Wishing you all a happy holiday!
And for better things for us all in 2014.
May there be peace on earth.
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Monday, October 28, 2013
Last minute halloween costume- Lucy from Peanuts or Madeline or Alice in Wonderland!
She's a role model, she's a legend, she's the original Lean In woman - Lucy Van Pelt.
And you have JUST enough time to make your Lucy dress, grab a foot ball and enjoy a night of trick or treating.
This project is for someone who's willing to wing it a little and not be to concerned with a "perfect" dress. You're not on Project Runway, this is what ever is going to work for one night of cuteness. Don't worry, Michael Kors will not be turning your dress inside out to see how clean your seam work is.
What you need is a sewing machine and some basic (BELIEVE me basic) pattern reading skills.
I completed this dress in six hours with the skills I learned from a basic sewing class ten years ago.
I then put in another 6 hours when I decided I could do it better and ripped the original dress apart to sew again. BUT I'm crazy that way. You don't have to be.
I bought-
2 yards of Lucy blue cotton poplin
1 matching Lucy blue zipper
1 pack of matching Lucy blue bias tape
1 spool of Lucy blue thread
4 black buttons
12 inched of some type of black 1/2 inch trim ( ribbon, elastic, ric rac, I used black bias tape)
All together this cost me around 15 dollars.
I searched the internet and found this great pattern by Sew Be It Studio. I was looking for something drop waisted to replicate Lucy's little girl dress. I downloaded the appropriate sized pattern and taped it together, one 8.5" x 11" letter sized paper at a time. All 21 pages. Don't complain. It's free! It's going to look something like this.
You're going to ditch parts of the pattern. So you really only need to cut out the pieces for the bodice front, bodice back and the back panel of the skirt.
Lay out the pieces on your ironed fabric. If you really want to be ambitious, pre wash and dry it to make the costume washable. Cut out the various pieced. Use the instructions provided on the Sew Be It Studio pattern link to assemble to bodice.
Since the original pattern has a different skirt front, I just used the panel from the back, printed the piece twice and taped them together at the center seam to create 1 whole pattern piece for the front of the skirt. After I sewed together the bodice, I sewed the front and back panels of the skirt together and hemmed the bottom of the skirt. I then matched the side seams of the the skirt to the side seams of the bodice, pining it. You can then pin pleats/gathers in which ever area you please. I tried to make them kind of symmetrical. Sew the skirt to the bodice and sew up the back seam of the skirt.
During this time, it helps to press out the seams in the underside of the dress as you sew them. It creates a flatter, cleaner look. Did I do that? Uhm, kind of. But I got impatient and just kept sewing. It looked fine. Most people now wear cheap store bought costumes. YOU are not wearing something that looks flammable. The dress will look great, pressed seams or unpressed seams.
You will notice that the pattern does not have puffed sleeves. Remember when I said you have to wing it a little? This is that part. I totally fudged using this tutorial here from the blog Skirt as Top. I drafted the pattern using a short sleeve length. As someone who has never drafted a sleeve is her life, I found it very clear and easy to follow.
If you would like more of a puffed shape, like I did, I then altered the shape of the pattern piece using this tutorial on the blog Ikatbag. Go to the part of the page labeled Puff-Top Sleeve. Really, the internet is an amazing place. THREE free patterns and tutorials? I love it. From the tutorial on Skirt as Top you should be able to figure out how to attach the sleeves, or as I did fudge it so it looked good enough.
The last finishing touch is to sew on two strips of black trim to the front of the dress with black buttons on either side. Use Lucy herself as reference where to place the trim and button.
I found the ruffled neckline a little unflattering so I omitted it. Remember, Halloween is about getting the look of the costume not being 100% accurate...unless you are one of those crazy cos play people. If that's the case then you better get on sourcing vintage fabric from the 50s and maybe you'll have this costume ready by next years Halloween.
What I really love about this dress is that it really is three costumes in one! With a slight alteration to this dress, next year you could be Madeline!
And the year after that Alice in Wonderland!
But for this costume I added a finishing touch with a very Lucy sign.
What? You can find a therapist for 5 cents these days?
Happy halloween!
Monday, July 15, 2013
Free shoes!!!!
Free wedding shoe portrait that is when you purchase your custom couture bridal illustration.
