Last week it was Blue, this week it was White. Wedding dresses that is. Wow, taking a divorced woman’s wedding dress and creating something new sounds like a good idea, but somehow cutting up a wedding dress with so many memories (much less hopes and dreams) attached to it feels just wrong. I think Carol Hannah said it best, “It’s like running into a church and screaming profanity!”. Even Gordana sucumbed to her feelings with this one and was quite tearful, taking a lot of this challenge to heart. But, in the end, I think that really paid off for her!

What do you do with a white dress to make it something other than what it is? Dyeing seemed to be the top choice for most of the PR clan, but I definitely thought Shirin’s idea was the most clever. With only a small amount of fabric to work with in the wedding dress she was tasked with, as well as undyeable 100% poly, she did not have much choice but to come up with an alternate process to get her creation noticed. Rows and rows of contrast stitching added interest to the white fabric, as well as a trim design that flattered her model helped her stay in the running. I really thought this was the most unique idea out of the group.

Several of the designs they came up with were pretty clever, and beared little resemblence to a wedding dress. Especially the lace dress that Irinia whipped up, dyed a really pretty elegant taupe color…………but a few of the designers had a real mess on their hands. Three guys just did not get this challenge………Logan, Christopher and Epperson had just horrible direction and results. Epperson did not even listen about incorporating the wedding dress into the design and had started in another direction and had to change halfway through! Do all guys just stop listening when the word “Wedding” comes up in conversation??!! Instead the word “Octoberfest” was tagged to two designs, from Heidi of course.

Gordana ended up with the win this time, and she did a really interesting design with strips of the fabric, dyed, and pieced into a very curve flattering strapless dress. Her divorcee model especially loved it, and it showed on the runway. Just goes to show putting your heart and feelings into a design can make such a difference. Way to go Gordana!

Those Brother sewing machines just keep whipping this stuff out……….next week we’ll have more pics from in the sewing room. So what color will the challenge be next week? My guess is Black………little black dress anyone?

I think Heidi said it best at the judging of this challenge. “Snooze-Fest” is how she described Louise’s finished design for the Movie Genre challenge. Did anyone else find this challenge boring? Maybe it’s just me, but I really thought last week’s challenge with the newspaper’s was much more inspiring than this one! My understanding was that the designers were to “invent” a character in the movie genre they were assigned, and create a costume worthy of a movie setting using that direction. I really did not see that clearly with many of these designer’s, and the looks they pulled out were not new…..worthy more of a halloween costume rather than that of a movie set! OK, maybe I’m being harsh, but I had to watch this episode twice to see if I had just missed anything (I really fell asleep the first time!), and I was not any more impressed the second time around. Maybe next week will be more exciting.

Louise’s dress/costume was fairly plain, considering it was supposed to be movie worthy. I don’t think she pulled this one out, and almost got eliminated because of the mediocre design.

Ra’mon had lizard on the brain when he was creating the green unitard design that was embellished with these scale looking pieces.

There were quite a few pieces to this costume, and really it was one of the few where I understood the character behind it. I did not think his finished costume was as bad as the judges made it out to be, and not reason enough for him to be eliminated. 

Nicolas was right on with his winning Ice Queen costume and defined character. This one was truely stunning. You can certainly tell he has costuming background.

Thanks to our friends at Brother, we keep getting these cool sewing pics from the PR sewing room. Next time I will be sure to post one with the clock…..here’s a question that keeps nagging at me….do you think they are really sewing at the time it shows? Or is that a set-up? Hmmm. 

Curveballs are always thrown out to the designers on PR, and this was a pretty good one. Paper clothing has been designed for years, but this took things a step further to create “art”. Nevertheless, the designers all stepped up to the plate (well almost all of them!) to deliver some spectacular garments. Really…………..I can sew just about anything, but I have not ever been challenged with making something that could be ripped apart in an instant. Just one walk down the catwalk could have ended in disaster for any of these guys.

And, of course we had to go back to the “drama”, this time between Johnny and Nicholas (and I thought women were typically the backstabbers—hmmmmm). After Tim gave him bad reviews on his work in progress, he destroyed the evidence of his bad design, and then complained that the steamer (what steamer?) spat all over the dress and ruined it! Even Tim was baffled in the end as to how he got so off track to start telling lies! And it was Nicholas that felt compelled to rat him out….”drama”…this time between the guys…..hah!

Oh well, with all of that, the other designers hunkered down and really pulled out some pretty cool stuff. The LA Times never looked so good. Gordana produced a pretty look, but was dubbed as “safe” by the judges. I thought it was pretty intricate for a paper dress mind you.

