Tag Archives: cotton

My Dad Wrote A Book, There Was An Event, So Of Course I Made Myself A New Dress!

19 Tuesday Jan 2016

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My dad wrote a really wonderful book called David Brower: The Making of the Environmental Movement which you can buy here. I’m totally biased of course, he’s my dad, and I helped transcribe interviews, but it really is a fantastic book about an inspirational man who’s work revolutionaized conservation, but who’s name is sadly widely unknown. I actually knew Dave. I had the privilege of growing up just down the hill from the Browers and got to go to waffle breakfasts at their house on many a Sunday.

UC Press published the book and fittingly threw a party at the David Brower Center in Berkeley last night. For this occasion, I decided to make myself a new dress. Unfortunately it was cold enough that I never took my coat off, but thankfully I took pictures before hand!

The design took a while to come to me, but with the rainy weather we’ve been having I decided to try something pretty different for me;  I added sleeves. To start, I went to my favorite fabric store in Berkeley called Stonemountain & Daughter where they have a truly spectacular selection of Batiks. The second I saw the bolt of this fabric, I fell in love. I ended up walking around the store with it clutched in my arms for a while, and after a bit realized that I was basically petting it I loved it so much!

When it came to construction, instead of dealing with darts like I normally do, I chose to go with princess seams to get a nice fit. During the construction process I kept getting major 80s flashes so I ended up raising the waist a bit and did my best to take out any fullness in the sleeves. It’s tough to get the fit you want and still be able to move your arms, but I think I managed in the end.

I had wanted to play with the colors and pattern of the fabric and piece it together in a cool way, but given the amount of fabric I had, my options ended up being pretty limited. I like the way it turned out a lot, but I wish I could’ve played with where the lighter color ended up a bit more.

For some reason I have been having some fit issues with the neckline in the last couple dresses I have made and had to give a little tuck at the neckline to get everything laying flat. Of course I ended up loving the detail; yay for happy accidents!

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Happy Thanksgiving!

26 Thursday Nov 2015

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Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you are all able to be with people you love and who love you today.

I spent my Saturday this past weekend doing something I haven’t done in quite a while….I made myself a new dress! My intention was to make a new dress for Thanksgiving, and actually I managed to finish it in time to wear it to a friends show on Saturday. So, some of you have actually already seen it in person!

The majority of the dress is made from fabric I don’t even remember buying. I was doing a bit of inventory recently and came across this batik. I LOVE it! I wish I could remember buying it. From far away it looks a bit like a camo print, but up close….its like a celestial explosion.

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The weather has finally decided its winter, so I opted to go for something a little longer than I normally do. The problem with this, was that I knew I didn’t have a lot of this fabric. Thankfully, this print is so multicolored, I knew I would be able to find a solid cotton to go well with it. I had thought it would be a chocolate brown, but it ended up being more of a dark brownish purple.

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The design for this dress was very much dictated by the amount of fabric I had to work with. I wanted as full skirt as I could get, but knew it would not be very full, given my small amount of fabric I had. The one small happy accident was the neck line. I used an old pattern to start and it ended up making the neckline WAY too wide. I had already sewn most of the bodice together, so instead of starting over, I managed to create the pleat at the neck and am thrilled with the results!

With my amazing photographer Drew Beck now living in NYC it falls to me to try to capture my new pieces in photo form. I appologize for the photo quality, I have no idea what I’m doing, but I’m trying!

Also, pardon the cardigan….its COLD!

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And an absolutely terrible indoor shot from my attempt at photos on Saturday, but I realized I didn’t get a shot of the front without the cardigan. Sorry!

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I Look a Little Different: Alterations Needed

19 Thursday Nov 2015

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For those of you who don’t know me, you may have noticed that I look a bit different in my photos these days. A few years ago I decided it was time to take back control of my body and joined Weight Watchers. It took me 13 months, but I lost 65 pounds and have now kept it off for almost 2 years.

The one downside is that not a single thing I’ve made myself in the last 8 years or so fits any more! That means I have a lot of alteration projects to work on.

The following are two looks I have previously posted that I altered to fit my new body. I have a ton more looks to do this with and will document the process for those pieces so you can see how I do it. (I just ran out of time with these two!)

Look #1 Original post here

photo by Drew Beck

photo by Drew Beck

photo by Drew Beck

 

Look #2 Original post here

photo by Drew Beck

photo by Drew Beck

 

photo by Drew Beck

Flower Girl Dress

12 Thursday Nov 2015

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I have a friend named Caroline whom I have known since I was 7. She is one of the kindest most effervescent people I know, and though she has not lived close for quite a while, and I don’t get to see her very often, she is one of those friends I would do anything for her.
The physical distance between us made me making her wedding dress impossible, but when she asked if I would make a flower girl dress, I jumped at the chance. This was my first time making a dress for a little girl, and also making and sending a dress to a client I’d never met! Happy to say it all worked out.

Caroline knew she wanted to go with bright warm colors for her wedding, and I found a truly beautiful cross dyed cotton and a coordinated pink for the sash.


I had measurements for the flower girl, and also asked for a size reference then actually bought a pattern, and altered to fit my design.

Here are the results!

 

photo by Elizabeth Minor

 

photo by Elizabeth Minor

 

And the back

Matching bow tie for baby brother

 

photo by Elizabeth Minor

 

A Simple Striped Skirt With Pockets

16 Thursday Feb 2012

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When I was a student at FIDM, we would often get fabric for a class that we never ended up using. One of these was a simple blue and white striped fabric that we were supposed to use to learn about matching up stripes in seams, but never did.

