Thursday, November 11, 2010

#298 Drafting #288 Painted Lettering

So a good friend did this amazing standee for an awesome wedding. I helped by drafting the type (3 different creatives) and then painting it with him.

Here is a snapshot... I will try to get close ups soon too.

#299 Recon 30's style dress

So in my previous post about the "plan" to make this dress I made claims to not counting it twice... but this was hard work so I am gonna anyway. On the up side it was quick work and next time I will more closely follow the plan. I am happy with the result but it could be even better. This was a 1.5 - 2 hour project.


I was inspired by these looks from the 30's.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

#300 Black and Cream Vinty Recon Dress Idea

So in order to tackle a project I really need to think it through. This starts with sketches and a plan.



Stuff needed
  • 4 buttons (possible to snatch off bottom of shirt)
  • Small (10 in x 10in) Scrap of thick black fabric
  • Loose fitting man's shirt
  • 2.5 yards black cotton fabric (I will use a strippy kind)
  • Black thread
Equipment needed
  • Pins
  • scissors
  • sewing machine
  • Dress Form*
  • chalk
  • Butterick 5001 (for the skirt part) Or any mid calf stretchy skirt pattern
Master Plan
  1. Make the skirt from the pattern
  2. Take the loose fitting dress shirt, and place inside out on the dress dummy, tack down the side seams and center front with pins and tape so it doesn't shift around.
  3. Press the shirt firmly down the boob and use a spare piece of elastic to test how it will fall when you cut off the bottom. 
  4. Pin any darts in the back and fiddle with gathers needed for the girls, mark all with chalk including marking the cut line all the way around.
  5. Take the shirt off the dummy, clean up the cut line and cut the bottom off the shirt 1 inch below the cut line. 
  6. Sew in any needed darts and put back on the dress form. Check and mark places for gathering etc. Then put the shirt on the dress form inside out
  7. Tape the skirt to the dress form
  8. The drappy middle bit is going to be two layers. One for the ruched effect and one for structure. Measure from the waist of the skirt to the bottom of the shirt all the way around. Average out the numbers and divide in half. Add .5 inch seam allowance. Cut from black knit fabric. Now add 50% to 100% more to the height of those pieces and also cut out of the Knit fabrick... this will be the outside.
  9. Next Sew the sides of the tall bits together gathering along the side till it is the same height as the short bits.
  10. Sew the short bits together.
  11. You should have to tubes at this point.
  12. Next match up the short tube to the bottom of the shirt. With the right side of the tube facing the wrong side of the shirt. Match up the sides and center (front &Back) then pin. Next match up evenly about 2 inches of matertial from the sides to the center front. Stretch and pin the remaining knit fabric along the front of the shirt, careful to remain even on both sides.
  13. Take off the dress form.
  14. Take the ruched up band and with the right side of the band facing the right side of the shirt pin it to the bottom of the shirt making a sandwich... match up sides and stretchy bits to the short band.
  15. Sew to the bottom of the shirt, being sure to stretch when needed with a .5 inch seam allowance.
  16. Flip bands down. You should have a nice finished edge at the bottom of the shirt and all the sides should match up.
  17. With the right side of the top facing the right side of the skirt, match up the sides and pin and sew first at the .5 inch mark. Then again at the .2. inch mark for a nice strong waist. Flip up seam and tack to top
  18. Embellish the front with 2 button frogs made from the extra shirt bits and scraps. Possibly use shirt scrap fabric to embelish the skirt.
    *Optional if you have a friend help with the fit part


    P.S. Okay, So I promise not to count the dress too when I finish it.

    Wednesday, November 3, 2010

    #301 Quick Creepy Halloween costume

    I needed a costume in 3 seconds or less... and I had lent out all of my stage make up. Soooooooooo... So I came with this Typhiod Mary costume (name tag not shown)

    #302 Embelishment on a killer Fallout Costume


    So I modified a wide collared jumpsuit added magnetic button and yellow piping as well as a yellow fabric top stitched 13 on the back. More pic's coming soon.

    #303 My friend's Head - Now in Blue

    So I don't have pic's of the finished because I am apparently exceptionally crap at visual record keeping.

    Either way My friend has good dark latin hair... so we bleached it all to hell and then went blue and green... hmmmmm good times!


    Here we are in action.

    #304 Omlete de whatever is in the fridge


    So I has lovely spur of the moment guests for dinner.... and not a lot of options for food... so we hand pretty omletes with mushrooms and avocadoe and grilled leftover peppers done all saucy.

    Hmmmm... Saucy.




    (pssst. I know this one may be considered weak, but hell I never made this exact omlete before so there.)

    #305 Vintage Apron

    This number is done out of out of some awesome amy butler fabric for a really good friend. I will look up the pattern shortly and list it.


