Faux Fur

I thought it would be the coolest thing ever to try and make a fur (albiet faux) fur coat. It was a complete bitch to work with though, especially as one of my first sewing projects. I always have these grand cool ideas only to realize how hard it actually is to materialize them. The fabric I choose is a pain to work with, or doesn't act the way you expected it to with the particular pattern or you find that as nice as your product actually turned out, there really is no practical use for it, etc. This coat for example. Its always too cold to wear a short coat like that in the middle of winter, but when it gets warmer outside, it is way too warm to wear! This photo shoot (if you look at the previous photos you will see the connection) is probably one of the only times Ive actually worn this coat out. It kept me warm in the walks between locations. I am, however, very proud of myself that I made this coat. The fur ate at least 3 machine needles and Im sure Ive lost more than a few pins in the seams somewhere. But! Its reversible!... Which is pretty cool if I may say so myself. I made this project, along with a recycled pair of jeans turned into a skirt in my 12th grade fashion design class, the only formal (if you want to call what we did formal) fashion design instruction I've ever had. It was definitely one of the most fun classes I've taken. This coat along with the skirt was featured for a semester in a display case in my high school, which is probably one of my proudest achievements in high school. Got me at least a little bit noticed, but probably not at all. Thats ok though, I don't mind at all. I had fun and I liked the work.

I need a standard dress: Take #1

As my dancing was progressing in collegiate ballroom I realized that it is very hard to find a proper standard dance dress in stores and way too expensive to buy one that is proper. I decided to make one, naturally. I found the fabric and it was gorgeous, like deep purple satiny liquid in your hands. beautiful!! I even got a stunning pearl necklace to go with the white accents. Too bad I later was made to understand that color is probably the most important thing in a ballroom dress. Color and rhinestones. Being in syllabus and not allowed to have rhinestones it wasn't in question but the deep purple even with white, is not a color to wear in competitions. The brighter, the blingier, the better. I am not sure how I feel about the white inserts anymore but I do still like the dress as a whole, mostly because I cant get over the beauty of the purple fabric probably... Despite that, the dress turned out wonderfully and I wore it maybe for 2-3 comps before retiring it into evening wear, due to its actual dullness out on the dance floor. I have worn it to 1-2 weddings though after.

4 years in the making

At one point, probably towards the end of my freshman year in college, after Ive been in a few competitions already. I really wanted to make a gold colored latin dress for dance competitions and I have always liked the look of black lace with basically anything. Fabric bought and pattern set, I began the project. All the pieces cut and altered, I began to put the dress together only to realize that it was a bit too small for me in the bust! I must have miscalculated something! So I began to figure out ways to expand it, hence the side inserts of sheer black. I also wanted a more flared skirt so I cut slits in the bottom of the front panels with plans of inserting black lace godets, triangle shaped pieces of fabric to widen the skirt. But the moment I made the cuts I realized I made a mistake and the inserts just did not work and looked pretty bad. The two fabrics did not merge and flow well. So in exasperation and not knowing what to do about the whole situation I left the dress in my "unfinished projects" or "to do" pile. From then on the dress has been sitting in the box for quite some time, being taken out maybe twice to no avail, until this past summer when I finally took it out, determined to fix and finish it, I put my mind to work as to how to complete its imperfections. I considered putting a whole new layer of sheer all around the dress underneath the gold so some peeks out underneath, but discarded that idea, because I didn't have enough sheer at that moment and I was a bit lazy to go out buy some and take the dress apart before putting it back together. The side inserts were way too see through so I added another layer over the first. then I slit the slits all the way up to the bust and put in the lace strips. Long before I finished it I realized it would never be a latin dress because of unfitting colors and design but it would make a very cute cocktail dress. Unfortunately I haven't worn it yet and don't know when I will. It is a bit risque' with all of its see-through slits and sheer layers. It would have to be a fitting party and occasion and people.

I look forward to the day.