DIY Clutch

and closed.

opened...

Notice the clutch bag I'm holding?  

I made it out of a Modern Painters magazine.  

I was on quite a kick with those things.  

To make the clutch, I used a product called Thermoweb,

(a transparent vinyl that is ironed on to fabric or whatever)

to make the magazine cover more durable, cleanable

 and hold the side vents together.

side vents are accordian-folded two-sided images bonded to the body of the clutch with thermoweb

The title of the magazine is conveniently located at the top of its cover, and is folded down as the closure of the clutch.  I used sticky velcro as the fastener.  All sides (inside and out) are first thermowebbed.

And the groovy front side with Takashi Murakami's artwork on the cover.  I tell ya, it goes with anything!

 

I chose the cover of the magazine because it was cool, of course, but also the stock is thicker than the interior pages and will therefore last longer.

You can see others on my art website under Oddments, and then Accessories.   And thanks for looking.  Oh, and what I'm wearing is refashioning as seen on Project Minima.

Major Recon Dress

The original mini dress I had made (with matching boxers) was now too small, too short and just unappealing. I liked the fabric pattern though, and that was all I had of it, so I dismantled the boxers.

once upon a time mini shift

with matching boxer shorts

I wanted some contrasting fabric for inserts.  The only thing I could come up with from my stash was a rather subtle pinstripe.

version #3.75

Then came the engineering.  yikes!  This part took weeks of trial and error.  Having a limited amount of both fabrics added to the suspense.  Could she do it?  Did I mention lots 'o seam ripping action? Toward the home stretch, the how-about-this/how-about-that syndrome kicked in big time.

le grande finale

le pocket

It all came together with the thought, "hey what about those metal red crescent moon buttons I bought in Paris 20 years ago?!"

Yep, those babies!

To see me wearing it in various ways, just go to Project Minima, Clothes Collages, and scroll down to "Call Me Dotty."  And thanks for looking.

Tablecloth Couture

Continuing with my linens and things theme, I've made a kimono from an Asian tablecloth a friend gave me.

Kimono made from satin-y embroidered tablecloth

using both the right and 'wrong' side of fabric cuz it was so cool

made-from-scratch piping joining the 2 back pieces

one sleeve uses the right side and other sleeve uses the 'wrong' side

plus a cat pin I made from found fabric, stuffed it and added a pin

Harem cargo pants made from orangey peach silk-like boudoir curtains complete the ensemble.  Find out more details and see me wearing it all at Project Minima, here.  And thanks for looking.

My New Spring Coat

...is a great stash buster!  Maybe I can even wear it now that the weather promises to warm up a bit...

All made from my fabric stash!

- except for the base of camel-colored embossed velveteen which I got for 90% off at the fabric store down the block that was going out of business.

it even has self-made bias tape around the hem and collar!

Lest you think I'm a genuis, I did use this Koos pattern

now out of print

It took days to figure out what fabric scraps to use together.  And for some pieces, I used all I had left - like the sleeves, the off-white collar/ yoke/ stripe, or the big floral patch.  The rest just made it with a tad left over.  Now for some details:

psst...the collar does match up in real life

that's stitched-on variegated gold silk ribbon

To see me wearing it, visit Project Minima at Is It Almost Spring Yet?  And thanks for stopping by.

Recovering Soles

Blame it on Spring, Spring cleaning and getting to the back of the closet.  That's what happen with me and all those shoes being unearthed.  I started re-looking at them, repairing some, refashioning others.  But the insoles...unspeakable.

Well, I decided to take care of business.  I kept thinking what could I do about it without spending any money since my shopping ban was still in effect.

Finally, one day it came to me...I said in passing to my true love, do we still have all that bubble wrap for wrapping artwork?  Moments later I had huge boxes of the stuff.  Even better it was gigantic sheets of bubble wrap that had one side coated with thin foam sheeting.  Perfect.  That's the back story.

You can see the results in the following pictures:

I got a tracing off the insole, made a pattern and cut it out of the bubble wrap, taping 2 together for thickness

then using fabric scraps, sewed two pieces together to cover each pad

slipped them in to cover yucky old soles - notice matching nail polish!

Springy fresh looking clogs

And they all lived happily together ever after.

The end.

To see more refashioning thrills and spills, visit me at Project Minima

This is Not an Art Top

This is a piece of canvas that I painted upon:

You may recognize the artist, Banksy's work here...or not.
Banksy's rat is covering up a Damien Hirst dot painting.
This happened in real life.

It's kinda of a joke about an artist painting about an artist painting about an artist painting ... you get it.

