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Gayle, from Minneapolis, made #106
Turkish Coat out of multicolor faux ikat cloth and a wild yellow
print on the inside, similar to that on the interior of Turkoman
robes. She wears the coat over #107 Afghani Nomad Dress, made from
several different prints, a piece of Guatemalan embroidery for
the bodice, and beaded trim she bought abroad years ago. She says, "I
love this mix of fabrics!" |
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Anne's daughter, from Colorado Springs,
is wearing her favorite "dressy" top, #133 Belgian
Military Chef's Jacket in a pretty batik fabric. Anne had to make some alterations
to accommodate her daughter's height and powerful swimmer's shoulders.
The result makes a sleek top for jeans or dressy pants. |
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Sara's smiling daughters (ages 5 and
7), from Walla Walla, are wearing the Nepali Chupa from #109
Little Folks. For a simple finish, Sara used bias tape for the ties and
neckband. She also down-sized the pattern to a size 2, for her
youngest nephew. |
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Lisa, from Maryland, created this Cinder
Alien costume for an annual Costume-Con event. She used #107
Afghani Nomad Dress in white satin, with blue trim, and made some "serious
sleeve modifications," not to mention the feet, hands, and
mask. She says, "It was originally part of a trio called Lady
of the Rainbows, where the two ladies in white were the attendants." |
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Vanessa, from Sunland, California,
travels around the world to give dance performances and primarily
uses Folkwear patterns for her enchanting garb. This photo of her
in the Entari from #108 Turkish Dancer was taken during one of
her international performances in the United Kingdom. She says, "I
had the fabric for about 15 years and it finally found its soul
in this pattern." |
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Maureen, from Florida, used her own
hand-dyed silk for the #264 Monte Carlo Dress and then added beads
to the tips of the skirt. She also beaded the surface and the tips
of the pattern's Crossover Tunic, and wore the beautiful outfit
to a fund raiser for the Susan G. Koleman Foundation, which had
a theme of The Roaring 20's.
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This photo of Stacy and her Black Rose
Caravan troupe, was taken at the 2007 Fishers Renaissance Faire.
The Entaris and Vests are from #108 Turkish
Dancer, which Stacy
says enabled them to dance without restricting their movements
or disrupting the costumes themselves. She also says the pattern
lends itself well to modification; for other costumes, she has
shortened the vest and split and lined the sleeves of the Entari
for a coat.
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Textile artist Daryl Lancaster made
this fabulous version of #262 Spectator Coat from
strips of hand-woven mohair, rayon, cotton, and silk. She then
added recycled animal fur, polyester/silk binding, and rayon
print lining. The coat was a prize-winner at the 2007 Surface
Design Association conference in Kansas City. Daryl says, "We should be using clothing to
celebrate the soul within." See more of her innovative fashion
designs at www.weaversew.com.
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Kate, from Seattle, has made nearly
two dozen versions of #111 Nepali Blouse. Here is a line-up of
her holiday-theme blouses. She chooses notions to complement the
fabrics, such as pumpkin-shaped buttons on a jack-o-lantern shirt;
and tree, bell, and holly buttons on a Christmas blouse.
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Karen, from Rockport, Maine, studies
Shaolin Kenpo at Lamkins Martial Arts in Rockland and made #151
Japanese Hakama for her Sensei, Jeff Lamkins, who
was having difficulty finding royal blue hakama to wear at competitions
(his school's logo and family crest are royal blue and white).
She says, "I
was surprised to find that the pattern wasn't really a pattern
and my math skills were put to the test with the pleats and folds.
I'm a quilter; apparel sewing is not my specialty, but a challenge
is a challenge! People should absolutely NOT be intimidated by
the pattern. I read through it twice before I started, but once
I laid out the fabric and marked the measurements, it all came
together quite easily! Sewing only took me a few hours, and that
includes the hemming." Photo by Luther Yonce Photography.
