All posts by sisuile

New stuff and SALE

A reminder that the store is having a 15% off sale all week with the code ADVENT15

So last week we took my secondary studio table and turned it into More Storage, so that I might have a chance to find the beads and wire that I already own. It was a thought.

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As with all thoughts, it had some consequences. I’ve managed to be more productive in the last week than I had been in a long time. I’ve been experimenting again, as well as playing with some old styles that I hadn’t made in a while. So look in the store for some new items – I’ll be trying to get them up over the course of the day.

SHIPPING REMINDER: Remember that I need to have your order by the 15th of Dec in order to have the USPS guarantee pre-Christmas delivery.

 

SALE, TGHF, upcoming

So, in honor of the holiday season, everything in the store is 15% off through Dec 7 if you use code advent15

Friday was the Tower Grove Holiday Fair. We had a really good time – though small, we had a number of very nice vendors. I have confirmation that we will be doing it again next year, so mark your calendars!

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My next show will be Handmade Holiday, Dec 15 in Webster Groves.

Project completion

galaxy dress
Hey, look, that draping project got done!

My household has been in a bit of an uproar for the last several weeks. Between the push to get the two end of October costuming commissions out the door and completing a couple other major projects and receiving a load of furniture & accessories, my studio had gotten a bit…messy.

The jewelry work surface disappeared. I spent some time yesterday finding some space again, and then started in on projects.

hey, I got about a third of the space clear! Enough to at least see that the table is really wood!
hey, I got about a third of the space clear before I started working! Enough to at least see that the table is really wood!

If you haven’t been over to the store tab recently, may I suggest that you go explore all the new stuff I’ve been posting? It’s not quite everything, but a couple of pieces keep defeating me and the camera. Including that long pearl and shell one up above, sitting on the table.

Next show is Nov 29 (that would be Black Friday) 9-3 at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 3668 Arsenal St, St. Louis, across from Tower Grove Park.

Ms. Frizzle!

So one of my friends turned to me at the pub about two weeks ago and said, “If I wanted to be Ms. Frizzle from the space book for Halloween, could you help me with that?”

Ms. Frizzle’s Star Power!

Yes, yes I can.

Joann’s had the perfect fabric.

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So then I had to find a shirtdress that would take a contrasting collar and the right look. Unfortunantly, we were in the transition between summer and fall pattern books and everything was short sleeve or sleeveless. That just won’t do for end of October in St. Louis. It may be warm, but it might be frozen solid. Butterick had one (1!) long sleeved shirtdress. One would think vintage is out again.

H came over on a Friday night and we worked to fit the bodice to her shape. Yep, needed adjusting, though Butterick tends to run shortwaisted, which is exactly what she needs.

The next morning, I turned my rough basting of the bodice into pleated and finished seams.

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This particular pattern takes it’s bodice shaping from 4 sets of 3 pleats, 2 sets front and back. It doesn’t work so well with this large of a pattern: the breaks get really obvious up close. However…It’s a Halloween costume.

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Adding the skirt makes the not-quite-eveness of the pattern show up more. Looking at my leftover fabric, I started cursing, because the grain of the print is at an angle to the grain of the fabric. Dang it. I don’t have quite enough at this point to recut the bodice so that it either doesn’t match at all or mirrors. ARGH. H says don’t worry about it, see: costume. Ok. At least that’s not another trip to the fabric store. I think adding a collar will help though.

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Hey, that breaks up the pattern obviousness, and makes it a whole lot less dark! Score! Buttons and hem, and we’re done.

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H has the yellow belt and the red shoes, and we should be done with the final costume sometime this coming week, which means I can finish up that other project with the star fabric that came in the mail a while back…

Draping in progress

Thursday’s mail held fabric. Shocking, I know.

I have a private commission for a dress due in late October. The way my process works is that I talk with a client, we discuss what they’re thinking of (occasion, colors, fabrics, styles), possibly we trade images from google back and forth, I make  a couple of sketches, get a down payment, and off we go!

This dress is primarily about the draping, so I spent a little time arranging it on Jane, my dress dummy, looking at fit and lines. And I remembered to take a progress photo!

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This is a very rough approximation of the finished product, as I haven’t even cut the fabric yet. But I want it to have that one shouldered ease, the abbreviated open sleeve, ruched waistband, and a long skirt. The bare lines of this aren’t going to change a whole lot, just (hopefully) become more refined.

 

Hey, look! A redesign!

Please excuse the growing pains as I work on yet another redesign of the site. I’ve enlisted some help and maybe I can manage to keep things more up to date with new pieces. Because, as we all know, remembering to photograph what I’ve made and then remembering to post it is not something I’m particularly good at. But we’ll make another try.  This is a complete overhaul, because this time, I’ve set up a shopping cart here, rather than through Etsy.