For the past 4 years, Caltech has an exhibit titled: "Off The Clock: Art on Your Own Time".  Exhibited is  all sorts of art done by the staff, faculty, and students at Caltech.  Here's a link to a short slide show of this year's entries http://images.caltech.edu/slideshows/ArtonOwnTime/

I'm usually the only person entering a garment, and each year I think: Ah, I won't enter -  but I then I do because I want to show that there are still people that sew and make garments.  And there are a lot !  Our finished garments look so nice, you'd never know.  [More fabric stores please]

here's my entry for this year

It's a dress and jacket that I did a while ago and never wore.  I really have no place to wear it, but I do like it!  If I still worked in "corporate" I'd wear it, with one of my Grandmother's brooches;  but now, a good pair of jeans, comfortable shoes, and a nice top/tee/blouse, is all I need.  Oh, and one of my Grandmother's brooches.

Here are some other entries (quilts, mixed media, crochet, photography, watercolor, oil paintings, poetry, jewelry, and pottery)

Posted by sue at 3:31 PM PST

Updated: Thursday, February 25, 2010 9:50 AM PST

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One exhibit I look forward to each year is FIDM's Motion Picture Costume Design Exhibit.  It generally runs from February to April.  The exact date this year is February 9 - April 17, 2010.   FIDM is located at Grand and Ninth Ave in downtown Los Angeles.  The exhibit is free.  Parking is $3 per hour metered on the street. You can easily see the exhibit in an hour.  While visiting the exhibit, I strongly recommend you stop in the Scholarship store.  In the back, behind the wall divder is usually rolls and rolls of fabric, for a buck a yard!  There also is usually an assortment of trims and zippers, although the type varies from visit to visit.   A few years ago, parking was free but the area has grown in the last couple of years because of the expansion of the Staples Center and the surrounding lofts and now there are parking meters everywhere. 

This year's featured costumes are from the following movies:

Bright Star, The Duchess, GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, Nine,  A Single Man, The Soloist, Star Trek, Watchmen, The Last Station, Sherlock Holmes, Amelia, Broken Embraces, Inglourious Basterds, The Young Victoria, Coraline, An Education, Julie & Julia, My One and Only, Pirate Radio, Public Enemies, Aliens in the Attic, and Where the Wild Things Are. 

I must admit I have seen few of these movies, in fact, only 2: The Soloist and Julie & Julia. (I Netflix)  It's great to see the costumes and all the details and work that is gone into them.  The  clothing worn by Jamie Foxx who plays Nathaniel Ayers in The Soloist has words, drawings, and crossword puzzles scrawled over on them in black marker.  Nathaniel used his clothing as paper obviously.  You can see some of that here http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1971227392/tt0821642
Also on display is the shopping cart of his belongings - ok, you say, some of you see that everyday on the streets, but I like seeing the details that go into each item of clothing and the props.   I notice things that I didn't see in the movie because I was probably looking at faces and the action.  This exhibit lets me look at the clothing.

Another thing I noticed is that Meryl Streep's shoes had a 4-5"  platform for her character Julia Childs in Julie & Julia.  The platform was done so it looked like part of the shoe.  So, between the shoes and the shorter actors who played along side her, she appeared  tall.    The period costumes from The Young Victoria, The Duchess, Sherlock Holmes, and others are also wonderful to look at.  The details in the buttons, pleats, tucks, hems, pockets, are beautiful.   I only wish they allowed photographs.  I'd love to be able to capture some of the details and incorporate them into my sewing.  

If you are local, go see the exhbit and become inspried!

Here's a slide show to enjoy  http://fidm.edu/resources/museum+galleries/exhibits/motion-picture-costume-design/2009/

Posted by sue at 8:18 AM PST

Updated: Wednesday, February 24, 2010 4:08 PM PST

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I'm working on my spring/summer/beach wardrobe

Isn't this a cute summery dress.  I wish I had a wedding, shower, party, or some place to go so I could wear it!  I also wish I had a tan and could lose that last 10 pounds... and a bag of $10 bills wouldn't hurt either....

