The Fashion Show

Is it just me, or did Project Runway go seriously downhill this year? The designers were fine (although Gretchen never did make anything I found interesting), but the hour and a half length just did not work. They filled the extra space with more personal drama (because that's apparently what sells for reality TV), and it felt like they showed even less of the clothes than with the old hour format. Part of what I always liked about Project Runway was the focus on the designs and the competition and not on crazy people. Not that some of the best designers aren't a bit crazy, but if I just wanted to watch crazy people, I'd go for a Real Housewives or Real World.

So, enough with the complaining about a show that ended two months ago. Last night I finally watched "The Fashion Show," which is Bravo's attempted replacement now that they lost Project Runway to Lifetime. And now I'm hooked. It's a show about designing clothes that actually shows you the clothes being designed. What a novelty!

So far (two episodes in, not sure if it changes later), they've just had group challenges, which means the camera time can be split more evenly among the designs. This way, you don't automatically know who's going to be safe because they never showed up on camera during the episode. It also means that the drama between the designers will actually be related to the designs, since they have to collaborate.

We'll see how the rest of the season goes, but right now, I think I've found my new favorite design show.

Drafting a button front fly

I'm making the fiance a pair of flannel-backed satin* jammies so that hopefully he can roll over in bed and slide under the sheets instead of dragging them with him. Being that they are going to be satin jammies, he wanted to make sure they don't look like girl's clothes**, so he wants a fly. A fake fly would be fine, because it's just for looks and not function, but I think a real fly will actually be easier than a fake one.

* I have to admit, this fabric is a point for Joann. As much as I complain about their lack of interesting fabric, this stuff is pretty cool and I couldn't find it anywhere else online.

** Why is it that it's totally kosher for women to wear men's clothes, but not vice-versa? I guess this is one place where we have the better side of enforced gender roles, for what that's worth.

Since the pattern I'm using doesn't have a fly (or pockets, for that matter, but those are easy), I'm trying to draft one from a pair of jammies that he already has. After extensive measuring, here's what I came up with:

Gotta be careful to remember that the pattern as is has seam allowances, and to add seam/fold allowances! So all seemed well until I tried to trace my new pattern onto the old pattern:

Uh oh. The crotch seam curves before the end of my fly. Some of that is ok because I can just straighten the top of the seam, and it'll get taken in enough with the elastic waist. But the rest of the curve at the bottom... I'm not entirely sure what to do. The sample jammies are straight all along the fly, easy to tell because of the plaid. So I think I'm going to basically assume I can make the fly straight and even out the crotch seam somehow to fix it. Flying by the seat of my pants here, which is only appropriate.

Making fabric

(via)

Maybe it's because I don't have the time or energy to drive up to San Francisco to fabric shop and am therefore left in the desert of Joann and the occasional Hancock* (fine for quilting cottons, but unfortunately I've learned that quilting cottons are dangerous to sew clothes with). Or maybe it all goes back to the tie-dye and batik classes I took in high school.** At any rate, I'm fascinated by making my own fabric.

* I do actually have the most fabulous silk store on my way home from school, but you can't make everything out of silk, much as I might like to. Besides the expense, silk just doesn't feel like a winter fabric to me.

** Or maybe the need I have to make everything from scratch. To make my own salsa from scratch, I have to not only start with whole tomatoes and peppers etc., but I have to actually grow them. I've been tempted to learn to make cheese so I can make my own pizza from scratch, but then I'd have to start raising cows for milk.

While I usually would just dye fabric to "make" a nice fabric, it's too cold for my staple cottons or silks. And while I probably won't finish this until well into spring, I have a new wintry project planned:

I'm going to attempt to knit some fabric. I read an article in Threads about working with sweater knits, so I'm fairly confident in being able to sew my knitted fabric. The issue is making it. I had a few month knitting fad a year or two ago which ended when I decided I was ready to make a blanket. I cast on the excessively long row, and then never did anything else with it. So I have a ton of this black and white yarn. My knitting skills are nowhere near good enough to actually make a sweater or to do any sort of complicated stitch, but I figure a basic stitch*** will be made more interesting by actually sewing it.

*** Recommended by Leah: the moss stitch. As she says, "of course, it may get cantankerous and bring down your entire locker room, so watch out for that." Oh, Randy.

Hawaii Dress in Hawaii

Lessons learned:

• I have a tendency to overfit, so when I'm actually wearing and sitting around in the dress, it's too tight. I probably do need to do a bit of a FBA to get rid of the gaping at the neckline, while still leaving the proper amount of ease.
• Quilting cottons are wildly inappropriate for a summery dress, especially a Hawaiian style beach dress. Drape and flow are the keys there.

Hem Inspiration

(source)

Brilliant idea!

I was gathering a bunch of Threads magazines that I inherited from a coworker of my dear fiance, and saw a gorgeous hem. I can't find a picture online, but it's basically a hand-picked hem with French knots decorating the stitches on the right side. See, hand-picked hems are nice but it drives me nuts to see the stitches on the right side, even if they are tiny. So this takes a bug and turns in into a feature by making the stitches decorative. Then I remembered the Threads article about beading the stitches on a hand-picked zipper (pic above). So I'm thinking hand-picked hem with beads for the wedding dress. It'll add just a touch of sparkle without going too overboard, I hope.

Glee Sectionals Dress

OMG I need to make this dress. I spent the entire sectionals part of the episode not paying attention to the songs, but trying to figure out how to make the dress.

Another pic that really shows it:


At first I thought it was just a gathered and pleated black organza overlay, but it looks like the fabric is an ombre or border print (sort of, since it's not really a print). So I'm thinking start with a sheer white silk and dye it. Baste at top and bottom, then pull tight and tie it off. This will make sure the dye line is pretty straight. Bag and tie off the ends, then dip dye. I can't decide if it should be an organza or if that's too stiff. Maybe a really thin China silk? A chiffon could work too...

Happy Hanukkah!

Chanukah Sameach!

I know we only give gifts on Hanukkah because it falls near Christmas, and Purim is really the more appropriate holiday for gifts. That doesn't stop me from enjoying my gifts!

My dear fiance gave me spring-loaded Gingher scissors. My first Ginghers! I need to start a new project now so I can use them. His parents also gave me a straight-stitch foot so I can sew more delicate fabrics and not jam up the machine.

I got a surprise present too: I won Victoria's giveaway at Ten Thousand Hours of Sewing! I won the Better Homes and Gardens Pattern Adjustments book, which is excellent because it's the book that motivated me to enter her giveaway:) I keep trying to fit at the end of the process and it always ends up hacked. It'll be great to learn how to do it right.

And now I'm off to warm Hawaii. Hopefully when I get back I'll have a book and a Pendrell pattern waiting for me! The hardest part of the vacation will be deciding if I want to do Tasia's Pendrell sewalong or Sunni's trouser sewalong in January. Maybe both?