Family Affair

Hello there,

In December, I talked with a lovely lady who wanted me to make a skirt for her and matching skirts for her little princesses. She said there was no hurry so we took some time going back and forth online until she found the fabric she wanted. In January, when I went to get the measurements, it turned into the skirts plus vests and bow-ties for her king and prince and a pair of shorts for the prince.
I'm really grateful for the opportunity.

Enjoy the pictures below.
** I pressed the clothes before delivery; please excuse the creases below. **

All Together

King - Vest & Bow Tie

 

Queen - Gathered Skirt

Prince - Vest, Bow-Tie and Shorts

Princesses - 2-Tier Circle Skirts with Netting

Father & Son Set

Some Smooth Jazz

Always Learning ...

Hello there,

Back in SS1 (10th grade equivalent?), we were a handed a sheet of paper that listed occupations and what subjects you should be good at to succeed in them. Based on my teen-self's academic prowess, I had a lot of options (a lot) but I was drawn to engineering. The one thing I like about being an engineer today is the ability to assess a problem and design a solution. For my ZCD work, I usually break down the item to its basic shapes in my head and them build it up from there (unless I'm using a prepared pattern).

Today's post is a bit of a show-and-tell. I have added 4 more items to my 'I-know-how-make-this' list and I wanted to share them with you. If you've browsed the Etsy store (here), you know that besides clothing, I can make accessories. Until now, accessories = bowties, purses and earrings. After today, I can add wristlets, lapel flowers custom bias tape and peplum belts.

These new items were custom orders and I did some research, reviewed tutorials and figured out how to make them. Yay for learning!!!

Lapel Flowers

These are rectangular pleated strips with one zig-zag edge, can you tell?

This one is a folded over rectangular gathered strip. 

Wristlet 

(Zippered Pouch with Wrist Strap)

Had to rip and re-do a couple seams but I got it!

DIY Bias Tape

Peplum Belt

(hi-low style)

Start with a hi-low circle skirt, cut a line down the center, add a long waistband.

 

It's A Wrap (Or 2)

Hi there,

I finally made my first wrap dress ... well, first and second wrap dresses.

I've made a couple of faux wrap dresses for myself but never an actual wrap dress because I have this nagging concern that one day, the 'wrap' won't be in the right place at the right time to cover up them private bits. But that's just me. My new client (referred by another client, thank you Ms. M) ordered 2 identical wrap dresses.

I'll be delivering them to her this weekend ... so excited.

Enjoy the pictures below.

My initial plan was to make both dresses simultaneously: cut pieces at the same time, sew bodice on one then the other, sew belt on one then the other and attach skirt on one then the other.

But then I decided to prepare one for a fitting so that if adjustments were needed, I'd only have to adjust one. As it turned out, Ms. O wanted the skirt shorter and the style changed to a pencil skirt.

Lining up seams like a BOSS.

All done now.
There's fastenings on the inside of the belt for securing the left half of the wrap.

K.I.S.S.

Hello there,

Have you ever been told to KISS?
Here's the nice translation: KISS = Keep It Simple Sweetheart.
It's something that has been passed down from one engineer to another at my 'other' job. The underlying advice is that while you can make things very complicated and fancy, you really should consider that keeping it simple may just be the way to go.

Why am I telling you this?
The feature piece in this week's blog post is about keeping it simple. I watch as many fashion design competition shows as I can and I often hear the judges criticize the designers for creating something that has already been done. That used to make me think that a fashion designer must always create something  new and different. There are many ideas that have I have tossed out because a Google search revealed that someone else had done it ... that was until my discussion with my aunt who owns her own design company: Osuare. She explained that sometimes, to make an impact, you just have to look for the simple things and do them your own way.

So here's my simple double peplum top; my way.
If you like it, you can place an order and I'll make one for you too. :)

Iro Wrap Skirt

Hello there,

Happy New Year!!!!

It's my 1st post of the year!!!

... and we're 3 weeks into 2016.
To be honest, I wanted my 1st post to be something grand and special like I've seen on other sewing and DIY blogs; some big revelation of an awesome resolution or a sneak peek at a new project I'm working on/just completed.
This isn't any of those and I'm just going to continue doing my thing ... there'll be time for grand posts later ... keep an eye out :).

I made this outfit on something like a whim.

I bought the red crepe fabric initially to make a dress to wear to the wedding that I made this gold lace dress for. I was going to put gold applique on the dress. Well, that didn't happen. I spent all my time on orders and ran out of time to make something for myself.
I did start another red dress with gold applique later - I'll let you know when it gets finished :). 

I've had the lace fabric for over a year: it was a gift from my mum and I was saving it for something special. I hadn't deemed anything special enough so in the stash it stayed. I saw an outfit by Deola Sagoe on Instagram and it looked like a wrapper but fit like a skirt; at least that's how it looked to me. I thought I'd try something similar but knee length and since the red crepe fabric was a perfect match, this outfit was born.

Enjoy the pictures :)

Front View

Side View 

(notice where it 'wraps'?)

Back View

(notice where it 'wraps'?)

'Twas a bit chilly out (not like the 'freezy' it is now *sigh*)