#002 Girly Dress

#002 Girly Dress, originally uploaded by aimeedoats1.

Here's the Betsy Ross #002 Girly Dress made from fabric I purchased on 4th Street in Philadelphia a few weeks ago. I love the color and pattern juxtaposition.

I wanted to finish it in time for the Spool Grand Opening yesterday night but kept putting it off for other projects. An hour before the party started I was still fixing the straps and finishing the hem. That left just enough time to jump in a cab and put the drinks on ice!

Thanks to everyone who came out to say hello yesterday!

Fabric Pick....new Amy Butler!

Amy Butler's new Midwest Modern fabrics are so much fun. And the best part about working in a fabric store is getting to open the boxes and unwrap each of the bolts. I've been staring at these for about a week now, and I think I've picked my favorite.

I love, love, love the combination of the gray/yellow flower pattern (bottom row, second from right) with the gray/yellow mod dots (not shown, but similar to the one at the bottom left). I will steal Laura's idea of using the flowery one for the body of a dress, and the dots for the sleeves!


(images from Amy Butler!)

snapshot

It was a busy weekend, full of making pancakes, folding piles and piles of instruction booklets, working on new patterns, sewing little pouches out of my favorite fabrics just for fun, and making a big Easter dinner for friends. A creative, productive weekend puts me in a good mood and ready for the week ahead. I find it hard to sleep at night with all of the ideas swirling in my head. More soon.

Fancy Tiger, Denver

Jaime at Fancy Tiger, originally uploaded by aimeedoats1.

Wow, I never mentioned how I visited Fancy Tiger while I was in Denver last month. Fancy Tiger is a fantastic fabric and knitting store in Denver, and the owner, Jaime, has great taste. I picked out this cute Japanese fabric with thought bubbles....it says something in French....mostly jibberish. I am going to use it as a backdrop for now, but it might eventually become something else.

Oh Denver, with your breakfast burritos and microbrewed beers and mountain air and cool shops.

Hey, where did the week go? Oh yes, I started a new job. Huh.

Spool is so great, everyone. 1912 South Street in Philly. And we're having a grand opening next Saturday night from 5-8. Come by and say hello. Have a drink and pick up a yard of the new Amy Butler print you've been drooling over!

Have a great weekend!

goodbye Motherwell, hello Moda

I've been hinting at some changes recently, and so I guess I better explain what all of that is about.

Many of you know that Betsy Ross is something I do part time. For awhile I have balanced working on the business while still carrying on with what I call the "Clark Kent" aspect of my life, which is my day job.... working in an art gallery. This balance (sometimes non-balance) has remained the same despite a big move to Philadelphia in 2006.

I really appreciate that I was able to continue working in galleries; it is what I went to school for, after all. I love meeting artists, dealing with artwork firsthand, and getting to know collectors. The best part is getting to handle artwork made by people I had read about in art history books when I was growing up. I mean, who wouldn't love to hold a de Kooning painting in their hands? Or help move a giant Noguchi sculpture across the room? Or do a condition report on a Joseph Cornell? Needless to say, it's been fun.

However, I've been struggling with how to keep these two things going and what makes sense for me at this point in my life. As I'm trying to figure out what to do, an opportunity dropped into my lap that I can't pass up. A new fabric boutique, Spool, has recently opened in Philadelphia and I've been offered a full time position there. It's owned by the same people that brought you the hugely popular knitting store, Loop. Spool will be right next door! It' going to feature great fabric, fun classes, and of course...Betsy Ross patterns.

I'm so excited to have been offered this great opportunity unexpectedly. It's a welcome change of pace and the chance to meet some great people and learn new things. Life's funny that way.

If you find yourself in Philadelphia, please stop by Spool to say hello! We are planning a grand opening party at the end of March. Details forthcoming!

it's not like i'm expecting any downtime soon

I bought these awesome state bird embroidery transfers at Fancy Tiger in Denver. As soon as I finish my current quilt (Leya, you better get crackin', because I'm an unstoppable train), I'm going to embroider each bird and then put them together for the quilt. Crazy? Yes!

You can also download the bird templates from Martha Stewart here- their drawings look a little less complicated than mine, but I like the vintage look of the ones I bought.

