Three's Company: Chrissy's Sexual Harassment Suit

Remember Chrissy's bosses were always hitting on her?  I made this complete cover-up outfit that adds bulk in unusual places with the attempt to make something sexy while still revealing nothing.

First of all, I don't care what anyone says, this is one of my FAVORITE designs that I have done recently.  It is also one of the most complicated! Do you notice how the scarf around her neck is also the front of the double breasted jacket itself?  It's not just attached, it's PART of the jacket!  You don't see things like that!

The forearm warmers came as a kind of fluke.  I had JUST enough of that awesome orange flower fabric to make the jacket.  I couldn't have made it any bigger even if I wanted to.  So I thought I would make the sleeves out of the off-white knit material.  It looked weird.  So I unpinned the sleeves from the bodice and they fell/scrunched down to the forearms.  Then, I screamed like a girl.



It was suggested to me that this jacket would also make a good power-suit if I made a matching pencil skirt.  Fortunately, I already had one made from a previous outfit that used the same orange fabric.  So, here it is!

Three's Company: Roper's Risque Transformation

If sexually frustrated Mrs. Roper ever left Stanley, got major face and body work and ditched her curly strawberry wig for a blonde bob, I imagine she would wear extra tight versions of her old mumus.

Believe it or not, I was planning on making this dress out of a different, aqua-colored, fabric.  This striped pink doesn't look that nice on the roll, so I used it as a mock-up fabric.  But when I looked at the mock up, I was like, "Oh, my god!  She looks almost naked!" and the dresses' fate was sealed...

Doing something like this intricate twist effect is easy and hard at the same time.  In one instance, there are less darts and lines to sew to make it fit.  On the other hand, this is one of those things that you look at the strangely shaped pieces and start to put together and think you're doing it completely wrong because it's all a twisted mess.

Then you put it on the form and all is good.

Private Benjamin: Judy's Military Glam Punk

Okay, I will admit this outfit is on the VERGE of being trampy, and the hotpants are very dangerous, and there is a LOT of skin showing, but there is something about this outfit that I totally love!

I wanted to try out a new technique of twisting a pattern to create a starburst.  Now, you know what a problem I have morally with people who take stretch fabric and gather it here and there and call it a dress, but my  gathering and draping on this hooded halter is completely drafted and intentional, meaning all the gathers and all the lines are exactly where I told them to be.


After choosing the fabric, I thought who better to bring out the dangerous curves than Private Benjamin.  She grew up in couture and would be the first to take a military uniform and turn it into something inappropriate.

The shorts are actually made out of an old pair of my jeans.  I loved those jeans so much that I literally wore holes into them, but didn't want to throw them away.  I think the distressed edges really make the piece.

Three's Company: Janet's Asian Flower Shop Outfit

It's a collar that not only stands out asymetrically, it also magically flows down and becomes the sides of the bodice.  That's inSANE!  You just don't SEE things like this!

I was determined after last week's hot air balllon bodice to still make something that added volume around the neck without being so unflattering.  So I thought about making a cutout, and then thought how it would look if there were flowers sticking out the the cutout, and you know how I like to make big collars, and so the next phase of insanity begins...

This top and its components are SO very intricate.  The collar is not simply tacked down onto the blouse.  It actually IS the part that connects to the back at the sides.  I think that I had to take it apart at different points during construction at least three times because I got lost as to what part belonged where.  It was a great mental challenge!

Since the top is very compicated, the slacks are extremely simple.  No pockets, pleats, not even a fly at the front.  And it's one of the best pairs of pants I have even made....

By the way, in case you are wondering, the flowers are from a papyrus plant in bloom.  I saw them in front of an apartment building today and ran out of the car, snipped off a number of stalks, and ran away.

Wonder Woman: Themysciran Sister Knows All

I realized I had a large number of gauze all of a sudden in my collection, so I wanted to make an INCREDIBLY 80's inspired hooded shirt in this lovely purple color.

How does this say, "Wonder Woman," you ask?  Well, as I am sure all of you recall, at the beginning of the TV series, it is shows that Diana a.k.a. Wonder Woman, Amazonian Princess, former Goddess of Truth, Founder of the Justice League, and Ambassador to the UN comes from Paradise Island, where women's "everyday clothes" are greek goddess-like, hence, the gauze!

(Also note the cuffs in the shape of the bullet-reflecting Femenium Bracelets, the waist belt, and very short shorts...)

I like this one!  I'm beginning to get really comfortable in the current style of looser tops.  Although do note that I can't just make things that look droopy, regardless of what is going around these days.  I still supported and defined the shoulders with raglan shoulder pads, and you'd better believe that belt is tight.

From a technical standpoint, I also figured out how to make the hood a part of the blouse all cut from the same piece of fabric, (as opposed to attaching it separately like a collar and having a seam at the neck and on the top of the head.)  I think this creates a much smoother and versatile transition from hood to bodice.

The Addams Family: Gated Heart

After this Valentine's day was over, I realized that there were STACKS of unused promotional valentine's cards sitting on the back office desk, so I decided this was a great opportunity to make one of those, "unconventional materials" dresses.

The theme of this odd dress is, "Caged Heart."  I guess the story might be that Raine had tons of Valentine's Day cards, but broke up with her boyfriend before the big day, so she cut them all up and wore them as a dangerously sharp dress.  That is why she looks so angry.

I once again turned to "The Addams Family" for dark inspiration and thought of the character of "Gate." (For those of you who don't know, "Gate" was the Addams Family's front gate.) I used the image of the what I consider Spanish Style spikes on different parts of the dress as well as button-accented square connectors.

You might be able to notice that the "skirt" part is actually quite complicated.  It's two-layered and heart-shaped.  See it?  Also, the square connectors are three-dimentional and folded like origami with a button holding it closed, which I wish was easier to see, because those things are what took the most time to make!

(BTW, I totally admit that this dress is SO not even comparable to the awesomeness that was the newspaper Maire Antoinette dress, but they can't all be explosions of genius!)