Dollies!

Digging through old notebooks and folders I found this paper doll that I drew back in college. I drew paper dolls pretty much constantly and I think they were a lot more helpful in developing my rendering skills than any fashion illustration class I had to take. Fo sho. Or maybe the classes were a good starting point and gave me the basic tools needed but the rest comes with practice, as is so often the case. Anyway, I just thought this was a fun little one and wanted to share.

Everybody Here Would Know Exactly What I Was Talkin' About

So I have been on this slipper kick (ha!) lately. The original plan was that I was going to make slippers for all the lovely ladies I know for Christmas. Except... yeah. That didn't happen. I bought a free use pattern and whipped up a pair in my size to see how it would work. But, they didn't fit. Not by a mile. So over the course of the next week I made something ridiculous like four pairs of slippers until I finally found a shape and size that would fit me. I made myself a pair. Then I adjusted the pattern to be a more catch-all shape and after considerable gnashing of teeth produced two pairs for the shop. The first pair can be found on Flikr or Etsy and is (sailor-style, of course, because I love sailor style!) made from reclaimed ticking. This second pair is one of Those Projects.
You know. Those.
I am such a picky perfectionist. And, sometimes I just make something and then decide about half way through that I am Not Sure About It. These gave me that moment of insecurity at one point, though in the end I do think they are pretty cute. I changed things up a bit and added a fleece-lined sole. Which is why the insides look a little wacky-do in the photos. They are comfier to walk around in, though. Also added: non-slip patches on the soles. I designed a more sleek ballet-slipper-esque shaped patch to use on other slippers in the future, but this pair wanted diamond shaped patches.
You see, it all started when I rediscovered the money-print cotton fabric in my stash. I bought it about... 6 years ago. The day before my wedding, actually. I was out shopping for baby-quilt fabric for my nephew, who was about two months old at the time. ANYWAY. So I found the fabric again, and decided it would be a great slipper lining. And then I found the vintage corduroy (Hi, I'm Corduroy McClure. You may remember me from such I Will Fly designs as the Organ Grinder short vest). And then I had a sudden flash of inspiration. So now they are the Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes.
I dunno. Sometimes I just out-twee myself.

Door Buster?

Golden Afternoon blouse
Originally uploaded by I Will Fly design

Well, the weather is finally dropping below 75* in central California, and the leaves on the trees are starting to blossom in to Fall colors. Happy Thanksgiving and a joyous Autumn to us all!

I am pretty anti-black friday (I worked retail for SEVEN Christmases!) and intend to spend the biggest shopping day of the year snug in my living room with a cup of cocoa laced with chambord and maybe get a jump on a project that has been sitting around waiting for me to feel like making it for a very long time (it's booooooooorrrrrrriiiiinnnnnggggggg). I encourage everyone to stay home and watch movies in their jammies. It's so much more interesting than battling the crowd at the mall.

knittin' the mittens

"Snow White" mitties
Originally uploaded by I Will Fly design

Not actually mittens, but around here we do call them "mitties".
I knit, though I am not the very best knitter in the world, or even on Etsy. I hate to admit it, but I find knitting a bit tedious. I decided to knit something to sell, though, because I found this fun yarn spun with strands of iridescent sparkles and thought they would make excellent fingerless gloves. I wear mitties almost constantly in the cool weather to help keep my junky hands and wrists warm, but, though I love white I just can't wear it because I work with my hands.
So, here are the mitties that I designed to use this pretty yarn. You can't see much of the sparkle here, but it's there!
The good thing about knitting for the shop is that I can watch TV while I knit (not so much while I sew, I usually listen to music instead). These mitties were knit to the accompaniment of Star Trek the Next Generation, the Tudors, and a strangely surreal anime show called "Princess Tutu".

detail oriented

Buttercream trapunto short vest
Originally uploaded by I Will Fly design

I like to try new techniques. In fact, I have a massive backlog of interesting details I want to incorporate and handwork I want to try out. A lot of designs end up being inspired by the simple fact that I want to try something new and different. I have wanted to try this style of quilting (which is called "trapunto" these days but was called "Italian quilting" back in the day) for years, and finally decided on a garment I could use to experiment with. I had this wool suiting around the house already and I designed this little vest pattern last year for the Organ Grinder vest. I've decided that it is just about the perfect thing to try out interesting fabric manipulation and embellishment techniques, because it is relatively small and is made up of two basic and simple shapes. Interesting surface design benefits from simple garment construction for practical reasons but it's also a good idea to limit garment complications to keep it from looking too "busy".

Anyway. Here I used a simple double-arch shape (which reminds me of gothic architecture) and threaded black cording underneath the ivory colored fabric, to create a subtle pattern. The finished product reminds me of scrimshaw and wedding cakes. It also oddly reminds me of the church my husband's family belongs to, as they use that peaked arch shape in just about everything in the place.

In a related note, I love craft books from the 70s. While there are lots of lovely craft books out these days (to go along with our great crafting revolution) the last great resurgence of crafting was in the 1970s. That is the era our moms were inspired by, and those are certainly the books I grew up with. In my adulthood I have actually gone to considerable lengths to acquire old copies of some of my favorites. I absolutely love the Sunset Soft Toys and Dolls book ( I found it used through Amazon marketplace). I also use a sturdy old copy (that I stole from my mom, sorry mom!) of the Golden Hands embroidery book for a lot of my embroidery, quilting, and surface design inspirations. I think these two books did more to inspire me to sew and create than anything else in my childhood.

Autumn!

Time Machine Flightsuit
Originally uploaded by I Will Fly design

Fall began on Friday, and this little Autumnal jumpsuit has been waiting around for more than a week for photos to finally get taken. It's a steampunk-y take on a 70's style. I bought this fabric and all the zippers several months ago, right before leaving my fabric store job. I found these lovely vintage brass stampings of flight wings on Etsy, and used industrial strength glue to attach them to pin backings so they can be removed from the jumpsuit.
The brown twill fabric this is made from is a poly/lycra blend. Not what I would have chosen if I had another option, but the color was the very best I could find. Anyhow, the stretchiness of the fabric made putting in the zippers and attaching the pockets something of a time consuming battle. A lot of stabilizer had to be deployed.

Saying So Long to Summer With Stripes

Sailor Shoes!
Originally uploaded by I Will Fly design

See what I did there?
My world has been all about stripes for the last week, though admittedly I am pretty fond of stripes all the time, anyway. For my first week of self employment I made a mod dress from custom printed striped fabric I designed on Spoonflower.com. After a long hard week (not really so hard, to be honest. Working from home is pretty rad!) I came in to possession of a pair of plain fabric mary janes, so as a project for myself I painted them in sailor stripes and added red rhinestones in nautical designs.
I know, I know. Stripes and sailors are for Summer time and it is rapidly approaching Autumn. But it is 100* here today and I never got a chance to do any fun Summer sewing because I was working all the time at the theater! In any case, September is when we take our annual vacation to the seaside, so I am feeling the urge for sea-faring clothes!
AHOY!