Shirin definitely packed a great punch here with her origami skirt design. I’m not even sure how that model kept the dress from falling off….did you notice how her hands did not come off her waist?! It was pretty unusual, especially compared to the others.

Surprisingly (at least to me) the winner for this challenge was Irina for her coat design with the poodle like collar. While I think this is fun, it certainly did not have some of the artistic feel and panache of some of the others. Oh well, I guess it’s all subjective.

Thank our little birdie for the pics………Brother came thru again………….thanks for the inside scoop!

I actually got to watch this week’s episode last night! After a LONG day running around NY, Allyce and I were exhausted and fell into bed pretty late (by my standards anyway). Too cool that I could still watch this episode….the time change (CST to EST) helped immensely to be able to catch this weeks antics. BTW, New York is SO cool (despite the rain). We are here at the beginning of Fashion Week, and there is definitely a building of anticipation as the shows really fall into full swing today and the rest of the weekend into next. We’ll be backstage and watching Nicole Miller this afternoon and evening and try to catch a couple more shows if we can this afternoon. Then it’s onto Alice + Olivia tonight. Need to eat my Wheaties to keep up the pace (gives new meaning for running in heels)!

Back to this week’s PR episode. Not anywhere near as much drama as last week, but the designers did pull out some neat looks for their models. The challenge of designing something their models could wear to an industry soiree was a great idea, kind of turning the tables on who was making the design choices.

Logan’s creation was dubbed “the smurf” dress (I think he said that, not Tim!) during his critique. I did think the idea of doubling the lace on the top to mute the flower pattern was a pretty good trick, even though it did turn out a little heavy. Neat fashion design tip though to tuck away for a future DIYStyle project. Ra’mon is working on the “flower” that topped his dress. I think this is kind of an “old” 80’s Oscar look, but the judges seemed to like it.

Althea’s stitching the sheer that became that tank top. Evidently the judges loved this, since she was crowned the winner of this challenge. It was cool, but I don’t think it was THAT unusual. I really thought the dress Epperson created was the best for getting attention at the model party that they attended. Those strips pieced on the sheer stretch was pretty awesome.

Allyce and I were somewhat amazed at the judges comments and how harsh they were on some of the designers. And our friend Qristyl was “out” for her black cocktail dress, that got some nasty review. We thought the dress was cute, but not enough to make her model stand out at the important industry event. Boo-hoo……….we still think you are great Qristyl!

Keep watching for our posts from behind the sewing machines, with a little help from our friends at Brother!

 ****And, stay tuned for more posts from NY Fashion Week!!!! Hoping we don’t get too drenched.

Did you watch last night? What drama! We were waiting for Qristyl and Epperson to start duking it out any minute…….you know they say oil and water do not mix–same thing goes with two seasoned designers who have strong personalities. I’m so glad Qristyl hung in there, but barely by a thread (we’re still rooting for you girl). Talk about a nail biter. If those sewing room walls could talk……….I can only imagine what happened off camera. And then Ra’mon and Mitchell. What exactly happened there? I about fell out of my chair when they were announced as the winners of this surf look and avante garde challenge. Then Mitchell was out (he really needed to go last week) even after their team won the challenge.

Speaking of the Project Runway sewing room, DO WE HAVE A SURPRISE FOR YOU (yes I know I am shouting…..I’m just excited!)! Sometimes it’s really nice to have friends in high places as the saying goes. Our “little birde” has access to EXCLUSIVE pics taken in the sewing room, so you can see some of the contestants designs (and maybe antics) in progress EACH and EVERY week! So, DIYStyle talked them into giving us first dibs (some arm twisting may have been involved). You get to see them here FIRST each Friday, after the episode airs on Thursday. The new blog thread will be PR Behind the Sewing Machines. So let your fashion friends in on our coup, and start dishing with us and them as the weeks snip away until the winner is chosen. Here’s our first batch!

Christopher hard at work at the Project Runway serger

Runway fashion sewn by Ra’mon that captured the win!

My personal favorite design from last nights show. Louise sewing on the bodice of the dress that resulted in this beautiful avant-garde fashion look!

By now I’m sure you have figured out who our inside buddies are……Brother of course! As the official licensee of the sewing machines for PR, they have the inside scoop. Way cool :)

When I think of a fashionable handbag, I think of the cute, little clutches we carry to match those special outfits. There are so many styles to fit every personality. There is no doubt clutches are fun for a night on the town, but for your day to day look they can be an inconvenience. You don’t always have free hands for a clutch or, even more common, don’t feel like sorting through all the belongings you wish to carry inside your fashionable handbag. Fashion and function are not always on the same page and many times we accept that. We give up the convenience of having everything we want within our purse in an attempt to have the latest style. As great as a clutch can be for a night where you need very little, it’s not very practical for the real world.

