Accessories - Part 1

A couple of weeks ago while I was browsing the message boards at Patternreview.com, I came across the Accessories contest. Make five accessories and use them to accessorize 4 looks using the same garment(s). I have a idea file full of magazine pictures of accessories I like or that were made using a neat technique or color combination. I consider myself a woefully inadequate accessorizor. On a good morning I will remember to put on earrings, but scarves, necklaces, etc. collect dust in my closet. As I read the rules of the contest I felt myself getting so excited and ideas were just popping up in my head. Here was the motivation to make some accessories and use them. I ignored the fact the month long contest had started two week before.

I decided to use all the accessories on an outfit of brown pants and blue blouse. I don’t know where that combo came from, it was in the mental images that appeared in my head. The blouse was a medium blue, stand collar, long cuffed sleeves, front opening with long shirt tails. It was a style that could be worn tucked in, as an over blouse or tied around my waist. Of course I did not have this perfect blouse in my wardrobe. I found some possible candidates in the stores, but not in the right color blue. So before I started the accessories I made the blouse using Burda Style's 8-2009 blouse pattern 131.
The only difference was I made the straight bottom into a shirt tail shape copied from one of my husband's shirts.


I picked four “events” for styling - All in the fall - Saturday Errands, Day at the Beach, Work Day and Art Opening. I drew a figure with the brown pants and blue blouse plus accessories from my idea file, with notes on pattern location, materials, etc. Here are examples of my crude drawings. I had lots of fun doing this.


The first accessory I made was a hat. The pattern is from the Autumn 2007 issue of Female magazine, a Japanese pattern magazine for teens. I got the magazine several years ago to see what it was like. The crown of the hat is a flat envelope shape pieced from multiple wool fabrics. It is sewn to a small brim. A button and loop at the top corners of the envelope piece allows you to fasten them together and the crown sort of droops, forming soft folds in the fabric. The lining is a typical cylindrical shape that fits the head closely. The fabrics came from two thrift store skirts and scraps from a jacket sewing project.

One of the thrift store skirts was an Abercrombie and Fitch mini skirt. A&F is luxury retailer targeted 18-21 year olds. The skirt was exactly 12 inches long from waist to hem. It was not a good bargain from the standpoint of useable fabric. The zipper was 4 “from top to stop for gosh sakes. Isn’t that the size used for doll clothes? But the fabric was a brown and bright blue herringbone which was exactly the colors needed to coordinate with my outfit. And I was able to reuse other bit and pieces of the skirt; the blue silk lining to line the hat. And the ribbon belt for the inside hat band.

Next I decided to tackle the sandals for my beach look. The flat leather soled sandals have colorful fabric straps that can be wrapped around your feet and ankles. The instructions are in the April 2010 issue of Burda Style. When I think of homemade sandals and shoes, I remember the ugly, crude styles that "back to nature hippie types" made and wore in the 70's. But after I noticed the instructions in Burda Style I came across this Brazilian web site Pape which sells similar soles and a variety of different straps made of fabric, leather and beads, so you can create your own customized sandals. The videos on their site show different ways to wrap/tie the straps. The pattern for the soles of these sandals is created by tracing a pair of your own flat shoes. I traced a pair of flip flops. The soles are cut from thick rigid leather, 2 pieces for each foot. I used a heavy duty utility knife with a new blade for this and it went quickly. Slits/holes are cut in the top piece of the pairs of soles to allow loops to be inserted. The two layers of leather are glued together and then hand sewn around the edge. The leather I used was left over from some long ago Boy Scout project. I did not have a leather punch to make the holes around the edge of the soles. Instead I used a Dremmel tool and one of the tiny size drill bits this tool can use. This was suggested by the clerk at the Tandy Leather store who said I would kill my wrist punching holes in the leather with a hole punch. Hand sewing the two layers of the soles together is done with waxed nylon thread and harness needles. It took me a while to do it and was not fun. Pictures of the assembly process (and my skinned knuckles) are in this Flikr set. Accessories-Sandals While I probably won't make another pair, I did learn some techniques that can be used to repair shoes and purses. And I have some ideas for other top pieces that can be used with these soles.

