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!

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.

Deering's Flight Suit v.2

Yes, this is a remake of an outfit I made before for the same character, but I realized a flight suit uniform would be perfect to use as a piece for the Millennium Spaceport show.

When I went into my models' closet to get it out, I realized I had thrown the original Deering flight suit out!  So I made another one.

Speaking of the Millennium Spaceport show, did you notice my link on the side to see the progress for the costumes for the event? 

Merry Xmas Brady Balloon Style!

For this year's Holiday cocktail dress... I am doing a pantssuit!

On a very special Brady Bunch Holiday episode, Cindy asked Santa Claus to bring her a very special gift.  She wanted her sick Mommy to get her voice back so she could sing in church on Christmas.

And in a strange twist of fate, Carol did indeed get her voice back and sang in church on Christmas!

Unfortunately, Santa did not tell Cindy that in exchange for her Mommy getting her voice back, she would also go completely blind.

So Leonora this year gets to be a blonde for Christmas and is wearing a yellow Holiday print off the shoulder blouse inspired by Carol's old lady turtleneck that she wore in church to sing.

Billows Billows Billows!

Halloween Special: The Cosby Show, Olivia's clown oufit is too bright and scary!

In honor of Halloween coming up, I am taking three tired, overused costume concepts and doing a little experimenting to try an make them fashionable.

The first is the clown outfit.  I remember on "The Cosby Show,"  they put Olivia in these strange "clown outfits."  Granted, adding her character to the show was a mistake, but why did they dress her so strangely in her early appearances?

So my re-working involved lengths of shirring to make all the fabric gather into the waistline while hopefully not making Leonora look fat.  This fabric is majorly thin.  If it mere more lightweight, it would be see through, and it still added a lot of bulk.  Maybe I gathered too much in, but I still think the look is kind of interesting, even if it is not necessarily my favorite thing I have ever made..

The Facts of Life: Okay, Natalie!

Alright, I think I tortured the spirit of Natalie long enough by ignoring her and making an extra Blair outfit.  I suppose fat girls need love, too.

What an awful thing to say!  I know.  But you know how much I love fat people, so it's okay for me to go there.

So this overcoat is completely irrational, with it being sleeveless and all.  Why would someone wear a heavy wool coat to keep them warm, but have their arms totally exposed?!  Because that's fashion, baby, and sometimes it just doesn't have to be practical as long as it looks good.

Yes, the concept is a little unusual, but why does it kinda not look so wrong?  I think has to be the accessories.  This outfit would not be the same without those gloves or the collegiate knee socks that match the sweater underneath.

I did make a little miniskirt to go under the coat, just because I felt she shouldn't go bottomless, even if it would not be seen.  Leonora took it off though.  That's why she has that, "I have a secret" look on her face in the last photo...

CTW, Ready to Romp: Not-So-Juvenille Hipster

I hesitate to say, "Romper Room," because in the service industry, that is the term used when there are too many families with children in the restaurant.  So I'm just going to bundle any juvenile educational programming inspirations into "Children's Television Workshop."


I wanted to make a dress quick quick quick.  I have a record of making a lot of separate pieces.  Even the gown that I did most recently was a two-piece, and wanted to challenge myself to do something speedy and easily constructed without being too simple-looking or boring.

So sleeves and pants were out, and a halter neckline and a skirt was in.   I can't say that this romper dress is Simple.  I can't just put out a potato sack with a belt!  But the whole thing, including designing, drafting, and mocking, took less than 12 hours, which is really fast even considering I also re-drafted and mocked the skirt after a first failed attempt.

I have learned in the past that adding too many extras, like pockets and buttons, to a garment made with fabric that has a busy print on it, the details disappear, so I found a way to make this busy print work for me rather than against me.  See how the pleating has made the stripes look like they are changing direction?  That's because I used my new fascination with drafted pleating to give the printed pattern a new dynamic without having to cut and sew on a new piece of fabric.