As a college student my purse seems to be a catch-all for anything I might need to throw in on my way to class. Why does this have to be just practical though? Why not find a carry all that you love. There are so many designers that make handbags to suit day to day needs without giving up personal space. Of course another reason we seem to choose that cute designer clutch over the larger bag is a lack of funds: the larger the bag, the larger the price tag! The DIYStyle project vodcast, Bowled Over Bag, could be a solution. This shows you how to create your own carry-all bowling style bag that matches your personal style. Whether made with faux leather or a cute cotton fabric, this pattern and a free afternoon will result in a bag that is uniquely you.  

Here are a few bag designers that inspire me! : Chloe, Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana, Lulu Australia, Ed Hardy, and Balenciaga.

It’s FINALLY here! That much anticipated season of Project Runway that almost wasn’t. Unless you have been under a rock, and don’t follow fashion, Project Runway has moved from Bravo to Lifetime after several months of duking it out between the networks. But as they say, good things come to those who wait……….and tonight the Season 6 premieres!!!

 I am a long time Project Runway fan, as are most of the Creative Chicks here at DIYStyle. And now we have even one more reason to anticipate and watch each episode as the challenge unfolds. We will be rooting for one of the contestants, a former St. Louisan AND a Stephens College fashion design alum (that’s Allyce’s alma mater too)! Qristyl Frazier is THE designer we will be on the edge of our seats cheering for…………….you go girl!

I had the pleasure of meeting Qristyl yesterday when she was here in STL, and she is a savvy, super likeable and uber talented designer. It’s so fun for us to have one of the designers on the show we can directly relate to, and follow through all of the (sometimes unreasonable) design challenges that are dolled out to them. I know what you’re thinking, NO she could not divuldge any secrets! You’ll just have to watch the show each week to see what happens. You can be sure we will. We’ll also plan to meet up with Qrystal on her next trip in, and interview her for DIYStyle. Stay posted.

Brother USA is one of our sponsors for DIYStyle, and you can be sure the designers will all be watching that clock in the workroom that bears their logo as well as using all of their sewing machines that outfit their space. We are so thrilled to have them as part of what we do at DIYStyle and their connection to Project Runway. One of my very favorite models we use on the vodcasts is the Project Runway LB6770, a sewing and embroidery machine that comes with it’s own rolling case branded with the Project Runway logo (It’s really cool……….we take them everywhere for our DIYStyle events and parties!)

So, it’s definitely time to “get your sew on”, whether spurred on by the inspiration of Project Runway, or one of the affordable and fantastic Project Runway sewing machines from Brother USA.  Let us know what you are creating. We love to see!

It is so exciting to announce that after seven months of hard work MegsCouture.com is now open! You have all been following me through the long process of getting my own online business started by reading of some of my major landmarks along the way. Of course, like any other business, this one will be growing and changing in it’s first couple of months. Nothing is perfect the first time around. I am anticipating trying some other directions in terms of marketing and even the feel of the site so that I can better reach my target audience.

For those of you that haven’t been following along, MegsCouture.com specializes in girls clothing and accessories from toddlers to age 7. All of our products are hand made in the United States and are “eco-conscious”. We take every step to recycle, reuse, and reduce during product production as well as using recycled goods in the office.

We will have more helpful hints on this and other ideas on our blog MegsCouture.

Here are some of the Spring looks from MegsCouture.com!

When I first began to design my senior collection almost a year ago today, I never would have dreamed that it would have turned out the way it did. Before I even began to put pencil to the paper I thought about what I like to design. I love designing and sewing swim wear as well as weekend wear outfits. I knew almost immediately that I wanted to design resort wear. I researched trend reports for the next year and envisioned my collection to be very girly and almost whimsical. With general ideas in my head, I headed to New York City’s garment district to find the fabric to match my vision. My fiancé and I had spent two whole days searching for something that would inspire my designs. At this little hole in the wall store, there it was, hanging in the window. This gorgeous piece of dusty pink tulle with embroidery and hand sewn black and copper feathers on it. It came in a five-yard panel and it started as the base of my entire collection. Immediately I pictured it as skirt on a cocktail dress. After that we visited Mood Fabrics and I was lucky enough to find a crock embossed leather skin that was the exact shade of dusty pink and copper finish to match the tulle and feather piece.

