Celtic Dreams/The Flipping Pleats Skirt

It's the week of Christmas. I'm sure that many of you are like me, feeling as though something is missing. While Christmas is not about the parties, the gifts, and new dresses, it is about celebrating, and I think that  not being able to celebrate as we typically would just leaves us feeling a little lost. Rather than allowing myself to get caught up in what I can't do, I've decided to focus on what I can do. I have started leaving a little earlier when I take Berkley out for his last walk of the evening, and I explore streets where the holiday lights are especially pretty. I love how the glow hits my face, and it makes me smile.

Another thing that I have decided to do is put on a pretty holiday feeling garment. Who cares if I can't go to a party?!! And...why wait for a special occasion that may or may not happen? We should celebrate each and every day as they truly are a gift. 

My husband and I typically take our holiday picture at the American Opera Society's holiday gala. But, of course, this year, no gala. So, we got dressed in something that felt like the holidays, and took pictures on our front porch. I recently made a pair of red plaid tights. I have been wanting a pair of red plaid tights for a very long time. I also decided to go all out and make a matching red plaid turtleneck. I look like I just fell off the Celtic boat, but so what, it makes me happy ;)

I paired the tights and the turtleneck with a red pleated skirt that I made for my Fabulous Free Pattern Friday series. The skirt has a hip yoke. I just used my favorite pencil skirt. The pleats are a series of 8 rectangles. The magic is in how they are folded at the hem.

This is a picture that was taken when I originally posted the instructions.

The hem of the skirt is folded at an angle.  

You can find the instructions to the skirt HERE. It's really quite easy to do. As you can see in the video, the pleats swish about making it a truly fun skirt to wear. I can't believe that I made this skirt 10 years ago!!! And, I still have those boots! 

I hope that you are finding ways to celebrate the season. I'm breaking out Berkley's Christmas collar today. He may hate me, but it will make me laugh!!!

Rhonda

OOTD and Thoughts On Me Made May

I can't wait to get dressed this morning! I've been waiting to wear this skirt and today is the day. The skirt is made from a beautiful piece of vintage jacquard that's also a border print.  

It has big hip pockets.

Front pleats that radiate from the base of the darts.

I underlined the fabric with cotton batiste, and finished off the hem with a piece of yellow bias tape.

The skirt is lined in an off white silk charmuese, which, needs to be pressed :/ 

I'm wearing a pair of black and white striped pumps. I like the unexpected combination.

I have decided to participate in Me Made May this year. I won't be doing daily posts here. If you would like to follow along, I'll be posting on Instagram. You can find me by searching Sewbussted. At the end of the month, I'll do a recap here on the blog and share my discoveries.

MeMadeMay began as a way for sewists to shout to the world, "I"m sewing!" And also to celebrate the incredible work that goes into a made by you wardrobe. For some, I think the experience is still the same, for others, it has morphed into something more, and that's me. 

Now, I've been sewing since Adam and Eve walked the face of the earth, maybe even longer ;), so a sewn wardrobe is nothing new. What I am looking forward to is scrutinizing my wardrobe, asking myself questions about what I have, and what I really need. I am also looking forward to discovering why there are pieces that I love, but just don't wear, at least not too often. And then too, being honest and getting rid of what I really don't like.

For many of us, May is a wonderful time of the year to do this. The weather is changing and we're looking forward to getting into lighter and brighter clothes. But, if you live in a climate like Chicago, there are days when you have to pull on something warm. Believe it or not, we actually had a freeze warning last night! So this time of year gives me the chance to actually look at my entire wardrobe rather than just a season. I think there is something to be said for doing this over an entire month. Our moods change, one day is not the same as the last, so it gives us time to really delve a little deeper than just taking a day to go through your wardrobe. 

I'm looking forward to a fun and informative month!

Monday Morning Inspiration/Skirts and a Chance To Vote

Welcome to Monday!!!

Last week I shared a story about my favorite childhood outfit, a pair of orange corduroy pants and a little cashmere sweater that I wore until it was fit for nothing more than the garbage. I was a true tomboy. In fact, my mother says that she never knew that a little girl could smell so bad after a day of playing. I played hard! 

As much of a tomboy as I was as a child, I have turned into such a girl ;) During the summer, I live in dresses and come fall and winter, I love nothing more than a nice warm pair of tights and a skirt. 

Over the weekend, I was on the Pinterest website trying to find some innovative quilting ideas, when I just happened upon THIS website. The two aren't related, but that's how the internet goes! The clothes are high end designer pieces, and lots of fun to look at. The skirts really caught my attention. I was able to pull out a few that I liked, so I thought I would share them with you this morning.

1.A color blocked a-line skirt with an asymmetrical hem.   

2.A pencil skirt with a lovely over drape.

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3.I especially like this skirt. The pleats radiate out of the darts. For most of us, the drape would need to be a bit wider as this skirt is a little difficult to sit in without most of your leg, or other things ;), showing.

4.This skirt has the large drape in the front and back. Talk about great movement when you walk!

I have been asked a number of times what to do with a very large print. I thought that this skirt was a great use of a very large print.

5. This is a 6-gore skirt with side panel pockets. Notice how the pockets stand away from the skirt. Believe it or not, this is a very slimming look.

Such a pretty drape.

I included this skirt as I loved how the print was used. It's from Isabel Marant and is a cool, $1,360.00! The waistband is elasticized.

This skirt is a bit of a throw back to the 70's, but I found it rather fun. Maybe it's the lacing that I liked so much. 

An interesting way to break up a pattern. Grosgrain ribbon would work well for this.

A lovely take on Mondarin art.

