Mod Mini Skirt Project: Purple Textured Polyester

Have been very lazy about sewing lately. It seems that as my social life improves, my sewing life goes to pot. Ah, well, such is life. We only have so many hours in a day.


I did want to share another mini-skirt project that I completed. I made this purple mini skirt out of a vintage polyester that I found online. The texture kind of reminds me of stucco. I love all the different textures on old polyester fabrics. Seems now days most polyesters you can buy don't have much in the way of texture.


I also made this skirt with the idea of emulating a picture I found in one of my old Simplicity pattern counter catalogs. I had the striped shirt but all I needed was the skirt! I'm really pleased with the result and like the idea of pairing stripes with solids. Will need to make more solids in the future.


Happy sewing!
Astrid

Mod Mini Skirt Project: Cat's Eye Fabric

Just when you thought it was safe....another mod mini skirt! Did you really think the madness ended? Nope, it didn't. It just got supplemented by some dress projects (more of those to come soon).


When I find a great fabric in low yardage, there's not a whole lot to do with it, except make a skirt. Besides, a lot of prints don't translate as well into dresses. They may be "too much" (so to speak) and overwhelm my relatively short (5'4") stature.


So, I found this great vintage "cat's eye" (that's what it looks like to me) fabric in a low yardage on eBay and I had to have it. I'm not sure what the material is made of, but it's definitely not polyester. It's probably some sort of cotton blend-- it might have even been intended to be an upholstery fabric.


Whatever the case, it wasn't too stiff or scratchy. It could be done, and I did it. I made a skirt. Yep, big shocker! Ha ha!


Happy sewing and more to come soon!
Astrid

Mod Mini Skirt Project: Two Color Mini

Okay, I've got skirts coming out of my ears, but I'm okay with that. However, I did decide to shake things up and make a skirt that's a little more interesting... What inspired me? I saw this skirt pattern online, but of course, I could not find it in my size. And if you haven't figured it out yet, I'm WAY too lazy to do things like resizing patterns. I know there are directions online somewhere and they're probably super easy, but wood shop class ruined my GPA in high school. Let's just say I'm a little adverse to anything that even resembles drafting. I still have nightmares.


I ended up deciding to improvise. I've been adverse to improvising as I've learned to sew. I feel like I've finally gotten to the point, though, where I understand construction enough to get creative. Improvisation is my new friend. But I'm pretty sure we'll have a falling out eventually...

The pattern that inspired me
(ABOVE)

I couldn't go for the design on the pattern I found-- it seemed too complicated. I decided to make a skirt that was half one color and half another color. It would have a colorblocking effect, and it would look totally kickass. And I'm happy to report that's *pretty much* the result.


How did I do it? Well, first I got some orange polyester out of my stash. All I needed was white. Much to my dismay, I had to resort to buying white polyester for the other half at...gasp...Joanns! I have been disappointed with the quality of the fabrics there, but I couldn't find vintage polyester fabric online in white. And I'm so old school that I didn't want anything modern. I'm afraid it would just be the same stuff they sell at Joanns. The white polyester I got there wasn't all that great. It was the highest quality stuff they sold, but still it was a lot chintzier than the vintage polyester, and much to my annoyance, it's kinda see through in the right lighting. In addition, the chintzy white polyester is somewhat drug down by the heavier vintage polyester on the orange side. It's not too noticeable. Still, I'm kinda annoyed.


To make this skirt, I adjusted the front pattern piece. Instead of placing it on the fold and getting one piece in one color, I placed it on fabric that wasn't folded and got a single thickness of just one side of the front. Then I took the piece, reversed it, and cut it on a single thickness of the other color. I also did something comparable with the back pieces to get an orange panel and a white panel. Everything else proceeded as normal except I had the additional step of sewing together the two front panels, whereas normally that's a continuous piece of fabric.


Regrets? Well, other than being annoyed with the fabric I got at Joanns, I do have one regret. I wish I had correlated the front and back side so that it would be every other color. Instead, I have front orange panel sewed to back orange panel and front white panel sewed at the side seams to back white panel. Oh well, not that big of a deal.

