Tag Archives: fashion

Happy Thanksgiving!

26 Thursday Nov 2015

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

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.

IMG_3238

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.

IMG_3241

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!

IMG_5269

IMG_5273

 

IMG_5284

IMG_5288

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!

IMG_3353

 

I Look a Little Different: Alterations Needed

19 Thursday Nov 2015

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

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

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, , , , ,

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

Posted by in Skirt

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

, , , ,

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.

An Apron For Maman

25 Wednesday Jan 2012

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

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 – Fleece Coat

23 Monday Jan 2012

Posted by in Coats

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

ATTENTION! I have enough of this fabric left over to make another one. GET YOUR OWN FLEECE COAT MADE JUST FOR YOU! Leave me a comment and we can get started!

This coat is made of an incredibly soft dark grey fleece. There are patch pockets, large flared sleeves, a big collar, a fitted princess bodice and a large removable hood. It is incredibly warm and comfortable.

photo by the amazing Drew Beck

photo by the amazing Drew Beck

photo by the amazing Drew Beck

I added a lot of top-stitch detailing which helps with structure.

To see more by Drew, click here.

Archives – Jessica

20 Friday Jan 2012

Posted by in Commissions, Dresses

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

I now have a sister-in-law, and she rocks. Her name is Jessica and she came to me a few years ago, along with her friend Cristin to ask me to make her a dress.

She had a photo in a magazine and we started from there. She wanted a simple shift style dress with a few cool style details.

As it tuned out, I already had the perfect fabric. When my great-aunt Kathleen passed away, I inherited a TON of fabric. A lot of it was a little funky and not quite my style, but hidden in the piles were a few true gems. I had about 4 yards of a gorgeous raw silk in a lovely deep purple color.

photo by the amazing Drew Beck

We ended up with a scooped neck in the front, and a nice V in the back. The dress has an empire waist and I added some geometric ruffles to the seam under the bust to add some detailing. The skirt part of the dress also has some tucks and darts to add shape and fullness.

photo by the amazing Drew Beck

This dress ended up being my payment to her for spending 4 entire days with me cleaning out my apartment. WELL worth the trade, I would say!

photo by the amazing Drew Beck

Doesn’t she look gorgeous?

All photos by Drew Beck

Archives – Suzanne

18 Wednesday Jan 2012

Posted by in Commissions, Dresses

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

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.

A Skirt for Isaac and Becca’s Wedding!

16 Monday Jan 2012

Posted by in Skirt

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , ,

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!

A Wedding Dress for Ann

15 Sunday Jan 2012

Posted by in Dresses

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

beautiful Ann on her wedding day

Growing up in Berkeley, and going to the elementary school that I went to, provided me with a pretty cool thing – a group of friends I have known since I was in Kindergarten. I met Andrew when I was 3 years old, (he is 2 days younger than my twin brother and I and therefore became a kind of triplet for us when it came to birthdays). He was also the other artist kid in the class, and I’m happy to say he is still working that artistic magic.

Well, Andrew has a mom, and her name is Ann. She is great. She has had the fortune of finding love, again, and married her longtime friend Erich in a small ceremony at their lovely home in Berkeley in 2010.

Ann and I collaborated on her dress, which took many different forms before this lovely final one. We chose a blue silk Charmeuse for the majority of the dress and found a lovely cross-dyed silk Chiffon to use for the sleeves and some detailing. The idea was to make something that she could then wear again, say to the opera for instance…..and someday we will make a matching jacket or cover-up to go with it.

I work with ALL kinds of clients. No matter who you are, or what you are looking for, let me know….I’m sure we can figure something out!

-Katy