drakeula

modified cute short sleeve vintage sweatshirts with pintucks, pleats, patches.etc. * modified white t-s with puff sleeves * look up tips for sewing lingerie and make a notebook devoted only to what is learned. * more tea plates with new words * hand embroidered birds, anchors, quotes, flowers etc on everything from slips, panties and sweaters * always keep eyes out at thrift stores for dresses that have great potential for reconstruction or embelishment that will turn them into one of a kind must haves * pay attention to what is going on in the world of fashion and blogs by keeping a list of blogs that are kept up om every couple of days * go to the antique malls, flea markets, and private screening when you can to get some inspiration as well as some enexpensive sewing notions. bring the camera and snap pictures of things that you want to replicate * take time as often as daily to learn a sewing step that is hard. do it until it is mastered. (i.e button holes, zippers, etc) * look online for cheap patches, ribbon, lace, fabrics etc * spend more time on hand painting patches because i thought it would be really beautiful to put them on pillow cases sewn on by embroidery thread and then thick silk ribbpon & lace or fur at the end * pillow cases in general are a neat idea to play with and it seems most people forget about them * look on the internet for rare sewing notions that will set my items apart from others. for example, rhaychell brought over these hand crochetted collars and cuffs that were something like 50 years old! and they were lovelier that any lace collar one could find today. i took a simple little black forever 21 dress and added this huge amazing collar and sweet little 2" nearly matching cuffs. it is better than buiying a new dress this way * learn how to construct items perfectly as well as knowing the order in which items must be sewn. * iron on transfers * i love quotes. i love quotes by classic poets. i love words so much that i think they not only belong in book (cute t-shirt: bookworm) but i think they also belong on clothing as a way of defining ourselves even more than we already do * learn to sew with feathers * make journals out of vintage childrens books * learn how to do basic hand beading, sequins, and studding to give clothes an eveen better one of a kind look * use embroidery to write things on the butt of the lingerie. maybe iron on transfer erotica quotes too * paint patches that would other wise be plain. * paint on the fabric to create your own pattern or simply just one picture. also, sequins and beads are a nice litte touch to hand painted things * sew designs onto clothes like bonnie and clyde did * otrich, peacock and indian feathers are glorious and should be used a lot more than they are * totally reconstruct old sweaters! this is seattle so it makes sense that people would invest in something that can be worn constantly while making them the cool person who is wearing something everyone else is noticing and wanting.

*********Reconstructed and Embellished Sweaters *****************

sequins * beading * patches * chains * broaches * patches * lace * hand sewn ruffles * ribbon * tassles * fur * panels * zippers in sleeves * puff sleeves * short sleeves * pin tucks * pleats * buttons * Hoods! * embroider words, stars or use it to highlight something * install large bib type of necklace as a collar * decorative sewing * use vintage scarves as lining in the sweaters that are turned into cardigans * patches * add victorian collars and cuffs * use dainty little eye and hooks for the thinner sweaters * cut out large anchor patch out of navy fabric and embelish with military buttons on cuffs and front * i love the idea of creating a button on panel on the front of cardigans * turn the shoulder of the sweater into the militairy look by adding the stripe and brass button * learn how to install a sort of simple bustle in the back a sweater. it would be really beautiful if donw in very very light weight fabric and only a few extra layers * learn how to install a similar panel in sleeve and cuff. it would hopefully give off a very elegant victorian cuff * sew a black bat cut out patch on the back of a sweater. sew a pink heart onto his body. use beads, sequins, paint and embroidery floss to embellish. use large black ruffle on the cuff and stitch the word "batty" somewhere cute and small * Embellish cuffs, collars and hoods quite elaboratly. it seems to set the garment far far apart from others and people are usually drawn to the extra bit of drama * don't be afraid of adding charms that actually go with a sweaters theme and beads, sequins, ribbon and lace are being used.* use beautiful brocades for the panels. i can't think of how to descibe them right now but it would be like if i cut out a piece of the cuff and installed the brocade there instead. just love love love that * don't be afraid to use cameos as well when doing the more victorian sweaters * possibly use the trypewriter keys from the market as button decoration * use tea dyes for laces and ribbon if it is lacking in color. i really love how subtle that always looks * i love the idea of turning a pull over into a zip up or turning a button up cardigan into a zip up. it's a fun surprise and it seems that by adding motorcycle zippers the look becomes a little more tough * i really want to lean how to tailor a sweater perfectly so as to flatter a womans body perfectly. most sweaters are pretty boxy but i want mine to be very fitted to every curve while making it very very fem * add pockets from other things or create them from an interesting and ornate fabric * don't be afraid of color! pay attention to color combos that are appealing and in that season. while the classic black, gray, and white is always good it's not as much fun as color! * try to think of something that is your signature and is a part of every item. it would be cool to maybe have something on the inside wrist of each sweater or maybe something like raggedy and andy's heart on their torso * somehow maybe get my idea of a little wire hanger on the inside of the neck. i always loved that * do some chunky beading down the front and on the cuffs of sweaters. maybe even sort of falling down the front along the zipper or buttons * maybe make themed collections as i go such as: paris, mexican folklore * victorian * militairy * birds * morose things like bats, coffins, spiders * tombstones * maybe put together a few in honor of female singers that are wonderful role models like cat power, joni mitchell. tori amos and billie holiday * oh and the 1960's * okay i have to start a new post because tbis is getting to be insane and taking on a life of its own.
xoxo