made by Julianne

MAD MEN CHALLENGE: PSYCHEDELIC BATHROBE

19 April 2013 by Julianne

What’s a weekend without new lounge wear?

Although I’ve never participated in a challenge before, I was immediately jazzed about Julia Bobbin’s Mad Men Challenge. And although I’ve always been in love with the show’s costumes (especially after reading the ultimate Bitchy Kittens Tom and Lorenzo), the period clothing is mostly not my style. However. I had a amazing pattern from my Grandma, and gorgeous vintage cotton from Hawaii (a gift from my step-sister-in-law Ilaan), and damn if I’m not a sucker for over the top lounge wear.

You better believe I’m designing pajamas to coordinate. Who’s coming over for brunch? This robe is begging for champagne cocktails.

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I don’t actually smoke, but I love all the scenes with Betty hanging around her house, chain smoking and drinking wine all day. Hilarity. All the ladies have such amazing wardrobes, including their bathrobes. In fact, I think every main female character has appeared on screen in a robe at this point!

My design combines two luscious bathrobes from the finale of season 5, called The Phantom. Appearing first is drunk Megan’s psychedelic robe, which has the same large flowers and neon colors as my fabric.

Trudy’s robe has the frilliness of my pattern. I’d been planning on adding an organza ruffle with contrasting rolled hem, but while my sample looked amazing it was not very soft against my skin. So I have 7 yards of neon pink 5″ wide bias strips waiting for another project…

I used Butterick 3770; although I couldn’t find an exact date I know it’s from the 60s. I received this pattern after my grandma died, almost a year ago. Knowing that she cut the pattern and made it for herself was a great connection, and reminded me of the wonderfully frilly dresses she would make for my birthdays. The night that I finished the construction, I dreamed that she was holding my hand throughout all my sleepy-time adventures, and it was a pretty great feeling that lasted all of the next day.

I didn’t make any adjustments to the pattern (except the placement of the belt casing and using 4 buttons instead of 5). The arms are a little high, but that seems to be the style and I didn’t want to mess with it. I finished the seams with my serger, but I may come back with some bias tape. If I were to make this robe again (and had more fabric) I would make the skirt a little more flared in the back, to emphasize the cape.

Although I certainly don’t need another robe, I want to make 5 more of these in every wild silky fabric I can find.

Like so many of my projects nowadays, nearly all the materials came from my stash. The only purchase for this robe were 1/3 yd pink satin for the tie and button coverings, 6 yd pink lace, and blue ribbon binding the ruffle, for a total of $8. I had JUST. ENOUGH. FABRIC. In fact, one of the front facings had to be cut separately, because I chose to cut the back as a single piece (I was not loving the very obvious center back seam that the pattern called for).

I love that the shorter version of this robe is called “street length,” so that became the inspiration for this photo shoot.

Ah, I wish I didn’t have to actually work today. I’d much rather drink strawberry margaritas, eat egg rolls, and watch movies on the couch all day. But I might wear this to a potluck tonight.

SOFA CITY MAKEOVER

15 April 2013 by Julianne

Jason picked out a very comfortable sofa for our apartment, and he did it as a bachelor. It’s good for lounging, and when we remove the pillows it’s as wide as a twin bed (for guests!). It’s even got sleek lines, and no extraneous “design details.” But it’s tan. I was overjoyed when he spilled soy sauce on it one night, because I officially had license to recover it.

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All these fabrics were freeeeeeeee. The gorgeous hand-woven top was a gift from my step-sister-in-law Ilaan. The green velvet piping and fuchsia were just taking up space in my fabric cabinet (and were free remnants from my days at Fabric Planet). I probably payed for the cording inside the piping, so this cost maybe $2.

I know from experience that getting a large cushion into a cover is a pain in the ass, and even if you only have to do it once why even bother? So I made this cover like a fitted sheet, but instead of elastic at the bottom edge I used a drawstring so that it can’t come loose. The underside of the cushion is still the tan microsuede, and that’s fine. Since this type of cover is easier to remove and replace, I’m more likely to wash it when it gets dirty, and it used half the fabric since I only covered one side.

The back pillows are covered in an aqua linen that showed up one day, I honestly have no idea where 5 yards of bright linen comes from but I’m not questioning it (I also used this fabric for Jason’s wedding shirt). I did buy the yellow pompom trim from Joann’s, so the pillows cost $4. The long zippers were also in my stash, which is why they are baby pink. But who cares?

I left the back pillows in their original cases, because I should probably not throw them out and where would I store them? At some point I should re-wrap the pillows (foam cores covered in batting and filling) because they get awfully saggy after a couple days.

We’ve also covered the sofa with some pretty rad pillows. These two covers were handmade in Hungary and cost about $20 each. Adding to the sentimentality, the pillows themselves were given by Medora when she left for her first backpacking adventure.

This gorgeous printed cotton came from our friends’ honeymoon in Malaysia. The fringe and invisible zipper were from my stash. I’m pretty sure this is the nicest body pillow on the west side.

This pillow was also a stash-buster. I bought the fabric in New Orleans in 2006; the pattern reminds me of Mardi Gras beads. Fun story: I was on the phone with a friend who left from El Segundo to come to our house in Mar Vista, and during his transit time I made the pillow from start to finish. About 20 minutes. So this pillow is the “Cosmo’s coming over!” pillow.

My wonderful round rainbow tuffet was made in New Orleans in 2007 using scraps as well. It’s firm and great for sitting on the floor.

