Cut. It. Out.

Cut out detailing is everywhereeeee right now.  Cut out sides, cut out back sections, interesting cut out necklines...its all over the place.  I was going to put together a little page of my favorite examples, but, really, if you search for 'cut out' on any online retailer, you come up with tons of variations. If you feel the need to check it out, now is your chance. Go. Now. Do it. I'll wait.

You're back? Good...now on to the good stuff.  I had been eyeing this whole cut out scenario for a while now, but had yet to invest in a piece. I had also toyed with the idea of doing some sort of DIY with cut outs.  On one of my thrifting/hoarding sessions, I stumbled upon this amazing dress.  Well, it had poufy sleeves and made me look like a 5-year old on Easter Sunday...but it fit great and I loved the print. What the heck could I do with it to make it not completely disgusting? CUT OUTS. 

This was the result:

I cut off the sleeves, lowered the neckline, and added the cut outs on the side that followed the princess seams on the dress. I finished the arm holes and neckline by just folding it over twice and top stitching.  The sides were finished by creating a facing, to give it a clean, crisp edge.  You could technically just fold it over and top stitch this too...but I find that the extra thickness of the facing helps it keep its shape better.  What's a facing? It's pretty much a partial lining to finish off the edge of a garment. It's typically used on necklines and armholes.  HERE is a site that shows how to make a neckline facing, but it can be kind of complicated for a novice sewer.  This is something I learned in design school, so I honestly just kinda winged it and it turned out.  If you are really interested in this and need further explanation,  just comment below or email me and we can talk it out!

ANYWAYS. My friend Voss saw my handiwork and requested cut outs on one of her own thrifted gems. This time, I did oval cut outs on the sides and it turned out hawwwtttttt!

I was a little worried that the cutouts would sit too low and there would be a panty exposure situation, but they were perfect! Voss was stoked on it, and she even wore the dress for her Birthday Happy Hour! So exciting!

TIE DYE DIY!

A couple weeks ago, I got together with two lovely ladies, Voss and Terris, for a little DIY sesh. We conjured up a few afternoon bevvies (AKA mimosas), turned on The Craft, and got to work!

These girlies are two-thirds of Neon Nightmare Vintage, a super-rad online vintage store that just launched. They are just getting the site up and running, but between you and me, it's gonna be pretty freakin' awesome.  All three girls have very different, distinct, and amazing styles which is going to make for a huge array of goodies on the site! I got to preview some of their treasures, and OH GIRL it's goooood!

With these ladies constantly hunting for wares for their online store, and with me just being a general clothes hoarder, we had a slew of vintage slips lying around.  Great minds think alike because we all have been wanting to tie dye said slips. 

The boxes of RIT dye said to only use on cotton and natural fibers...these slips were definitely NOT cotton. Polyester? Rayon? Some sort of blend? The info on the fabric content tags were worn away so who knows! We took a chance and went for it, wondering whether or not these mystery fabric slips would even take the dye. 

And, oh hell yes, they did!

Terris' / Mine / Voss'

AH-MAZE-ING.

We went in for round two and did more slips, but I don't have pictures of those.

This makes me want to tie dye pretty much everything I own. Everything. All of it. I also want to try some dip dye action once I get more confident with dying techniques. 

Thanks to the ladies of Neon Nightmare Vintage for hanging out! And check out their blog posts on our DIY day here and here! There are a bunch more photos of our day on their posts, I got really into my crafting, was a bad blogger and forgot to take photos. Whoops!

Dress Recon: Sexy Secretary

My friend and co-worker, Carmel, found this amazing vintage dress at Value Village and asked me to 'sass it up' a bit by adding a lace deep-v inset.

The original dress:

I just used my clear ruler to trace where I wanted the inset to be and cut it out.

I used the pieces of the original dress that I cut out to use as a pattern for the lace.

I added a half-inch all around the pattern piece for a seam allowance. 

And I repeated the same thing on the back inset.

Added a half-inch again for a seam allowance. I sewed the inset in with a quarter-inch seam allowance....if you aren't sure why I added a half-inch, it can be kind of confusing to explain, e-mail me if you have questions!

I sewed the shoulder seams together and since I used delicate lace, I finished neckline of the lace with black bias tape. 

I then sewed the inset in and finished the seams with my surger.

Ta da!

 

Pretty sassy, if I do say so myself. And it only took me a little over an hour! I can't wait to see Carmel rock it!

Holy stud action!

'Bout to get my craft on. Who's coming over?!

Studs purchased from Studs and Spikes...located right here in Seattle