Monday, May 28, 2007

Here kitty kitty


Still hard at work on this holiday weekend. Trying to finish up my outfit for a wedding I'm attending this weekend. This fabric is completly awesome and I originally planned a sundress, but I messed that up and ended up with just a skirt. And after hours of trying to make the top work I finally gave in and gave up and used a pattern. I decided to try a corset for the first time, and although this doesnt truly qualify as one, its close. I used a bodice from simplicity 4943 which is a formal strapless pattern. Good thing the pattern does naturally call for boning, so it is the closest to a corset I'll get on short notice, and so far came out great! Just need to finish up the back.

Sunday, May 27, 2007

A few new items...

Being stuck home on a three day weekend isnt that bad really. If only I could maximize my time more. Well, in between cleaning and chasing the kids around, I managed to finish these two projects on Sat and start one more that I actually finished half of today and I'll post that tomorrow. This first top is not finished, just needs buttons but it was my attempt at copying a designer blouse I saw in Lucky mag, Turned out pretty good I think and saved me $200 clams which is what the designer dud costs. Plus it was made from a big granny dress (cost=free) and left me enough fabric to make something else.
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This next one was easy, an H&M top I grabbed at the swap so cost=free, I cut the top off and made it into a tube with this cute vintage hawaiian knit, add some decorative pockets and wala! I like how the H&m make the golden gate bridge. You must know, it is soo hard to give these items up...but a girls gotta make a living!
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Saturday, May 26, 2007

From a .25 yard sale find comes a cool Russian(?) inspired crop jacket.


Below is the original jacket (minus the sleeves). The resulting reconstruct was awesome (I think) my 16 year old on the other hand... well of course she thinks its ugly as he**. What does she know? LOL Interest in purchasing? email me. chrystine{at}sewbitchy{dot}com




















Sunday, May 20, 2007

Swap-o-rama-rama success!!


Swap-o-rama-rama was better than last year, and I expect it to be even bigger next year. The press was everywhere and there were so many clothes! In fact there were about 20+ huge trash bags full of clothes left at the end of the swap which went to charity. That alone should give you an idea of how many unwanted items would normally be filling up our landfills each year. And just imagine that is only from one city, and I can't even estimate how many people actually came through our doors, but there were a lot of people.

There was of course lots of sewing going on. There were more kids trying their hand at making cool duds this year than last, including two young boys I saw making their own custom shirts. Now THATS awesome! Saturday was our fashion show and it was smaller I think than last year, but we had a few less designers and one new one added to the mix. Our new designer came to us all the way from a remote island off the coast of Canada near Vancouver. A really talented woman, I had the opportunity to get to know her personally as I hosted her during her stay. I gotta tell you she is rocking the recycled world! She whipped out some cool stuff while at the swap including a burlap sack skirt.

There were lots of great ideas going on by all the designers, including my friends over at Homeygrown They were helping people whip up whimsical stuffed animals using scraps of fabric for the outside and the insides! Talk about a great use of materials. NO Waste is a great thing!

Of course the biggest change of all for me personally was the fact that I was actually there as a designer this time! Super exciting for me, and although I wasn't quite prepared to be in the fashion show, I did have a small display. Well this event is really new to all of us being only the second year in the bay area, so by next year I expect I'll really have it down. I was able to grab some really cool stuff and even had time for a few quick projects.

By the time it was over I was exhausted, but still burning with excitement. I'm filled with great new ideas and ready to really put things into full swing. So stay tuned and see what transforms...

And be sure to hop over to my flickr page for more cool pics from the event!