trip to the salvy-a very delayed part 2

I never did get around to posting the next day, but I was able to accomplish some things and start some new projects as well.
Here's a quick look at the wrap pants I made using some very soft fabric my boyfriend's mom gave me. Not to many pictures for this one due to crappy lighting, I was also going to post the tutorial link, however it seems to have disappeared.

Next up is a recon from one of the goodies I got from the salvation army. It was a scrub top with a zany ambulance print and it cost me 2 dollars.
Originally it was just going to have the blue band of fabric going across, but when I tried the shirt on it was kind of snug around the hips and the way the fabric puffed out I looked like I belonged at a maternity ward. So I lovely hacked off the ambulance print and attached the bottom part of a dress from forever 21 that I bought to wear to a wedding but never actually wore.















I'm thinking I may add two front pockets with the ambulance fabric, but thats for another day. For now I'm quite happy with it. Thats all for now, its time to clean up.

t-shirt recon rescue

So I decided to take my new dress form out for a trial run and see if I could resurrect an old t-shirt. I've had this Circle Jerks t-shirt since high school (8 years), it was a men's large and at the time it was pretty fitted on me.


It went to college with me, where one Halloween morning I hastily cut the neck in order to make an 80's costume, if I had planned it better, maybe it wouldn't have been so revealing. So for 3 years it was used as a night shirt.
I started the whole project by pinning the neck line to make a boat neck collar, then I removed the sleeves and set them aside. I took it off the form and sewed it, the put it back on for the next part.






I determined how far up on the shoulder I wanted my sleeves to start, pinned the arm holes and sewed. After putting it back on the mannequin I worked taking in the sides. Working with the dress form made me feel freer. I played around with the side seams and made it so the begin curving towards the front which I found to be very flattering. I picked up the sleeves and cut them in half, attached some ties, and again, pinned and sewed.





Here are some detail shots:
Left:Reinforced side seam ----- Right: Top of shoulder (still needs to be cleaned up)

Left:On the dress form ----- Right:Curved side seam


I am really happy about how this turned out, I wasn't frustrated at all while making this, and I took my time while planning the whole thing out. I can't wait for the weather to warm up so I can wear it outside again.

unexpected day off

Well today is certainly a treat, I've had the past two days off, and today I was "on call". Being "on call" typically means I get a call at 6 am asking me to come in and begrudgingly work a thirteen hour shift. It is a very rare occasion when I don't get this call. I love days like today, an extra chance to continue with the projects I was working on the day before (or whenever).

Yesterday I was able to start and finish a project that I have been waiting to do for a while. I made my very own dress form using the paper tape tutorial on instructables.com


Here's a picture of my dress form in progress. I was able to do the majority of the front and parts of the lower back by myself. For the rest I enlisted the help of my TBF (trusty boyfriend), who was surprisingly good at this. The tutorial on instructables is fantastic, in my own opinion, the best piece of advice in the article would be to precut the paper tape in varying sizes. Preplanning this project (even if only an hour in advance) is a must. I cut darts in some of the strips that I was going to use on my curvier attributes to prevent ugly misshapen bumps on the surface of the form.


After being cut out of the form I taped it back up and cut off odd little bits that would not stay down.

















Once that was all done I finished the surface by applying two coats of clear acrylic gloss medium (cause I like shiny things). Please excuse the glare from my camera.