Arizona trip, Dec 09

I went to Arizona to see my mother the weekend of the 12-15 Dec 09. While there, I took my camera & a dog & went out around her house to walk & take pictures. Here are some of them.

This would perhaps be better with some photoshop to bring out the dark area, but for now, here it is.

It was getting towards sunset ...

My mother's dog, Goldie, was having a great time -- so much to smell!

A dog we passed ...

Cactus in flower

Turtle Rock

Santa & Mrs Claus, out greeting the passers by

Rock? Termite mound?

Reuse in action

Mountains

Goldie was eager to get home by the time we went around the loop.

Fitting shell

The next step is to make a fitting shell that fits me, or at least the dress form. I like to think that if it fits the dressform, it will have a chance of fitting me. :-)

So, I put in my measurement in Pattern Master. So far, so not got it right yet ...

It's handy to stick in a pin at the bust point, but it kinda creeps me out.

The armhole is not deep enough, so far as I can tell, but the amount of pattern between the neck and the bottom of the armhole is way too much. How, you might ask, is that possible?

The shoulder seamline is just the wrong shape. Connie Crawford has a book & DVD on draping to make a pattern. I think that may be much easier -- start with the shape & make the pattern to fit.

Pantsform ...

I have made for myself a pantsform -- like a dressform, but for the bottom part of me.

Here it is:

And the back:

Yeah, I'm never going to make it as a model. :-)

The idea is to wrap with plaster bandages:

It has to be cut open to get it off, of course:

Sew it back together & then paint green soap over the inside. I think that gives a slippery surface and makes it easier to get the cast off the foam once it is poured. I actually did the green soap paint first, then sewed it up.

I think the legs drooped a bit as it dried, but it isn't apparent in the final form.

The openings were closed up. This thing gets a post down the middle to hang it from. The instructions say to have an assistant hold it, but I didn't want to trouble anyone. I devised some cord to hold it up. I spent a while trying to make sure that the cord held the post in a position such that when it was all done, the form would hang the same way that I stand. I think I actually got about as close as was likely to happen. However, if I use this for hemming, no one should check the level too exactly. :-)

Then the anxiety, er, fun -- the pour:

Ripping off the cast & filing:

The instructions said to cover the form with a drycleaners bag, which I didn't have. My mother pointed out that a garbage bag is also made of thin plastic. The one I used is black, so instead of having a greenish shade, the pantsform is vaguely black, which is fine.

The cover is just a piece of fabric, sewn into a tube.

Put a cap on the bottom of each leg & on the top & it's done.

101 things to do with a vintage kimono

I went to Uwajimaya's on Thurs and spent a while at the Kinokuniya bookstore. I came away with 3 Japanese sewing magazines, which all seemed to be on the general topic of "101 things to do with a vintage kimono".

Since I don't speak Japanese (or read it), I have to guess at what it is saying from the pictures. Happily, sewing is a very visual art, so I can likely do just fine with pictures. The numbers are written in the latin alphabet, which helps.

Here is a pattern, with a picture of the kimono it was made from ...

And the pattern to make it, including the layout instructions for the kimono fabric. Kimono fabric is 13 inches wide, so the pieces for the clothes need to be narrow.

I don't plan to make any of these exactly as they are presented -- I figure, this is a jumping off point. They are not quite my style as presented -- whatever my style might actually be. I was watching Gossip Girl and got to a scene in while Blair was wearing a blue striped dress with bright red shoes (bad snap).

I never would have imagined that outfit, but yanno, it is kinda cool.