Every Day I’m Patternmakin’

Today I’m hard at work on the pattern for version 2.0 of the Peekaboo Polo Tee I debuted last week. It’s going well, and I hope to have the prototype made and photographed before the end of February.

Patternmaking seems less glamorous than draping, perhaps because it is more technical, but really it is quite magical that lines drawn just-so on a page can become the garment of one’s dreams! Especially if a dress form is financially out of reach. I personally love making patterns, and making the patterns for my own designs is especially rewarding.

I’m going to return to work now – au revoir for now!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite holidays, because I love the idea of a day where people freely and openly share their love and affection for people in their lives. I hope you are sharing your feelings today with those you love, one way or the other. And I hope you’ll accept this photo of roses as my Valentine to you!

I Want So Badly To Be Good

I love the details on this dress, I love how well it fits and moves, I love how easily it went from sketch to pattern to garment, and I loved styling it with so many different patterned elements – purse, shoes, cardigan, and earrings. The more patterns, the merrier! I guess that’s my inner rebel without a cause expressing itself.

I’m a public school girl, so I never wore a uniform – but this dress definitely has that Catholic school uniform look, to my untrained eye. What do you think?

At any rate, Catholicism in my mind will always be associated with Madonna (sorry Pope Benedict!), so I took this blog’s title from her song Girl Gone Wild, and I’ve embedded the video below for your viewing pleasure. I know I shouldn’t be shocked after all these years, but … she definitely had my jaw on the floor with this one. I love Madge!

A Little Bit of Peeking

If it’s subtle as a car crash and there are buttons involved, it’s a safe bet that I designed it! This shirt is totally, typically me. I call it the Peekaboo Polo Tee, due equally to the exposure of décolletage and the strategic placement of a giant button over an implied placket.

I have no clue where (or when) I will wear this shirt, but I’m glad I made it because there is something magical about going from sketch to pattern to sample. I plan to tweak the pattern a bit and make a version 2.0 Peekaboo, so stay tuned!

Silversand Cardi

You saw me cut it out, now you get to see the finished product: the Silversand Cardigan! I named it Silversand because of the color of the fabric and the metallic threads running through it.

This was a really fast project and I’m quite happy with the way it turned out – I wouldn’t change a thing! Also, this cardi is quite warm, despite being sleeveless; definitely good for those early spring or late summer nights with a bit of bite in the air.

The pattern I made is a good one for chunky knits with good drape, because it minimizes the amount of bulk covering the front of the body, so I may make a tutorial on how to draft this pattern using your own measurements (or tried-and-true pattern, or favorite shirt). We’ll see!

In the meantime, though, if I decide to make a light weight drape cardigan, I will probably follow the Light Drape Cardigan tutorial by Bored and Crafty. It’s perfect! (And an instant gratification project, too!)

The Look and a Grain of Salt

Today’s book is The Look: A Guide to Dressing from the Inside Out, by Randolph Duke. (See if your local library has this book on WorldCat, or buy it on Amazon.)

In my quest to read everything on personal style, dressing, and fashion, I rather dubiously checked out a slick-looking book called “The Look” from the library. It wasn’t a waste of time, but watch the video for the inside scoop on this effort.