I also made a fitted sheet for when guests sleep over. The blue seersucker came from my grandma’s fabric stash, although I think I bought it for her years ago.

So now you’ve seen my couch! It’s great for lounging, and napping, and has played host to many friends and wonderful conversations. I can’t tell you how gratifying and meaningful it is when Jason’s old friends come into our home and remark on how cozy and beautiful our apartment is looking nowadays (not that Jason didn’t have the apartment looking nice on his own, but he’s given me free reign to add my own sense of style).

It’s so welcoming to open our front door to this comfortable rainbow!

COOL CONTRAST TEE

8 April 2013 by Julianne

At a recent sewing party I got a copy of Twinkle Sews, and was instantly drawn to the chic and effortless style of the Cool Contrast Tee. The pattern calls for chiffon as the main and lining fabrics, but I knew that this design would be a great stash buster. Since I didn’t buy any fabrics and the book was a gift, this blouse cost me nothing.

I’ve always been intrigued by achieving rainbows beyond ROYGBIV, via texture or pattern, particularly in black and white (I have sketchbooks filled with luscious pen and ink drawings). I was very excited to use so many of my colorless scraps in this top.

I cut a size 8, which seemed pretty true to my measurements, although of course there were fit adjustments. Since I used so many different fabrics of varying weights, it’s difficult to make any fair judgments on the pattern. It was definitely too low and wide at the top. I took in all the seams about 1/2″ which helped with the gaping at the front and back. If I were making this again, I would add 1″ to the front pieces; the back is fine. The only version of this top confirmed my suspicions that the hemline is way short, so I lengthened the pieces by 2″ at the bottom.

I omitted the band at the bottom. Since I added length to the panels, I didn’t need the band for modesty. But my main reason that I left off the band, and usually do, is because I feel that the bright horizontal stripe across my hips makes me look way wider than I normally do. It’s calling attention to the widest part of my body, and while I’m pretty comfortable with my shape I don’t feel like that’s a flattering look on me.

I love the princess seams and raglan sleeves–all those seams make fitting very easy! To showcase the style lines, I opted for exposed seams, which I serged with teal threads to tie in the sea-foam bias tape at the neckline.

I’m happy with this blouse, although I had a hard time figuring out what to wear with it. Pants might be better than a skirt, but we were spending the day walking around UCLA and Westwood, and I wanted to catch the breeze. I’d like to see the pattern made entirely in knits, as well as the double chiffon suggested by the book.

RAINBOW BALLOON PANTS

28 March 2013 by Julianne

I made these pants for Burning Man 2013, but they were also great for New Year’s Eve.

The metallic rainbow fabric is just that, found in the clearance section at Joann, back in 2010. The teal waistband is a wonderful modal jersey that is now all gone from my fabric cabinet (but I also have two shirts and a turban from it).

I’d been planning on making balloon shorts out of this awesome metallic rainbow stripe, but felt that night-appropriate pants would be more spectacular. My #1 dream would have been to line the shorts with hot pink silk charmeuse to feel it sliding against my skin with every little step, but at night I tend to wear plain leggings underneath the genie pants for warmth, and so I simply used a striped cotton that was taking up space in my fabric annex (cardboard box under my desk).

I’ve been stash busting for a few months now, and I’m gaining a lot of momentum. And free space! Free space in my sewing cabinet, but not in my closet…

FLEUR DE LOGO MAKEOVER

21 March 2013 by Julianne

Years ago I made a fabulous reverse appliqué of my sewing logo, and while I love the embroidery the shirt wasn’t that great. Some combination of the color, V-neck (often awkward on me), and clinginess of the fabric meant that I never wore the shirt. I don’t think I ever actually wore it out of the house after that photo shoot in 2010. That’s insane, because it’s a great design (courtesy of my husband Jason) and I put a lot of time into the stitching.

I had a really hard time making the first cut into the shirt, but I’m so glad I did it! This fuchsia and white jersey was about to be donated to the local Boys’ and Girls’ Club, but at the last minute I snatched it for this project. I whipped up the top in about 20 minutes, start to finish, and just cut into the fabric without worry about patterns.

I’ve been a big fan of kimono sleeves on knit tops for a while, and of stripe fabric, and it’s purely a coincidence that these two elements are a trend! right now. I went a little loose on the torso of the shirt, cause I can always take it in later.

before:

It’s been so warm in LA lately that I’m sure I’ll have plenty of opportunities to wear my tee shirt immediately. I mean, I know that LA is SoCal, but last year I was bundled up every single day!

SILVER GENIE PANTS

13 March 2013 by Julianne

First off, my husband would like me to point out that he asked me to make all of this for him. These pants are the harem version of his Disco Mechanic coveralls… Robo Genie?

These genie pants are perfect for Burning Man. You can layer warmer leggings underneath, and still be fabulous and comfortable. By the way, I have a matching pair of pants myself.

He’s so fabulous and funny! I love that he is so comfortable with himself that he wears these clothes, and that I can make them for him. It’s not like he’s wearing this outfit to the grocery store, but he probably would if I asked him too.

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I also made his shirt and hat. The rainbow sequin tee is lined with neon orange jersey, because it was too itchy! The hems are bound in a lycra tape. The shirt’s a little short, so maybe I will add a band of another fabric.

I hand-stitched the hat back in 2009, after Jason lost a similar hat when we met at Burning Man. I used compressed cardboard for the brim, and gave it to him the first time I came out to California to visit.

I just made a tutorial for these pants, so check it out if you’d like to make your own.