Here's the poncho top I created to wear my work of art (ahem):

I cut a circle out of the center to put my head through...

and added bias tape around it and the bottom edge.

The sleeve edges were the selvedges and left as is.

To hold it all together I used buttons & loops on each bottom corner

I used 3 pieces of very thick scrap canvas that I had on hand, but it could just as easily be done with one piece of fabric or whatever you have on hand to make the size you need.  Mine overlapped so much that the four button and loops on each side were plenty to hold it together.  You could use whatever type fastener you had on hand - ties, snaps, frogs, velcro...


Oh, if you're interested in doing something similiar.  I just used acrylic paint.  It would not wash out and the canvas would actually become softer with washing.  Again, you could use fabric paints or markers too on t-shirt fabric, silk, whatever.  Have some fun!

If you'd like to see the Artist in Her Studio Not Wearing a Bansky or a Hirst, check out my blog, Project Minima, here.

How I Got Dressed Up

...when I had nothing to wear. 

That's me alright.

I'm wearing a transformed old pants suit I made along time ago out of suede fabric with satiny lapels and cuffs.  Here's the original pattern for the kimono-like jacket & pants so you can see what it used to look like:

way too small now

To make-over the top, I got rid of the lap over and just had it open down the center front. 

like so.

I found some cool fabric from my stash and created side inserts that flowed into the underarm sleeves as gussets.  

yep.

 

At the last minute I added some of the fabric pieces to the shoulder to integrate the look.

 hand-stitching these on

For the pants, I actually still had bits of the same suede fabric leftover in my stash (!) and used it to create  side panels at the hips to give me the room I needed.  It was easy to do since the pants zipped in the back.  Then I just seam-ripped the inner leg seams from the end of the zipper down to the hem.  To form the skirt, I stitched it back up, leaving a front and back slit at knee length.  (see first picture).  I haven't decided yet if I'm going to leave it as is, or add a pleat, or what.


To find out more about the ensemble I put together, visit Project Minima.  And thanks for looking.

From Bugs to Barbie

 Here's my latest homemade jewelry collection:  

an old necklace with Barbie accessories added

See?  Each bead has a jump ring with a unique accessory attached!

 It was my Mom's old necklace and my re-discovered Barbie doll with her wardrobe that got that one going.

a golden beetle on a red silken cord

painted a toy plastic bug gold, added jump rings & slip tied cord through

string of "pearls" with golden bug brooch attached

painted toy plastic bug, added pearl eyes and wired pin back onto it, pinned onto pearl strands

My Golden Bugs are heavily influenced by the lovely Sacramento's Golden Spider brooch.


Visit my blog, Project Minima under jewelry for more!  And thanks for looking.

From the Treasure Trove

I've been assembly bits and bobs together to make some jewelry lately.

First up is a necklace I received from an on-line swap party:

as a statement I thought it was a little plain

so I added a few more pieces to it

now I have a manifesto necklace!

metallic thread, wire & bead choker

and close-up view

to form my pennies from heaven ribbon pin!

here we have bits sewn together...

vintage metal board game pieces tied to silken cord necklace

To see more homespun jewelry go from trash to treasure, visit Project Minima, "Treasure Trove" and/or go to my Fall Clothes page.

And thanks for looking!

Shoe Be Do Be Do...

what were the chances...I'd be re-do-ing shoes...before the night was through?...ah, yes.  I have had a serious case of shoe lust lately.

So to keep myself in line, I dived into the depths of my closet to reclaim some lost soles.  Surely no one needs sooo many pairs of black and brown shoes!  Where were all the beautiful colors I craved?!

Well, just check out my latest gems...

used to be beige suede - now painted sky blue & pale peach with metallic copper ribbon ties!

used to be plain black leather loafers - now painted a variety of blues with bright orange in the grooves!

 

used to be messed-up brown suede oxfords - now iridescent green & pewter with lilac ribbon ties!

used to be messed up black suede monk strap flats - now shiny deep red and magenta dazzlers!

used to be boring ole brown mary janes - now interference violet with shiny gold trim!

   

used to be black pleather mary janes - now copper oxidized sensations!

used to be pleather gone bad sling-backs - now oxblood-colored fake alligator skin cowboy boot shoes!

used to be kitten boots with split seams - now with tiny silk roses attached along seam lines!

used to be black suede slip-ons with salsa stain - now with embroidered roses attached!

You can read about these and even more easy shoe redos at Project Minima where I just can't stop!  (Clicking on the "shoe" label takes you to them all.)