sewer's saturday: making a dressform

Welcome to my new scheduled postings :) hopefully the trite titles and silly pseudonyms will provoke more posting on my part... but we'll see.

This, as you can see, is the first post in the series on "sewer's saturday," posts dedicated to interesting things related to sewing, crafty-crafts, and the like. This means that I will discuss the merits of making my own clothes, thrifting, tailoring, knitting, crocheting, jewelrymaking, etc... I may host a few guests on this part who are more experienced in the different angles of crafty-crafts, as well. :)

So this first Saturday, I wanted to talk a little bit about making my own dressform. Over the summer, I managed to make 3 complete dressforms (which are all, unfortunately, stuck in California because, well, I don't have the money to ship them out here to Pittsburgh.

In the past I have made my dressforms out of:

1 SUPER large t-shirt (preferably used!) (long enough to reach your hips)

2 rolls of duct tape (i love the colored variety :)

bags and bags of old magazines/fabric scraps/newspapers, etc.

...you will also need scissors and one lovely friend to help you.

In the future, I want to instead use paper tape instead of duct tape. Duct tape can be very sticky over time, and that's not good for the fabric. Paper tape (which is used basically like super clean papier-maché) is much cleaner and though not colorful, is much better for the clothes you will make and looks more professional.

So, here are the steps to making an awesome dressform for yourself, out of YOUR OWN body.

1) Put on the shirt over your regular undergarments (and of course a pair of shorts/pants, whathaveyou -- i'm talking just the top here). Don't wear other clothing under the t-shirt, because it will bulk up the form and can create problems when trying to cut off the form.

2) this is where your lovely friend is going to pitch in. (I did 85% of the tape wrapping on my form by myself, which may have been a really intense mistake, but mine turned out okay. In any case, I really don't recommend trying it yourself.) Begin to wrap you up in tape. If you want to do the first layer in duct tape (it's good for under-layers to ensure tightest fit) that's cool. Start at the waist first of all - make one complete wrap of the waist, then the spot right under the bust, then the hips (I hope your shirt is long enough to reach your hips!!)

3) after those 3 major spots, wrap the bust/shoulders. This part is not a horizontal wrap at all. You will pull the tape, in smallish strips first, in a very contoured fashion over the bust, first down from the shoulders to the fullest part of the bust, then from the under-line of the bust to the fullest part. In the back, you will also pull strips in a vertical fashion from the top of the shoulder to the tape spot that delineates (what would be, on the front,) the under-line of the bust. It should look kind of like overalls, basically.

4) Follow the form of the body to tape the remainder of the shoulders and the upper torso. Make sure the tape fits the contours of the body and doesn't fall like a shirt might, blanketing certain parts. You want it to fit like a glove!

5) after the bust/shoulders is done, you may wrap up the rest of the lower torso. Horizontally wrap it! Oh, and make sure you can breathe!!!!

6) after the first layer, basically do the same thing (steps 2-5) once (or if you prefer, twice) again. Use paper tape for the top (2) layer(s).

7) This step you will need scissors (and to stand veeerrrry still!). Your friend will cut you out of the form from the bottom up, in the exact middle of the back. Make sure not to cut any undergarments!!!

8) After the scissors, you will need the paper tape again -- tape up the seam where your friend cut you out so that both sides match up perfectly!

9) begin filling the form with scraps, starting with the armholes. Once the shoulder looks "filled", tape up the armholes with the paper tape. Do the same for the neck hole.

10) fill up the rest of the form with scraps, making sure that it is completely filled. The scraps *may* compress, so be careful not to loosely fill in the form. Make sure it is packed thoroughly!

11) when you get to the bottom, tape up most of the bottom opening except for a space in the middle to fit whatever pole you decide to use! (I just stick my forms on stools for now, I don't have a good pole yet...)

12) voila! a perfect dressform of your own body to use for making your OWN beautiful clothes! And the majority of it is reused/repurposed materials!!

If you have any questions, send them to oathkeeper24 (at) gmail (dot) com

i don't know how many times i will have to ask forgiveness from you...

To my dearest followers,

I profusely apologize for my negligence. This is, of course, the 3rd time in the last year that I have apologized for this dreadful occurrence, but I also thought I would let you know that this blog is now in it's second year! I didn't get to celebrate my dear blog's actual birthday, but here, lets celebrate belatedly, shall we?

I will be having another giveaway shortly to celebrate my one year anniversary with "her sweet disposition" and my horribly inconsistent blog postings, but hopefully that will be coming soon!

In other news, I thought I might update you on the major occurrences in my life in the last 2 months since I have been horribly neglectful of my dear readers. This tends towards the narcissistic, but maybe you might want to hear what I have done? (Then again, as I recall discussing with a few friends, sometimes having a blog can seem narcissistic in the first place. And perhaps it is, but what I give is of myself...)

So, in the last 2 months, I have:

...lost my camera, thus resulting in my not being able to take outfit photos with anything but my webcam (lame!)

...celebrated 3 and 4 months with Kyle...

caitlin and adam

danny and jenn

adam and kim

...been unable to witness 4 sets of my friends get married... :(

John-John, Zachary, Matthew

...finished up my work with the 3 boys that I nanny for back in California... (again, :(

...finished up my work with Pure Fashion, a program run by Regnum Christi (the women's auxiliary of the Legionaries of Christ), and with that...

...finished a complete formal gown for one of my dear friends, Eva...

...worked hard on Second Stitch stuff, including...