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Leslie, from Seattle, Washington, still
loves this first version of #111 Nepali Blouse she made in a pale
pink cotton with red collar. She has gone on to make the pattern
again and again in flannel, cotton/linen blends, and a drapey mystery
blue textured synthetic fabric. With each version, she adjusts
the sizing and length to get a personalized fit. |
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Scarlett, who is half Japanese, used
Folkwear patterns for her entire Japanese-theme wedding. The adults
wore #113 Japanese Kimono and the two flower girls (Scarlett's
nieces) wore #136 Child's Kimono. In addition, the groom wore #151
Japanese Hakama. For her own wedding dress, she started with #113
and then altered it to become a spectacular formal kimono. To see
her dress and learn more about her wedding, visit Scarlett's web
site at www.scarlettrose.com/wedding.html.
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Rebecca, from Winter Springs, Florida
(see her in #140 Flamenco
Dress and
her husband in #151
Japanese Hakama & Kataginu below) made #239
Blonde Bombshell in this
joyful print. While we suggest stitching in a bit of elastic
tape along the outside edges of the halter top to prevent gapping,
Rebecca found a different solution. She cut smaller size bust
pieces, adjusted the gathers, and extended the halter straps
to criss-cross in the back. She says this gives her more confidence
when wearing and the dress fits perfectly, with no gapping at
the sides.
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Christel, from Denmark, uses #106
Turkish Coat as a starting point for her beautiful knitted interpretation.
She says she loves the garment because it is great for mixing different
patterns and colors. Visit her web site at www.christel-seyfarth.dk to view her other designs (text is in Danish). |
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Krista sent in this portrait of her
at the Victoria Day celebration, which took place at the Stanley
Park Miniature Railway in Vancouver, British Columbia. The event
marked the 120th anniversary of the first train to cross Canada
from east to west, symbolically uniting the county. Krista is normally
an engineer, but she dressed up a bit for this special event in
a lacy version of #210 Armistice Blouse and #209
Walking Skirt. She also decorated the engine itself (a 1/5-scale reproduction
of that first cross-country engine). A portrait of Queen Victoria
appears front and center.
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Anne, a feltmaker in Michigan, created
this spectacular version of #264
Monte Carlo Dress and it was accepted into the Surface
Design Association's annual fashion show. She created the yardage
by a process called "Nuno
Felting" with
shibori-dyed silk gauze, Merino wool fiber, yarn, and pieces
of fabric. She added a dyed silk gauze hem, leaf appliqués
from hand-dyed rayon/silk velvet, hand-painted flower and vine
pattern using glitter, and lavish beading on the bodice, torso,
and hem.
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Margaret, from Washington, made this
#118 Tibetan Panel Coat as a commission for Paper Pieces, a company
that makes die-cut cardstock foundations for English paper piecing.
She was asked to use hexagons in multiple sizes and bright colors
for the coat, resulting in a knock-out version of this favorite
Folkwear pattern. |
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Marcia, in upstate New York, beautifully
combined complementary fabrics for this Kurta from #135
Jewels of India. She is now finishing one made out of white linen for
her husband. |
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Sandy made #215
Empire Dress for her
daughter, who is an artist's model in southern California. She
used an iridescent cross-dyed material that is woven with green
in one direction and orange in the other. She says it shimmers
all the time.
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Dawn loves the freedom of movement
and creative fabric choice in this #107
Afghani Nomad Dress that she made when still nursing
her daughter (she adapted the front panel for modest nursing).
She also added buttons on the cuffs and a loop at mid-sleeve, so
she could button the sleeves out of the way for other activities. |
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Zina, from Colorado, sent us this clipping
photo from her old days as the "lady sheriff" in a stunt
troupe. She used #212 Five Frontier Shirts and #231
Big Sky Riding Skirt, but modified the shirt so it wouldn't come un-tucked in
midair when being flipped over in a stunt known as "airman."
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Michael Yancy, of Michigan, used
#151 Japanese Hakama & Kataginu and #113
Japanese Kimono for a living history group he is a member of (www.Kesshin-no-Rekishi.org).
When he is in character, he goes by the name of Lord Shijo Ichiro
Uchiyori.