I worked very hard over the last few months to relaunch my etsy store into the vision I had for it.
And to celebrate, I am offering shoes! Shoes for everyone!
•This also applies with the purchase of a $200 dollar gift certificate ( the price of a Couture Fashion Illustration) !Just enter "YAY!SHOES" in the notes section of checking out.
•This offer expires July 24th, 2013 so get going!
And thanks for stopping by!
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
A new look- Learning the art of branding on etsy one step at a time!
**picture above, Kim of the popular knitting Craft Stash pod cast.
I'm not sure if all artists have this problem or if it's just me. Me and my ADD. I don't want to do one project, I want to do all projects! Right now. Right here. Let's do it all. Shockingly, I accomplish nothing from this approach.
When I first created my esty store ( the now defunct Printed and Hangable), my idea was that it would be a catch all for all my projects. Thank god for the honest people in my life. Stream line, stream line, stream line was all I heard.
It wasn't until I sat down with Katja Bartholmess visionary and co-founder of the international branding agency, The Brooklyn Family that I got it. Katja is launching her own new exciting project I think all of us are going to love! More on that later.
But Katja told me two things I needed to hear, 1) this is an idea that can work ( something about hearing it from someone outside of my family and my artist friends made all the difference), and 2) NO ONE CAN TELL WHAT YOU ARE DOING.
My name was vague - Printable and Hangable. I finally understand why names like AAA Trucking and 123 Dry Cleaners are used. There is no guess work to what they do. And so I make some choices.
•I changed my shops name from "Printable and Hangable" to "Erica Campanella, Couture Bridal Illustration"
•I removed all products that did not fit with my new shops name. It was hard getting rid of work I really loved. But it will see the light of day again in another form.
•I took a hard look at the illustrations I already did and realized that I needed more unity in them. And it took FOREVER. I drew, and I drew. The same pictures over and over. Some were good. Some were horrible. Some we good but not realistic to create over and over. Some were so time consuming that my cost level would have been astronomical. But in the end, I developed a look that was trendy, eye-catching, and something I could build off of as I did more work. In other words, a good start.
**For instance, this is one of my new pieces. I was thrilled to do a couture bridal illustration for Kim of the popular knitting Craft Stash pod cast.
**here's a shot of the new shop. I still have some more tweaks but what a difference in the clarity of product.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Blossom Bands Coupon for P&H peeps!
So shop away at Blossom Bands etsy store and while you're at it why not like their Facebook page.
Speaking of my niece, she insisted on dressing herself for this photo shoot with amazing photographer Angela Ryan You can find Angela's great work here- www.angelaryanphotography.com and check her out on Facebook too!
**** UPDATE: Bethany at Blossom Bands was nice enough to send me the link to the photographer who's work is on the left- http://melissadecastro.com/
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
New for Knitters with a Etsy Coupon!
I am not a knitter. In fact, I'm horrible at it. But I've been able to gain an insider appreciation, shall we say, of it through my friend Kim Cherubin (seen left), host of the podcast Craft Stash. Even if you don't knit you should check it out just to see what I get to enjoy in person from Kim, fun and informed conversation and great recommendations on everything from apps to books. It was hilarious walking around the Rhineback Sheep and Wool festival this year ( my first knitting event) with Kim. The girl was literally a celebrity. Women with bags full of yarn flying behind them came running up to Kim, they were so excited to see her in person.
Kim is a girl with discerning taste and from what I saw at the Rhinebeck festival, knitting stuff can be a bit ..whacky. But I immediately thought of Kim when I saw my friend Katy Westcott's etsy store Katrinkles. She's getting amazing press right now for her knitting and knitting inspired products. These whimsical laser cut creations are made in my home state of RI by Katy herself. Do I need a knitting needle gage? No, but it's in the shape of a whale! Must have cute whale! And a laser cut knit pendant? So clever and hip.
For the next week P&H friends can get 15% off at Katrinkles when you enter KATRINKLES401 at check out.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
You Tube videos we love- Love of the day
So this seems to a week of regrouping here at P&H. So I give you the love of the day. Think Josh Whedon meets Veronica Mars meets The Guild via Jane Austen. And if all those things were mashed together it would be the Lizzie Bennet Diaries. I totally love the creativity of one camera and limited characters while totally giving a hilarious modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice.
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