(finished quilt image courtesy Martha Stewart)

no-pattern skirt

The pile of half-finished projects in the corner of the room is getting ridiculous, so I'm going to try to finish one thing each weekend. If I shoot for any more than that it's not going to work.

So first up: a skirt I started three weeks ago after finding some great vintage linen-blend fabric with a fun diamond pattern. I immediately thought of making a skirt with it and set to work making one without a pattern. (click on photo for close-up of pattern)

This turned out to be a good experiment, and I think that I'll eventually make a few more based on this model for summer. Very easy, and very quick once you consider that there's no zipper.






SKIRT CONSTRUCTION

1.
Buy two yards of 45" wide fabric. Lay it flat and cut it into thirds. The top 1/3 is for the front of the skirt, the middle 1/3 is for the back of the skirt, and the bottom 1/3 is for the waistband/belt. Lay the bottom 1/3 aside for now.



2.
Sew the skirt front and the skirt back pieces together on one side with the right sides of the fabric together to make one long piece of fabric.










3.
Pin pleats in the skirt about 4 inches apart. The depth of the pleat and the distance between them will depend on your measurements and where you want the skirt to hang on your hips.

I wanted my skirt to sit below my belly button. I had enough fabric based on that measurement to do about four pleats in the front and four in the back, with a medium sized pleats. Not too deep, because that adds a lot of bulk to the dress and will make the skirt look too poofy.

The quantity and dept of the pleats will be determined by your fabric choice. You can generally do larger pleats (and a greater number of them) if the fabric is lightweight and drapes nicely. If you're using heavier fabric such as denim, you can't do too many or the skirt won't be flattering.

This step is easily done if you have a dress form, but you can also lay it out flat on the table. Pin the pleats in place carefully and then wrap it around your waist to see if you need to make adjustments. You want to leave enough fabric to sew the other side seam (about an inch) If the pleats seem too deep or if you ran out of fabric, you can always re-pin.




4.
Once you have the pleats where you like them, hand-baste them in place. Then machine sew all the way across the top of the skirt 1/4" from the raw edge to secure the pleats.



5.
Sew the other side of the skirt, stopping about 4 inches from the top of the skirt.

6.
Take the remaining fabric and cut it into 4 1/2 inch wide strips, lengthwise. Sew two of the strips together at one of the short sides, making one long one. Now fold the strip in half with the wrong sides of the fabric together and iron. I inserted some very heavy interfacing left over from a random belt project into my waistband to stabilize it.


7. Line up the raw edge of the folded fabric waistband with the raw edge of the top of the skirt. Make sure to also align the side seam of the skirt with the seam of the waistband for neatness' sake.

Sew along the edge, about 1/2" from the raw edge, all the way around. [step 1 in illustration]


8. Flip the strip upwards and iron. Top stitch the waistband to keep it from flipping.


9. At this point I cut off the excess waistband fabric from the front of the skirt. It's up to you which side will be the front and which will be the back- I like my opening on the right side of my body.

So cut the excess waistband fabric off and sew the waistband hole shut.




10. Use the remaining fabric to make another strip for the "belt" or tie of the skirt. You can attach it to the waistband a few inches from the opening you left for yourself.




11. Finish off the skirt opening with hand or machine stitches.




Think of this skirt as a sort of modified wrap skirt. Although the hole should close when you tie the "belt," you can add a few hook/eyes or snaps if you want to make sure the hole does not gape open when you sit down. Also, you'll probably notice ways to make it fit better on your body as you put it together. That's the beauty of this skirt- it's sort of a sewing problem solving lesson that pretty much always ends with a wearable garment. I can't really think of a way to screw this up so bad that it would be unwearable!

Spring is coming

Set of painted eggs: cute as all get out and got me thinkin' crafty. (from Spoon Sisters)

just say what you mean

Here's some funny bunting as my mind is currently focused on beginnings and endings, of staying and leaving, and of here and there.

(From the highly entertaining Twisted Twee website).

Thursday: some deals

Urban Outfitters is a source for fun fabrics- whether you leave the items in their original state (bed sheets or pillow cases) or cut them up for other uses. Here's the "Neighborhood" bedspread on sale! Good deal.



And furthermore, I love these free (!!) embroidery patterns for tea towels from Posie Gets Cozy.

Find of the day

Vintage rouge tin from P.O.S.H. Chicago.


More later- many things happening and many things to say but it must wait.