sew is your face! » hoop clothes

when i’m not sewing…

micheLLe — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:13:08 +0000

i made the pants i’m wearing out of a house robe that i acquired from a thrift store. i am also wearing one of my upcycled collars and a bracelet, both made from neckties.

flirty skirt!

micheLLe — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 17:38:46 +0000

or maybe i should call it a butt cover, it’s kind of short. the design is not mine but i made this adorable skirt from scraps! it can be worn with the fringe on the side or all hanging in the back. it has been serged together with shiny, sparkly thread. click on the photo to see more views and how i constructed it. i intend to make booty shorts and a pair of short pants that match to go under it. stay tuned!

i love sock pockets!

micheLLe — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 00:00:05 +0000

i have a firm belief that within every outfit i wear, there should be at least one pocket! even if it’s in my socks. during the recent heat wave, i didn’t really feel up for sewing but i managed to crank out these two different styles of pockets. for the black pocket, i used black and white felt with silver thread. i free handed the skull and cross bones, cut it out, glued it to the felt, then hand sewed it down with a metallic black/silver thread. in doing sew, i created the outline of the teeth. it is the perfect size for business cards, credit cards and a drivers license. perfect for when you’re out clubbing or hooping but don’t have any pockets. you can slip this slender pocket into your boot or sock to hold a few necessities. pretty cute! the black and red pocket is made from the wider end of a necktie. the funny thing about neckties is that they are by no means exact. the point isn’t exactly in the middle like you would expect. but not to worry, when used for a pocket it gives the finished product more personality and a true one-of-a-kind look. to make this pocket, i serged the raw end of the tie together and folded it into the inside before sewing all around the edges with a sparkly silver thread. then i added a snap to make it secure. looks pretty good i think. this pocket is slightly bigger than the other and can easily hold a house key, id, credit cards, and money all at the same time. maybe even more. it also fits into my sock or boot and works well as a change holder in my purse. i could make a longer tie pocket and use it for an iphone or ipod cover. the possibilities seem endless. who wouldn’t love a cute homemade pocket that is also keeping an old necktie from ending up in a landfill? i love upcycling, everyone wins.

the last week in sewing…

micheLLe — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 18:17:48 +0000

i’ve been sew busy sewing and celebrating that i haven’t had a chance to share what i’ve been creating this past week! i’ll start with the commissioned birthday outfit. my dear friend asked me if i could make him something to wear while hooping on his birthday. it sounded like fun and i needed to practice sewing for other people sew, i said yes. he was a big part of the design process which i absolutely loved. we decided on a masculine shirt and loin cloth type cover up, to be worn over black pants. he requested the outfit to be different shades of blue and black to match the color of his hoop. we had planned a trip to the fabric store but first, we wanted to sift through his goodwill pile and fabric scraps. we ended up finding everything we needed from what he already had. the shirt was made from a size large tee shirt that was way too big for him to wear as is. the loin cloth was made from another tee shirt (straight out of his closet) and fabric scraps that he had been saving. we spent no money. i didn’t get any pictures of my friend wearing it (was too busy hooping!) but i did photograph it before i gave it to him. it was fun to make and ended up fitting him well, what more could i ask for? next, i needed to make something for me to wear to his birthday-hoop-fest! i decided on an entire outfit. i wanted an outfit that flowed nicely and that wouldn’t affect my ability to hoop. the first thing i did was to make a flowy, skirt type garment that can be worn a few different ways. i copied this from a garment i borrowed from a friend, but made it from scratch. since it is wide open on the sides i needed a pair of comfy pants to wear under it. i had been to the thrift store recently and picked up some items to practice on. i found these homemade pants and only paid $1.99 for them. they happened to be the right color but boy, were they awful! very high waisted and made for a short person with a huge belly and skinny legs. i altered them by lowering the rise, taking them in at the top, inserting a new elastic waist, and serging the bottom of the pants to uneven points. much better. then i rummaged through my own clothes and found a nice, long, gray tank top to sacrifice. i serged the front and back of the bottom half to match the lines of the skirt. i also used the same color thread to make a more cohesive color combination. i figured i may get cold sew i decided to add one more layer. i used a pull over that i had also purchased previously from the thrift store for $2.99. it was a medium size and hung a little loosely, sew i knew it would hang a certain way after i altered it. i serged the front and back lower portion of the pullover in the same pointy shape as the tank top, skirt, and pants. lastly, i tightened up the sleeves by serging them all the way from the shoulder to the end of the sleeve. it’s a really cute outfit and i love the way all of the points flow. to see more photos of the complete outfit, click one of the pictures. ok…one last outfit. (i’m addicted to sewing, can you tell?) here, i took another pair of pants that i got from the thrift store for $1.99 and again, lowered the rise and added an elastic waist band. they were already high waters on me, sew i decided to make them more of a mid calf length. i then hand-gathered two ruffles that i made from my skull & crossbone printed cotton material. i love that material. i cut off the pants, leaving a seam allowance and serged the ruffles in place. this was my first attempt at adding ruffles and other than the gathering, it was easier than expected. in fact, my serger eats ruffles for breakfast! anyway, i then picked out a pink shirt from my closet that i got for free from a friend. my friend Lauren inspired me to cut it up! i saw her wearing her own cut up shirt that she made and was totally motivated to do the same. sew i did. i used a rotary cutter to make the first round of cuts. i was a little conservative and ended up lengthening the cuts with scissors after the shirt was constructed. the tee shirt has skull & crossbones on the front sew it now matches the ruffle on the pants. viola! i now have another cute, hoop worthy outfit =) now, i’m going to go sew some more clothes! i am determined to make or alter 80 percent of my own wardrobe by the end of the summer. then i’ll be good enough to make clothes for you too!