    #313, #312, and #311 Brand comps for my friend at Fresh Bit Baking

    I put together 3 ideas for their brand that included Logo, image philosophy, typography, iconography. To illustrate how these elements would work together for each idea I worked up very rough drafts of a website, a pastry case card and a business card. The final product was a variation on one of these and can be seen in action at freshbitbaking.com

    Below is a picture of the brand board we used for conversation.

    (Pic coming soon I frickin' swear... I didn't wait long enough for them to transfer to this drive. Doh!)

    #314 Flaming pink burka

    This number is super simple to make and was made for a crossdressing friend to take to the playa… no pic's on the playa due to camera loss (grrrrrrrrr)

    But I promise to post pics of it I dug up very very soon.

    #315 Camo florecent Mermaid skirt

    This playa bound number for a friend of mine, was made of a stretch cam print denim following a basic pencil form but I altered the hemline and then added a ripply twirly 5 inch trim to get that mermaid effect… in florescent yellow. For all the world it look like I killed a hunter in a safety vest and skinned it to make this skirt. I will stitch it out. But it is pretty similar to this number I did a while back only It was custom to a much slimmer figure as well as not being done in knit… so I added a zipper to a side seam.

    Pic's unavailable to do playa camera loss. I am very sad.

    #316 Little Piggy Circle skirt

    So this was playa wear for a friend of mine.. and nary a picture was taken. Well they were taken but the pictures are nowhere to be found as the camera itself grew legs… playa legs. Dirty hippies.

    Anyhow it was a supper cute circle skirt with this fabric.

    Knee length, with a ruffled tulle trim in dusty pink and a elastic waist band for comfort. Go flannel.

    (Picture of at least the fabric coming soon]
    And lookee here. I followed through!

    #318 & #317 Chicken with Apricots and Garlic

    So I am counting this one as a twofer cause after doing the first one I worked out a variation. Wheeee

    This was first invented during a summer camping trip with great friends up in Hendy Woods. Not a lot of planning was involved cause we were only feeding 8 people.

    • Boneless, Skinless Chickbreasts
    • Fresh rosemary
    • garlic
    • dried apricots
    • lemons
    • sea salt
    • pepper
    • olive oil
    • percuito

    Saute the garlic until golden and remove right way from heat. Add the flesh of the lemon (no seeds) and the zest (finally diced) as well as the diced browned garlic and finely chopped rosemary. Season with salt and pepper, mix well with a tiny bit of olive oil.

    Cut pockets in the cleaned chicken breasts and stuff with the mixture you just made. Between the tenderloin and the breast place a whole spring of rosemary and lightly season with a tiny pepper (lemon pepper is good). Lay a layer of prochuto across that side of the chicken sealing it off. Brush other side with olive oiled and place on the hot grill prochuto side up. Cool for 5-7 min depending on size of the breasts. turn over and grill on the prochuto side and grill the rest of the way. If needed turn as you go more often to get it evenly cooked.

    For the Roasted version you vary it a bit. Add more lemon for started.

    First use a whole chicken.

    When making the stuff do the following:
    Saute the garlic until golden and remove right way from heat. Add the flesh of the lemon (no seeds) and the half the zest (finally diced) as well as the diced browned garlic and finely chopped rosemary. Season with salt and pepper, mix well with a tiny bit of olive oil.

    take the remaining zest and and mix with corse sea salt (about 30/70)

    Cut the back out and big thighbones out of a whole chicken "flattening" it. Use a spoon to loosen the skin and rub with butter. Cut a pocket in the meat of each breast. Stuff the gaps in the thighs and the pockets in the breast meat with the mixture you made.

    In the roasting pan, place the remains of the lemons, rough sliced onions and other common roasting veg. (apples, oranges, carrots, potatoes, peppers) creating a bed that you will place your chicken on. And now you guessed it place the stuffed bird on it. Rub the skin with the salt zest mixture until well coated. fill roasting pan with about a quarter inch of broth or water (I make broth with the extra chicken parts while I am doing the rest of the prep for this :-). YOu don't want too much water otherwise you will steam your bird and end up with flavorless floppy skin.

    Place in a HOT, HOT oven 475 at least. for 20 min. After 20 min reduce the temp to about 400 or so, and roast for another 25 min or so… depending the size of your bird and the goodness of your oven. Check about every 15 min to ensure there is liquid in the bottom and your veggies aren't burning.

    Check the leg for doneness before pulling from the oven. Let stand for 5 min before cutting into it otherwise the product will be dry and crappy.

    #319 Dios de los Muertos painted faces

    so I did my face and a friends for the parade in the Mission district of SF. I learned two things on this night....

    1) Full wedding petticoats are freakin' HEAVY and HOT
    2) Copious amounts of white people who don't even bother to dress piss me off.

    It seems I suck at blogging

    but not so much at doing projects. I swear I will catch up. I will I swear. I have so many project to enter. Like 100. Damn. Grrr. I was gonna try to enter them in the order I did them but well that ain't gonna happen I think. Cest la vi.