Sunday, September 28, 2008

Playsuit/Romper from Old Lady Capris Tutorial

I finally got off my lazy bum and uploaded it, cuzzah! And it's on youtube this time, so free viewing for all. I kind of freaked out at the end which is why I didn't show how to make the straps and the upper bust. I winged those since my bodice turned out too short for my liking because I over-hemmed the top and these capris might not have been as highwaisted as the last pair I used. I aso didn't include detailed instructions on inserting a invisible zipper and using the invisible zipper foot, hemming, etc. because I felt those deserved tutes of their own. I do have some footage, so I could create tutorials of those if you want. Oh, and I seem to have developed a lisp. Did I always have a lisp?

The romper/playsuit in the video is staying with me. I can't get the stain on the straps out and since I did a lot of firsts with it, it's not as polished as I like my stuff to be. Maybe I'll eventually get to making the rompers I want for the shop. I want a long metal non-separating zipper though. There must be one somewhere...


Oh, and my blog is displaying funky for me right now. One of my posts is missing and the comments from it lifted to my post on Dr. Walker preventing those comments from showing up, so I'm unable to respond to your comments on that post right now, thoguh I thank you all for your comments. And since you seem to like that one, I'll maybe do some more fashion in history posts.

Trying to accomplish so much in so little time,
Ivy Frozen




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New Stuffs

I finally finished stuffs.


Wowee

I'm finally getting a handle on my schedule, so hopefully my sewing pace will pick back up. Completed projects include two test dresses and the long awaited first larger sized dress. Click the Read More Link! to take a look.

Featherweight

The first is a new, experimental design. It's made from a thrifted white sheet I dyed with RIT dye. Since it came out really plain and boring, I added felt feathers to it and some white quilt-like embroidery. I plan on adding a patch pocket, but can't decide if I should and what I should put on it. More felt feathers? Maybe just embroidery? Ribbon? Rick rack?

Frequent flyers

This one's staying with me so I can test the dye, see if it fades and/or bleeds with further washing, and so I can see how the felt feathers hold up. And also the design needs a few minor adjustments for when I make ones like these to sell. Dying stuff will allow me even greater control, which I relish. I'm a bit of a control freak when it comes to my stuff. I'd be happy if I could grow the fibers and weave the fabric myself. Unfortunately, there's not nearly enough time for me to do everything I'd like, but I can dye stuff now. Or soon I'll clear myself for that.

Belle Du Jour

This dress was inspired by the tale of Beauty and the Beast. It's made from a thrifted white sheet I dyed yellow with RIT dye. Since Belle was sweet and simple girl, I gave her a sweet halter dress with eyelet trim on the hem. She struck me as a yellow or blue girl, not just cause of the Disney version, but I imagine her sisters in pink. She though, she would go for something diffrent. I would put her blue, the old feminine color, but with the Beast, she needs yellow. Yellow/gold, brown, and black is our palette. The buttons have little lion/beast heads on them. That speck at the top of the bust is a black rosette, to represent the rose.

The Beast

I paired my new over-the-knee boots with it because they reminded me of Gaston. I know he doesn't appear in anything other than the Disney version, but I felt that our Beauty had a tough side to her. She's have to be strong to take her father's place with some crazy monster-beast thing in a creepy castle in a creepy wood far away from her home. Thus she gets boots to toughen her up a bit.

Kill the Beast Save the Man

This one may or may not be sold. Yes, I admit to falling in love with it. But the buttons are vintage, picked up at a local thrift store, and they say they are not washable and must be removed before the garment is washed or drycleaned. I'm still learning, developing, and growing Ivy Frozen Productions and figuring out what Ivy Frozen stands for. I want my clothes to be easy to care for, being a lazy launderer myself, and taking off the buttons would be a terrible annoyance. I also did make this dress with the intent of keeping it for testing reasons since this is the first time I've used the dye and need to know if it will bleed more and/or fade. Am I just rationalizing keeping it? It seems in this case though, that the whim was to sell it.

Belle

Of course, I love and want to keep all my items. It's not ready for store until I want to keep it. Hence why when their listings expire, most items will not be relisted. Instead, they'll be absorbed into my private collection. I have a few items that will be expiring in October, I think... This one will stay, since it is a test piece, and the only reason to sell it was because of my slow pace. Next dress is yours though.

The Long awaited larger sized dress:

Where the Wild Things Are

It's a size medium large and should fit about a size 6-12. (I like to use JC Penny size charts.) It's made from curtain overheady thingies. When I first saw the print, it was love. Then I made the dress, and was like, "Woah! That's A LOT of PRINT!" and freaked out a little. Then I tried it on, and it just grew on me. In the pictures, I'm completely in love with it again. I think it's good that it took a bit to grow on me. Those likes that grow tend to be everlasting, while those that are instant likes have more of a tendency to become repulsive over time. Or just as instantly disliked.