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Michael, from New York, says he is "an
incurable dress-up ham" and loves to put together dramatic
Renaissance, Gothic, and other creations. Here he wears the Cossack
shirt, from #116 Shirts of Russia & Ukraine, made in silk charmeuse. |
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Michelle, a 16-year-old from Colorado,
made this Taisho Period (1912-1926) costume from #151
Japanese Hakama & Kataginu and #113 Japanese
Kimono. She says that during
that period, it was fashionable for young ladies to wear Victorian-style
high-heeled boots instead of the traditional sandals and socks,
and to wear the hakama over the other garments.
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Sewing dynamo Gina made #114
Chinese Jacket from an upholstery fabric with black velveteen contrast
and pink piping, and lined it with pink flannel. See photos of
her other creations below.
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Cynthia from California selected remnants
of favorite fabrics to make this colorful #107 Afghani
Nomad Dress.
To further embellish it she embroidered the front bodice, added "Ram's
Horn" card-weaving decoration to the sleeves, and designed
a custom cap from leftover materials to go with the dress.
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Diary of a Mad Hungarian Seamstress.
Judi, from Rockford, Michigan, made this gorgeous version of #150
Hungarian Szur, including all of the intricate felt
appliqué that
appears on the traditional garments. She then wore it to match
her Hungarian Tree at the annual Christmas show. She says "This
is my first attempt at a lot of things and has certainly been a
learning experience!" Visit her personal web site at jnbartteacher.com and
click on "Crazy Hungarian Seamstress" to read about
the entire Szur-making process and see photos she took along
the journey.
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Pamela, who now lives in Anchorage,
Alaska, has been sewing Folkwear patterns for years. She started
this #107 Afghani Nomad Dress when
she was 22. She says, "I
gathered together the fabrics and did the sleeves, and then folded
it away and didn't touch it for years until I was about 42 when
I came across it again. It was a symbol of finding my old self
after being buried by the things that seem to bury women for
a while: children, family, separations, disillusionments, confusion,
etc. Now that it is finished, I call it my rebirth dress."
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Audrey made this #201
Prairie Dress for the annual Pioneer Days Festival
in Pine Castle, Florida, where she volunteered as a historical
narrator for the wagon ride (she said "the pockets on both the dress and apron came in very
handy during this outdoor event!"). She made the dress out
of blue cotton sprinkled with tiny white flowers and chose a decorative
machine stitch in blue thread to mimic the hand embroidery on the
muslin apron. This photo was taken at the loom in a 200-year-old
log cabin that was donated and reassembled on the grounds.
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Diane made #233
Glamour Girl Dress in midnight blue for a Lindy Hop demonstration she and her husband
gave at the St. Petersburg (Florida) Coliseum. See them cutting
a rug in a photo below, in which she's wearing her first Glamour
Girl Dress made in palm leaf bark cloth.
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Gina made the kilt and Prince Charlie
Jacket from #152 Scottish Kilts for
her husband to wear at their local Scottish Highland games near
Vista, California. She chose fine wool fabrics and lined the
garments with satin. Although she now enjoys the compliments
they receive, Gina said "I am satisfied
with the results though I was really cursing the tailoring process." Lucky
for all of us who sew, nobody else ever has to know about the
little glitches and frustrations we must conquer to achieve the
finished product.
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Elise works at Ardenwood Historic Farm
in Fremont, California, an 1890s working farm that has a variety
of animals (including lovable bunnies) and crops. She says that
#201 Prairie Dress "looks a lot like what was called a 'wrapper'
or housedress from that period. It's also comfortable enough to
wear for doing farm work." She has made several of these
dresses for herself and her co-workers, and also shortened the
pattern to wear as a blouse. Sometimes she wears the apron from #128
Russian Settlers' Dress with the Prairie Dress and "it
looks fine."
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Carol in Nampa, Idaho made #231
Big Sky Riding Skirt for her niece, Jennifer, who lives in Middleton,
Idaho and is quite the horsewoman. Jennifer and her family members
ride in the 4th of July and Christmas parades, so she likes to
dress for the occasion.