...creating many new outfits and items for the show we registered for, in...

...preparing for our Eco-Chic show in Pittsburgh Fashion Week...

...packed myself up major for the last time that I can think of, and....

...moved out to Pittsburgh after a fulfilling and productive summer...

...I am glad to be back in the Burgh...

...got published in Pittsburgh Fashion Magazine, and...

...made friends with the model who was photographed for our line...

...moved into the Citadel of the Immaculata, a Catholic young women's house in Greenfield...

...hosted a kickin' housewarming tea and picnic at the house...

...learned the bus system (for the time being, until new changes are implemented on 9/5...

...bought tickets for a Goo Goo Dolls show in October...

...been back to the Oratory...

...been back to Mass at my favorite place, the Pittsburgh Oratory...

...designed and sewed a lovely little blue clock dress in 2.5 hours the night before classes...

...started my senior year of college (!)...

...gotten our internet finally working...

...and missed blogging terribly while I over-occupied myself in the last two months.

Again, I am terribly sorry for leaving y'all hanging and not really participating in this whole online revelry lately. Life has been very busy and I have not had the time, energy, or resources to make posts. Hopefully I can put together a schedule and make my posts on a much more regular basis.

Thanks for putting up with me... you'll see the interesting things I have planned for the upcoming weeks... :)

The Secret Powers of Time

Sorry I've been neglectful this week~

been very busy cleaning my room out of all of the stuff I don't need, going shopping for Second Stitch, and generally being cool and exhausted all the time.

Speaking of time... sometimes I really wish I had more of it. I'm very goal-oriented and tend to only work for the things that I find worthwhile. (I'm working to change this, and to begin to do all things with passion and purpose -- duty is still duty and needs to be done). Yet at other times, I'm just content to relax and just let it be, regardless of the hour or how many pass.

I find this very interesting -- and mostly true.

What do you think?

"you could be a part time model"

So recently i re-discovered the musical and comedic genius that is The Flight of the Conchords. Bret and Jemaine are just dreadfully wonderful, their humour is fantastic, and they have musical skills to match their looks: awkward, goofy, yet suprisingly seductive. :P

take for example this brilliant song~

I pulled out this song for a friend of mine who helped us out and modeled for Second Stitch earlier in the week, isn't she beautiful?!

alysia finger in 3PT, photo © Second Stitch Limited, 2010

So i guess you could see where the inspiration came from with the song and everything, perhaps?

anyway, so i have been photographing randomly, i love todays outfit but i have yet to take outfit pics today. so instead i'll post pics that kinda go with todays mood -- i'm a little down (i blame hormones), but its kinda a beautiful sad today. so these pictures, though not from today, do represent today's mood rather well.

skirt: vintage, shoes: lifestride for FF, jacket: Tulle, blouse: f21, tank: sidecca, tights: target, owl necklace: Tulle, headpiece: handmade by myself

THOUGH --yeahhh... i did start taking fish oil for my depression (its mild, and i don't think anything that would need more severe medication for) so we'll see if it works out! I am very hopeful, because its supposed to be a great "home" remedy for depression and the sort. Also started taking some vitamins in hopes that maybe it will help me start on a healthier daily regimen.

here's to hoping for sunny skies in my mental view!

Fashion and Philosophy: ooh la la!!

So today I am working a lot on two different things: Kant and Second Stitch Limited.

I am reading the Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals for my Ethical Theory course -- I didn't finish up the course during the academic year so I got an extension and am finishing up the stuff now! Kant is a brick wall, basically. His stuff is extremely dense and difficult to get through. I sometimes wish he were easier to read (like Socrates or Chesterton or something), but nonetheless it is interesting and I'm sure writing the paper will be good times.

And don't get me wrong, philosophy is interesting stuff! I just would much rather read about public policy decisions in relation to philosophical structures than just the straight up normative philosophies. *sigh*

Otherwise, I am also working heavily on Second Stitch Limited - the clothing company that me and my friends started back in January. James Lomuscio came to me in January and proposed the idea for a clothing company based on a sustainable ethic: all clothing would be reconstructed from old, gently used garments that we found at Goodwill, or got through used clothing drives. It would be a green company with an edge to it -- our target demographic is the "hipster" crowd: youthful people with an eye towards preserving the planet!

I was very excited to say the least, and we jumped right in. We grabbed Grace Ginn along the way, a great artist and a good contribution to our team. Unfortunately, life took a turn for the worse for me and made things much more difficult. But we're back on our feet now -- we have a seamstress who is pushing out our "3PT"s (they are the first garment we are focused on), and I am in the process of new design for dresses, skirts, and pants. It's simple, but it has the power to make a really big impact locally and globally!

Sustainable fashion is often thought of as something out of reach: people think that sustainable needs to be 100% organic, or made of old newspapers or something. Now don't get me wrong, that stuff is fantastic, wonderful, and straight up cool. But to the average Joe or Joette, clothing can't cost bundles of money. Clothing is an everyday adventure, and for young people, fashion is not only a self-expression but a necessity for daily life. And daily life can't cost $440,000!

So here we are, humble little Second Stitch Limited, just trying to make our way into the fashion world. Our clothing is green and sustainable, because we are taking the old and making it new. We are green, hip, and affordable!

l2r: James, Grace, me

So I know this has been an episode of shameless self-promotion, but I really do think that what we're doing here is a GOOD thing. Please check us out, spread the word, and become our fan on Facebook too!

www.secondstitchlimited.com