Real Wild Child

Not, the dress is too big for me, so it will look much better on someone it fits. I know some people think that if you can get the dress on and it doesn't fall off, it fits. I believe they have not found anything that perfectly fits them yet, because then they would notice the difference. Something may look decent or good on you if it fits, but if it fits perfectly, it'll be stunning. Trust me, it's just a size too big for me at its smallest. (It has shirring on the back to stretch to fit your curves.)

In the Garden of Eden

I have a ton of this fabric left, so if this isn't your size whether you need a bigger size or smaller, I can accomidate you. Also, I can make it without the shirring ont he back just to fit you. Or I can apply any other dress design I've done to it, except possible a full circle skirt. Just send me a message, and I'll be happy to work with you.

Welcome to the Jungle

I plan on making more larger sized dresses. The people have spoken, and it seems like what you want. It also seems you like nice prints, so i hope you all are pleased with this dress. I have a dress started that will be a small/medium. (Sorry! Fabric limitations!) I bought a bunch of awesome fabric from the Salvation Army and some sheets from another thrift store that will include larger dresses.

Fly Away1



And last, a hair do-dad. More felt feathers.


Fly Away2



I'm considering making these freebie with every purchase or just making them available seperately in my shop.


Fly away 3

I've hesitated to send out freebie thus far, so I don't want to send crap or items you're not interested in. I think these are nice, reflect Ivy frozen Productions, and everyone can appreciate them.

Fly Away4

I plan to put them on hair clips and maybe pins for those who have trouble with hair combs. They'll also have diffrent colors. I have a bunch of green felt right now... What do you think?

Sewing when she can,

Ivy Frozen


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Thursday, September 25, 2008

That THING

Kooky

It's interesting how people call caring about dress a a vain activity and yet it's such an important thing. Many people claim to not care about fashion. Not caring about fashion may be true, but certainly they care about what they wear to some extent. I bring this up since I encounter much praise and opposition about the way I dress--or rather the fact that I actually dress everyday-- living in a college town and suburban area. I recently read an article for one of my classes about Major Doctor Mary Walker and all the opposotion she faced while trying to help soldiers during the civil war. Click the Read More! link to find out why she makes an appareance on a fashion style blog.

Besides being a woman doctor at a time when the United States was pushing all medical care on science and men--mid-wifery and natural remedies being squished out-- and her dogged determination to provide medical care for Union soldiers on the battlefront, Doctor Walker had another peculiarity. In the midst of corsets and hoop skirts, Doctor Walker wore pants.


Doctor Walker was an early advocate of women's dress reform, including bloomers and shorter dresses. The long dresses tended to drag on the ground, picking up all sorts of debris and disease. The many layers were also pretty heavy. By the end of the day of working on the battlefield, the traditionally attired famale nurses's dresses would be so saturated with blood that they could barely move. While I'm a big fan of dresses, I can see Doctor Walker's point.



She wore pants under a knee-length dress. When she finally managed to secure a civilian doctor's position in the army sort-of, she dressed in a full major's uniform with her hair in curls.



Doctor Walker was as much ridiculed for her insistance on being a doctor as she was for her style of dress. Many men referred to her as "that THING"-- as though she had seven heads or something-- simply based on her style of dress. The men also accused her of just trying to show her legs and seduce them into giving her the position she desired, totally ignoring her stellar resume.



When she was captured by the confederates, Captain B. J. Semmes described her arrival in a letter.

This morning, we were all amused and disgusted too at the sight of a thing that nothing but the debased and the depraved Yankee nation could produce--"a female doctor"--... brought into the pickets this morning. She was dressed in the full uniform of a Federal Surgeon, looks hat & all, & wore a cloak....[She is] fair, but not good looking and of course had tongue enough for a regiment of men. I was in hopes the General would have had her dressed in a homespun frock and bonnet and sent back to the Yankee lines, or put in a lunatic asylum....
C.S.A. Brigadier-General William M. Gardner, the administrater of Walker's case, took it upon himself to lecture Dr. Walker on how she would have been more successful (as a spy as they thought she was) if she had dressed herself in more "feminine garb." He was a mite friendlier in his description of her as "the most personable and gentlemanly young woman I ever saw."


Dr. Walker gained a bit more respect when she was finally returned to the Union-- exchanged for a six-foot tall southern major-- and still insisted on being an army surgeon. She was never officially recognized as an army surgeon, but President Johnson managed to secure her a congressional medal of honor. Dr. Walker wore that medal even after it was later revoked when the conditions were changed for which it could be given. It was her only token of her service as a army surgeon since the government refused to officially recognize her in any way despite liberally helping themselves to her aid.