The fabric on this dress is from Vera  Wang Lavender Collection.  I love that I can buy the fabric... at... a buck ninety five a yard and make something that will be in the same fabric in RTW for over a few hundred bucks!   This dress is also completely lined.  I love having my dresses lined, no slip, needed and the dress stays nice all day!

 Here's the details:

Pattern Description: Slightly flared dress, mid-knee, has princess seams, very loose-fitting bodice with yokes, forming cap sleeves, above waist midriff and left side zipper closure.

Pattern Sizing: Misses 8-24

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? yes

Were the instructions easy to follow? yes.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I liked everything about this dress, the gathers, yoke, waist.

Fabric Used: this is a Vera Wang fabric from the recent Fabric.com clearance. it is a poly that has a really nice sheen and texture. I ended up going back and buying more the minute my order arrived because I liked it so much. I also lined this dress entirely with another VW poly in a tan color. Not sure how all this poly is going to feel, but it sure is pretty!

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: The only thing I did differently is lined the entire dress. It makes for a nicer neckline, I think, when you can line the entire edge, sew it RST and flip it out. Otherwise, the pattern wants you to use binding around the neck. I also didn't do the topstitching. My machine with nice stitching is in for repairs, and the machine I am using doesn't have a really nice stitch, so I didn't want to take a chance with ruining it with crappy top stitching.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I would sew this again. It's a cute summer dress.

Posted by sue at 2:39 PM PST

Updated: Thursday, February 18, 2010 2:55 PM PST

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ok, so it's about time I add my backside into this jalie jean sew-a-thon that's continuing longer than the Duracell rabbit over at PatternReview.com !

Pattern Description: Misses jeans; boot cut, back pockets, back yoke, fly zip, low rise and medium rise.

Pattern Sizing: Jalie's wide range of sizes child to adult. One pattern gives you every size for most everyone

Were the instructions easy to follow? I didn't have any problems with the Jalie instructions, but I did make them 5 times and so by the 3rd time, I wasn't looking at instructions. I did however, use Sandra Betzina's fly zip install instructions on from Threads Click Here for tutorial
but, Betzina's instructions do not have a fly shield, and after zipping up my gut (ouch!), I saw this latest YouTube from Hot Patterns which is a nice variation of Betzina's and includes a shield! (Pair #4 will definitely have the shield). Click Here for HP's tutorial

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? Jeans, jeans, jeans, I live in jeans, pretty much. And these have been reviewed a zillion times, not sure what makes them different and so workable, but they work! they fit with very little tweeking, and they don't look like "made with loving hands at home".

Fabric Used: denim, WITHOUT stretch. Yes, the pattern calls for stretch denim, but I didn't find it necessary. Pair #1 (which were too small) did have stretch; pair #2, (which were too big), didn't have stretch; pair #3 (which were too high) didn't have stretch; and I forgot what was wrong with the others, but in either case, stretch or no stretch didn't make a difference. Oh, I remember, what #4 problem was. I did a 4 part curved waistband and it was too tight, so consequently pulled the pants up higher and were uncomfortable.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: Each pair, I messed around with the waistband: cut on grain; cut on bias; cut on bias w interfacing; cut on bias w/o interfacing; and 4 part curved. I ended up coming back to the bias cut with interfacing. I narrowed it a bit. I also raised the center front of the low rise about 1/2". Because I found them a tad too low.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?yes, yes, yes.

Conclusion: If you haven't gotton on the jeans bandwagon, do it! do it. I don't think I've every messed with a pattern as much as I did this one. I generally make something 1 or maybe 2xs then move on to the next, but I stuck to my goal, and got myself a great pair of jeans. Now, all I have to do, is figure out some sort of interesting pocket design, change the leg width narrower or wider, and use different denims and I got lots of new jean styles! Oh, and add some rivets ...

I was just looking at the photo and see that I can take a bit more out of the back... eek! and I notice the overlap on the fly where the button is could be a bit longer....  Pair #6.... here I go.

Posted by sue at 10:55 AM PST

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