sew is your face! » tie

new burgundy waffle back vest

micheLLe — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 19:00:23 +0000

one of my favorite vending opportunities this past year was the 2009 Holiday Gifty Show at the Crucible in Oakland. it was my first show that i did alone (my man was sick) and it forced me to entertain myself more than usual. i ended up meeting all kinds of wonderful vendors and customers. everyone was so enthusiastic about the waffle back vests that i actually sold out of them and took three special orders for more! here is the one i made for Nieves on a trade for some of her wonderful bodycare items.

this week in sewing:

micheLLe — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 16:39:57 +0000

how many pin cushions is too many pin cushions?

i bleed for my art!

i finally got the right dress form and started Nieves’s custom vest:

i made this necklace from thrift store chains and an antique key from England. it is available for sale at Trunk, 544 Haight St. San Francisco, CA

i made this necklace from thrift store chain and two antique keys from England. it is available for sale at Trunk, 544 Haight St. San Francisco, CA

if you’d like to donate neckties, old jewelry, or fabric to me, please email me at: micheLLe@sewisyourface.com

today’s haul

micheLLe — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 02:48:01 +0000

this morning, after our creative support meeting, my good friend ellen and i went to scrap to see what treasure we could find. scrap is an excellent resource for artists and crafters, especially if they are into reusing and recycling. today was a gold mine day for me. i went there expecting nothing and left feeling like i had just robbed the place! upon stepping ten feet into the warehouse, we found a bunch of really old games and puzzles that were in pretty good shape. after looking inside almost every box and contemplating what i could possibly use these relics from the past for, i came up with the idea to use some of the pieces as hang tags on my upcycled garments for sale. i mean, why spend a bunch of money on printing tags when these game pieces all had wonderful, colorful, childhood reminders in the form of illustrations on them? i figure i can either hand write directly on the back or print information (like care instructions) on stickers and stick those to the back of the pieces. either way, i think it’s a grand idea! here are some pics of the games and some of their pieces that i made off with:

oh, and did i forget to mention the GIANT pile of ties that i got for a price so low that i’m afraid that if i repeat it, they’ll come to my door and take them away from me!

the pink vest:

micheLLe — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:13:13 +0000

sew, i decided to stay in and sew last night instead of going to a hoop jam. sometimes that’s a really tough choice for me but look what came out of it! this is the cutest, PINKEST, vest ever. it’s a size medium with the flexibility to fit many body shapes (up to a bust size of 38). it’s the classic waffle back that seems to be popular with the ladies. i used a thick, pink, yarn-like thread and a really cute stitch, that is shaped like hearts, to pull this valentine-themed vest together. instead of using my usual thrift store-harvested, metal hardware for the closure, i went a little more simplistic and used the small ends from two of the ties to tie the vest closed in the front. this allows the vest to be more adjustable in the fit and, in my opinion, makes the vest look a bit more feminine. nothing says “I Love You” like a pink valentines day vest sewn with little hearts all over it! this vest is a one of a kind (as are all my vests) and will be for sale at Trunk @ 544 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA.

how do i store my ties, you ask?

micheLLe — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:10:25 +0000

well, until recently my ties were stored in bins, bags, and piles on the floor. not very efficient, i know. it would take me *forever* to find matching ties for projects and i’d have to make new piles in the middle of the floor and then throw them all back in the bin when i was done. i never had a way to keep them organized and they tend to wrinkle badly when left in piles! what a nightmare, i know. a friend of mine came over, looked at my sewing space and declared “you should just build strong racks that come out from the wall to hold your ties”. what a brilliant idea! we quickly sold the little couch that was taking up valuable storage space in my sewing studio. then, we went to home depot, bought a drill, some pre-cut hardwood, and elbow brackets to make this simple, yet oh-so-functional tie rack! donovan did a great job building it and so far, it’s holding about 1/3 of my actual inventory of ties. we are thinking of putting some cross pieces of wood on it so i will have more space to hang more ties. we even left room at one end to keep adding arms (in case my tie collection is growing faster than i can sew). it’s such a pleasure to have them in plain sight and grouped by color or design. it takes the frustration out of picking ties for a project, keeps them relatively wrinkle free, and frees up much of my time that is better left for creating. am i allowed to be this efficient???