Besides her total awesomeness as a doctor--seriously, this woman was amazing. I haven't nearly done her justice with this, but I wanted to focus on her style. Read up on her!-- she appeals to me since she was ridiculed for her style. As many compliments as I get, I also meet with opposition that I actually bother to dress as I live in a college community and suburbs. My girl friends love it and see hanging out with me as a chance to dress up themselves. My male friends think I have the neatest stuff. My mother, who used to complain that I dressed like a bum, complains that dress up too much to go shopping or to the movies. And there are those who are obviously very insecure and write me off as weird.

I overheard a classmate talking about me behind-my-back-in-front-of-my-face and saying how weird it was that I dressed up everyday. Must be some sort of conspiracy, huh? While I certainly don't need that person's approval, it still bothers me. I had hitherto considered them to be a nice sort of person, and now they give me weird looks with a cloud of their unspoken disapproval hanging about me like the deepest darkness in the vacuum of space. It gets a little cold in that vortex of hostility.

As a fashion eccentric during a much more restricted time, when it was against the law in nefarious ways to dress as she did--she was arrested several times for impersonating a man-- Dr. Walker is a great inspiration to me. She also believed that dress should "allow freedom of motion and circulation," which is a strong factor in what I choose to wear and my designs. Shorter lengths, fuller skirts, a natural waist, and lack of boning are all considered for comfort by me. I adore her shorter version of civil war era gowns, which feature all of the conditions named above. I'd totally those minus the pants and with prettier shoes. While I appreciate menswear styles, I'm a pretty pretty girly girl at heart.

Pretty Pretty Princess,
Ivy Frozen

P.S. That first dress reminds me of my Nutcracker dress.

nutcracker zoom

quotes and information on Dr. Walker taken from "Mary Walker, M.D." by Elizabeth Leonard. All images linked to their source, which will also provide extra reading on the good doctor.




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Thursday, September 18, 2008

Hold the Phones

The Lollypop Guild


Vertical stripes make you look fat? What? Horizontal stripes are actually slimming?

Horizonatal stripes are more slimming?

Horizontal stripes are slimming?!

In case you didn't get that, scientists claim that horizontal stripes are slimming! I'm having trouble accepting this. I feel like they just told me Santa Claus isn't real, and next thing you know, they'll be talking about the easter bunny. And then maybe gravity. Yes, even I have bought into this, which may be a myth, and I feel so betrayed.

The fourth article I linked has a drawing illustrating this concept. The woman in horizontal stripes does indeed look slimmer. However, the stripes on both women are not the same. The horizontal stipes are black and grey, and the dress is shaded, giving her more dimension than the flat black-a white vertically striped dress. All of that points to bias in the article, the picture portion anyways. Perhaps the fashion bizz is finding new ways to lead/start trends? I hope the test the scientist's used were more scientific than that.

If it's true that horizontal stripes are slimming while vertical stripes are widening, I wonder why the fashion world would chant the oppossite. Despite it's reputation as being silly, vain, and full of foppery, I suspect if you're reading this blog that you recognize that though there are parts of it that are silly, vain, and full of foppery that it also has an intellectual side. Fashion is an art and a science, so it seems odd to me that so many people would find horizontal stripes to be widening and vertical ones to be slimming.

Does it have to do with the tailoring of the garment? Once again referring to the drawings in the fourth article linked, if that vertically striped dress were more tailored, that stripe would likely not cut across her hips on the ends there. They would contour more, which I suspect would be more slimming. That same article also includes pictures of women in dresses with horizontal stripes. All of those dresses are tight dresses that countour to the body. The one example of vertical is not fitted and thus obviously not slimming. In the same vein, where I've tried on horizontal stripes and find them widening is in t-shirt knits. I find fitted t-shirt knits make me look larger anyways, and even if I could find a horizontal striped one, I doubt that it would be particularly slimming. Non-fitted tees make me look wider, also regardless of pattern, and that's where my other widening horizontal's tend to fit; not fitted. Finally, ending this thread of thought is that the vertical stripes I find to be slimming are actually countoured to my body, so they're not exactly perfectly vertical, as in the illustration.

I also wonder is it can have something to do with size and placement. Where you choose to divide your body can visually alter your proportions, for example, making you look short or taller. Also, looking at advice given out by the Budget Fashionista for sporting the widening horizontals, she discusses size, improving the contour by adding more lines thus placement, and body shape. Referring yet again to that article with the pictures, all of the women where slim to begin with. Stripes might just be a difficult pattern.