Then it was on to something easy. A visor with attached head scarf. When I doing outdoor stuff like hiking or sailing, I like to wear a head scarf versus a hat for several reasons. It is harder for the wind to whip a scarf off my head and make a Medusa mess of my hair. And it covers more of my hair. which tends to lighten to a reddish color from sun exposure. A plain head scarf can have a babushka/grandma look, but a scarf with a brim in a modern print doesn't. I got my first brimmed headscarf many years ago on a sailing trip around Granada. It is a square of tropical print fabric sewn to a piece of plastic shaped like a brim. I bought it from a boatboy that had motored out to the sailboat in hopes of selling us cigarettes, fruit, beverages, souvenirs, frsh fish and lobsters This boatboy was a good looking Frenchman and he had a hilarious marketing pitch on the versatility of this head scarf. The brim could be used to funnel stuff into the mouth, or out away from the boat in the case of sea sickness or too many rum punches. It could be used as a blindfold for fun games, a face covering in Muslim countries, You get the gist of his spiel. Even though the print was garish, I bought it and have used it often over the years. The new version is made from a pattern in the April issue of Lady Boutique. The brim is sew to a band with velcro sewn to the back for adjustments. A triagular scarf is sewn to the brim. It works great. I used the same tie dye print fabric for the new visor scarf as the straps for the sandals.

Seamingly Dartless

In the September issue of Burda, there was an article showing how to combine garments from the current and past issues. When I saw a favorite blouse #121 from the July issue combined with a great skirt #116 from the Sept. issue, and styled with a belt and shoes similar to those I have, I knew what I would sew next.
The blouse is loose fitting with extended shoulders and short sleeves gathered onto bands. This style is not typically a good one for me. The lack of shoulder seams, i.e., the extended shoulder, emphasizes my smaller, sloped shoulders in an unflattering way. But this version of the blouse featured three rows of tightly gathered strips sewn parallel to the shoulder seam, adding texture and bulk to the shoulder area. I absolutely love the blouse. I made it in inexpensive soft woven rayon. I wish I had made it in a silk. The instructions on finishing the edges of the ruffle strips was a new method for me. First the hem was folded to the wrong side of the strip on both long edges. Working from the front side, stitch along the folded edge using a narrow zig zag stitch. Turn over the strip and trim away excess hem fabric close to stitching. This seemed a little "unfinished" to me, but I tried it anyway and it seemed to work. I am curious if there will be fraying when the blouse is washed.

The skirt is a narrow pencil skirt with the shaping done through curved seams that wrap around the body. I was so impressed with the lovely shape of these curved seams and the way they shaped the fabric from the waist to the hips and over the rear. And also totally intimidated by the work that would be required if alternations were required to this pattern. I was fairly sure I knew how to draft this pattern from a standard darted skirt sloper and I was planning to do that if the muslin didn’t fit well. Fortunately it fit fine. The only tweaks required were around the waistline to make the skirt hang straight from my uneven hips and over my flat butt. Both for the muslin and for the final garment, I was very careful and precise tracing the pattern, adding seam allowances and sewing the seams. It went together beautifully. The curves are very gentle and I did not have any problem sewing them together. Burda provided a separate lining pattern piece for the front that was shaped by darts. So that the lining does not require all the seaming of the front fashion fabric pieces. And I used the lining to work backwards and confirm how the skirt was drafted.

What struck me about both these garments is that the garment shaping or dart control was in the seams. On the blouse the horizontal seam on the front actually contains a small bust dart.


The skirt is a masterpiece of darts incorporated into seams; both the front and back waistline darts as well as the side seam dart. In addition the skirt is tapered by actually drafting the vertical seams slightly inward at the hem combined with a horizontal dart at the hip line. Below are my notes and diagrams on how I would have drafted the skirt.

Summer Shirtdress

I needed a break from hand sewing on my jacket. As I was browsing through the August issues of the foreign sewing magazines that I subscribe to, this dress caught my eye. I thought the cross hatched tucks on the skirt was interesting and the rest of the dress was a style that works well on my body type.

The pattern is from the August 2010 issue of a Russian sewing magazine Шитье и крой which translates to Sewing and Cut.

The translated description of the magazine from the distributor's website: “Not simply a sewing magazine with patterns, it helps readers create their own fashionable look and accessories. Featuring the latest fashion from the catwalks of the world, it is possible to wear the same fashions as actresses using our convenient patterns and clear instructions. This magazine also presents the work of Russian fashion designers. Each issue contains 70 original patterns for woman. Target audience – women of 16-35 years. ”

Well I am definitely not in the magazine's age demographic, but I thought with the addition of about 10 inches to the length of the skirt, it was wearable by someone my age.

