Sewn

Being a clothing designer who sews and takes custom orders, I'm never quite sure where this journey in garment production will take me. In addition to coming across individuals who want something specifically designed for themselves, there are also those who know exactly what they want and just need someone to create it for them. They basically just need a seamstress. This was the case for 2 projects I recently finished.

I was commissioned to create a few custom pieces for someone local to me who's preparing for a birthday getaway to Las Vegas. One item that she requested was a gray blazer. Plain and simple. Given the situation--limited time and the fact that she wasn't too particular about its form, as long as it was a blazer and gray--I decided to use a commercial pattern. Now, commercial patterns undoubtedly drive me crazy, but thankfully this time I chose one that wasn't too bad. I mean, it only had 1 or 2 mistakes in the printing of it all. The pattern chosen was McCall's 6294. It does have a lot of pieces to it--far too many for my liking--but constructing the garment overall was a breeze. It's fully lined in a gray material with black pinstripes, and because it was difficult finding a decent solid gray material, to the left you're actually looking at the wrong side of the fabric that it's made from. The correct side has brown and white stripes {right}. Sometimes when considering what's available as far as fabrics are concerned, you've gotta make such calls.

Now, the sensational part of this custom order was the black stretch satin hot pants. Inspired by the high-waisted ones Madonna wore at some event dancing with some dude--which I'm sure were inspired by ones popularized during the 70s, --there's not much to these at all! They're short and sweet ;-). Plus I'm sure they'll be right at home in Vegas.

I'm waiting to see pictures of these hot pants styled the way she described it to me. The sexiness of the shorts will be juxtaposed by the innocence of the matching bow adorned headband.

The pattern for these was adapted from a swimsuit pattern. As simple as they are, and despite the fact that there was a pattern for me to work with, I stressed for the longest over how to go about making them. I studied images online, made sample pairs--including a nifty little pair for myself out of navy jersey cotton--then had a moment of silence before cutting into the black satin, hoping the shorts would turn out and fit correctly. Thankfully they did! They wouldn't have photographed properly on me, so now I'll just have to wait for pics of her with them on.

I'm always pleased when I can help materialize a person's idea of what it is they'd like to be wearing while they're out living life. The excitement they express when I've created something that they envisioned for themselves is the very feeling I feel inside--and many times I can't resist expressing it outwardly--when I put the last few stitches on a garment that I first saw in my mind and hours later am holding right there in my hands. Magical perfection!

**In top right picture blazer is pictured with flyTie asymmetrical hem contrast mini dress, currently 15% off on Etsy!

Peace!