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Rebecca and her husband, of Winter
Springs, Florida, show off #140
Flamenco Dress & Practice Skirt and #151
Japanese Hakama & Kataginu that she made for
this year's Halloween events. She also made the Hakama outfit
for her son-in-laws and one of them wore it to work for the annual
costume contest….he won!
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Martha (at left) and her friends Pauline
and Kathy each wore #253 Vintage Bathing Costume at
this summer's annual Calico Days festival at Calico Ghost Town
in Barstow, California. They even took home Second Place in the
parade. Martha said "The
one thing we discovered about wearing the costume is that you
cannot wait until the last minute to go to the necessary. With
all the buttons, it is a time-consuming process to undress and
then re-dress!"
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Colleen, from California, is a design-and-sew
dynamo (see more about her below wearing #240 Rosie the Riveter).
She recently attended Star Wars Celebration 3 in Indianapolis in
a Jedi costume of her own design. She made the Thai Blouse from
#134 South Asian
Tops & Wraps for the overblouse to wear with
#151 Japanese Hakama & Kataginu. The
belt is crafted out of materials from Tandy Leather. We agree
that the pink lightsaber is a perfect finishing touch! She
said, "I wore that outfit
to a gala event where Trisha Biggar, the costume designer for
Star Wars 1 - 3, was honored for her work. It went over really
well!"
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Louise from Alberta, Canada, made #220
Garden Party Dress for a croquet party. She got lots of compliments
on it and said the pattern was easy to follow and the results were
perfect.
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Nancy in Virginia made #123
Austrian Dirndl for her daughter, Marnie (shown here), who has wanted a
dirndl since her high school German class. Nancy added lace around
the neck and sleeves of the blouse, and piped the navy blue faux
suede bodice with a lighter blue piping matched to the apron. Nancy
promises she will send a family photo with Marnie's baby in his
lederhosen and husband in #204 Missouri River Boatman's Shirt.
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Carmen in the Netherlands spent about
100 hours making this spectacular version of #140
Flamenco Dress & Practice
Skirt. She made the skirt out of maroon taffeta and trimmed the
flounces with a coffee-colored satin band. She also lined the flounces
to provide even more stiffness and volume. Carmen has been practicing
flamenco dancing since 1998 and is performing regularly with the
group, Fiesta Espana (www.fiesta-espana.tk). She says, "Dancing
in this 'falda de cola' (tailed skirt) is very difficult, but gives
my flamenco dancing a new dimension."
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Cristina in California is a fan
of "cosplay," creating
costumes based on designs from Japanese animation and video games.
She used #141 Korean Han-Bok to re-create the design of Seung Mina,
a character from the video game Soul Calibur II.
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Gina made #118 Tibetan
Panel Coat in
a very dark green velvet and mixed in wool tweeds and home décor
fabrics with Southwestern patterns. This pattern is great for combining
different fabrics.
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Diane and her husband are avid swing
dancers in Florida. Here, she is wearing #233
Glamour Girl Dress in a period print. She says she
loves the dress and how she feels dancing in it.
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Evelyn made her #118
Tibetan Panel Coat exclusively from handwoven fabric. The black sections are
cotton warp and wool weft, woven in plain twill. The patterned
sections are silk, and the over-the-shoulder areas are woven
with a thread of metallic and silk combined. She turned the hem
facings to the outside instead of the inside, to show off the
beautiful fabric.
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Tim, from Ashville, Ohio, says: "I
think my wife did a pretty good job on the Prince Charlie pattern.
In just six days from start to finish, she created the jacket and
vest for me to complete the outfit for the Columbus (Ohio) Aladdin
Shrine's Pipe and Drum Corps. I'm trying to learn to play the pipes." We
think Tim looks great and we wish him well as he practices on
the pipes.
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Susan (from Venice, California) raided
her extensive stash of textile treasures to make this dynamic example
of the padded Hippari (jacket) from #112 Japanese
Field Clothing.
