My Sister's New T-Shirt Wardrobe

In August my sister came to visit and we fine tuned the fit on her patterns for T-shirts. We worked out most of the fitting issue, and I finished her wardrobe after she left for home in Montana. She ended up with a vest, a hoodie and ten new T's.

Busting the Stash

I decided to "Bust the Stash" which means I will continue making T-shirts until all the fabric is gone. Some of my fabric is really old. Not sure why I haven't made it up. Especially pieces I really like.

This fabric has been around for so long I don't remember and it is one of my favorites. It will probably be my favorite shirt next winter.

I bought this fabric in Tucson about eight years ago. Just a lot of scraps to play with. There are five different fabrics in the top.

Just an ordinary stripe with a twist for the sleeve. 

This reminds me of a referee's shirt. Not sure I really like it but will wear it anyway. Colors are cream, gray and beige. Whenever I look at it I want to put a splash of red on it. Maybe a scarf or necklace. Will dig around to see what I can come up with.

My Sister's T-shirts

I started with a set in sleeve for my sister (the white shirt), but she wants raglan sleeve shirts. I had just purchased a raglan pattern so she is in luck. I had to fiddle with the neck line and will later convert it to a V-neck at her request.

The V-neck is a success.

Time Out For Some Pants

Need to take a break from making so many T- Shirts. Decided to make some pants. The first pair was from left over T- shirt material and some of the scrap from the tunic shown in the T-shirt post. These will be pants for yoga class as they are soft and stretchy.

The second pair are a real experiment. I had three pieces of floral drapery fabric in different color ways. There was only enough fabric to make one leg from each piece of fabric so I just alternated the colors and tied it all together with a two toned band of hand dyed cotton at the hem.

Obsessing on T-Shirts

I haven't sewn any garments in a long, long time. So now I am making designer T-shirts as fast as I can. It is not because I need a new wardrobe - I just like to design. My style is "design on the fly". I lay all the fabric out and start moving them around to see what goes with what and begin thinking of ideas. Sometimes I keep an idea and go for it and other times a new combination emerges as I am working on something else. So far I have completed six for myself and two for my sister. The shirts for my sis are to test the pattern for fit. I mail them to her and she lets me know what is working and what is not working.

I must confess I like garment sewing much better than quilting. There may not be any more quilts in the future.

I have three more shirts waiting to be finished and fabric for a few more. This is my entertainment!

I made this T from an old cotton knit skirt. I liked the fabric but the elastic waist was no longer elastic. The neckline trim is from a scrap of fabric that is probably 20 years old. I really liked the fabric and couldn't part with it. The edge is pinked and hand sewn with embroidery floss.

This is an ITY knit with and overall pattern. The white is a little bit cream colored. The trim is from a tunic that will show up later. I reversed the sleeve and used the wrong side of the material for interest. I really like how well the trim went with the black and cream fabric. the color and scale were just right.

Another ITY graphic print that was just two bold and shiny for my taste. By adding the black and abstract polka dot fabric I was able to "disguise" the intensity of the graphic print. I no longer have access to fabric stores so must order online. Sometimes I get surprises. This was one of the surprises.

Nothing too spectacular with this shirt but I love the fabric. I made the band from a piece of hand dyed silk fabric cut on the bias. I made a small reverse pleat at the neck and hand stitched for added interest. I may do something at the hemline to make it more interesting.

A nice classic blue and white mini stripe with a touch of red and grey stripe. This one could become a favorite.

And finally the ethnic ITY print tunic. I wear it with skinny black pants or tights. This was another one of those oops fabrics. Just a little two bold for me but I kinda like the smaller motifs in it and in small trim pieces it looks rather good.

Final Drawing Fall Semester 2012

The final drawing for this semester was colored pencil of a picture I took of Ship Rock, New Mexico many years ago. I used a set of woodless pencils to lay down a base and then worked the detail with the regular prisma pencils. Having the set of woodless pencils is a real bonus for working background and large areas. I have struggled with drawing realistic looking rocks and managed to draw Ship Rock without any trouble. I was pleased with this final drawing.

Drawing Fall 2012

Selected pencil exercises from Drawing I class with Fred Barraza.