exquisite design, one stone at a time
It's been a while -- thanks for sticking around... (BTW, if you're only interested in the mannequin tutorial, scroll down to where the photos begin!) The skating world is so weird sometimes; I know people who protect their costume ideas for each season more carefully than they protect their passwords, bank PIN's, and in some… Continue reading Duct Tape Mannequin, Check!
It's been absolutely forever since I posted here, but this is why: SHE MADE IT TO WORLDS! Of course it had nothing at all to do with how she skated -- it's all about the dress, you know... Anyway, we're home from two weeks in Italy and Paris (ok, 9 days in Italy for the… Continue reading We’re Baaaack!!
**If you're only interested in the hand-dyed lace tutorial and not all my babbling, scroll to where the photos begin!** The process for most of the custom roller skating outfits I make is fairly simple: coach has an idea in March, we settle on a plan in early April, dress is finished by early to… Continue reading Hand-Dyed Lace and Where Crazy Ideas Begin
It's been months, I know...between getting this business going, traveling to meets with the pop-up shop, and trying to get new PDF patterns online, I haven't had time to breathe. Anyway, here's a quickie -- just finished last week, a derby half-time show dress for a former (not "old!") artistic skater and her husband. Though… Continue reading What Are They Wearing Wednesday: Long Time No Post
Wow...I've been gone forever... So much has happened recently...our trademarks were approved and registered (yay!), I finished dozens of pieces for regional and national skating championships, we sunk more money than I care to think about into our fabric business...it's obviously been a crazy summer! And there are lots of changes coming for us this… Continue reading Recent Projects
So because I'm not busy enough, and because I think I was in sort of a spandex withdrawal after finishing 40 pieces last month, I took on a new project -- pattern tester for 5 out of 4 Patterns. I've never used PDF patterns before (weird, I know), so that was really the only part… Continue reading Latest Project — Swim Shorts
So many sequins, so little time to vacuum them up... Actually, this project wasn't so bad. The team wasn't exactly sure what they wanted, just that the five dresses needed to be "a little slutty, like Chicago-slutty, but also ballroom-appropriate." Total opposites, of course. We decided on black with either emerald green or indigo blue,… Continue reading What Are They Wearing Wednesday: Formation Team Dresses
Well, it's been 18 months, but I think I'm finally finished! We started this garage "renovation lite" project in September 2013. I say "renovation lite" because it didn't involve any destroying of walls, demolition of floors, or anything very exciting or fun. It did involve several trips to Ikea, a lot of curse words (because… Continue reading So Much Room for Activities!
OK, quick disclaimer -- I couldn't get this dress onto the mannequin because the straps are too tight to go over Peg's hips...so this is What's Hangin' Wednesday instead. This is a super-quick dress that's leaving the shop this afternoon. Quick, not because I rushed through it, but because I think I'm finally getting to… Continue reading What Are They Wearing Wednesday: All About the Access
I only sew (super-crazy-stretchy) knits, so how odd is it that I skipped The Monthly Stitch's "Sew Stretchy" May? For newcomers, The Monthly Stitch is an Australian sewing blog, to which I'm a regular contributor. Each month they vote on some new challenge, and finished products are posted on the blog. Being Australia, skating a… Continue reading Plumber’s Paradox
Leave No Stone Unglued 