She altered the pattern, "lengthening and widening it, adding
side vents, changing the collar and stuffing it with padding to
give it a standup, Cossack authority." This masterpiece includes
reverse appliqué molas from Panama, an embroidered table
runner from Guatemala, mirrored and embroidered braid from Afghanistan,
Japanese flowered cotton sateen, shisha mirrors, Czechoslovakian
beads, a sequin detail from an old Rajasthani cotton skirt, antique
French ribbon, and "a shrieking piece of geometric fabric
from the 1960s."
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Colleen (from Westchester, California)
wears #240 Rosie the Riveter in this photo
taken at the Yankee Air Museum at Willow Run Airport in Ypsilanti,
Michigan. Willow
Run was a World War II aircraft factory that manufactured planes
like the one shown here. Because so many men were overseas during
wartime, thousands of women (nicknamed Rosie the Riveter) took
their places on assembly lines across the country. Colleen is
a serious "Rosie" aficionado, and wears the traditional
costume as everyday wear. Note: An Internet search
on "Rosie
the Riveter" will yield many web sites that are full of
information about these strong and dedicated women.
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Michele, from Iowa, is a student
of Middle Eastern dance and a historical reenactor. She sewed
up #108 Turkish Dancer for the wedding
costumes for herself and ten of her attendants in just two months.
She loved working with the pattern and found that "it lends
itself very well to making style alterations."
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Susan sewed with Folkwear patterns "in days when we lived in yurts, dipped
our own candles, raised goats, and still found time to sew and
embroider." Nearly 20 years ago, she made this BirdWoman
Coat from our #118 Tibetan Panel Coat pattern,
using Japanese tie-dye cotton, small patches of Cuna Indian reverse
appliqué, Guatemalan jaspe, and "a sassy woman seated
on a rooster that I'd embroidered on linen years before for a
pillow and never used." She gave The BirdWoman Coat to a
friend and only recently found out that it still survives (as
shown here).
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Rebecca Moore, the corset
class instructor at Haberman
Fabrics in Royal Oak, Michigan, made up the square-neck version
of #267 M'Lady's Corset for a store display
and she obviously had lots of fun doing it. She used rayon brocade
for the outer fabric, cotton broadcloth for the lining, and canvas
for the middle stiffening layer. She trimmed it with a kelly green
rayon braid and multi-color fur fringe. She says, "I got
so excited when I found the trim in our home dec section, because
it matches the brocade perfectly."
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Petra in Switzerland used Folkwear #123
Austrian Dirndl to make a dirndl for her office's Octoberfest-theme
holiday party. She cut out the dirndl bodice twice and used one
layer as a lining, so no seams are visible.
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Our #107 Afghani Nomad
Dress is a versatile and well-loved pattern. Here,
Sam of Portland, Oregon made it from a red and gold sari and
choli, along with matching silk dupioni, for an outdoor dance
event. She has also made the dress from African and Bali prints
and says, “It is one of
my favorite art-to-wear patterns.”
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Carol, from the Milwaukee, Wisconsin
area, made #107 Afghani Nomad Dress in
a Rose & Hubble cotton lawn print (skirt and sleeves) and
a Hoffman cotton print (bodice and trim) for her wedding dress.
For her groom, she made #204 Missouri River Boatman's Shirt
in plain cotton muslin.
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Kate and Jon got married at the Interbay P-Patch Community
Garden in Seattle, Washington. Kate made and wore #107
Afghani Nomad Dress in silk fabrics and French ribbon trims,
along with some unusual bridal footwear. She also made #202
Victorian Shirt in navy blue raw silk for the groom. Both are
avid gardeners and asked guests to bring something brown or green
to add to a "wedding compost." Nearly a ton of compost
was made from all kinds of ingredients, including the used Folkwear
pattern tissues. The finished compost was later used to plant a
wedding rose, an Autumn Damask. This unusual event was covered by
the Seattle Times and The New Yorker magazine, and was a wonderful
alternative to a traditional wedding. |