Wild Kingdom: The Earth Goddess Makes a Grand Entrance

I call this a Grand Entrance jacket, meaning it only gets worn when making a bold statement upon entering a party, or walking on the red carpet and getting your picture taken, but you want to take it off before even thinking about sitting down.  It's not that the jacket's not comfortable, it's that the pleating is so deliberate, it will be ruined if crushed, and you can't iron it.

 There is something jungle-y and natural about the choice of fabric.  The jacket's crinkly nature and tiny pinstripes remind me of tall, dry Serengeti grass, and the simple dress underneath is beige with a shiny tiger stripe print, so, yes, the design came first, then the TV inspiration focused it.

When you first see this outfit, one might think, "Oh, noes.  He has gone over to the drapy dark side..." but this outfit is drafted drapy, meaning I didn't just throw a piece of fabric on a dressform and fold and hope for the best.  I actually made a pattern and mathematically controlled the angles that each pleat would fall and therefore created a symmetrical and evenly balanced garment that never would have been possible if I had just pleated fabric haphazardly.  I am very happy with the result and even looking at this picture of final flat pattern makes me happy!  Would you think that something like that ends up looking like something like this?

Taxi: Rocking Dirty Downtown Urban Glam

I've been wanting to do character ever since I bought this wig for Leonora.  It's her new "signature hair", and in addition, it makes her a dead ringer for Marilu Henner!

There is a lot to be inspired by in the show "Taxi."  The cab drivers (all but one) have dreams and aspirations that just seem within reach, and they consider working at Sunshine Cab a temporary job that they can leave behind after they succeed in their real careers.  Sound familiar?  Elaine Nardo (this character) wants to be in the field of fine art.

I had the shape of this garment in mind before finding the fabric.  I originally wanted to do a yellow/b-w checker combination thing to give her "taxi-colors", but I ended up using an aqua crepe for the undershirt and this cool patterned jersey material for the jacket instead.  The color brings out her eyes much better than yellow. compare/contrast.  (By the way, I found the picture of Elaine in that shade of blue AFTER I made the garment.  The fact that they are the same is just a wonderful coincidence that affirms I made the right color choice).

Since Elaine wants to be an Artist, and also Sunshine Cab is based in Lower Manhattan, I wanted to combine the two looks.  I wanted the whole thing to look a little dirty and wrinkled.  The under vest has permanent wrinkles ironed-in.  The grey trim on the jacket is made out of one of my old tank tops with paint stains.  I rubbed sidewalk chalk on the jeans to make them look dusty and worn.  But I also wanted her to look artistic and glamourous.  The vest is shiny.  The jacket is meant to resemble one of those oversized dramatic ponchos that a stereotypical New York female artist wore in the 70's.  The pants are super fitted and not sloppy.  I think I did a good job at mixing the two looks.

Gilligan's Island: Profess This!

I was excited to make something for The Professor.  Along with the Skipper, he was always one of my favorites.  I used his white shirt and khaki pants combination as inspiration for this combo.

As I mentioned last post, I am doing an exercise in swimwear since finding a great site on how to draft patterns for stretch fabrics.  I'm quickly becoming a fan!

I knew I wanted to try to make a one-piece suit that looked like she was also wearing a very professorial vest.  The small problem was, how would I do that without making the waist look bulky with the extra layer of horizontal-laying fabric on it?  The answer was to do a twisty, high placed ditty withangular lines running through it.  I love the way it turned out!  

In addition to making the otherwise simple-ish suit look more interesting, notice how the placement of the bands on the side sections also add cleavage-creating bra-like support.

And of course, I couldn't simply make a one-piece and let it stand alone, so I made a flowy (yes, a flowy, unstructured top!  Can you believe my boldness to explore the unfamiliar?!) blouse as a cover-up.  While it doesn't really cover anything, it sure would look great billowing in the sea breeze.  I was not only taking from the Professor's white shirt, but also was inspired by coconut "fuzz" and the the palm frond thatched huts, which is why I added the detail of the frayed edge ribbon I created from the shirt fabric.