Preview - Ribbon Belts

I'm in the (slow) process of adding new things to the online store, such as this ribbon belt that I'm developing right now. Made with 8 oz washed duck canvas and blue oxford cloth, it's surprisingly light but should prove to be extremely sturdy. Keep an eye out for these and other belts coming soon :D

Coming soon

Keep an eye out for my wristbands/bracelets to be released in the coming month or so. Each is handmade by me out of a variety of fabric combinations in any size you could possibly want. The idea is to combine the aesthetics and utilitarian aspects of traditional shirting and workwear in a portable form - think denim, canvas, oxford cloth, and some beautiful Japanese indigo-dyed cotton that I somehow managed to get my hands on.

Using the best fabrics that I can find, each is made to be worn as much as possible. Let it fade in the sun, wear it into the ocean, or go climb a mountain. They'll only get better with age, and will serve as a physical reminder of all of the shenanigans that you engaged in. I'll be selling them through an online store, or just find me around campus.

Put it on. Break it in. Wear it out.

Bracelets and Buttonholes

I've had a recent obsession with making a sturdy, comfortable, good-looking bracelet. Or wristband, if wearing a bracelet would offend your masculinity. After some dreadful attempts at going about this task, I've finally reached a basic design that I can live with.

Left: The old version. Right: The new, less-shitty version.

Other than the leather accent being improperly sized and the stitching being a little bit shoddy (the machine's fault, not mine. I swear), this one turned out significantly better.

I've added a lining to the bottom so that it feels softer on the wrist, and it also gives me the opportunity to mess with different patterns and colors to complement the actual body of the wristband.

Buttonholes have also been a fun thing to learn to do. I don't have a fancy machine that does it automatically for me, so I had to learn to do it the old-fashioned way.

Notice the failtastic one on the right, and how they clean up as time went on. Yay! Improvement!

I've been getting a surprising number of requests for these things, so once I really figure out what I'm doing, I believe that I'll be selling these in a variety of designs, colors, fabrics, and patterns. Keep an eye out.

Vest? Waistcoat?

Seeing as it's summer, I thought it would be perfect weather for a lightweight linen vest. That, and I thought I should exercise my growing sewing abilities with something a bit more challenging than a tie or bow tie. It worked out pretty well considering the monumental leap in difficulty between the two projects.

The vest is made of a lovely linen that I previously used for my tie, with a brown satin backing and lining and dark brown buttons. Two welts adorn the front, but I don't know how to make pockets yet so they are unfortunately nonfunctional. This annoys me immensely. I drafted the pattern using a stock pattern to get an idea of how the vest would be constructed, but had to make the actual thing from scratch seeing as oversized American patterns are a few sizes too large for my tiny self. I wonder if I'd have better luck with Korean sewing patterns...

The stitching isn't the best in the world, but it looks decent enough for me to wear it, at least. I would post detail shots, but I'm honestly a bit too embarrassed by their shoddy craftsmanship to do so. I have a long way to go before I consider this vest to be anywhere near the quality I want it to be, though.

Bow ties!

I must say that I'm a huge fan of bow ties. They add a bit of dandy to my life that creates a sense of deeply enjoyable playfulness. Because there is NO way I could take myself seriously in a pink and white striped bow tie. The only issue is, a bow tie and a shirt without any sort of jacket, sweater, or waistcoat creates a large swath of fabric on one's torso that can seem a bit unbalanced.

But I digress. These bow ties were quite simple to make once I drafted the patterns for them. The lengths and widths are modeled after a piece that I picked up in a vintage store in New Orleans last summer - nice and slim with wonderful proportions. There's a lot that can be done with the lines of a bow tie as they converge from two sides onto a central point, so patterned pieces end up looking particularly interesting.

Also, there's something incredibly satisfying about coming home after a long day out and undoing a bow tie, letting it hang loosely to either side of one's neck. It's a bit therapeutic... for me anyways.

On my to-do list: Reversible and split pattern bow ties!

Tie your tie.

To start off - ties are endlessly strange to me. Most menswear (especially on the more traditional side) espouses form and function being intertwined, and yet ties survive without having ANY purpose other than being aesthetically pleasing. They sure as hell won't keep you warm, but I guess they're good for strangling someone.

I made these ties based off of one that a friend gave me from The Hill-side. The brand makes beautiful products but, at $88 per tie, is woefully outside of my price range. Thankfully, they're pretty simple to make, so I reverse-engineered mine and made a few more (with a twist or two, of course).

One is made from the reverse side of some 6 oz raw indigo denim, which ends up looking a bit like chambray. It has a slightly rounded, unfinished edge that gives it an interesting fraying. The other is an Italian linen with the same denim on the back blade, creating a two-tone tie. They're lined with a cotton muslin to give the tie knot some heft (because no one likes a wimpy tie knot).

The keeper and label (which are heavy enough to help with the drape of the tie) are made of leather. The sewn design is pretty much meaningless, but I had just come from the lovely Tim Burton exhibit at LACMA and had his style on my mind. It showed through just a touch.

This was my first experiment with drafting my own pattern and came out reasonably well, I think. Looking forward to expanding my collection with ties made from lots of interesting fabrics.

And so it begins

I barely started sewing two weeks ago. Before that, I didn't even know how to make a garment, let alone thread a machine.

As I slowly begin to figure out what the heck I'm doing, I will post updates on projects - what I'm doing, how I'm doing it, and the ever-important why.

If for some reason you have an interest in reading my thoughts on clothing, sewing, and how much fun it is, then please, follow along. I could use all the help I can get.