Stormageddon!

Hi everyone. I know this is the first post after a hiatus.  Lets just say that there has been LOTS of drama, some of which including bailing a friend out of jail. Right now I'm at work, and since we are a network operations center for a huge communications company, well... its crazy.  Please, all my New England readers be safe, let me know you are OK and that the sharks didn't get you.

Seriously, stay away from the sharks.

Blog Break

More photos here. Not my photo.

Hello dear readers. I just wanted to give you a little heads up that I feel the need to take a break from blogging. There are a whole bunch of little things going on right now that need my attention at home and at work. And I also need to focus my energy on leveling up (to use a gamer term) my tailoring skills so I can have the work wardrobe I want and need.  I know Halloween is around the corner and this is usually a pretty fun time for me, but I'm not feeling it right now. I haven't even managed to write up a few interview questions for some awesome people I want to introduce you too.

So, I take a break.  I'll still post interesting finds on my facebook page and you can find me as ladykatza on Instagram, if you want more day-to-day insanity.  I plan to be back about the 28th of October, hopefully with lots of project updates, interviews, and thoughtful posts about DIY culture.

So don't go away! I promise I'm not going to drop off the face of the planet like some people.

Pencil Skirt Obsession: Lace and Leather Edition

Vogue 8697

Well, we've already established that I like high-waist pencil skirts.  And I also like to have a corseting action going on in the waist, too.  I think this might combine those two quite nicely. I only include the technical drawings because all of the fashion samples were fugly. BLEH. In fact, for a while there I questioned my motives in buying this pattern in the first place. I blame JoAnn's sale. So there.

Moving right along...  I had one of those brilliant ideas you get when driving home in the car. I know the PERFECT fabric combo for this, and I already own everything I need to make it! I even remembered to write it down, nay, TAKE A PICTURE! when I got home.  Bully for me. Wanna see?

So here we have Egyptian cotton in Pepto Bismol, knock-off Chantilly lace, and a black deer hide.  Before you get upset about deer hide, please understand that there are many in my family that hunt, or know people that hunt, and my Aunt buys leather from local businesses that dress and carve deer to make moccasins for charity. At least, that's usually how she gets it.  Other methods can be read about here. Lets just say my family has its own share of quirks, and one of them is if we'll eat it, we'll use other parts of the body too. Enough about that.

So, yes, I have a deer hide in my fabric stash, originally it was sent to me with the idea of using it as the bottom of a purse, but I couldn't bring myself to use it for that purpose.  So back to my skirt idea.  I want to use the black leather for the waistband, with a lining that has horse-hair and boning to keep it upright.  I think it would also be good as an accent for the top of the two side panels, those sort of chevron pieces.  The Egyptian cotton I had bought thinking it would be the lining to my Earth Day dress, but I then realized it was much too heavy for that.  I've learned a lot about fabric qualities in the last year. Of course I'll use the black lace over the pink, I think that, with the leather, will make it edgy and feminine at the same time, and possibly even on-trend for the runway.  And I still have my chiffon blouse with sparkly beaded embroidery in my closet from what a friend of mine dubbed my "corporate goth look" .  Add a black chemise underneath and VIOLA! Instant badass chic.

So, that's on my mind, along with finishing the fit on my bolero and starting to work on some TNT trousers and button down blouses. And if any of you have some good tips on working with leather in garment sewing, I'm all ears! Well, not really, cause that'd look weird.

They Just Aren't Geek Enough

Lean to the side giggle.

I managed to get a few photos of Simon in his Horde Shirt, though I can't say they are very good ones.  Capturing the male of the Katza species on film is difficult at best.  Almost up there with Chupacabras. I'd love to do an actual photos hoot with him in this thing, but honestly, this is about what they would end up looking like anyway.  Usually, no matter how hard I try, he ends up fuzzy. Much like Big Foot.

Surprise face!

More fuzzy cam smile. 

Personally, I think this looks awesome with the red leather Wilson's jacket I got from a consignment sale for $25. Not something I'd ever pay full price for and he loves it to bits, so score one for Mom!  I asked him if any of his classmates noticed his shirt, he said no. Unfortunately we live in an area of little geekiness. However, when we went to Anime Weekend Atlanta to hand off two kittens (five more to go!!), lots of people there were all "Cool little dude".

Yup, about right.

In other news, I've been thinking about inventing a portable distortion field to prevent surreptitious photo taking. I figure there's enough scientists among this crowd we could put something together. Feminist sewists unite!