Now that spring has come to England, I can begin to believe that it might get warm. So, sometimes the fleece gilet will be too warm. However, there will be times when my back still wants some protection. So, I decided to make a denim waistcoat which might serve the same purpose.
I rummaged through my box of 'reserved for refashioning' jeans and denim items. I decided on these skateboarder jeans from back in the day when a Certain Young Man was into skateboarding with his friends.
You may remember when I made a skirt from a few pairs of trousers and I ended up with problems where the knees had been. It gave a strange shape to the skirt.
Well, this time I tried to avoid that area, but because of random pockets around the knee area of the back of the leg, it wasn't going to work. So, I thought I would use the stretched out area to advantage by cutting the fronts of the waistcoat so that those areas would be in the bust area. I planned to use a side dart anyway, but then the stretched out character would cause the fabric to mould around the bust more like softer fabrics would do.
One of the feature pockets
I did cut the front so there was a bit of a lapel, so I cut facings from the scraps and stitched them on. I turned under all the edges and trimmed so they wouldn't fray.
And here we are!
Oh, by the way, what about the fading on the knees which are now in the bust area? Well, I thought of that. It wasn't too bad, but I worked into it with the colour pencils I use for some of my textile art. I blended it with water and then heat set it. It makes it just enough darker that it doesn't stand out as being exceptionally faded.
5 comments:
Great reuse here! And the ingenious use of colored pencils to mask the fading is inspired! Yeah, didn't even think of the fading, which is so obvious before, until you explained how you remedied it. Cool!
Andrea EOD
Nice job! Great use of the existing features of the original garment, those front pockets are cute. What are the pencils you use? Sounds like something I'd like to try :-)
Looks very good, great job and ingenious use of the fabric.
Hi, I used the kind of colour pencils you can get wet to blend. But I use normal ones, too.
I won't be washing it all that much, but if it fades, I can just do it again. I figure eventually the rest of the waistcoat will be fading and it will all go together.
There is a kind that really does set permanently. but I haven't been able to afford them! I think I need to put them on a birthday/Christmas list!
---okay, I went and looked them up.
This is from Loft Studio Designs
http://loftstudiodesigns.wordpress.com/interesting-ps/prismacolor-pencils/
Prismacolor pencils are made with lightfast dyes however heat setting is recommended on fabric surfaces…. Some say to press using a hot dry iron from the back of the work with a layer of absorbent paper placed between the work and the ironing board.
(I would use something like a paper towel and work from the front...just because I can see what I am doing!)
The pencils themselves have a waxy feel to them and are quite soft – a feature that allows for controlled shading to build intensity and depth of colour in your work. For areas where you want to obtain just the merest blush over the fabric, colour heavily on a piece of scrap fabric and then use the scrap to rub the colour into the required area. To blend colours, you can layer one over the other and then rub with a soft piece of cloth, cotton bud or even your fingertip to blend and soften the colour.
Sandy
Great job! The vest looks fabulous on you.
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