Black Stash Jacket part 2

I cut the front of the blue blazer using this tutorial.  Then I added navy blue bias tape to the edges.  

I want the jacket to have a military feel to it without copying any actual military uniform. Originally, I was only going to have just these three bars on the front (anyone know the name of this type of embellishment?) 

But I it looked incomplete so I added more bars that diminish in size.

I added royal blue, satin ribbon down the center of each yellow bar so it wouldn't look so blocky, then satin stitched around the raw edges.  This yellow polyester material frays like crazy!  Worse than costume satin!

Then I designed a cuff that echoes the design elements of the yellow and blue bars.  Again, I didn't want to copy any particular military uniform so I avoided using stripes that designate rank. We want this play and its costumes to feel as though children are playing out the story using things they might have found in an attic or grandparents closet or the like.  A kid might find a fancy jacket and think it looks military enough.

 The cuffs are only pinned on because I need the two actors who will be wearing the jacket to try it on.  Two characters wear the jacket: First, Lord Astor, who is captain of a secret mission to find 'star stuff.'  One of the reasons that I didn't want to use British Military style is because his mission is top secret and unofficial so the British Navy would not want it known they're involved.  The second character is Black Stash who steals the jacket from Lord Astor.

*Note, I ended up not using these cuffs.  I'll post a pic of the new ones as soon as I can.

Conrad's Jacket

So I started this a week ago.This is going to be the gold Elvis-ish jacket that Conrad Birdie wears on the Ed Sullivan show. Since Birdie is supposed to be going into the military the 'feel' of the outfit is supposed to be military in nature.  I'm using a McCall's uniform pattern but I shortened it at the waist to make it more American in style and also because I was running out of fabric.

I was going to do a step by step pictorial of making this coat but then people had my camera, then I forgot it one day and before I could get around to doing in-progress pix of its construction it was pretty much done. All that is left to do is have the actor try it on and then attach the rest of the lining.

We wanted the jacket to have an overstated 'Hollywood' feel so we chose a shiny (but not metallic) yellow-gold stripe.  There are five gold chevrons on the sleeves so he looks Rock-Star important but at the same time does not denote any real rank.  The pockets were added afterwards and they and the collar were trimmed with gold sequined gimp.  I had already started putting in the lining and it was a big pain to sew the pockets on underneath.  I don't recommend it!  Conrad is going to have some gold lame pants that will have a stripe going down each leg made of the jacket fabric.

Hello Birdie...

I may have mentioned that the spring play is Bye Bye Birdie.  Costume Shop is open and ready for business.  I think we are going for a Glee sort of feeling with bright bits of color all over.  One of my current obsessions:  Blaine  and his yellow pants.  Do you know that it's darn near impossible to find   mens' pants (in any colors other than blue, tan or black) anywhere for under $50?

Subtle Design

When I make a design sure I want it to catch people's attention.  It should jump out and say "YO!  HERE I AM!!" (especially if it's part of a Spoonflower contest) shouldn't it?  But sometimes you just want a fabric with a bit of design to make things visually interesting but not so much that it dominates the whole room or outfit or quilt it's going to be a part of.  When you consider what you personally might do with a fabric would you want such a bold design? The above design, called "Circle Star" I think works best as a tone on tone but it can carry a two color scheme as well.  If you are a Spoonflower contest voter and you feel this design is worthy, give it a click in this week's limited palette contest.  The palette is the purple and green and the theme is 'geometric.'  There are a lot of great In-Your-Face designs in the contest this week and I voted for a lot of them, but I didn't discount some of the more subtle designs.  You shouldn't either (and I'm not just saying that because I want your vote.)

Happy Easter!

You'd think with this being such a mild Winter, I'd be all set for Easter, but no. Haven't dyed eggs, haven't decorated, haven't bought candy OR a ham. Why is it when you get older EVERYTHING sneaks up on you? The good news is that with this being such a mild Winter that we have an actual Spring Break this year which is almost unheard of. Not one single snow day! I hope that all of you have a lovely Easter!