ugly duckling

micheLLe — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 04:53:25 +0000

boxy, boring, non descript!

recently, i experienced a major shift in my career choice. because of this, i have a huge pile of office attire that’s taking up valuable space in my closet. for the last four years, i was wearing suits to work every day and under the suits, i was wearing typical “office appropriate” tops. you know the kind: boxy, unflattering, boring, unnoticeable type shirts that cover all your lady parts just right. i’ve always considered my suits and plain tops a type of costume or armor that i had to wear to hide the real me from my office mates. sad, i know. but today i found a spectacular use for those boring old shells! i rescued three very similar tank style shells from the give away pile. i thought it would be a good idea to use them for practice to get to

much better, but it still needs something...

know my serger a little better. i figured that the worst case scenario would be to throw them away instead of give them away. best case scenario would be turning those boring, lifeless tops into something i actually wanted to wear. well, i have to be honest. the first one turned out bad. it was lookin pretty good until i decided to put a seam straight down the middle of the front. bad idea. that just brought the armpits closer than they needed to be and it looked kinda funny. the lesson there was that if it’s fitted already, don’t serge down the front! but i learned, and the second top came out pretty good. and it seemed pretty easy once i got over my fear of ruining it (which was irrational considering it was slated for the good will anyway). it was pretty bulky so i was able to serge it in a criss cross pattern to reduce the size a

awesome new tops!

bit, which worked beautifully. it fits just like i thought it would. the third one was surprisingly just as easy and probably took half an hour to complete. i think the overall lesson for me is that with a little bit of imagination, skill, and fearlessness, anything is possible.

mistakes = opportunity

micheLLe — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 18:39:23 +0000

have i mentioned how hard it is to be 4’11″ and find fun, flowy pants that fit? and i’ve got curves sew the kids department doesn’t work for me (believe me, i’ve tried). again, i thought i would try my hand at making a pair of pants that i can hoop in, out of this wonderful, soft, earthy, green jersey i found for $2.00 a yard out of a scrap bin. as always, it was a learning experience and didn’t go off without a few hitches. i traced another pair of pants (making some changes) and used that as a pattern. i freehanded the flare at the bottom sew somehow, i ended up with a shorter hem length in the back than the front. and, i pinched the fabric by the knee while serging but you can’t really tell. everything was fixable enough and none of my mistakes are very noticeable at all. side note: serging brings a whole new meaning to “making a mess” for me. i keep wondering what can i do with the scraps? there’s gotta be something useful to do with them. maybe make hair falls out of them…anyway, after i proudly finished up the pants, i thought i should make a top to go with them. i decided on a lovely halter top out of brown and green. i ended up using a brown, cotton, stretchy, long sleeve, tee shirt for the body of the halter and the same green jersey for the top part. i cut off the bottom of the brown shirt and did some nipping and tucking to make it more fitted. then, i cut out two tear drop shapes from the green jersey, stitched them together at the top, gathered them to fit, and pinned them in place. after attaching them to the brown shirt bottom, i then sewed pieces of brown shirt scraps across the front in a zig zag pattern to um, hold my junk in place. at this point, i fine tuned all of the seams, fitting the shirt exactly to my body. i was pleased, but thought the outfit needed one more thing to make it complete. gauntlets, of coarse! i made them out of the sleeves from the brown shirt by first, cutting off 12″ of the sleeve and keeping the bottom hem. next, i cut thumb holes in each sleeve. then, because the sleeves were quite loose, i turned them inside out and serged over the original seems until i was happy with the fit. i left the top unfinished sew as not to hinder their natural stretch. they turned out great! here’s a look at the entire outfit (minus the gauntlets) i took the outfit for a test drive by wearing it while hooping and, to my delight, everything stays in place! (there’s nothing more embarrassing than accidentally flashing your audience.) i’m pretty happy about the way everything turned out. each of my mistakes ended up being an excellent opportunity to try something new and to make it work. i used every piece of the original shirt because after all was said and done, my boyfriend ended up with a tiny shrug to wear…isn’t he adorable?

