Fabric From St. Lucia

Recently, a family friend of ours travelled to St. Lucia for vacation.  As a surprise, she brought back a couple of yards of fabric for me as a souvenir.  Our friend knows that I really love plaids and checkers and bright colours, so this is what she picked out (see picture below).

I haven't decided what I'm going to make with the fabric yet, but I love that whatever I do decide to make already has an interesting story behind it - that it was made from fabric from the Caribbean.

I don't currently have any vacations planned, but I decided that from now on, I will make it my mission to buy a few yards of fabric whenever I travel.  It doesn't even have to be anywhere far - it could even be to a nearby city I've never visited before.  I just love the idea of having a closet filled with clothes made from fabric different cities and countries from all around the world. 

If you can't afford to travel, you may even want to just check out fabric shops in your own city that you've never been to before.  If you're like me, sometimes you get into a routine of just visiting the same trusted favorites over and over again.  Or you can do what a friend of mine who sews did - she  asked a fellow co-worker to bring her back some fabric from a visit home to India.  It was fun to see what the co-worker ended up picking out - a beautiful royal blue silk fabric with embroidered flowers.

If I figure out what I would like to make with my St. Lucia fabric, I will definitely let you know.  Meanwhile, happy sewing and happy travels!

Christmas 2014 Barbie

This past summer I found a Beach Barbie on sale for $12 at Wal-Mart.  I bought it with the idea of trying to make some doll clothes.  I've always loved the idea of Holiday Barbie, so I saved my Beach Barbie for the Christmas season.

I designed this little green and black, shimmery, strapless gown for my Christmas Barbie.  I used a fancy trim that I had in my stash for the belt and the hem and also for the little bow in her hair.  I styled her hair in a cute, side braid. 

When I was finished sewing, I set up a little display using various Christmas tree decorations that we have here around the house.  I like how my doll dress turned out, so I am hoping to make designing a Christmas Barbie gown a holiday tradition.  I'm also going to use the photos of my Barbie for Christmas cards.

 

Inspired by the 80's

When I was in school, we had a project to design something made from a stretch fabric.  I was born in the 1980's, so I often love to go back and reference pop culture from that era, and for this particular project I was inspired by two infamous 80's bands - Twisted Sister and Kiss. 

As I was sketching out my design, I was thinking about the way in which Twisted Sister wore a lot of deconstructed, torn and fraying clothes, and the way Kiss always incorporated metal studs and hardware into their looks.  The shirt-dress mini you see in the picture below is the result of merging these two ideas together.

My favorite Twisted Sister song is, of course, We're Not Gonna Take It, and my favorite Kiss song is God Gave Rock N Roll to You, which I first heard as a part of the soundtrack for Bill and Ted's Bogus journey, the sequel to Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventures, which one of my all-time favorite movies.