Month: October 2014

PETA would approve!

On this particular trip to Accra, I purchased this Woodin fabric because I liked the firm texture, arty print and “set fire to the rain” shade of red (yes, I like Adele).

On this particular trip to Tejuosho market, I purchased this faux leather fabric because I liked how it felt both soft and durable at the same time.  The ‘board-room’ bargaining that followed the declared like of said fabric and preceded the exchange of money for said fabric is a story for another day, but I was very pleased with myself  *Donald Trump smirk*. 😀

Woodin fabric and Faux leather

Woodin fabric and Faux leather

So, I sewed a one-piece shift dress using a pattern that is simply a vertical extension of my tried (more…)

Muslin musings

On a scale of one to ten (one being the best and ten the being worst),  seam ripping to correct a wonky stitch or to correct the fitting of a work-in-progress gets an off-the-scale one million rating, as per annoying things that can happen while I’m sewing. I literally gnash my teeth in agony as I unravel stitch by stitch.

Ah! my heart melted with immeasurable joy *insert delicious drips of sarcasm* the day I had to detach an invisible zip, when the zipper slider came off completely TWO minutes after I had attached said zip.

So, in instances when I have to draft a pattern from scratch and I am not entirely sure what the finished work will look like, and I have only a limited amount of the desired fabric or if I am using expensive fabric, I prefer to err on the side of caution by first sewing a muslin (calico test garment) which is also called a toile, to sort of “test drive” the pattern.

IMG_2835

Above is the muslin and below is the final reproduction in the fashion fabric.  Please excuse the creases, I wasn’t quite done with fittings.

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Unwrap me gently

I’ve been so zen and floating around my happy place this 4-day weekend *insert the rather strenuous feat of simultaneously batting eyelashes and sticking out tongue at Third Mainland Bridge Traffic*.  I watched “October 1” this afternoon, a well-produced movie with very beautiful cinematography and an engaging storyline. The feem is sweet!!!

So, wrap skirts are rather nice,  the structure can simply be described as “a skirt and a half “.

“1.5 skirts please”

I sewed this using a self-drafted pattern and created a curved hem line for a tulip effect. For (more…)