So, overall, I'm pleased with the result and learned something new: I can improvise! I've got to be careful with these new found superpowers, though. This could go bad. Very bad.

Happy sewing!
Astrid

Mod Mini Skirt Project: Campbell's Soup Skirt-- An Andy Warhol Tribute Piece!

Making things pretty lay-out wise
(ABOVE)

So, I've blogged about the paper dress movement, and its correlation to pop art. What I haven't talked about is the most sensational paper dress of them all: the dress known as the "Souper Dress."

What's the Souper Dress you ask? Starting in 1962, the most famous pop artist of them all, Andy Warhol, began creating his famous Campbell's soup can works. The incorporation of mundane commercial objects as "fine art" at first offended the art establishment, but now the cans have come to be an important part of art history and an easily recognizable symbol in our culture. Warhol himself said that, "a group of painters have come to the common conclusion that the most banal and even vulgar trappings of modern civilization can, when transposed to canvas, become Art."

An original ad for the Souper Dress
(ABOVE)

So, whatever your thoughts about Warhol's work, it certainly provoked discussion and continues to be debated to this day.

But, back to the Souper Dress. In 1966-67, Campbell's soup decided to capitalize on Warhol's inclusion of their product in his art and on the whole paper dress movement by selling a paper dress with their soup cans as the design. Campbell's marketed their paper dress as "The Souper Dress" (nice play on words there Campbell's). If you sent in two Campbell's soup labels plus $1.00, you too could own the Souper Dress, which by the way now sells on eBay for anywhere from $700 to $1800 depending on the condition. Yep, the Souper Dress has become quite the cultural icon.

An image of an original "Souper Dress" from the era

(ABOVE)

So, I wanted to pay homage to pop art, Warhol, the paper dress movement, the Souper Dress. But how could I? Certainly, it would be impossible to find Campbell's soup can fabric unless I screenprinted it myself. And that wasn't going to happen.



But it WASN'T impossible! My husband found a dealer on Etsy who sells a material that's akin to canvas bag material (advertised as twill blend I believe) with the Campbell's soup cans printed on them. Oh boy! I was just a tad ecstatic...




So, despite this crazy twill blend being a weird foreign material to me, I embarked on making my very own skirt out of Campbell's soup can fabric. And I'm really happy with the results. I lined things up as good as I could stand (remember-- I'd rather not get too picky, because I'd rather have fun than pull out my hair).



And the result, I think, is a fitting tribute! Plus, it's a great conversation piece. The one thing that's a little sad though...the people who say, "You must really like soup." And they're being serious. Ah, such is life.



Happy sewing!

Astrid

This just seems fitting. I'd hate to be the stuck in that soup can.

Is there some kind of weird double entendre here that I'm not getting?

(ABOVE)

Mod Mini Skirt Project: Plus Sign Fabric

Sometimes I do many skirts in one day-- in a pseudo-assembly line fashion.
My record is 4 skirts in one day
(ABOVE)

I watched "Project Runway" before I learned how to sew. Now, knowing how to sew, I watch it with completely different eyes and can appreciate it even more. My favorite contestant from last season was Mondo. Anyone who watched will find the reason obvious-- he was definitely inspired by mod fashion, and his work was bold and colorful. But he was robbed of the win!


So, when I came across this vintage polyester fabric from "IntheOldSchoolhouse" on Etsy, I thought immediately of Mondo. When the contestants had to do their own textile print, Mondo created a plus sign design. His story involved being diagnosed as being HIV positive and also trying to think positive throughout his struggle.

I don't have a great personal story involving this plus sign fabric, but I do have a quirky story involving a friend. My friend's mom was a former nun and when they were kids, his dad would go around the house, changing the crucifixes into plus signs. He was trying to remind them to stay positive. Needless to say, friend's mom= not so happy!

Front
(ABOVE)

Back
(ABOVE)

I usually see fabric from a design aspect only and appreciate prints for their artistry. Then again, I haven't had the chance to design my own print as they get to do on Runway. That would be an experience.

Mondo's plus sign fabric
(ABOVE)

My plus sign fabric
(ABOVE)

Hope you all have a lovely Thursday and Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Astrid