NEW in the shop: HANDMADE UPCYCLED ZIPPER POUCHES

I'm having a lot of fun with styling my web shop photos! I grabbed a bunch of my stuff and played around with it.

Just added some new upcycled leather and suede pouches to the web shop. I started making these a couple years ago, and have a few that I use for myself all the time: a small version for art pens, a small version for makeup, and two large versions which I use as clutches for going out at night.  They've held up well over the years. I've also made a few as gifts, but this is the first time I'm selling them. 

Here's my first attempt at stop-motion animation, to show off how roomy & versatile the pouches are:

And of course I couldn't resist painting some of them.  Here's a time lapse of the jade green suede darling pouch:

Upcycling is dear to my heart. It means that I'm using existing, discarded leather and suede.  I find damaged or hideous vintage pieces, clip them up and make them into something current, useful and (I think) beautiful.

• See all HANDMADE ZIPPER POUCHES in the Featherweight Shop

NEW in the shop: Hand-Painted darling jacket

I'll be adding some new jackets to the shop this week, starting with this adorable red and cream knit vintage baseball style jacket.

Painted by hand in silver metallic 

Here's a video of me painting it by hand. I've started uploading videos to a Featherweight Studio YouTube channel, if you'd like to follow along.

From shirt to dress: upcycling & transforming an Eileen Fisher linen shirt

At the thrift store a few weeks ago, an unlikely piece caught my eye and spoke to me.  Sometimes this happens to me: I see a piece of clothing that I would normally overlook, but it grabs my attention & won't let me ignore it.

This time it was an oversized navy linen button down blouse by Eileen Fisher:

BEFORE:  The thrifted Eileen Fisher blouse. It's hard to see the scale, but it was a very baggy fit on me.

This shirt is not my style and it didn't fit me. It made no sense to me why it wanted to come home with me, but I bought it on faith for $3.99. I did appreciate the beauty of the linen; the navy is a really rich shade in person, and the linen itself has a softness and drape that felt really good.  I don't know if it's part of Eileen's collection using organic linen, but the quality of the fabric is beautiful.

The shirt sat in my studio for a few weeks untouched. I have been really busy with projects & I was getting work wrapped up in time to depart for SXSW in Austin, TX. I love Austin and I always look forward to the warm weather there, especially since it's been raining so much in the Bay Area where I live. I also love to make myself a new outfit before I go on a trip, but I really didn't have the time.

Again, the shirt insisted.

The Sunday before I left, I stole a few hours to myself, to create a dress out of the shirt. My goals were:

• make an easy, wearable, comfortable dress for warm weather
• make a dress I could wear a belt with (my sweetheart had just bought me a leather belt from an antique shop & I wanted to wear it)

I started without a plan.  First I basted the side seams to narrow them. Then I cut off the sleeves. Then I attempted to add length, piece by piece. I would baste, try on, adjust, stitch, then move to the next design decision. It was a bit like jazz; I know the rules and techniques of sewing and fitting a garment, but I was improvising as I went along.

I ended up using almost all of the fabric from the original shirt. Here are my leftovers:

LEFTOVERS: Collar & a few bits of the sleeves

When I tried on the finished dress, I decided it needed some arrows. The last step was to hand paint gold arrows on the front and back.

I wore my finished dress in Austin and I loved it! 

I made this dress from a button down shirt. Boots by Cobra Rock.

I hand-painted metallic gold arrows on the back.

It's hard to see some of the details in these photos, but I sewed the cuffs from the sleeves onto the bottom hem of the dress.  I sewed the front button placket shut with a criss-cross pattern. When I narrowed the side seams for the second time, I took the seam allowance that I cut off and sewed it onto the hems of the sleeves.  A lot of the edges on the sleeve and hem are left raw.

This was such a fun project and it gave me the opportunity to do some of my favorite things: sew, transform, upcycle, create, paint & wear something one-of-a-kind!

Featherweight 2015 HOLIDAY TRUNK SHOWS

SATURDAY DEC. 12 @ SOLID GOLD BOUTIQUE - Austin, TX

6-9PM  |  1601 East 5th St #102

with BUSY-BEING + ZOE COMINGS + SUAVS + THE DISTILLERY MARKET 

SUNDAY DEC. 13 @ MAPLE STREET DENIM - Oakland, CA

12noon - 4pm  |  465 9th Street

with PRIMITIVE FUTURE JEWELRY

SATURDAY DEC. 19 @ VIRGIL NORMAL - Los Angeles, CA

12noon - 4pm  |  4157 Normal Ave.

with GRANT KNITS