SO….I decided to do it myself. I made a simple 3 paneled skirt with in-seam pockets and learned that if you go slow and are careful, it really isn’t that hard to get striped to line up!

Here are the results, hope you enjoy!

WITH the petticoat:

photo by the amazing Drew Beck

WITHOUT the petticoat:

photo by the amazing Drew Beck

OUTSIDE!:

photo by the amazing Drew Beck

AND GIVING A TWIRL!!!:

photo by the amazing Drew Beck

For more of the amazing Drew Beck’s work click here.

What To Do With A Plain White Tee…

08 Wednesday Feb 2012

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I love hand sewing. I learned when I was really young and having a needle and thread in my hands is as comfortable as a pen or pencil. Most of my creations do not involve a lot of hand sewing though so I thought I’d give myself a little project to keep my fingers nimble.

I found these shell paillettes at JoAnn Fabrics and decided to get to work on adding a little fun to a plain white t-shirt. They came in two different sizes and I had a large one I used to use as a pendant.

I got to work by laying the shirt on the table and then playing around with the design. Once I was happy with where everything was placed, I took a photo and then did my best to recreate the pattern once I started hand sewing on each shell.

I also wasn’t super happy that the shirt was BRIGHT white, so I soaked it in some coffee for a few hours to change that up! It almost all washed out, but it left a slight yellow/brown tint to the shirt that went much better with the shells.

photo by the amazing Drew Beck

and lets not forget the back!

photo by the amazing Drew Beck

I love this shirt now. It eliminates the need for accessories and makes a fun noise when I walk! Looking to spruce something up? Let me know!

For more cool things by Drew, check out his site!

An Apron For Maman

25 Wednesday Jan 2012

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Two years ago for Christmas I made aprons for everyone in my family. The guys got custom-made reversible grilling aprons while I went a little more old school with the women. I wanted that prairie feeling so went with a Roman Square pattern for the front with 6 different fabrics for each and then added a waistband and attached a gathered skirt portion for the bottom with strips of each of the 6 fabrics. I did not end up putting pockets on them, I think it was a time issue….and one I should fix! All good aprons have at least one pocket in my opinion.

The one major design change I made was to do away with the standard behind the neck strap and waist tie. I wanted something that was not uncomfortable around the neck and felt nice and secure while you were wearing it. I came up with the crossing at the back and tying at the waist. I need to make the straps a little longer to help facilitate tying this on your own, but I like the final look and feel of the design.

Want your own apron? I’d love to make you one, any style, any fabric. Leave me a comment and we can get to work

-Katy

Archives – Suzanne

18 Wednesday Jan 2012

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Did you know? I have a super-power!

I have the ability to look at a fabric and know what it should become!

At least I’d like to think so.

This is my gorgeous friend Suzanne (or Suz). She was one of my very first commission, if not the first and that is super cool.

She came to me, wanting a summer dress that came to a V in the front, and pockets of course! Those were her only guidelines. So, we went to the fabric store and I found what I thought was one of the most beautiful fabrics I had ever seen and showed it to her for approval. She looked at me like I was a crazy person, but trusted me enough to let me go with it. And….

THIS is what happened:

photo by the amazing Drew Beck

It is a simple dress with a slight surplice top, coming to a V in the back as well. There is a waistband and the the skirt has a little fullness from some pleating. In-seam pockets as well.

photo by the amazing Drew Beck

photo by the amazing Drew Beck

Thanks Suz for being such a pro at modeling! and Drew Beck for the great pics.

Archives – Backless Dress

17 Tuesday Jan 2012

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This is a dress I actually made for myself. I have a pretty large tattoo on my back and wanted to make a dress to show it off at my cousin’s wedding…..it was also the final project for one of my classes at FIDM. I ended up not having time to finish it or put in a zipper before leaving for Boston and then sadly out-grew the dress. My friend Sarah on the other hand fit into it pretty near perfectly and became obsessed!

It is made of a cross-dyed cotton (fibers going one way are one color, fibers going the other way are another color….its how you make iridescent fabrics) of dark orange and burgundy. The dress is split into 8 panels to add all the fullness at the hem. There is a zipper up the side and it is fully lined in matching cotton for structure.

I am currently working on a new commission that is a completely new version of this dress….can’t wait to show you!

photo by the amazing Drew Beck

photo by the amazing Drew Beck

photo by the amazing Drew Beck

Thank to Sarah for being such a lovely model! and Drew Beck for taking such great shots

-Katy

A Skirt for Isaac and Becca’s Wedding!

16 Monday Jan 2012

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My dear friend Isaac married his love Becca yesterday.

I attended a party at their house afterwards, which was filled with love and laughter and dancing and drinking! It was a magical night.

So…what did I do that day? Made a new skirt of course! I have had another great Batik fabric lying around and finally found my inspiration. A paneled flared skirt that I could fit my petticoat under if I so desired.

Since this was a winter wedding, and it has extremely cold around here lately I paired it with tights, a cardigan and a big belt…not to mention the petticoat of course!

I forgot my camera and so had to take these when I got home at about midnight. Thank you parents for the tripod!

very full skirt!

And now without the petticoat

It was a perfect skirt for a perfect night. Mozel tov you two!