Fakin the funk

style.com

If money were no object I would own & wear every.single.piece in Diane von Furstenburg's Spring 2011 collection (and every collection before and after for THAT matter!!) So a knock off was in order.

Wore this on Monday:

Dress: Vogue 8679  Fabric: Rayon/Lycra Jersey from fabric.com
Booties: Kohl's

The only issue is the length. I hemmed it 2 inches and it's STILL hitting under the knee. I think it's the fabric. I will wash it and see if it shrinks some. I didn't "style" it, just threw on a slouchy black cardigan, it was Monday ya know.

Cardigan: JC Penney

Dress: Vogue 8679 Fabric: Polyester/Lycra blend from fabric.com

Shoes: Kohl's

This was hemmed 2 inches and it falls just above knee which is just right for me. I really wanted to style this dress but I didn't get the "ah-ha" moment with anything I tried on. So I just gave up threw on the red cardigan. I need to get some navy blue toppers in my closet!

Original Inspiration:

Head nod...

Favorite Pants

My favorite pants pattern right now without doubt is Butterick 5539.

Yeps, some elastic waist, granny pants, but dammit, I really heart them!


Pic from http://www.butterick.com/


I promise you I have been wearing these black pants AT LEAST once a week since I made them. They go with so many things from relaxed tees to stuffy blazers! In all honesty, I have to remake them because they are WORN OUT. I used a horrible Ponte that was mostly rayon and hasn't held up well to repeated washings. I do have two other pair - in chocolate and navy, but they don't get as much play as the black. I really want some in Royal blue and heather gray. As soon as I find the colors, they will be added to my closet.



Blouse: Thrifted
(it's wrinky rayon but in an awesome feather print!! You can see it better here)
Pants: Butterick 5539
Shoes: Dollhouse









































In other news, this week I worked on my DVF knock-offs and lemme tell yooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuu,

no lemme show you:

A preview of one of them that is... hee-hee!!

I'm making two of them, all that's left is the hemming, so you will be seeing me in these soon.

Happy Weekend!

Fur real

I have been apprehensive about the latest fur trends lately. I love fur - real & fake, but you have to get it right. You can come off looking like a streetwalker or a bear depending on your silhouette & accessories.

I fell in love with the Juicy Couture Faux Fur Hooded vests and decided I needed one. Here's to  hoping I got it right!

Review here:

Click pics for bigger views

 

 

 

Just guess

www.guess.com

I was recently fawning over these Guess jeans with the golden triangle patch when I had a PCM (painful childhood memory)...

I remember being a preteen and dying for a pair of Guess jeans. All the cool kids had em, especially the cute, popular girls. I was so not cool, so not cute and figured I could get "in" if I just had a pair (looking back, I probably just needed to venture out of the library and become a bit more social).

me in my teal "Express" sneaks. Wore these with EVERYTHING. At least they matched my Humpty Dance tee

In my price range there were JustUSA denims. Just jeans were soooo "bootsy" (means wack for you east coast kids). They either had a big black JUST patch on the back waistband or a bootleg JustUSA triangle patch on the left cheek so there was no mistaking them for Guess, even if you pulled off the patches. Only the poor kids wore them because they "JUST couldn't afford to buy GUESS." It was better to just have no-name swapmeet or KMart denims. The JustUSA website is STILL majorly BOOTLEG to this day!

And mama bought me a pair of JUST; a pair of overall shorts with that big ol' black JUST patch on the pocket. I did not want them, but I meekly obliged because I would dare not refuse anything she bestowed upon me. I knew better.

But inside I was so EMBARRASSED/UPSET/CONFUSED with her because my cousins ON.FREAKING.WELFARE had all the latest jeans and sneakers... yet we stayed shopping at the swap meet/Goodwill/KMart/etc. I'm just saying, how did they get Guess and I'm over here struggling.... OK not so much--my mama had a damn job and her own place (we lived in a single family home with a huge yard for 15 years until we moved out of state), always had a car, we always ate good, had great toys/books, we traveled. But I remember only one time in my childhood owning a pair of Adidas (maybe 2nd grade? they were probably used but I hung on to those for a while, lol!) Wait-wait-wait-I had some black & hot pink LA Gears in 7th grade - from the Swap Meet, lol!

At first I refused to wear them. Eventually I went ahead a wore them as shorts underneath an over-sized t shirt or with the bib & straps hanging down so the back pockets wouldn't be revealed. (I had an image to build, man)

"hip hop smoothed out on the R&B tip with a pop feel appeal ..."

That sufficed for a while, but I really wanted to wear my hip hop style overalls ya know? (shoot it was BBD era) I just didn't want to be caught dead in the dreaded JUST denims. It was bad enough the only "in" thing I wore were Pacific Express canvas sneakers aka knock-off Keds. The only reason those were acceptable is because they came from Mervyns.

