The Fashion Sketchbook

I used to love designing clothes. I would watch a show or go to the mall and be so inspired by the shapes and textures around me. Then I would go home and dig through my stash of fabrics and sketch out something amazing in my fashion sketchbook. I loved the outfits I designed, even though only about half of them became actual clothes.

Fast forward fifteen years and three kids and I found myself frustrated with the major disconnect between what I drew and how the clothes fit on my actual body. Part of the problem (admittedly) is that I still see myself as a fit twenty-something who can wear anything and look like... well, like a fit twenty-something, rather than the forty-something mom who threw some clothes on to drop the kids off at school and hopes that she won't have to get out of the car at parent drop-off because she's not even sure she remembered a bra. But the bigger part of the problem (in my opinion) is that the croquis in fashion sketchbooks are ridiculous. Not even supermodels have legs that long! And how can they have such a sharp hourglass figure with a hip measurement of 24" and still have room for internal organs? 

I am 5'4" and about 160lbs with a slightly protruding mom-belly: probably a pretty common height/weight, but not one that gets a lot of press in the fashion industry. So, not only do I have a lot of tweaking to do when it comes to clothing patterns, but before I even get to that point I have to try to imagine what this garment would look like on my body and what changes I would need to make in order for it to be flattering on me. Where is the best place for this midi skirt to hit so that I don't look like a hobbit? How high can I make this waistline before it looks like my boobs end right where my hips start? Should I even bother with a crop top? These are important things to know before cutting into fabric and I found it difficult to imagine how an outfit I designed on a croquis would work on my real-life body.

For Christmas last year my mom gave me some credits to MyBodyModel which is this amazing website where you put in your height, weight, and measurements and it comes up with a croquis of you! While it is tempting to put in false information, I was completely honest and I absolutely love this little croquis-me! I love that I can trust my designs to look roughly the same on my as they do in the drawings. For fun, I redrew a couple of my old designs onto my new croquis. Puffy sleeves and high waists aren't super flattering on my actual body.

There are a couple things that I really did like about my fashion sketchbook, despite the distorted proportions:

1) I like having all my design ideas in the same book. One design often inspires another.

2) I like the little tips and sketch ideas such as how to draw a specific drape or seam.

3) I like having different poses.

So I decided to make my own, of me, in fashion book form.

I printed a variety of colors and poses onto cardstock then followed a tutorial by Sea Lemon for single sheet bookbinding. 

Each sheet had to be bound by every thread individually before moving onto the next sheet so it definitely took a while but SO WORTH IT! I love the different colored threads on the binding--they are 2ply waxed Irish linen that I bought on Etsy from Tinkercrafts. I cannibalized my favorite tip sheets from my old fashion sketchbook and added them as pages in my book. For the cover, I used the box from a master pattern kit from the 70's that my mom found for me at a yard sale. It was missing some pieces but I loved the font and images so I displayed it with my vintage sewing books until I decided to cut it up for this.

It's exactly what I envisioned and I know exactly what I'll draw in it first...

Polka Dot Blouse

Happy Fall! I found this awesome fabric the last time I went thrifting, along with some denim and a creamy gauze that unfortunately turned out to be moth-eaten. Best I can tell, this cute little polka dot number is a poly-challis. It had a few bad spots but I was able to cut around them.

As soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to make a Lucerne Blouse by Hey June Handmade. The tie-sleeve version is perfect for fall in the desert because I can use delicate fabrics without sweating in them and I don't have to wear a coat yet, which would be a little bulky around the ties.

This was my first time doing a split sleeve but the directions were easy to follow and I love the little detail that the binding brings to it. 

I think that if I made another I would either size down on the chest or bring up the neckline a bit so that I can bend over without showing EVERYTHING down to my belly button. It's a cute little blouse with a slightly retro feel to it and I love that it was made with thrifted fabric. 

Sweaty Stripes

 My mom ordered each of us a Mood Mystery Box a couple of months ago. The fabric is a comfy ponte, which is great, and it's striped, which is less great. Four yards of skinny, horizontal blue and white stripes. Well, they don't call it a challenge for nothing. The fabric is two-way stretch that has some unexpected weight to it. I tossed around some ideas but decided on a matching loungewear set. 

I wanted a high-waist jogger with a cropped sweater so I found a tutorial for hacking the True Bias Hudson Pants then cropped them, making the usual adjustments (1" full rear adjustment and 1" out of the length of the legs).

The sweater is the Sew House Seven Toaster Sweater #2 which has a slightly high-low hem and a gorgeous mock-turtle-boat neck. I was so impressed by the detail in the instructions and it came together quickly.

This is not a style I usually wear, but I've worn it out a couple of times and it's really comfy and sort of stylish in its own way. The fabric is cool to the touch and super soft so I find myself not really wanting to change out of it to run errands.

I still have a bit left and my mom only made one small garment (I'll let her talk about that when she has time) so she has a ton left which is good because after snuggling me, everyone in the house wants something out of this fabric now.

The Bucket Hat

 A couple of weeks ago I took Abs to Target for some "fashion shopping" (no judgement, we're seriously deprived of any good shopping out here in the rural desert) and she tried on a bucket hat. She loved the look, but not the fit and decided to make her own--because she's cool like that.

She followed a pattern and tutorial by The Essentials Club using old blue jeans. 

I love the two-tone! She distressed the seams so that they have a slightly frayed look. She also shortened the width of the brim by about 1/2". And since she was in the mood to sew denim, she also patchy-d up a pair of denim shorts with random fabric scraps.

She totally recommends the tutorial and plans to make another... you know, eventually.