**if you, or anyone else you know are interested in donating neckties to me for my art, please email me at micheLLe@sewisyourface.com. i will happily reimburse you for any shipping charges!

the proud new owner…

micheLLe — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 21:10:12 +0000

of my latest racer back vest made from neckties! it fits her as if i made it with her in mind. i love it when that happens!

intro to draping and drafting

micheLLe — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 19:16:07 +0000

wow. it’s been a hectic summer/sewing season for me this year! i swore up and down that i wouldn’t do any trunk shows because i didn’t feel ready yet. i was supposed to sew all season to beef up my inventory and do the shows next year. but somehow, i ended up doing them now anyway. i was constantly struggling, sewing like mad to fill up my rack and on top of that, trying to hone in on a beautiful, easy display. it’s a LOT of work, i tell ya.

but now that burningman has come and gone, i’m enjoying a bit of a break (until shopping season officially starts). as part of my self given reward for all the hard work, i took an intro to draping and pattern drafting class. i wanted to learn the basics on how to create patterns from scratch. i usually copy ready-to-wear garments on to shopping bags used as pattern paper, alter the pattern to my liking, then create and hope for the best. darts have always been a bit of a sticking point for me (how do you move them for instance???) i thought it was time to step up my game and gain the skills necessary to be able to create garments entirely from my own visions.

recently, one of my beloved customers: jennaluna had requested a fitted, cropped vest. “hmmm” i thought. i’d never done a custom fitted vest from my very own pattern before. i do love a good challenge sew, i decided to apply what i had learned in the intro to draping and pattern drafting class and make one for me first. i only wish i could show you how it looks on me, not the other woman. but alas, my photographer doesn’t live across the street from me anymore…

here’s how it all happened:

since i have a vintage dress form that pins don’t readily stick in, i had to first make a cover out of tee shirt material.Â this gave the pins something to be pinned to.Â then i marked the dress form with twill tape. i don’t recommend this method at all. it’s a pain in the neck and the cover tends to slip around. there are still spaces where the form separates and the pins are hard to secure there.Â i just bought some 1/8″ tape that works MUCH better, no need for pins at all.Â anyway, i then added my design lines for the vest i had in mind. here is what the other woman (that’s my dress form’s name) ended up looking like:

then came the pinning of the muslin to the other woman. once it was all pinned in place, i took a sharpie and roughly traced my design lines and darts. when everything was marked, i removed the muslin and viola! i had made a two dimensional pattern from a three dimensional form. (ok, it wasn’t really that easy but i’m try to simplify here…)

i transferred the rough pattern to actual pattern paper, trued (is that a word?) it up and was pleasantly surprised at how accurate my pattern seemed. i sewed a test garment together with muslin and it fit great! i went ahead and quilted my ties together and then cut out the pieces.

after sewing all the pattern pieces together, i realized that bias tape for the edges would be the perfect finishing touch. i decided to make the tape from the tie scraps that i had used to create the vest. i sewed them together and ran the strips through my bias tape maker, followed by a steaming hot iron. and of coarse, i poked and pricked myself a gazillion times; giving new meaning to the phrase “i gave this project my blood, sweat, and tears”.

after attaching the bias tape around all of the raw edges, i finished the vest with three pearl snaps on the front. here’s how it turned out:

and of coarse, my trademark special stitching:

phase two…oops, i finished it.

micheLLe — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 05:13:59 +0000

i love this skirt!Â it fits 34″ to 38″ hips.Â i’ll be listing it tomorrow…

phase one!

micheLLe — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 18:17:39 +0000

here’s a quick sneak peak at the choices of ties and fabric for the next tie skirt!

necktie skirt

micheLLe — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:03:35 +0000

i made myself a skirt and top (and a coat too) out of neckties a few years ago to wear to burningman. click on the picture to see more. i wore it for a couple of years out on the playa and even for a few hooping events. i’ve always dry cleaned it and been a-m-a-z-e-d by how clean it comes. hand washing scares me with these because they are vintage and who knows what will happen to the silk?? anyway, i sold *my* skirt at a recent sale (room to make me a new one!) and received really positive responses to them as a whole. i thought i’d make a bigger size for all you ladies that expressed interest! this one accomodates hips up to 38″ and is held in place by a plastic belt buckle and a few strategically placed hook and eyes (that can be moved for a custom fit) on the inside. i made the ruffle from a vintage slip and some soft brown netting that i hand gathered. i left the gathering thread in the ruffle because it looks cute! it’s a true one-of-a kind! you can buy it here. or you can email me to place a custom order.