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Found this amazing black velvet skirt and some other great treasures on my latest thrift store crawl. Can't wait to get my sewing machine back from a much-needed tune up.

Ribbon remnants reborn into tulle tutus

I had some ribbon remnants leftover from various projects that were really too small to use on any large projects. Since I hate to let pretty things go to waste, I decided to use them as the inspiration/decoration on some tulle skirt. First up, the Black Orchid tutu. I had some a black trim with a bit of an art-nouveau feel featuring lavendar and pink flowers and silver accents that I thought would look quite nice on a waistband. I picked up the light colors of the ribbon in the top layer of tulle, then placed a layer of black underneath in an alternating pattern. It takes a LOT of pins to attach gathered tulle to a waistband. Many ouchies go along with the sewing of these skirts. To finish it off, irridescent sequins with silver beads dot the top layer of tulle. By the way, sewing sequins and beads onto tulle is the sure way to insanity. They do look so nice, though. Good thing I'm already a little crazy!

Skirt number two, the Circus tutu, is based on the one little piece of ribbon left from the Twilight Cape. At just 15 inches long, this little leftover wasn't going to go very far! I sewed it onto a length of 2" wide black satin ribbon, and started choosing tulle. I loved the "harlequin" look of alternating larger sections of black tulle with smaller sections of pink and gold glimmer tulle. Gold and irridescent sequins added extra sparkle, and I deliberately left the black areas matte and unembelished for contrast. I really like the way it turned out, and I think I'll use that harlequin-style pattern on some other skirts. It looks so pretty and reminds me of a old-fashioned circus costume (hence the name of the skirt).

Both of these skirts are available for sale at Nymbol’s Secret Garden in Langley, Washington (on Whidbey Island). If you are interested in them, you can contact me via email for more details. And I’m always happy to share what I know, so if you’re interested in more information on any of the techniques I’ve used, I’d love to hear from you.

Have fun today!
Melinda

Rumpled Silks Label

Rumpled Silks Label
Originally uploaded by mc-s

I bought these labels online from http://www.namemaker.com. I was quite pleased with the results. Love that they had a little spinning wheel icon. If you want some nice woven labels with your name on them, give them a try.

Dying disco scarf reborn as Twinkle Tutu

The Twinkle Tutu began when I spotted this fabulous silk scarf with sequins languishing in a thrift store. It was too pretty to waste!

I carefully opened up the seams, and went to work. Since it was my first fairy skirt, there was a lot of advanced math involved in getting the material distribution just right on the mountain of tulle needed to make this skirt suitably “poofy” – 20 yards gathered down to a 22-27” waist! I even managed to reuse the sequins that jumped ship during construction, hand sewing them onto the tulle. Tedious, but lovely – and I hate to waste a single bit of glimmer and glam.

I’m pretty pleased with the results, and there’s more scarf left – so expect something else fun from this faded finery.

The Twinkle tutu is available at Nymbol’s Secret Garden in Langley, WA (on Whidbey Island). Stop by the shop (it’s REALLY amazing) and say hello to Nymbol and the rest of the Cass clan. You can also email me if you’re interested, or if you have any questions about any of my projects. I’m always happy to share my knowledge!

Have fun,
Melinda

Twin Capes from a Single Skirt

I spotted this gem at a thrift store -- a size 4 Evan Piccone pleated gold lame skirt. I’m not sure what year it's from (I’m guessing the late 80s), but it was old enough to sport a “Made in the USA” label. The lame had a beautiful patina to it, with a deep, rich sheen. It seemed like a good candidate for a magic cape of some sort. And even though it had a VERY tiny waist (22”!), I was actually able to cobble not one, but two lovely capes from it.

I removed the waistband and the zipper, split the skirt into two pieces, and taped down the pleats so they would survive the transplant (masking tape is your friend in situations such as these). It was such an efficient operation that all that was left of the skirt after I made the capes were a few tiny bits of lame.

Cape #1 – Twilight cape with black velvet trim
For the first cape, I decided to use the waistband of the skirt as a neck band. Since the waist of the skirt was so tiny, I knew only one cape would be getting this treatment.

I loved the look of the medium-blue taffeta as the lining, and the iridescent trim with hints of blue really tied them together nicely. But I felt it was missing something. That’s when I noticed a length of wide black velvet ribbon stashed in my trim basket. Perfect.

After adding a black frog closure at the neck, it was ready for action. It reminds me of some kind of invisibility cape with its dark, shimmery movement. As soon as she saw it, my toddler daughter grabbed the cape, squealed and danced around the room with it. She tried to escape with her new found treasure, but I chased her down. This cape is a little too long for her. She’ll be getting something a little shorter so there’s less danger of her tripping over it. My little pixie must have a cape of her own!

Cape #2 – The Rose cloak
There is something so striking about the mixture of gold and deep rose. As a child, I had a Barbie doll coat that was gold lame lined with rose, and I think that subconsciously influenced me. I didn’t want to make a clone of the Twilight cape, plus I had already used up all the waistband material for cape #1, so I had to get a little creative with this design. I decided on a cloak with a velvet drawstring closure, and a collar that showed off the gorgeous lining material. This cape was going to be more about fairy-tale flash than concealment! I loved the addition of an antique-looking trim on the other cape, so I tracked down a trim for this cloak as well. This time, I placed the trim on the inside edge of the cloak, since it would show at the collar that way, and because of the way the cloak hangs from the body.

Getting the pleated outer cloak to lay just right on top of the non-pleated inner lining was a bit of a challenge, but in the end the Rose cloak turned out much more fabulous than I even thought it would. And, it turns out, it's fully reversible (bonus!). I think it might actually be prettier on the inside. Who knew?!

Both of these capes are available for sale at Nymbol’s Secret Garden in Langley, Washington (on Whidbey Island). If you are interested in them, you can contact me via email for more details. And I’m always happy to share what I know, so if you’re interested in more information on any of the techniques I’ve used, I’d love to hear from you.

Have fun today!

Melinda

What Rumpled Silks is all about ...

I really enjoy dressing up. As a child, I had a collection of old dance costumes from my mother and her two sisters, including several gorgeous tutus from the 1950’s plus a box stuffed with costume jewelry from my grandmother. I learned to sew at a very young age (thanks Mom!), and started making clothes for myself and my dolls as soon as my skills were up to snuff.

Until now, my creations have been almost exclusively for myself. I’ve dressed up as everything from a gothic vampire to Miss Helga from the VW commercials. Whatever the character, I love creating super-detailed costumes that look and feel as authentic as possible.

So what changed? I became a mom. Now I want to create costumes that my daughter and other kids (of any age) can enjoy. But I’m not loading up on pre-made patterns and yards of fresh fabric. Instead, I’m spinning my new creations out of recycled glamour. I comb thrift stores and yard sales for bits and pieces that can find new life as a magic cape or a fairy’s dress. Whenever I can, I spin leftover remnants into exciting new handmade creations. Each one is unique by design – it has to be since it’s coming from one-of-a-kind finds and limited materials.

I love the challenge of making things work, and I hope you’ll love my designs as well. I guess you could call me the “green” alternative to mass-produced costumes made from cheap and flimsy materials. I like to think of it as a rescue mission – saving faded fashions and unloved fabrics from the landfill.

Have fun today!
Melinda