Tuesday, April 20, 2010

"Vintage" Katie creations PART II

circa 2004.
With this one I was trying to learn a few new techiniques from my "complete guide to sewing" book. and I put them all on one shirt! I had tired of ruffling all my shirts and so I wanted to do something different. I remember at the time I thought that I should stop putting ruffles on all my shirts because people would think that was all I knew how to do. (well, it kinda was so I  needed to learn new things). Plus I figured ruffles would go out of style. WOA was I wrong. fast forward 5 years later and ruffles are SOOOO all over the place! And I still love them of course! especially what LEX does with them:)

I made it from an old shirt and scraps of fabric.

circa 2009
I made this top in August because I didn't have anything that I could easily nurse in public in. It was super easy, and I think I wore it at least once a week for the first few months after I had olivia because it was the only thing that fit all the enlarged parts of my body. By the time I modeled it for this shoot it was too big for me (YIPEE!!!!). But I still love it and will wear it again next time around! ( Oh and I think I might do a tutorial for it on luvinthemommyhood come May!

I made it from scratch out of knit jersey and amy butler fabric. and vintage red buttons (that weren't on the cards of course)

circa 2008
This is HANDS DOWN my all time favorite creation. I love it. lurve it. I think I wear it everytime I am going to be hanging out with someone artsy or if I go to an artsy event because it always makes me feel hip. Even if nothing else I am wearing is cool (because it is really hard to dress cool when you have a baby spitting up on you and grabbing and chewing on everything you wear), I still feel at least a semblance of my old self when I wear this top. And the green on the torso is much brighter than it appears.

I made it from scratch out of vintage bedding fabric and a vintage afghan.
circa 2009.
This was another attempt to make a nursing-ready shirt. only I put like a million buttons (down the blue part) and so in the end I just started lifting it up to nurse (more info than you wanted I am sure). Oh and for some reason I decided to put a circle at the end of the ruffles and  it of course was right near my boob. so I usually wear this under things now. or when I just don't give a rip.

I made this from a white hanes shirt, a vintage pillow case (the sleeves), an old t-shirt (the blue), and vintage buttons (not off the card:)).
not a flattering shot, but I like the hair...
circa 2004.
and yes so is the photo (taken on a cell phone). Yes, shrugs aren't really in style anymore, but back when they were, I had this ( I thought) fantastic idea to make them out of t-shirts! (this was pre-blogging, so who knew if they already existed). I would die the t-shirts and cut them off, add crochet trim or lace, and a velcro clasp. (with sequins). I loved them. and I even made a little "catalogue" with shrugs, tie headbands (made from vintage ties, another idea I had), yo-yo necklaces/bibs/collars (which are all over the place these days), and re-vamped t-shirts. I put the catalogue on the table in the back at Anthro (where I was a display coordinator/artist). That is where I am posing (in my studio with dresses I had made out of amber-shellaced tissue paper and old book pages).
circa 2003.
Of course all the details are lost, but I had died a shirt brown, added lace ruffle to the bottom, and hand stitch gold thread in an organic shape on the top. at certain points I added sequin-clustered flowers. I really loved it, and wore it under lots of v-neck sweaters back then.
circa 2004.
This shows 2 things I made. A tank top and a geode necklace (which I plan on doing an entire post about one day). The tank I made out of jersey knit and a vintage lace tablecloth, and back in the day I layered this thing over all my shirts. I especially loved to juxtapose that lace with things that were much different, like the little boys baseball tee I had on. (oh and that beautiful girl is one of my best friends in the world. courtney anderton).

circa 2005.
not the best photo of me, but the best one i had of the dress. I remember wearing this number all the time. I was so proud of it! I made it out of some 70's skirt that was long and stretchy, and then added the brown twill tape I had off of some pottery barn present/package!

That's all for now! but there is lots more to come! I haven't even shown you the accessories! ahhh! I hope you all are enjoying these posts. I figure they help paint a picture of my evolution into who i am now, and how i got to "blue-eyed freckle."(my accessories line).

OH AND YOU CAN SEE "PART I" HERE

14 comments:

Jessica said...

1. these are all really fun. i would love to hear how to make that nursing one.

2. Hello! those paper dresses are amazing! Could you do a series about the displays you made for Anthro? Would that even be allowed or is there corporate copyright or something? I would be so interested to see more of that stuff. Does each and every store have their own designer for displays? That had to be the coolest job ever.

C. Speaking of Lex, how much would you dork out if she made it on PR?!

{irene} said...

again...very impressed...

Heather said...

OK, your all time favorite, with the vintage sheet and the vintage afghan? It's the cutest thing I've ever seen. I go to estate sales on the weekends because I DO NOT NEED MORE STUFF, so this is the perfect thing for me to look for. Thanks for that.

Anonymous said...

awesome!

Anonymous said...

awesome!

Cristy said...

How cute are you and Court. in that picture! PS- your blog is looking amazing! Congrats on all the success!

Ashley Ann said...

I love the one with all the buttons! That circle is a bit unfortunately placed, but it's a gorgeous shirt for sure!

I also love the last dress! I can't believe how talented you are. :D

ed and brooke said...

I love that you're posting about your old creations. Remember the scarf you made while I was working with you at Anthro? I think it was crocheted. You need to blog about that!

I got the headband in the mail last week. LOOOOVE it!

Courtney said...

ok Katie - you know I think your a genius so I am going to say something totally off topic. You are seriously skinny!! You look awesome! Love you!

Elizabeth said...

You are amazing with what you do! I have a question, how do you cut the leaves and everything for your headbands so straight? is there a secret machine out there or are you just really great at cutting? :)

Elizabeth said...

You are amazing with what you do! I have a question, how do you cut the leaves and everything for your headbands so straight? is there a secret machine out there or are you just really great at cutting? :)

Claire Kiefer said...

You are so talented! I love these beautiful shirts (and dresses)--especially the one with the diagonal light blue lace strip (with the circle near the boob, ha). Pretty!

Tasha Guinn said...

It's so fun to see the evolution of your craftiness!! I really enjoyed this post!!

Unknown said...

such creative ideas! I used to do things like this to my clothes all the time! I'd get bored with them and just rip out and rearrange them to make a whole new piece! It's a thrifty idea for sure!