That was my jumping off point. That night I started sketching many possibilities that could come from this combo. As part of our class assignment, we were to sketch many many designs for each garment you were to create. The professor then eliminates the sketches til you have just a five for each garment. Then those are fully rendered in a fashion illustration and matching flats. The critic chose this sketch below for me to create. In just a short seven weeks everything was patterned and fitted in muslin.

This garment was one of my last to pattern. I made all of my muslins out of tulle and pleather vinyl. For this garment I had a total of six fittings. I had first patterned this design with bust and waist darts but changed it to princess seams soon after the second fitting. It fit the bust much better this way and eliminated some of the bulk in the leather. My model Katie was great. She came in so many times so that I could fit her and make quick changes on the muslin and pattern.

When it came to sewing the leather, it was definitely a challenge. I had never worked with real leather before and it handles differently then pleather. After making this garment and other pieces with leather I learned what tools, techniques, and finishing worked best. I will talk about these tools and show you the techniques and finishings I used in an upcoming vodcast. This pic above is Katie on the runway at our Stephens College annual student fashion show…….she looked fabulous!

DIYStyle has been featured as a Podcast Spotlight on an iTunes e-mail blast! The e-mail entitled, “Podcast Spotlight: DIY,” features video podcasts that teach subscribers various ways to DIY. We are very excited to be included. DIYStyle is on the rise and we couldn’t be more happy about it! Thanks for being one of our fans!

Hey Sewers! One more exciting step has taken place in my process to get www.MegsCouture.com up and running-Photo Shoot! I got together with a wonderful photographer (whose stuff can be viewed at www.JonQ.com) and two adorable models and we shot the first season of outfits for MegsCouture. I have never worked with nor made clothes for kids before so I was a little nervous about the fit and about getting the kids to do what we needed to get great results. Fortunately, it went off with out a hitch and the kids were naturals. As far as the fit…

I used some average measurements for kids to help create my slopers. After seeing the garments on the models I feel like the measurements I used were a little outdated or too averaged… i.e. they were a little short and squatty. There are always going to be rather long and lanky people/kids in the world and shorter and more petite people/kids and unless you have a plethora of sizes to accommodate all, you must pick one of these types or something in between to set as a standard for your fit. This choice will narrow your target market a bit to that size person. I think most models are a little taller and skinnier than average for their ages. The garments might not be, so this may have contributed to the fit.

So, I guess I have yet another decision to make (woo-hoo!). What will I do with my patterns? I need to decide who my customer is going to be in conjunction with body type. I am not offering a plethora of sizes to fit all body types (you can’t please everyone) so narrowing it down will help. I am leaning more towards tweaking the patterns to a little skinnier and a bit longer in the upper body. To me, it seems that kids are getting taller and taller each generation (or at least in my family) so it only makes sense to appeal to “growing” kids. Let me know what you think!

Meghan

It all started when I was cleaning out my sewing room. The stuff was too good to toss in the trash! I started thinking…maybe I could get a little cash for the items. The resale shop was not interested, so, I had heard about “eBay”, an online site for the selling and buying of just about anything. And I mean ANYTHING!

I hooked up my account and went to work. It was easy, trust me, I am not a computer guru by any stretch of the imagination. The site leads you through the set up, step by step. Once my account was in place, I started taking photos of fabric, patterns, books; you name it and listed each of their wonderful and valuable attributes. Five days later I was raking in the dollars from the items that I had sold. I was pumped!

Photo + Description = DOLLARS…for the things I didn’t even want anymore. So now I continue to clean and search for items to “list”. My family members are a little worried that if they sit still too long I may list them on eBay! Ummm, no I really wouldn’t! But, I have really made some progress to a more organized nest with the benefit of a little extra cash.

The only thing you must watch out for is when doing research for selling items…you may be “seduced” in to buying an item or two or three. But, the deals can be great! The other great benefit is when I’m looking for a unique item or one that may be older and no longer available…eBay can be a great resource. In fact, that happened recently, I wanted leopard look spandex for some lingerie, at the store the fabric can run upwards of $18.00 a yard! On eBay I was able to score 10 yards for $24.00. You read that right…$24.00!!! Granted, I will have leopard panties for the next 50 years!

Excuse me I gotta go, I have an eBay listing I need to post! And so do you!

