Jum Nakao- Paper Dresses

Interesting documentary on an  interesting Brazilian Designer

Taking the needles to the street

Welcome to Guerrilla Hemming- a quick and easy way to hem a pair of pants, skirt or whatever it may be- sewing machine is optional.

Step 1:

Determine the length you want to remove from your garment [ie: 7cm]

Subtract 2 cm from this number for the seam allowances and 1-2cm depending on how thick the fabric is that you are hemming [2cm for jeans, or cords 1cm for cottons, or linens]

Turn the pants inside out and measure the desired length [in this case it is 3cm]

Step 2:

Iron down the "cuff" that you have created. Make sure the "cuff" is the same measurement all around the garment.

Step 3:

Now unfold and cut along the line created by the iron.

Step 4:

Sew the side seams of the garment (about 2cm up from edge) to reinforce the seam so it doesn’t unravel.

Step 5:

Turn the garment inside out and iron 1 cm all around, check for accuracy. Now fold the ironed seam in and iron once again.

Step 6:

.remove the extension table.

 Step 7: 

Sew the underside of the garment using the seam edge and the guidline on the sewing plate.

Alternatively pin hem down and use a slipstitch (or any stitch you know how to do) to complete the hem.

Step 8:

Tie a knot with the long threads to secure the stitching.

And voila you have your first hem done.

Step 9: 

Pin the piece of fabric that you removed from the other leg/sleeve that you have just sewn. Cut using it as a guideline.

Repeat steps 1 through 8

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8-Bit Fashion in Japan

Anrealage || Real . Unreal. Age 

Kunihiko Morinaga's newest collection called Low was debut at Tokyo Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2011-12. A beautiful play on using cutting edge technology to create a low resolution 8-bit look.

 

Check out the video of the fashion show on vimeo.

Kultpur presents: Green Days

My (re)Create line will be on sale at the Kultpur Exhibition space & store from March 31st-May 26. New pieces will be add sporadically throughout the show.

Come check it out if you are in the Berlin Area. Lots of cool unique up-cycled designs from fashion to furniture featuring up and comers from around the globe. 

Kultpur - Muskauerstr.47, 10997 Berlin

sneek peak:

 {re}Create by Datchi

Welcome those Dog Days of Summer with this retro inspired lemon yellow sundress.

 

Mini Skirts Revisited

So here are some other ideas/pictures for converting shirts into mini skirts, the techniques are realtively the same as the T-Shirt mini skirt

With this skirt since the width of the bust was much wider than my waist I added gathers at the new waistline. Used a soft lace elastic that fit nicely and zigzagged it into place. The large pink button now sits at the centre back covering the seam in the lace.

T-Shirt Mini Skirt

4 Easy Steps to making a mini skirt out of old t-shirts. Why throw away when you can re-use and re-create your wardrobe. 

Materials:

1.  thread
2. a machine that can do zig-zag stitches or a babylock machine
3. a mannequin or model you can drap the fabric on
4. pins
5. needle and thread for basting

Step 1: Remove the top half of the shirt, lay flat and cut a straight line from armhole to armhole. This will be your waistline.

Step 2: Drape inside out on model/mannequin (remember to use the existing t-shirt hem as the skirt hem) . Pull fabric towards the side seams, making sure it is smooth and not too tight, but tight enough for the skirt to stay up on it's own. Pin.

 Step 3: Baste (with contrasting thread) a new seam on model/mannequin.

Step 4: Remove and use basted line as your stitch guidline. sew & voila! At this point you can make a pattern so you can recreate a perfect skirt every time. You can go further and double up the skirt so all of the ends are finished nicely, but since jersey edges roll it is not necessary.

For the pattern

Why is it important to make a pattern? If you make a pattern than you are guaranteed to have straight side seams and a grainline that follows the weave every time. If the side seams aren't straight than you skirt won't fall straight. 

Materials:

1. hip curve ruler
2. square ruler / transparent ruler
3. pencil and pencil crayon
4. craft paper
5. pins
6. glue

Step 1: Lay skirt flat on paper, you may want to pin it in place. Trace with pencil.

Step 2: Using the rulers fix traced lines to best fit. Find the Centre of the pattern, square up from hem. Fold in half, pin and cut. This will be your template for the pattern

Step 3: Take a large enough piece of paper that will fit the skirt twice. Fold in half. Trace the skirt template. Find the centre and draw grainline and add necessary info (ie: front skirt). Pin the fold paper together, and cut out.

Step 4: The second pattern piece will be your back pattern. Mark 1cm in from side seams, and cut. Find centre and draw your grainline, mark necessary info.


The nice thing about jersey is that the edges roll and create an already finished look. However if you want something even cleaner you can make a facing (copy patterns 12.5cm from waistline) or cut 2 of each pattern to create a 2-ply skirt.