Summerland Cottage Studio: Published in Altered Couture Magazine

Showing posts with label Published in Altered Couture Magazine. Show all posts

Saturday, September 2, 2017

Mosaic vest

Remnants laid out for design ideas in my art journal.

From being in the design industry for so many years, I have

amassed an amazing stash of discontinued upholstery and drapery

fabrics all sorted, folded and stacked by colorway in my art studio.

While adding to and pilfering through the stack of indigo blue

swatches I had the inspiration to create a vest to wear with blue

jeans. My favorite fabric was a costly crewel floral fabric

in multi-tones of blue on a cream background and I chose to use it

to create a large shawl collar and part of the front panels. Cutting it

out can be challenging as many of the swatches loaned to interior

designers have a large grommet placed in the center of the sample.

I created my own pattern out of an old cotton sheet and used a

mannequin for fitting as I had created it with ten separate pieces so

that I could incorporate some of the smaller swatches of fabrics into

it. I selected a solid cotton blue to trim the collar with, creating a

half inch border around the edge to set it apart from all the other

fabrics that were chosen. I selected a two-tone blue lattice effect with a cream

background for the upper back and found a fun border fabric with

large indigo blue X's on it for creating a wide waist panel on the back

and a found a heavy cotton with uneven stripes for the lower

portion and intentionally left the hem with the unraveled selvage

edge. I chose to put pleats in it and sewed the tops down for a more

flattering look below the waist.

Dark colors on the side panels always create a slimmer profile so I

cut up an old Levis jackets' sleeves and used them with the existing

slit opening at the bottom for a better fit and then cut out the two

pockets for the lower half of the front panels and found some cool

vintage buttons to replace the ones that were missing. I attached

them to the top portion at an angle just for design fun. I chose blue

striped pillow ticking and cut it on the bias to finish the armholes

and inside the collar.

Grateful to have it included in the latest

Altered Couture Magazine on newsstands now!

Saturday, June 3, 2017

I came across the cream-colored Free People long sleeved t-shirt with the lace inserts in the sleeves and bodice at my favorite T.J. Maxx store. I am always drawn to the Free People clothing line, and I couldn't pass up this cute top at such a great price with all the detail work. Unfortunately, I didn't try it on until I arrived back at the cottage. I have to say I was not thrilled with the length. It seemed awkward, it was not short enough to show off a fit midriff and was not a flattering length, but I liked the design and color, so I went into my overflowing art studio and began pulling out and digging through my stash of unusual and mostly vintage laces, trims, and doilies. There were several potential finds set aside and then to my delight I finally discovered in the pile on the floor in front of me the perfect cream colored sheer embroidered dresser scarf from the 50's!

I centered and laid the dresser scarf next to the bottom hem of the new t-shirt and chose to cut out of the center of the scarf a slice just an inch and a half wider than the width of the t-shirt.

Then I cut that piece in two but not in half, that would be too boring for me. I chose to make the front panel considerably shorter than the back so I cut approximately one-third the length for the front, and the longer piece was for the back. I liked that the hem on each was already finished in a darling scallop design, so all I had to do was turn over the side seams twice and do a quick straight stitch down the sides, and then I attached the two pieces to the front and back of the t-shirt with a simple zig-zag stitch. I left the sides slits open for ease and fit.

Originally I was going to use the two scalloped end pieces of the scarf on the bottom of the sleeves folded in a french cuff design and attached to each sleeve but changed my mind as the length of the sleeves was already very long and I have a tendency to shove up my sleeves when wearing little t-shirts while creating, especially in clay one of my favorite mediums.

Suggestions,

When shopping or going through your closet to select a top to embellish, keep in mind that a cream-colored t-shirt is going to be easier to find a matching lace for embellishing it, rather than a colored one unless the colored one has white or cream lace inserts already.

Thrift stores and Etsy are both good places to find vintage laces and a scalloped edge one like the one used here would be best.

It's always a good idea to launder your t-shirt and the lace you will be using before cutting and sewing them together.

What you will need

a cute t-shirt

a lace dresser scarf or doily

thread to match the color of the t-shirt

straight pins

sewing needle

scissors

iron

Instructions

Place the lace scarf along the edge of the hem of the t-shirt and cut approximately 1 1/2'' wider on each side than the t-shirt width.

Carefully fold 1/2'' and iron the sides over twice and then stitch it down evenly along the outside edges.

Then attach the shorter rectangle of lace to the front of the t-shirt by hand or with a zig-zag stitch with your machine.

Then attach the longer rectangle to the back of the t-shirt.

A photo included as a visual for cutting lace scarf.

Grateful to have it included in the latest issue of

Altered Couture Magazine!

Saturday, September 20, 2014

Antimacassar

Just in time for fall.

Curl up on the sofa with some hot tea,

a few sewing supplies, your needles and a spool of thread

for a little creative fun.

Embellishing a favorite long sleeved tee

with what is known as antimacassars.

It is an odd word with an interesting history.

Macassar oil was a tonic for the hair commonly used in the early 19th century. The fashion for oiled hair became so widespread in the Victorian and the Edwardian period that housewives began to cover the arms and backs of their chairs with washable cloths to preserve the fabric coverings from being soiled.
In 1852 these started to be known as antimacassars.

They came to have elaborate patterns, often in matching sets for the various items of parlour furniture; they were often made at home using a variety of techniques such as crochet and tatting.