Paisley of the Week! Mom & Me aprons

How cute are these?   Your young helper in the kitchen will love teaming up with you in matching paisley aprons while you bake cookies for Santa or a homemade holiday meal.  Comes with a matching set of napkins!

Paisley of the Week! Red Hot & Random.

Red Hot & Random, by Laura Stinson of Designed by Laura on Etsy is already as eyecatching as a coral snake, but it was the fun title that caught my attention.  I have said in the past that people who are searching on Etsy will not be looking for your art by title and while that's true, if you can fit it into your Etsy description, a catchy title is definitely worth a click in my opinion!  I was not disappointed.  Like mine, Laura's Etsy shop features more than one kind of product. You can find funny painted candy bowls, original artwork, Christmas ornaments, paisley of course! all sortsa stuff,  just like a regular store, I definitely enjoyed having a look around there, so will you!  Go like Laura on FB and visit her blog too!

Paisley of the Week! Catch of the Day

Casting about for this week's paisley of the week I caught this super-fun, fancy fish t-shirt.  It's designed and handpainted on a sea of pink by Seema of Uncommon Flair.  Be sure to check out Uncommon Flair's whole line of hand done block printed clothing and eco-friendly glass pendants.

Pick Me!

I haven't submitted a design to a Spoonflower contest in a while,  but I liked the theme of this contest: Summer Flowers.  It had a limited palette which I like the challange of using and the colors they chose this time weren't too difficult to like.  Purple -n- Blue are always fine with me!  Anyway, if you have a minute to go and vote, I'd greatly appreciate it!  I know that I've not done a Paisley of the Week! this week.  Maybe I ought to change the name to Paisley of the Weak instead?  Next Monday for sure!

Daffodils

Spring is almost here!  To celebrate, Spoonflower has made Daffodils this week's Fabric of the Week Theme.  This is my entry, an ogee with an art nouveau/zen flavor.  Well, if that sounds a bit pretentious, it's still an ogee.  It's amazing (and intimidating) how many talented designers enter Spoonflower's contests.  If you get a sec, go and vote for my daffodils :)

Halloween Costume Tutorial--Pikachu Pokemon Easy!

Halloween Hurry Up!

Last night was the Fall Fest at our highschool. I had 2 costumes done and ready to go--more on the lovely flower costume later--when my son informed me that he wanted to be Pikachu. That night. Not to worry, I banged this out in and hour and it would've been even less time had I had a yellow hoodie. Hoodies = easier costumes. I thought I'd share with the rest o' the world.

You will need: A yellow hooded sweatsuit, a large empty cereal box, 3 rectangles of yellow felt (or 5 if you didn't have a hoodie), 2 squares of brown felt (OR some cheap brown fleece from 2 other projects--getting my money's worth out of that brown fleece!) and a square of black a hot glue gun or a bottle of fabric glue.

Step 1. Go on Google and find yourself a couple of Pikachu pix for reference.

Step 2. Cut your cereal box down the side so it's one big piece. Draw and then cut out a lightning bolt shaped tail.

Step 3. Put some glue onto the top2/3 of the tail and lay a piece of the yellow over it. Flip it over and cut out around the edges. Repeat for the other side. Put some glue on the remaining part of the tail. Position your brown felt flush against the yellow, flip it over, cut around the edges and repeat for the other side.

Step 4. Cut out some pointy ear shapes from the remainder of your cereal box.

Step 5. Glue on the yellow felt, as you did with the tail, leaving a diagonal bit at the top. Once you have both sides of each ear glued with the yellow felt, glue some of the black at the remaining part at the tips.

Step 6. To make a hood--skip if you've got a hoodie already--sew together your remaining two pieces of yellow felt together at the top and down one side in an *L* shape. Turn it inside out and viola! Insta-hood! Pin your hood to the collar of your yellow shirt. Glue or pin the ears onto the hood .

Step 7. Pin your tail to the seat of the yellow sweatpants and also to the mid-back of the sweatshirt so it sticks out at a right angle from your child's back.

Step 9. Use lipstick or Halloween make up to draw 2 red circles on your child's cheeks and you are ready to go!