Behind the Seams of Re:Fashion Season 2: Sequin Two Set!

Actual shot of my face when I had to delete this post last month.

If you're experiencing déjà vu, mea culpa! I'm still learning YouTube, and human error meant I had to erase my Re:Fashion Series 2 kickoff posts across multiple platforms. Which is such a 2019 sentence. Then, you know, the whole acting-career-thing meant I had to push my course corrections back even further. SO. If you caught my July glitch, and wanna get straight to watching the first sparkly episode of Season 2 for ab-so-lute-ly free, you can head on over to our new Youtube channel! It's not going away this time, I promise.

Now let's get back to pictures & ramblings!

GOOD LORD THERE'S TWO OF THEM RUN FOR YOUR LIVES

It made perfect sense to me to kick off the new season with a sequined, ombre, off-the-shoulder mermaid gown. SUCH AN EVERYDAY PIECE. But don't we all have that specialty item? The monster that haunts us each time we open the closet door? You know, the kind of beast one is *requested* to buy, in order to complete a bride's wishes...the kind of beast that lurks in the shadows, after its one day in the sun? Yeah. THAT BEAST. 

What, you don't have a horror story in your closet? Want one of your very own to refashion? Who am I to stop you.

RTW beasties aside, you might imagine my technicolor racks are overflowing with sequins of the handmade variety. Nope! Nary an item! I'll tell you the truth, every time I fall in love with some blingy yardage, I dive straight in, sparkle flying everywhere...and when something goes horribly and immediately wrong, I keep stubbornly stitching until I've fitted the thing to within an inch of its life, and several inches smaller than myself. Then into the Time Out Corner it goes. I've got a whole pile of botched bling just waiting to be saved.

Sequins require extra work, extra patience, and extra cleanup. I'm down with two outta three of those. Depending on the fabric, you might need to remove each sequin from the seam allowance, so that you don't have great big galumphing lumps of seams running up the side of your bod. Lining is a necessity, to keep necklines and armscye scratch-free. And sequins. Get. EVERYWHERE. In fact, they are now a permanent part of the ambiance of our apartment. 

With all that in mind, I wanted to choose a project that would end in success, both for myself and for y'all! The gown I refashioned has an allover, scattered pattern of miniature sequins, sewn onto stretch mesh, with a separate poly lining. These guys were so tiny, I could do away with the painstaking removal of each little speck from the SA. And the stretch mesh fabric meant no fraying edges--an even cut was all I needed for my hems. Remove any amputated sequins from those edges, and voila!

Oh--recognize the top? It's the beloved Ogden Cami from True Bias, saving the day! I flipped the script on this gown and used the gold that was once the mermaid hem for the new top.

I went nose-to-tail on this refashion, using every bit of the gown to make my new look. The lining, zipper, and even that great big floofy shoulder tie, were all saved and used. The only new item was a length of petersham for the waistband treatment. It gave me an elegant, easy finish for this little two set.

OH AND SPEAKING OF TWO SETS

I CAN'T I REALLY CAN'T.

We were thrilled to be back on set with our Re:Fashion gang! I'm pretty sure I was in Godzilla Hummingbird Mode the entire week. The nonstop Nitros definitely aided and abetted. SUCH HAPPY RAMPAGE! Watch me tame this blingy beast (the dress and Rob), and cover every surface (the apartment AND Rob) in sequins, in the Season two premiere on our brand spanking new Youtube channel! 

If you're jonesing a binge of all 6 episodes, and get your sewing TV through Bluprint, they are all LIVE now. You can also sign up for a free trial and play around for a full week. More to come on each episode, with loads of pics, my usual ramblings...and a couple of surprises, including a giveaway or two ;) It is my birthday month, after all!

Have you tried your hand at sequins? Maybe you've got a beastie in your closet that has you stumped? Do tell.....  

The 24 Hour Gown.

Don't you hate it when sewing bloggers take super wide shots that make it impossible to see any details? 

So aggravating.

This riot of poinsettias is just over a year old, according to Instagram, and has actually been worn on multiple occasions, the first of which was the NY Sewcial last January. I actually made her the day before that fête! The evening was billed as a fancy affair, but it was terrible outside--mounds of city beaten snow piled high on the streets, the kind of winter weather where one taps out on dressing up...but, you know me. AIN'T NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH TO KEEP ME FROM A GOWN. I threw on my knee-high harness boots, and got to stomping. 

This dress was made for boots, actually...in these woodsy southern shots, there's fringed cowboy boots under that thar skirt.

Not that you can see the boots. Or any details, as aforementioned. Fa la la la la, lemme get you a close-up.

There she is! She's draped, dontcha know. When you want to make something in 24 hours, you drape. At least, you drape if you're pigheaded like me. It's quicker in my world, because in my world, I am the Supreme Ruler Of Everything, and am therefore the Supreme Authority On EVERYTHING, and as such, spend so much time tweaking someone else's pattern, that I run out of time. (The pattern is usually just fine in the first place, see: pigheaded.)

So, draping! Less delusion, more doing. 

The only seam on this pleated skirt is at center back. The pleats made it possible to do away with side seams, which made me absolutely giddy!! I hollered about it to any sewist within earshot. 

CB is where the exposed zip lives. The zip is a super cool lace edged jammy, which of course you can't see. Mea culpa. Perhaps you can make out the godet under the zipper? I threw her in for walking ease, and lemme tell you, after navigating those snowy streets, I can say for sure she WORKS.

I also used my new favorite boning: Rigilene (affiliate link, google if that's not your jam!).  

Ok you spiral steel purists! I KNOW, I KNOW. This plastic stuff is ridiculously pedestrian when compared to its richer sister! But I've always leaned towards a mix of high and low 😬This stuff is cuttable with regular scissors, sealable with a little bit of fire, sewable without the need for a separate cover, and inexpensive. Ticks all my boxes. I even threw a small horizontal length of it up at the top of the bodice (just between the princess seams), and ooooooeeeee, does she ever stay where she's supposed to! I could use a couple more lengths right over the vertical princess seams-- I've always been hesitant to use boning over a bust curve, but I did a test of it over the weekend, and it worked an absolute treat. I'll be adding some to all my fancy things!

And you, my friends? Did you make anything fancy for the end of the year? Did I miss it? Do tell, and share...

...and Happy New Year!

Deck the Halls with Yards of Fabric

Wouldn't it be great if we could bathe our houses in jacquard and brocade and taffeta...

and have those lovely yards serve as holiday decorating?

We could include lacy neon exposed zippers...

and giant statement earrings...

and we'd pleat fabric all around corners, and stairs, and windows...

and use EVERY INCH OF IT to decorate our BODIES when the holidays are over.

NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL SUSTAINABLE SEWING.

The deets:

She's a simple, lined, princess seamed bodice (self-drafted, but you could use a pattern like this or this). Although the vertical seams are boned with rigeline, there's pulling across the front, either due to Thanksgiving Feasting (no regrets), or, maybe a darted foundation is the key to erasing those lines? I'm in the middle of Vogue 1426, which uses just that, so we shall see. WE SHALL SEE! 

The skirt is a giant rectangle of fabric, pleated and draped to fit the waist circumference, sans side seam. Sort of a column dress! There's no vent action, so you're not running any marathons in this. But you are going to walk a red carpet in it, nice and slow. And if you're like me, after you're done, you'll drape it over your bedside chair, like a decoration...to gaze at All. Year. Long.