Since I can't find the actual test, I suppose I'll just have to muse for now.

Alright, let's do a semi-experiment by looking at stripes on me.


Clown Around



Competing with black, the fail safe slimmer according to the articles. Fitted and highlighting the smallest part of me in between the widest. It cashes on on contrast, and not just its stripey nature.

zoology bow



Same shirt again, diffrent position.

Studious



Fitted horizontal tee-shirt, at the same place.

primaries



Horizontal, non-fitted

Wall Angel



Vertical, non-fitted

Bella Inanitas Stella



Wide horizontal and a little big.

For the World's Future Nyah!



Both types of stripes, fitted and non.

Lemon Lime prissy



Vertical, but contoured a bit.

seashore the ring



Both, though vertical non-fitted.

That 70s Look



Both. Knit, too big horizontal.

Harry Potter 2



Too big sweater cut like the previous one with with vertical stripes.

America



Fitted vertical.

Lolly


Today's outfit also features vertical stripes. The bodice is very fitted, making the stripes contour well. I'm also actually smiling, which is the new black. It makes everything look better, at least according to the radio guy in the Annie.

After looking at all those pictures, and with my aforementioned reasoning, I'm convinced that the slimming or widening effects of stripes have to do with the fit and tailoring of the garment. Vertical stripes are more likely to be tailored or otherwise form lines that help out the silhouette. Contrast might also have something to do with it.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it,

Ivy Frozen

P.S. If I have time, maybe I'll do something a little more scientific. But first, I should finish my sewing.

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Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Shoes

shoes 3



Shoes

shoes 4

Shoes

shoes 2

Shoes

shoes

Shoes

Like mother like daughter, I suppose. My three loves are shoes, dresses, and hats. And socks. And belts. And short shorts. But, anywho I come home and find the little dumpling sleeping in my shoes. She does love shoes though. Everytime someone comes over, she always investigates their shoes. At my parents house, first thing she does is investigate all the shoes by the front door. She's a little snobbier than I am though; if she doesn't like someone's shoes she won't talk to them. Ditto for allowing them to pet her. My shoes are very hard to live up to. She talks to few people besides me.

I got free money, so what do I do? I buy myself these. It was a choice between those and this jacket. They're just the perfect over the knee boot. I've been wanted a round toe flat-ish over the knee boot for a while now. They should keep me warm when the cold weather finally shows itself. The jacket was perfect and then I saw it in person. It's a nice faux leather, but it has these pepto bismal colored fades in it that I'm having trouble getting over. They aren't particularly prominent, but it's pepto bismal colored. I talked myself out of the jacket for now and opted for the boots instead. I'm also buying something off etsy after I put the check in the bank. That purchase will warrent a post of its own.

shoes word

Word

Let's get some shoes,
Ivy Frozen and Twinkle too

P.S. You can see the dress I've promised you all I'm working on in the first and last photos, the green pink and blue. That one's a larger size.
.



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Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Hansel and Gretel

Buttercup

Hansel and Gretel is the story of two children who are abandoned in the woods by their parents, their plan to find their way home foiled by the forest's creatures. Thus, they encounter a candy house and a witch who tries to eat them. That doesn't work out so well for the witch, who is shoved into the oven by the children before they go off to live happily ever after. Yah, this isn't THAT Hansel and Gretel. I'm talking about a Korean movie made in 2007 that goes by Hansel and Gretel in English. Pretty costumes ensue. Click the Read More! link to see them.



This Hansel and Gretel is about a young man who finds himself stranded in the woods after he spins off the road to avoid hitting something. He meets a girl who leads him back to her house. Her house, family, and she are all just a tad weird. To top it off, there seems no way our hero's going to make it out of the woods...



The story of Hansel and Gretal while not identical to this film plays an important role, and many of the elements of the story do make an appearance.


The costumes in the movie are this sort of preppie fairy tale. A very preppie look with a hint of magic to them. The kids of Narnia would look at home in these outfits, when they're in the real world anywho.


The girls wear some sweat Victorian by way of 60s-70s reminiscent frocks, perfect inspiration for the upcoming season.










The boy's clothes are more distinctly preppie.




I really love the silhouette of big slippers worn with a straight skirt. I also just like the bunny slippers.


There are a lot of bunnies in the house. After watching the movie, you may find yourself needing bunnies like I do. That Beatrix Potter type.







The film inspired the child within me to create today's outfit.

Childlike



Sorry, it's too hot for 70s victorian. We went for something a little cartoony and childlike instead. It is cool enough for socks though now, yay!

Abandoned in the art building,

Ivy Frozen

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