Jacket + Sweater = Cropped Jacket + Dress

A good quality but rather boring plaid jacket is spiced up by being cut under the bust into two pieces. The sleeves are cut at the same line. Trim is sewn around the cut edges. The bottom of the jacket is sewn on to the bottom of the sweater. The sleeve bottoms are opened up and sewn together in a square. Triangles are sewn at the side seams to create a bottom for the handbag. A stiff insert is fit into the bottom of the handbag. Eyelets are made at the top of the handbag seams. Split key rings insert into the eyelets, and the handle attaches to the rings.

Tools and Materials

Jacket
Sweater
2 yards trim
2 eyelets
2 split key rings
Stiff insert for handbag bottom
Handbag handle
Thread, scissors, pins, sewing machine

Cut the jacket, lining and sleeves under the bust, adding ½” seam allowance for the trim, and sew the trim on top. The bottom of the jacket and lining is sewn on to the bottom of the sweater just above the ribbing. Place right sides together and stitch.

The sleeve bottoms are opened up at the seam opposite the buttons, which will be at the top of the handbag. Pull the lining up out of the way, and sew the jacket sleeves together down the sides and across the bottom. Triangles are sewn at the inside bottom of the two side seams to create a flat bottom for the handbag. A stiff insert is fit into the bottom of the handbag. Then sew the lining together around three sides, add the triangles, and push the lining into the handbag. Eyelets are made at the top of the handbag seams according to the package directions. Split key rings insert into the eyelets, and the handle attaches to the rings.

The cropped jacket and handbag were shown in the 2009 Summer Issue of Altered Couture Magazine.

      Jacket and sweater before

   






      

Fringed Tweed Jacket

A thrift store tweed jacket gets a new look similar to a jackets seen on the current Chanel runway. The sleeves are cropped just below elbow length and fringed 1". The sleeve linings are turned under and sewn together with the coordinating braid attached just above the fringe.

The  bottom of the jacket is cropped at the waistline, fringed 1", lining turned under and sewn together with the braid around the bottom, front openings and neckline. Some of the cropped off material is cut 4" wide and pieced to about 48" long, and gathered to form the ruffle around the neckline.

Chest pockets are removed from the original jacket and replaced on the new design.

Because the tweed is busy and a loose weave, it turned out OK to zigzag stitch the buttonholes closed. They really don't show. I used 3 yards of upholstery braid. The one thing I would do differently is to taper the back a bit lower than the front.

Jacket Before

Two Sweater Hoodies for a Little Girl and Her Doll

As a donation to the Tiny Tim School silent auction I knitted two sweaters in a cashmere blend yarn. The patterns came from a book called Knits for Girls and Dolls by Charlene Schurch. Each pattern includes the matching sweater for an 18" doll, in this case Fancy Nancy. The doll's dress was decorated with butterflies, so I used butterfly buttons for the closures and smaller ones on the pockets. The pockets were not part of the pattern. I added them myself, and included a hanky for the girl and her doll.

Here are the directions for the pockets, using the same yarn and needles as used for the sweaters:

For the Girl (4T)                                                
Cast on 3 stitches                                            
K 3
P
K front and back of stitch (KFB), K, KFB (5)
P
KFB, K3, KFB (7)
P
KFB, K5, KFB (9)
P
KFB, K7, KFB (11)
P                                                                  

KFB, K9, KFB (13)

P

KFB, K11, KFB (15)

P (This ends the flap of the pocket)

P a row, K a row for 21 rows, end on wrong

side, bind off.

For the Doll
Cast on 3 stitches
K3
P
KFB, K, KFB (5)
P
KFB, K3, KFB (7)
P
KFB, K5, KFB (9)
P (End of pocket flap)
P a row, K a row for 13 rows, end on wrong side, bind off.

For both sweaters
Weave in tails. Sew flaps down with buttons. Sew to sweater fronts using mattress and shoulder seam stitches.

Another pattern I used from this book for an 18" doll is shown below. I really like the concept of matching clothes for a girl and her doll.

Harumika Fashions

For a Christmas present I gave granddaughter Hannah, age 6, a Harumika fashion design system. It includes a Barbie-size dress form, a tiny camera with a USB connection, and a few assorted pieces of fabric. I added to her fabric selection from my stash of fabrics and trims from years of sewing and quilting.

The dress form has a slit in the back to hold the fabric on the form without need for sewing.

When photos of the designs are taken with the camera and the Harumika software, they automatically upload to the Harumika Web site. The pics must be approved by them, which takes a couple of days, the then they can be added to the users lookbook. Any digital camera can be used and the pics uploaded to the site.

Hannah loves to design fashion for the dress form and she loves to pick out cute and interesting combinations of clothing for herself.

Craft stores sell self sticking crystals and pearls that make great embellishments. I gave her some mixes of different buttons. She sticks the buttons on with straight pins.

DC Fashion Week January 15-21

The DC Fashion Week, held January 15-21, 2010,  had an international viewpoint. I saw several new designers (new to me) that I liked. The Web site is http://www.dcfashionweek.org/dcfw_runwayphotos.htm.

 All photos are credited to Damion Miller/DCFASHIONWEEK.org.

The majority of fashions are very wearable, and the models were not all size 0 (refreshing). The slide system is the balkiest I have seen, but I made it work.

This outfit is by HeyDari.

Lili Forrest designed this confection.

Atelier Gianni Lilliu designed this interesting handling of satin draping.

Stockholm Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2010

I just looked at all of the designers featured in Stockholm Fashion Week, February 1-3:

http://www.fashionweekbyberns.com/

Overall I think they are excellent. The shows had a very youthful, vibrant vibe to them. I enjoyed watching the videos more than the slide shows. I especially liked the following designers:

Ewa i Walla

                                                                      

Stylein

Filippa K

The amazing thing about the Filippa K show was the music by singer/songwriter Hajen. She blew me away. She is not on iTunes, but she is on MySpace:

http://www.myspace.com/hajensmyspace

I have to hear more from her.

Watching this made me want to visit Sweden.

Quilting and Art-to-wear Projects Go Together

Over the years those who sew and never throw anything away amass quite a collection of fabric scraps. Our foremothers knew exactly what to do with them--make quilts. I have made two completed watercolor quilts, and one quilt top awaiting finishing, all intended to be quilt hangings. Watercolor quilts can be made with 2" square pieces of fabric arranged so that the colors and values are graded like a watercolor wash. I used a pre-gridded piece of flannel fabric pinned to a large piece of styrofoam board set up vertically so that the fabric pieces could be placed on it and viewed from a distance, essential to getting the graded effect. Full instructions are in the book Watercolor Quilts by Pat Maixner Magaret and Donna Ingram Slusser.

"Floral Heart I", 27" x 27"

"Light and Shadow" 25"x32"

This is the unfinished quilt top. In the years since I began the quilt, my quilting taste has become more freeform and spontaneous. Now I am thinking that the quilting should be with sparkly threads and yarns in an exuberant pattern. Well, it's on my list.

"Denver Dawn" (unfinished) 24"x36" (approx.)