Elizabeth

The great thing about sewing is that you can, as they say on American Idol, “make it your own”. In the denim purse , an old pair of jeans, Coats Jeans Zippers and Coats Jeans thread created the look. But change the fabric to a fantastic Amy Butler print and solid, coordinating colors of Coats All-purpose zippers and Dual Duty XP Multi-color threads and you have a total makeover! This purse is a free download, just in time for your summer travels!

Thread color depends on the look you are after-and there are so many options-342 of them in Dual Duty XP alone!! Choose a bright color for contrast. Or select a heavy thread like Dual Duty XP Heavy or Coats Jeans thread for bold, prominent stitching. Working with a print? Select a color closest to the predominant color. For solids, a slightly darker shade blends best, because it will appear a little lighter when sewn in. 

So, break out that favorite pattern and sew it up again. This time you can whip it up oh so much faster, and get set for summer with some wonderful print fabrics.

Grab your most stylish girlfriends and bring them with you to the fabulous DIYStyle Workshop! Our Workshop is a new, fun and exciting way to get together with friends and try something different.  Whether it’s a fashion, home decor or simple crafting project, the Creative Chicks can help with it all.

The DIYStyle Workshop will offer many events and classes including Girls Night Out, Panty Party, open sewing times and even private lessons.  We welcome all types of sewers, whether you have little or lots of sewing experience.  You will not be let down by the unique and trendy projects that we will feature!

Check out the Workshop section of our website to get more information!  If you are interested and have more questions or would like to register for a class please call us at 636.925.1829

Another exciting step in MegsCouture.com is in process–Patterning! I have finished all of my sloppers and have been working on grading my designs into all of my different sizes. Sloppers are the basic patterns that you then change into your design, and grading is changing your pattern into the different sizes.

It’s been a few months since I have patterned and I forgot how time consuming it is. I anticipate that this will take me about two weeks in total to make and grade my seven different garments. The nice thing is if I carry any of these designs into another season the patterns will all ready be done. It looks like I am going to have to find a closet to be taken over with pattern storage now! Maybe DIYStyle needs to do a Do-It-Yourself on how to make your home into your office!

So since I have to pattern like crazy I think I will challenge all of you who like to sew to look online or pick up a book and alter your store bought patterns to fit you or who ever the project is for. This makes your project that much better and makes you appreciate the time that you put into it. Plus, what’s better than having an outfit that fits amazing and makes everyone jealous! Remember that ironing after each step of the pattern while you are sewing helps make the outfit look great!! Steam away!

“Market Day at Stephens”

Boy has this been a long semester!! Graduation is finally over (YEAH!!!!), and it’s been so crazy busy I have not had a moment to slow down at all. Just to give you a quick update of my last semester at Stephens College, from January to March I was working on five ensembles of my senior collection. It consisted of 11 garments total! I worked with a lot of fabrics and trims that I had never worked with before, including LOTS of feathers. Senior collection is all about getting the most experience you can out if it, so crazy me choose a ton of different fabrics. All together I worked with swim lycra, bamboo knit, stretch linen, embroidered tulle, leather, stretch charmeuse, silk charmeuse, china silk, and silk chiffon. We worked on fitting a lot of our garments last semester in muslin but it’s not always exactly the same result when you get into the final fabric, so I also worked on fitting these garments so they looked perfect. Our entire senior collection was turned in seven weeks after we started, and immediately after we began our portfolio’s and a computer aided manufacturing class. I have learned quite a bit in computer patternmaking, and hope to be able to continue this after my training here at school. We began to learn this program sophomore year but this was a more intense seven weeks of it.

April 4^th was Jury of Selection, where all of my garments were judged by industry professionals from companies like Abercrombie & Fitch and BCBG. This day decided what got into the Stephens fashion show. Then (finally!) on April 18^th we had our Annual Stephens College Designer Fashion Show “Avant Cirque”. The show had a high fashion circus theme, and opened with a choreographed high wire type act—it really was very cool. I was juried in to show three ensembles from my senior collection (you’ll get to see which ones soon), my wool tailored coat and dress, and my rejectamenta (the poker card dress).

Avant Cirque Opening Act

Rejectamenta “Poker Card Dress” for Breast Cancer Awareness

Tailored Coat and Dress

And……April 18^th will always be the best day ever because not only did I get to display all of a years hard work to 1,200 people but……… my boyfriend PROPOSED to me that morning before the fashion show! I was so surprised, and I did say YES!

Even with all this going on somehow I have managed to keep up with work at McCalls. There are more cool, fun patterns on the way. I look back at this year in awe and do not have a clue how it got all done! In my next post I will show you the garments I had in the show one at a time with my sketches, so keep a look out for them coming soon!

Allyce