Drawings to Cuddle

Some fun illustrations I did this week that just might end up as large comfy pillows available on etsy... stay tuned!!!

Embroidered Medal Brooch + Party!!

After doing my last embroidery and enjoying it very much, I got together with a few of my girls and had a Bitchin' Stitch party. Some beginners, some more experienced, but all very talented and we had a blast.

(From Left to Right)

Jackie, Cynthia, Cecilia, Victoria.

Here's what I was working on:

Beginning sketch and completed embroidered ribbon detail.

Work in progress, shape details complete.

Filled in interior, front and back view.

Sewed on the back, then turned it right side out.

Hand stitched outside edge. Finished front and back view.

So sharp.

Winter Embroidered Brooch

Lately I have been getting into brooches. They are so fun and are easy to add to any outfit. They are also very versitile. I have turned into a bit of a collector lately and I hung up a thick piece of felt in my room with giant push-pins so I could display them all. Here they are!

Having some fun embroidered ones I thought I'd made some of my own. I was inspired by the winter weather and all the cute illustrations by Memi the Rainbow. With winter break also came a bunch of free time and I decided it was time! I embroidered this little guy and filled him with a little poly-fil so that he is a bit squishy. Horray!

Pez Luggage Tag

When I saw this awesome luggage tag on flight001 I really wanted to get it. But the thing about luggage tags is that they always get ripped, dirty, stolen, or lost. So I decided instead of buying one for $12 I would make it!

I started out drawing the design in Illustrator:

Then I cut a 8.5" x 11" piece of tyvek because you know if I made it out of paper it would last about a second and this way I can just print the image with my printer instead of paying to print it on fabric.

I made an outline around the image where I would cut it, copied the outline, made the other side with my contact info, made an extra shape, and printed it with my regular inkjet.

I used the extra shape as a pattern to cut out a piece of vinyl to put in between the front and back piece to make it a bit more substantial.

I sandwiched the vinyl in between the other two pieces and sewed it around the edge:

I cut a rectangular hole in the top of the tag inside the sewing line. Then I cut a short piece of elastic which I sewed into a loop with a french seam and threaded it into the hole, voila!!

Now when this one gets dirty, lost, stolen, or ripped (it won't rip though because it's tyvek!!) I can just make another one, it's so quick!!

You can use any drawing, try it out!

Senior Thesis Part 6: Summer Melt Overalls

For my final piece I wanted to experimenting more with textile design and continue to explore different methods in illustrating on fabric. Instead of drawing a design on the computer like I did for the suit (see below) I hand drew a design. The design made me feel like summer time, being hot, and eating cold and refreshing things so I decided to call it Summer Melt. I didn't want to make any more dresses for my thesis but I still wanted to make something fairly difficult and fun so I decided on making overall shorts. There is a TON of sewing that goes into making overalls and I did it all with multicolor thread (thread that changes color as you sew!!) very exciting...

I got the design printed on a heavier jean weight twill fabric. In making these overalls I made the pattern from scratch by looking at pants and other patterns I have made and it turned out really well. When I was cutting out the pieces for the pockets and front and back tops, I made sure to match up the pattern so the seam would look really awesome. Since the pattern is so busy you can't really tell, but once you notice it, it looks really cool. Maybe I'll try pattern matching again on a less crazy fabric and see what happens.

Drawing

Colored and Repeated

Cutting the Pattern Pieces

Pocket Pattern, Pocket sewn to front, front sewn to back

Back pocket placed with pattern matched, pocket sewn.

Front and Back Waistbands

Front Piece Sewn

Pattern for Back & Strap, Back Piece & Straps complete.

Attaching Hardware

Front Finished

Back Finished

All Thesis Work

So that's it! There is all of my senior illustration thesis work. The set-up you see above is from the thesis judging at the end of the semester. I am proud to say that all of my pieces were accepted for the Senior Thesis Illustration Show at the end of the year.

Senior Thesis Part 5: Women's Fitted 3 Piece Suit

For this piece I wanted to go above and beyond and make it the highlight of my thesis. I wanted to push myself in my construction skills and also in my print design to create several fabrics that could go together. I decided on making a fitted three piece suit for myself (of course) including a lined notch collar jacket with vented two piece sleeve and a right breast welt pocket for a pocket square, pants with fly closure and two back welt pockets, a vest, and a matching tie to pull it all together.

I wanted to design these prints in Adobe Illustrator giving it a very clean look to match the sharp aesthetic of a well fitting suit. With the suit being traditionally serious attire the print had to put a fun and ridiculous twist on it. The first print was for the jacket and pants printed on cotton sateen. Using elements from that design I created four prints to complement it. One was a different color scheme for the vest. In another I repeated one element to make the jacket lining which was printed on silk de chine. In the third I made a stripe pattern that was going to be the pocket square for the welt pocket of the jacket. The fourth was a continuation of the "slurpee" cup element in the design for the tie. In addition I designed and printed a tag with the fabric design name to be put in both the jacket and pants. I named the fabric series fresh factor and the tag reads, "Fresh fabric for a fresh suit."

In making a suit, most of the work goes into the pattern making and fitting of the practice muslin suit to ensure that everything will fit properly (and comfortably!). I included my notch collar draft to give you a little behind the scenes on what had to go into making the pattern (lots of geometry). A lot of what is great about this suit are the small details. I matched up the jacket fabric as well as the welt pockets in the jacket and pants. This suit was a lot of fun to make and I can't wait wear it and then make another!!

Sketch, fabric prints for the suit, vest, lining, pocket square, tie, and tag.

Notch collar draft

Jacket:

Center front pattern piece laid out.

Back, side back, and side front pieces sewn together.

Sleeves cut, sleeves sewn.

Over collar and under collar pieces cut, sewn collar.

Front facings, back neck facing, and collar sewn to jacket, fresh factor tag attached.

Practice welt pocket, finished welt pocket on upper right breast

(with fabric pattern matched) for pocket square.

Sewing lining together, sewing lining to jacket.

Finished jacket with lining sewn in.

Pants:

Fabric cut out of pants pattern.

Front pocket pieces cut out.

Back welt in progress, pocket sewn.

Front pockets finished, back pockets finished.

Zipper sewn into front of pants.

Waistband with contrasting fabric lining and tag sewn onto pants.

Vest pieces cut out, vest finished.

Base tie pieces cut and sewn.

Tie in progress

Finished tie

Three piece suit complete, front and back

Vest and tie