the colors this season: A grand shift towards an evolving color palette that is not reliant on color distinctions typically assigned to each gender. This Fall, designers look to sartorial styling and fabrics to define both a masculine and feminine interpretation of hues and color combinations.

So are we done with the boys and girls distinctions? Finally?

Sunday, March 8, 2015

Polka Dot Jeans - Jeans 2015





So when Pattern Review announced another jeans contest, I began my planning. Update my self-drafted "Jeanius!" King class pattern to v 6.6 "bottom up" jeans

Sky blue and gold upholstery fabric, in the Fortuny style!
No, this isn't the actual fabric. But it's close.

Alas, rules state: only denim twill.

Okay, new plan.


 Yes, I designed a fabric for these jeans for this contest. It's not that hard, and you get a nifty discount on your own prints.
Spoonflower cotton twill

And here they are. Reversed fly and all.

Version 6.6:  reversed yoke bottom up polka dot Mom jeans.


Mom dancing (as seen on Kimmel)

Who doesn't love a PicMonkey collage? The coin pocket is my standard welt version, to match the waistband/pocket fabric.


 Yes, I love polka dots. I believe that navy polka dots have a strange power over others, and can bend them to my will. 

Or at least my spouse. Works on him. Good enough.
More nifty topstitching deets! This is where I admit that I am not keeping these pockets on for regular wear; I hate back pockets, but this is a contest and leaving them off seemed unfair.   I never put on belt loops. That I didn't budge on. I could photoshop some on, but that is really cheating.
And now, the nasty fitting details! If you don't enjoy staring at photos of wrinkles on butts, perhaps I can redirect you to my Pinterest page tab up top? The "Marvelous" board is all cartoons!


The digital camera is the gift that keeps on giving me the opportunity to stare at my butt. Which frankly I don't care to do, so I pretend it's someone else's fitting problem, and then it's all scientific-y and a trouble shooting opportunity. 

Wrinkles form where there's too much fabric in one direction AND not enough in the other. The "too much" is parallel to the wrinkle, the "not enough" is at the ends.

The red lines are the deepest wrinkles, and they are indicating two solutions. One, I can take in the crotch curve in the center of that circle the red lines describe. Or, I can let out the seams in the inner leg.

There's nothing left to let out in the inner leg, so we're taking in the crotch curve.



Like so. I did this about a billion times today. Yes, it's cleaned up and refinished.


There are still wrinkles. And any wearing ease I had is gone.  But the crotch curve is better, so I will take these, correct the pattern from them, ADD about 1/8" to the outside seams, and it should be good.  
And ready for the Fortuny!
not the actual material, but wouldn't that be sweet?


The trick is to get them close but not tight.  That way they don't bind or ride up, I can sit in them without rearranging me or them. 

And now I never want to look at my butt again. Oh my gawwwwwd...

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Disorder Dot Jeans Preview



Still a work in progress: topstitching not done, riveting pondering

Double polka dot power!

Bottom up styling (not visible but there)