What a fun skirt this would be to wear! A simple way to duplicate this would be to buy your fabric and then buy yarn to match. My creative juices are flowing!!! Stay tuned as this might get done sooner than later. The skirt is nothing more than a 1/4 circular skirt with a hip yoke. You can see how to draft a 1/4 circular skirt HERE.

Did you notice that the first 4 skirts are numbered? (A fifth skirt has been added to the mix, the red skirt with the side pockets, so place your vote for 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5) Well, here's your chance to vote. Which one would you like to see me draft? The one that gets the most votes will win. To vote, just leave a message! 
You may remember that I drafted out this skirt last year.

A number of you actually made up the skirt and did a fabulous job. You can find the tutorial and all the lovely makes HERE.
Happy Monday Everyone!!!

Monday Morning Inspiration

Good Morning and a very Happy Monday to everyone!!

Last week we took a look at some very interesting details. I thought that today we would take a look at pleats, interesting pleats!  By just manipulating the fabric, we can turn what would just be a basic garment into a "wow, look at that" outfit. Many of these are quite over the top,but it's more about what it can inspire. Just take a look and enjoy! 

 What a lovely way to turn a basic jacket into something truly special.

I came across this picture and thought that it was especially interesting. With a little more research, I found out that it was part of an entire collection by Georgia Hardinge.

 You may not want an entire outfit with the detail, but a touch would be great.l

Isn't it amazing what can be done by just manipulating a little fabric.

Have a fabulous day!!

Rhonda

Sewing Indie Month, Pattern Hacking Part 2

I'm back with a few pictures. I think this is my new favorite skirt!!

In the event that you missed this morning's post, this is the Zlata Skirt from Stepalica that I made for this week's Pattern Hacking post. You can find the earlier post here, http://www.rhondabuss.blogspot.com/2014/05/sewing-indie-month-pattern-hacking_23.html
Check out the scarf I'm wearing. I didn't start the day off with the scarf. It was a lovely gift from Lisa of http://www.poldapop.com/, and it looks great with my outfit. How lucky am I?!!!!

 The skirt is just as cute from the back as it is from the front. Love it!

I see I missed a belt look :)) Oh well. You get the idea.
So as I said in the earlier post, just because a pattern states that you can't use a certain fabric, like stripes, with just a little manipulation of the pattern a lot of things can sometimes be possible.

Sewing Indie Month, Pattern Hacking

Oh...I had the best of intentions yesterday, but alas no post, so today is catch up day.
The pattern that I chose for this week's hack is the Zlata Skirt from Stepalica Patterns.
 
You may remember seeing a version of the skirt on the cover of the April/May issue of Sew News. Nice!

Here's my version. You may look at the skirt and wonder what I did. Notice that I used 2 different fabrics, the larger polka dot and the small polka dot. The pattern instructs you to not use a stripe as the skirt pattern has a bias cut to it. In order to give the skirt a striped effect,  

I cut the pattern apart along the fold lines of each pleat,

 added seam allowance and then cut my strips in a stripe manner.

I had this great batik print that I decided would accent the black and white polka dots in a little unexpected manner.

I made piping and piped the top and lower edge of the yoke,

 as well as the pockets.

I had just enough of the batik to cut a bias binding for the hem.

I lined the skirt with a piece of orange silk.

Now you see that just because a pattern tells you that you can't do something, it doesn't mean that it can't be done. True enough, if you were to use a stripe fabric and cut the skirt as the pattern comes out of the envelope, it would not work. But by cutting the pattern apart, you can then manipulate the pattern and give it so many more possibilities.

I'm wearing the skirt today, so I should have pictures a little later.

If you would like to enter and have a chance to win all the fabulous prizes that have been posted for the pattern hacking category of Sewing Indie Month, be sure to check out this post, http://www.rhondabuss.blogspot.com/2014/05/announcing-sewing-indie-month.html  and link your creations there. Happy Hacking!!

Monday Morning Inspiration

Happy new week everyone!! After my computer fiascos of last week, I am staking my claim that this will be a wonderful week. Gotta have faith!! So far, so good :)

While going through some old pictures that I had torn out of magazines for inspiration, I came across something that I decided to research and while doing so, I came across a site that had trends for the upcoming spring season. I thought they were rather fun, so I thought I would share them with you this morning.

Fashion Trends For Spring 2014

Baseball jackets are everywhere. Notice that two different sites agreed on the Marc Jacobs jacket. If you want to be on trend this season, quickly get a baseball jacket made up.  

Of course floral prints are always big, no news here.

Gingham. A little on the vintage side, but I think it's always so fresh and pretty.

Just this morning, Couture Allure posted this lovely vintage gingham dress on her blog. Love the use of the smaller gingham print as trim. Pretty neckline too. 

Culottes!!!! I love culottes!!

 Pleated Skirts, notice that they are small little pleats. Gives a fun little swish factor!

 Fringe! Talk about swish!!!

Two different sites agreed on the fringe trend.

Paint splatter

 Mules are back, yea!!

I'm not so sure about this selection of shoes.

Funky Hats

If you think that you might like to give the paint splatter thing a try, I found this on Pinterest.

I thought that it might be fun to do, that is if you can bear the thought of painting a freshly labored over new garment!! Here's a link to the tutorial, http://daretodoityourself.blogspot.it/2012/05/diy-dress-pollock-impulse.html
For a little theatrical fun, check out this video clip from the 1999 Alexander McQueen runway show.

Not something I would want to do, but I thought it was interesting nonetheless.
This season it looks like we have permission to pull out our vintage ginghams, mules and culottes. We can then release our inner child by throwing paint around all while wearing a baseball jacket and cap with a matching fringed skirt ;)
Hope you have a super fun week! I'm hoping to :)
Rhonda