senior collection updaaate! ♥

Hi there lovelies!

Just a little update on how my senior collection is coming along...

Today we had our first model fitting.  We were able to put our pieces, in either fabric or muslin, or a combination of the two, on three sweet and beautiful models to test the fit.  It was so exciting!  My fitting went well-- my pants need a few adjustments, but that isn't too surprising considering that they'll be worn by a real, live person after being draped on a stationary dress form.  One piece that really came to life on the model was my burgundy-and-white gingham dress, the one that will be fluted at the bust and has a full skirt.  I made the crinoline (an underskirt made of stiff netting, to give the skirt lots of body) and attached it to the outer fabric over the weekend, and it looked just how I hoped it would-- full, flouncy, and fun!   I made another muslin of the sweater out of a fleece blanket the same weight as my sweater-knit so that I could make any fitting adjustments, too, and now I'm ready to sew of the pieces in their final fabrics!  Yay!

Here's the original design illustration from my portfolio.

To go along with all the senior collection festivities, I'm offering a special promotion in my Etsy shop.  Enter the code 'SENIORCOLLECTION' at checkout to receive 20% off your entire order.

Are you working on a fun, creative project?  I'd love to hear about it!

It's always great to read the words of people who love their art.

to read more about my senior collection, check out this post.

♥

busy little bee

My senior collection is moving right along, yay!

Yesterday we presented our finished muslins.

translation: we presented the "rough draft" of our garments in unbleached cotton.

 

This is a swingy A-line coat with big angled patch pockets and a peter pan collar.

It's worn over a button-back top and narrow pants.

 

 This will be a little strapless dress with a full skirt and petticoat, topped with a cozy belted cardigan with a soft face-framing hood which will be shown more effectively on a model that has, y'know, a head.

 

The bust and upper back of the dress will have fluting in this cute gingham.

(fluting: covering a panel in overlapping bias strips of fabric)

I love fluting with gingham because I love how it looks on the bias!

  

 

I've purchased all of my collection fabric!  and let me tell you, there will be no fun anthropologie treats for me this month.  From left to right, a soft sweater-knit for the cardigan, a cozy gray wool/cashmere blend for the coat, adorable floral lining for the coat, gingham cotton seersucker for the dress and top, and cotton twill for the pant.

 

How precious is this sign for the Petite Abeille restaurant?  I came across it when I was walking around the other day.  I thought it was appropriate because this little bee will be verrrrry busy for the next month or so!  I'll be going home for spring break at the beginning of April, which I'm looking forward to, buuuut it's to get my wisdom teeth out.  Not so excited about that.  So I'm going to be working away as fast as I can, because I'd really like to be essentially finished with my collection before I go into chipmunk-mode.

Thank you so much for all the kind words following the loss of my precious kitty, Chachi.  Your support helped me through a very rough few days.  As did going to Petco daily to cuddle all the cats there.

Hope you're having a great week!

♥

lovely leather

It's basically required by law that I start a blog post about leather with this video.

So now that we've got that taken care of, today I went to Global Leather with my leather apparel class.

I've never considered myself much of a leather person, but there were so many gorgeous colors and textures that it would have been impossible for anyone not to find something they loved.

Naturally, I was magnetically drawn toward the pink section...

This basketweave-embossed leather was beautiful, but....

...this bit of loveliness stole my heart.  Isn't it incredible?  I'm going back tomorrow to purchase this for the bodice of a dress I'll be making next.

Here's a close-up-- look at the detail on the acorn!  I couldn't believe my luck when I spotted this on a back shelf.

Meanwhile, I'm finishing up my utility pinafore.  I finished the pattern and cut and all the seams are taped, so all I have left to do are two buttonholes and the actual stitching, along with reshaping the pocket linings.

The seam edges are all scalloped-- isn't it fun?  My professor has kindly let me borrow her scallop-edge pinking shears for this project.  They are definitely on my list of things to purchase-- in fact, I'm not sure how I went this long without knowing about them.

I have a lot of school projects going on at the moment, but I'm so excited about all of them!

Are you working on anything exciting?

♥

♥acorns♥

one of my classes this semester focuses on creating prints, plaids, and knits.

my favorite part so far has been designing this acorn print!

working on the print...

...playing with color...

...and using the acorn print in a garment!

hope you're having a great weekend!

♥