one persons trash is anothers new pants.

micheLLe — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 21:25:56 +0000

this robe thing was in my give away pile.Â someone had gifted it to me andÂ i’d already harvested the buttons off of it and decided that i didn’t want the garment. it was waaaay too big and kind of dated looking anyway.Â then i got a wild idea to make a short, flowy pair of pants out of it.Â i mean, why not?Â it consisted of about a yard or so of fabric.Â something to practice on at the very least, right? to my surprise and elation, they turned out pretty good considering this was only my second try at pants. i took a pattern off of a pair of yoga pants that i already had and shortened them to land right above my knee.Â i used the already constructed ruffleÂ from the end of the sleeves to finish off the bottoms of the long shorts, turning them into short pants.Â =)Â this is a pattern that i would like to perfect, as they make really cute pants for hooping because they flare a lot when you turn.Â there’s enough fabric left to make a matching top and/or sleeves…now to find or create a pattern for them!

take off your pants!

micheLLe — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 01:09:45 +0000

in my never ending quest to find clothes that fit, i just plain give up! it’s so hard finding ready made comfortable clothing that i decided it’s time to take matters into my own hands and make my own clothes. yesterday, i made a top that needed a bottom. sew today, i made the pants. i took a pair of culotte’s that i already owned (way too long for me, i’m vertically challenged) and took a pattern from them, shortening the legs by three inches. i also lengthened the fold down waist band by four inches. they came out pretty good considering i’ve never made pants before…let alone on a serger! speaking of the serger (i think i’ll name it “the beast”), this sewing excursion taught me sew much! it took about an hour to adjust all four tension settings correctly and i can see it in my loose seams. but all in all, i’m thrilled that i can wear my new pants and say that i did it myself =)

p.s. sorry about the bad quality photos, my photographer had the day off…

what i made today…

micheLLe — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 17:09:10 +0000

ok, sew i made it yesterday but i was too lazy to post about it! i didn’t take before pictures because i forgot to. i need a personal assistant but that’s another topic…

i’m always on the hunt for cute tops that i can hoop comfortably in. their are many considerations in choosing the right hooping clothes: sweating, bare skin needed for grip, comfort, cuteness, and sew on. i really love cotton tank tops because they breath when you sweat, are comfy, and leave my shoulders bare (which is essential for shoulder duck outs) but they are a bit plain and remind me of gym wear. i wanted to make some hoop tops that were cotton, comfy, AND cute. that’s how i came up with this adorable, tank-ish style top.
i used two cotton tee shirts, scissors, pins, ruler, chalk, needle, and red embroidery floss. the gray tee shirt has 5% spandex which makes it hold it’s shape more than plain cotton and is fitted (size xs) on me. the red one is ribbed and stretchy. first, i cut away the sleeves on the gray shirt while being very careful not to cut the collar. then i turned it inside out and drew a heart pattern across the chest and marked the heart with lines one inch apart. next, i tried slashing the lines with a razor blade but couldn’t get a clean line out of it. it looked jagged and seemed to want to make the cotton run. instead, i used my sharpest, pointiest, deadliest scissors to poke little tiny holes and then smoothly cut the slashes across the heart. at this point, the top was pretty cute but because i had cut the sleeves out to bare my shoulders, i wouldn’t be able to wear anything under it to cover my parts. sew, i decided to insert the red material (which was just a square cut from another shirt) and hand stitch it together with the red floss. and viola! i know have a cute, comfortable top that is perfect for shoulder hooping because just enough skin is left bare!