Eventually I gave in and ripped off the Just patches and just wore them... with only one strap hanging off like Fresh Prince used too (ha!) I had a rayon print shirt too. I wish I had a pic, I know my mom does, lol!

By high school guess jeans were OUT, and shopping at thrift stores was ultra hip (ah! mama had me ahead of the game) and my wardrobe became acceptable - except the plastic knock-off Doc Martens aka "Jodeci boots" (aw come on, you know you had a pair!!) I also discovered stores like Marshall's and Ross where I could afford an occasional Girbaud, Nike, or Tommy Hilfiger item - yay for babysitting!!

I remember proudly scoring these wide leg L.E.I jeans in a Sac-Town thrift store. And yes, I'm wearing my Jodeci boots.

I'm sure my little sister's had it worse though, they had to wear all my Vanessa/Rudy Huxtable hand me downs - well into the 90's. Yes they gto to wear "Express" shoes too

Anywho, I'm over it. The Guess jeans I want cost $150. It just don't feel right even though I have a dual income household, own a home and 2 cars (no car note!!!) I think I'm gonna hit up Mondawmin Mall and look for some JustUSA instead.

I love my mom.

lately

Hiyah! Been a minute, no major big deals going on, I'm cool. I have been addicted to the Lifetime Movie Network lately though, they are crazy!!!! I had to turn off the tv for a few days to withdraw so I'm back.

I did manage to stitch a few new items here and there during the last coupla weeks.

Here is my Memorial weekend dress. I dub it the cookout dress cause it's flowery, jewely and summery and full to hide bbq tummy.
McCall's 5620

I also whipped up a stashbuster New Look 6784

and I attempted Vogue 8392. another stashbuster. I read that it would be ok not to finish off the raw edges of the sleeve since they were cut on the bias. not. I'm debating on whether to finish it wiht a rolled edge. I'd rather not and just make this again in a knit but I'm not allowed to buy any more fabric right now.































Check this out. I prolly need a late pass for this but...
Anne Klein

Butterick 5186

So who was first with the design?

Knock it off why don'tcha III - Finale

Done!!

click pics for close-up

Review: Simplicity 3622 + 3634

Size:14

Pattern Critique: First off let me say shout "I LOVE SIMPLICITY PATTERNS!!!" They really do an awesome job keeping up with current styles and the basic patterns are easy to mix & match because the sizes are well drafted in the patterns I've tried so far.

I will say that I am blessed that I can fit right out of the envelope and will enjoy it for as long as I can.

Fabric: rayon/spandex jersey from stash

Modifications: All those details are here & here

Results: Not an exact replica, I needed a little modesty at the neckline to keep it work friendly - so I didn't change it. If I make another one for wearing out I will definitely lower that neckline.

My only issue is my derrière, I never thought I had much of one, but I could not get a pic without the dress sitting on my butt. I'm guessing that is how it's going to look out in public. I'll have to see how I feel about that. Lastly, before I wear this I will have to stay the back waistline it's drooping a bit in the middle.

P.S. I love knit dresses!!!!

Knock it off why don'tcha II

Cut the fabric today! Here's my latest progress:

The DVF dress I'm copying looks like it is triple-pleated at the waist, but I'm only doing two. To get the pleats I measured the width of the bodice and the skirt and subtracted the difference. It was about a 5 inch difference, so that meant each pleat should be 2.5 inches.

Next, I used the notches (one at the center, then one at 2.5 inches on either side of the center notch) that I created while cutting out the pattern pieces to measure the markingsfor the pleat - 2.5 inches out on each side .



After I folded and sewed the pleats, I matched the skirt and bodice together at the center notches and pinned.



Here it is sewn with a narrow zig-zag. I may serge over this before I sew down the sides.



The last thing I did before wrapping up this session is sew the shoulder seams together, since I'm using a really stretchy jersey I added stay tape to the shoulder seams so I won't get any drooping.



Until later peeps!!

Knock it off why don'tcha!!

must.have.this.dress!!!!!

Can't stop thinking about it.

I searched through the stash and found two patterns I can morph to create a knock off (shhhhh, don't snitch - it's a Diane von Furstenburg dress).

Simplicity 3622 and 3634

Here's what I've done so far

I am using the following pieces:

from 3622

• front skirt
• back skirt

from 3634 from view B

• sleeve
• front bodice
• back bodice
• cowl

I've lined up the waistline pattern markings on the back bodice and back skirt.

On the back bodice, marked a line one inch below the top of the skirt back. I still plan on using a standard 5/8 seam allowance.

Line up the front and back bodice at the waistline marking.

Last, trace the line from the back bodice to the front bodice.

I'm not tracing new pieces, I'll just fold them off and cut from there. I'm really excited, but I'm gonna take my time. I have the fabric already (of course) so I'll keep the progress posted!