I recently figured out how to translate scans of the foreign language picture captions and sewing instructions into English. Even those written in Russian Cyrillic characters. First step is to use free online OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software to extract text from an image scan (JPG, GIF, TIFF BMP or PDF) of the sections of text on the magazine pages. Then copy/past the text into free translation software which recognizes Cyrillic characters. Pretty slick. When school starts for my sons this fall, I plan to use the OCR to convert the 15 or so printed forms I have to fill out for each son, into electronic word documents that can be updated every year. Also the blasted information forms that my dentist insists be filled out every year from scratch for every member of the family. But I am getting off track.

The pattern instructions suggest gabardine as the fabric. I used a cross woven linen look fabric for the dress and Bemberg rayon for the lining. I omitted the side seam pocket. I used an invisible zipper in the side seam. The dress pattern is printed in one size - 48, which corresponded with my measurements. The only pattern modifications I did were those I do for any commercial pattern; increasing the back length and adding back shoulder seam darts for shaping. I love this color blue accented either red or saddle brown. And it will be a good dress to wear this fall.

Here is a picture of me and Miss Ashley in front of the fall blooming clematis that is taking over my deck. It smells wonderful. We are using the wireless remote for the new camera to take pictures of ourselves. Miss Ashley didn't much like the camera staring at her from the other side of the deck, making funny clicking noises.

On the Fringe of Fashion

This jacket was supposed to be a wearable muslin to test Vogue pattern 7860 for a possible Chanel type jacket. I rejected the pattern for the Chanel jacket soon after cutting it out because of the bust darts in the front. The darts starts out at the armhole like a princess seam, but taper to nothing at the pocket level. They work great for bust shaping. But the Chanel type jacket requires the lining to be quilted to the fashion fabric and I didn’t know how to do that with a dart like this one. Quilt first and then make the dart or make the dart and quilt shaped pieces together.

I went ahead and finished the jacket because I still liked the style and the fabric I was using. A nubby, multi colored woven cotton , purchased back in 2007 from Fabric.com. I bought the fabric because I was inspired to create a look with fabrics similar to those used for the jackets and dresses in the Burda WOF March 2005 magazine feature “Enjoy the Mix”…of elegant boucle and casual denim.

Is fringe on jackets still in style? I saw a boucle jacket with fringe at a White House/Black Market store just last week, and another fringe trimmed jacket in a catalog this week, but it is not quite the fad it was about 6 years ago. I don’t care. I like it.

This jacket was a lot of work; creating the fringe, basting it in place, attaching and top stitching the contrast bands, and making the welt pockets. The work went on and on. But I am pleased with the result. It is my happy jacket; brightly colored and trimmed with fuzzy fringe.

Thanks to everyone that suggested fabric and trim stores in Toronto. I have saved the info for my next trip there. All I saw on my recent trip was the inside of the office where the project team was working and my hotel room. Sigh, no play time. There is a daily 2 hour direct flight from Richmond to Toronto, and I am thinking about an extended weekend getaway trip for my husband and myself. I will have to keep my eyes open for discounted fares.

Work continues on my Chanel jacket. The lining is quilted to the fashion fabric. The lining seams have been hand stitched closed. The next step is to attach the sleeves to the bodice.

Catching Up

Catch up time. Here are a couple of items I made earlier this summer. My version of the Burda waistcoat 108 from the May 2009 issue. and a second version of the Simplicity 2633 blouse. The blouse is made from some silk blend fabric purchased during the PR Philadelphia weekend.

More recently my friend Tammy and and I decided to make Chanel type jackets. For reference we used the Nov 2005 Threads magazine article “ Inside a Chanel Jacket” by Susan Khalje, the “Chanelisms” section (page 183-185) of Couture Techniques by Clair Schaeffer , and Claire’s “Behind the Seams - Chanel” DVD. Also helpful was the Chanel Jacket blog http://www.chaneljacket.blogspot.com/

We thought making the jackets would be a good way to keep practicing the fitting and tailoring skills that we learned in our classes at G Street Fabrics this spring.

