For My Girls

Two of my very dear girlfriends from work commissioned me to design and create them headbands. One requested a piece of tulle and grosgrain and the other wanted a tribal head-wrap in the same fabric as my fringe tote. I took a few measurements, drew a few sketches, gathered up some supplies and these are what I came up with.

The Christine: Cotton daishiki half-twist turbanette with fabric covered elastic at back.

The Debbie: Tulle ruffles and paillettes on silk grosgrain with matching elastic at back.

Very excited to hand them off to the girls and see how they look!

Seeing Spots: Cropped Vest

After work, just for fun, I pulled out some polka dot fabric I had in my fabric trunk and revisited my man-bolero pattern I drafted last week. I added a patch pocket, a double welt pocket and a back tie as well as fully lining it this time around. Not too bad of an outcome, I think I'll wear it tomorrow over one of my black deep v t-shirts. Just right for this pre-summer heat wave we're having here in NYC!

Beekman Bowtie

You may recall last summer I posted about the first time I met The Fabulous Beekman Boys (click here). More specifically the part about me making them matching bowties. Well on last night's episode "Beekmanpalooza Redux" Brent was sporting his at the Sharon Springs Harvest Festival looking extra dapper. They gave me a heads up the last time I saw them but to actually see my work on their show was an extra special moment. What made it even more meaningful was that it was worn by a man I have a huge amount of respect for.

Here are some screen captures...

I still get a little chill when I look at the pictures.

Rainy Day Draping

I started draping on my form yesterday, just for fun, to see if anything special would happen.

I liked what was going on with this sleeve drape so I went ahead and made a pattern.

Today I cut the pattern out and got to sewing.

The Outcome: A structured orange ostrich leather man-bolero. Why? Because I can! But in all seriousness I'm extremely pleased with the final garment. Not too bad for a a little time spent playing on the form.

Fringe Tote

A couple days ago I whipped up a new tote for spring out of some spare fringe trim and daishiki cotton I had in my fabric trunk.

I made it completely from scratch, no pattern, just a ruler and scissors. It's fully lined with a zip closure, I'm pretty pleased with the outcome. And lets just say... when it gets moving, it's a real attention grabber!

Stella Maris

Was flipping through one of my sketchbooks and decided to illustrate a gown I designed a few weeks back that I really liked. It was from a couture capsule collection I was fantasizing about which I named Stella Maris.

Just for fun.

Smile

A fabulous way to end my day, much love to everandthen.com for putting a smile on my face before bed.

My shoes on everandthen.com

Thanks to my fabulous pal Corbin for bringing this to my attention!

Shoe Update

Spring for Neon, Neon for Spring.

DIY Shoe Up-Do

Spring is in the air and I was in the mood for a new pair of shoes. I stopped by my favorite vintage spot and found a great pair Land's End bucks. A total blank canvas.

They had a few spots and scuff marks here and there but that didn't bug me because I knew I'd be painting them. And for $15, it was a win win situation.

Luckily there's an art supply store a few doors down. I picked up two tubes of bright orange, and blue paint then ran home.

I taped them off using masking tape and got painting.

I'm in love with the final outcome, imperfect and painterly. Tonight I'll be taking them out on the town for a spin!

Ottoman Update

Today while running errands in the city I stumbled upon The City Quilter and decided to take a peek inside. That's when inspiration struck, the antique ottoman Abby and I have in our living room had seen better days and was in desperate need of an update.

I picked out a few fabric quarters cohesive to our color scheme and was on my way. After a little measuring, pattern planning and a couple hours our sad little ottoman started its new life.

I'm very pleased with the outcome, not too shabby for a last minute idea