Playing with Houndstooth

A black and white houndstooth weave jacket was the inspiration for playing with the houndstooth design on the plain turquoise silk sheath.

To make the jacket a bit more playful, I removed the velvet color and slip stitched closed the neckline fabric. The jacket was cut off and refinished below the bust in front dipping down to just below the waistline in back to make more of a caplet. The lapels were closed in front with two buttonholes and two shell buttons added.

The sheath was shortened to knee length and spray painted with silver paint in an enlarged houndstooth design. The back of the stencil was sprayed with tack adhesive so that it would lie very flat on the fabric.

The Web site www.thescottishweaver.com has examples of several different types of houndstooth weaves. The one in the jacket is called Turnberry, so I enlarged and printed out a sample of that design. I used the enlargement as the template for cutting the stencil.








Tools and MaterialsDress
Jacket
Two buttons
Stencil paper
Heavy duty craft knife
Spray paint
Spray tack adhesive
Transparent tape

Sewing machine

Tips

Shake the spray paint and clean the nozzle frequently.

Wipe the stencil off front and back before each use.

Mask areas around the stencil so that overspray does not ruin the design.

Soft, Feminine, Victorian Inspired Outfit

Sheath before

The plain but pretty silk sheath started my creative thinking. Remove the cutwork decoration from a satin slip and sew behind the scoop neck. This picks up the peach color. Remove the lace from the bottom of the slip and sew it to the lining of the dress so that it hangs about 1” below the dress hem. This picks up the cream color.

Lingerie before

The baby doll top had a slit up the middle, which I sewed closed. I put snaps at the shoulders to hold the top in place on the dress. The dress and lacy top were included in the Spring 2008 issue of Altered Couture magazine.

Shrug before

The rose shrug was made from a long-sleeved silk pajama top. Cut off the sleeves to short sleeve length, about 7” from the top of the shoulder, and finish the cut edge with edging lace. Cut off the collar and front button and buttonhole plackets. There was a pocket, which I removed very carefully. Cut off the bottom so that the shrug fits comfortably under the bust. From the bottom piece cut two ties 4” wide and about 18” long. Sew these to the front of the shrug at the bottom so they can be tied together. Sew edging lace all around the neckline, ties and bottom of the shrug.

I found two lacy rose decorations on sale in the bridal department of the fabric store, but they were bright white. To make them blend with the creamy shades in the outfit, I made some strong tea with hot water in a bowl and dipped in the roses. Perfect!

Sew the rose decorations on the shrug near the shoulders using a zigzag stitch. With the small sharp scissors cut away the fabric from behind the roses for a sheer look.

Belt

The cream, peach and rose colors reappear in the braided belt. Cut 3” wide strips from the three fabrics with a length of waist size, plus 36”, for each strip color, piecing as needed. Sew a seam along the length of each strip and turn to form tubes. Hold the three strips together 18” from one end and sew through all three to anchor them. Then braid the strips to the waist size. Sew the three strips together again. Trim the tubing tassels to the same length on each side. Slip two beads onto each tube, and knot below the beads to hold them on.

Hearts Aflutter

Dress before


This hot pink silk dress hung in the silk section of my favorite thrift store for a long time, so I decided to take it home and find a way to spice it up. The look of the stars strewn across the sky on a clear night or autumn leaves fluttering out of a tree in the wind inspired the diagonal cascade of hearts on this dress.

I removed the large foam shoulder pads from the dress and shortened the long sleeves to lighten the style and also to have some fabric to experiment with.

Hearts were drawn on stencil paper and cut out with a craft knife. I taped additional stencil paper around the cut out stencil to act as a mask.

The back of the stencil was sprayed with the mounting adhesive and placed on the dress. The heart openings were then sprayed with white spray paint. The background for the blue and red hearts was sprayed hite. I dabbed this spray to make if more opaque. When the spray was dry, I drew in the blue, red and pink hears free hand.

Voila, the finished dress.

Here is what I used to alter this dress:

Dress
Stencil paper
Heavy duty craft knife
Tulip Fabric spray paint
Fabric pens
Spray mounting adhesive
Pen
Transparent tape
Sewing machine