Tammy is using Vogue pattern 7975 for her jacket

Her fashion fabric is a a lovely soft blue and orange wool bouclé stripe with metallic weft threads. It is really pretty and looks great with her coloring. She plans to wear her jacket with jeans.
I originally planned to use Vogue 7890, View A for my jacket. I made a wearable muslin of it for the initial fitting. It fit great, but I decided I wanted a style without contrast bands. The wearable muslin is almost done. I had to order the lining fabric from Sawyer Brook. Here is a sneak peak showing the jacket fabric, fringe and contrasting denim trim.

I ended up blending two other patterns for my jacket. I morphed the front lapel, collar and pocket flaps of Vogue 7151, view A with the princess seams and two piece sleeve of Vogue 8260. The 8260 is actually a "V"neck with separate collar pieces attached just like 7151.

My fabric is a green/ pink/ lavender wool blend that is lined with lavender silk charmeuse.

We spent one Saturday fitting muslins of our jackets, having a lovely lunch, poring over the sources and discussing the techniques and next steps. Yesterday we got together again and quilted our fashion fabrics to the lining fabrics and cut out the quilted pieces using our patterns. The quilting was so boring for me when I was doing it on my own, It went much faster while chatting over the noise of two sewing machine with someone sitting at the other end of the table. My jacket shell and sleeves are sewn together and I am ready for all the hand stitching needed to sew the lining seams closed.

I am already playing around with ideas for trims; auditioning ribbons, fringed strips, and cords. I even dug this little gizmo out of my craft closet. It is called Embellish Knit.
It makes a a knitted yarn tube as you turn the handle. Sort of an automated version of a Knitting Nancy.
I had never used it before and was skeptical it would actually work. It does but only if everything is just so… the yarn feed loose and tangle free, the finished cord heavily weighted, and the wheel turning at a steady pace. Oh and you have to hold it in one hand while turning the wheel with the other. I caught myself biting my tongue and holding my breath while using it. Not a relaxing task.

It is so nice to have a sewing friend to work with on challenging projects like a Chanel jacket. Unfortunately, this project is going to stagnate while I am in Toronto, Ontario Canada on business next week, followed by a week of vacation at the Delaware shore. I hope to break away from the meetings next week and make a quick trip down to Queen Street, Toronto, which sounds like a fabric district similar to Philadelphia's Fabric Row on 4th Street. I am staying in the suburb of Oakville and I was told there was a good fabric store there too, though the person who told me that could not remember the name. Any readers' suggestion on good fabric stores in Toronto are welcome. Maybe I will find the ideal trim for my jacket in one of those locations.

Customized Software

I work in the IT department of a large consumer goods company The department has several off site meetings each year to celebrate our accomplishments. They are nice uplifting events with good food, recognition awards, prizes etc. Typically the dress code is business casual. We had one of these meetings last week. Someone on the event planning committee (I’ll bet they were male and under 25 years of age) decided it would be nice to have casual dress, and to distribute a "one size fits all" white T shirts to all department members, and require it be worn to the event. We were even given suggestions on what to wear with it:

 Shorts – Bermuda-style, golf shorts
 Pants – Khaki, capri, jeans
 Shoes – Loafers, deck shoes, canvas, athletic shoes, sandals




I wasn't the only female in the dept. that expressed dissatisfaction with the dress code. We had a lively lunch discussion on ways to make the T shirt more attractive; tuck it in, belt it, or tie it to one side. I really don’t like this style of T shirt even when it is free. It is unflattering. I won’t even sleep in T shirts like this. I will wear them for work related community service events. Activities like building houses with Habitat for Humanity or replanting city parks. But I donate the free shirts to charity after the event. It seems a bit wasteful. I decided I wasn’t going to wear a big white shapeless T shirt to the off site meeting. I would wear the T shirt, but it would be "refashioned". I also wanted to make a wearable muslin copy of a RTW T-shirt, so I decided to ”kill two birds with one stone”. Here is the RTW T shirt, bought for a few dollars at Walmart I believe.
The color was dreary, the knit fabric thin and cheap, but I liked the styling. So I took it apart, laid the fabric pieces on paper and traced around them to make a pattern. I used the pattern to cut the pieces out of the big white T shirt, making sure the motifs would be in relatively the same location on the refashioned T Shirt. I think the results is a lot more attractive than the original. When asked by my coworkers "What did you do to your shirt?" I replied that "I did some software customization." Most of them got the joke.




I was so pleased with the results of my software customization, I actually plan to wear it on weekends around the house.

And here is another, non logo, version of the same T shirt made of a rayon lycra knit from Fabric.com.