Stretch Your Dollar - Buy Reversible

Looking at a Sears catalogue I received during the past week, I saw a spring dress (yes, Sears is already giving a head start on spring showing a bit of spring clothing for sale now, near the end of November...  ) with an interesting cut out design near one shoulder and a bow as a finishing detail.  It's a sleeveless dress, knee length, and reversible!  There are two color choices: one is cobalt blue, reversible side being black, the other color choice is black and white print, the reversible side, black.  It is sweet!  That's two dresses in one for $60.00, or a dress for $30.00.  I think that's affordable.

Could we live in a reversible fashion world?  That would mean, if we purchase reversible clothes on sale, a very good savings.  It would very literally be a two- for- one sale.  That would mean we'd have more room in our closets and drawers.  That would mean, for those of you who travel, light travelling with one little suitcase instead of two large ones.  What bliss! 

But seriously, I think reversible clothing is very convenient and a great idea.   It's especially a good idea buying this type of clothing for children.

 

Men's Hoodie - www.dogfunk.com

www.outdoorequipment-guidestobuy.com

www.travelsmith.com

www.vintagedressesoutlet.com

Till next blog!

It's Sweater Weather

I'm sitting by my glass balcony door right now and feeling the cold.  It's sweater weather again folks!  I love sweaters, they're so comforting and warming.  There are so many versions of the sweater for women.

Fashion designers, I think there's a niche still open.  I had a time looking for unique stylish sweaters for men.   Maybe men don't buy anything too different from what they're used to seeing and wearing currently.   Argyle, solid dark colors, and horizontal stripes are some of the popular sweater styles for men.  Maybe I should work on designing unique sweaters for men myself for fall/winter 2011...

Billabong Yorkshire Sweater, www.dogfunk.com

BKE Speckled Cardigan, www.buckle.com

Element Snuggle Sweater, www.dogfunk.com

Dunmoran Hoodie, www.activejunky.com

Ergo Sweater, www.bizrate.com

Sport Obermeyer Quandry Cardigan, http://skiandsnowboardstore.com

I don't know about you, but I think some of the very style forward websites have some unusual names.  Maybe I should change SK Clothes to something more catchy...
Till next blog!

New Additions to SK Clothes

I have three more pieces of clothing, one designed by me, and two designed by my daughter, to add to the SK Clothes collection.  The Party Dress (which I've named the dress I made) is made of three blouses: one was an aqua silk shirt, one was a burgundy polyester shirt, and the last one was a textured polyester sleeveless blouse.   It came out beautifully.  The white blouse, by my daughter, is made from a polyester fabric.  It has a drawstring at the hem.  The shorts are made from black cotton, and it's pleated from front to back.  It has a left side zippered one-button opening.  The pieces are roomy and comfortable.  The blouse and shorts could be dressed up with black tights and black low-heeled shoes or boots for a Christmas/holiday look.  Check my website portfolio at: www.wix.com/skclothes/SK

Party dress by SK Clothes

Drawstring blouse and pleated shorts, SK Clothes

Pleated shorts by SK Clothes

 Working on more pieces next week.  Till next blog!

Celebrating My New Boots

I was fortunate to receive a pair of boots that I was eyeing for some time sooner than I expected to get it.  I wasn't expecting to get it for two months.  It's looks close enough to the grey ugg boots I posted in my blog titled "Comfortable Style" in  August.  The boots reach just below the knee, they're grey imitation suede (yay!) and have a flat heel.  I love the color grey for this season.

To celebrate my grey boots, I'm focusing on boots in this blog.

Argyle knit ugg boots, www.kaboodle.com

Betts riding boots, http://blogs.lasoo.com.au

Boots by Carlos Santana, www.geekshoes.com

Ankle boots by Charmone, www.healthybodyhappyearth.com

Suedette Boots, www.mylovelybigfeetblog.com

Grey uggs, www.go4ugg.com

 I apologize for posting the grey uggs again.  Just love that boot!  Till next blog!

Fantastic Canadian Designers

It's time for me to pay homage to the Canadian fashion designers.  Canada does have a lot of big name fashion designers, and I'll mention three today.

 I love avante garde and bohemian clothing.  It's like wearing art, and if anybody is expressing a point of view and a lifestyle through clothing, the artsy and bohemian woman or man certainly is.  Their lifestyle to me, if the clothes are expressing who they are, seems to be exciting and free and somewhat unpredictable.

If you go to www.minimidimaxi.com, you'll see the designs of quite a few Canadian fashion designers.  For spring and fall 2010, the clothing designs are futuristic, and if any of you have been following my blog, you know I'm loving the designs!  Marie Saint Pierre is one of those designers, and she's one of my favorite.  Marie, who is from Montreal, Quebec, started her clothing line in 1986 and has received many awards for her work.  Her work is artistic.  If you want to wear art, by all means, purchase one of her pieces.  (The picture above is from her fall and winter line for 2009/10.)  Visit www.mariesaintpierre.com to see more beautiful clothing.

Jeremy Laing is another designer whose work I love.  He learned to sew at age 13 and later studied fashion in Toronto, where he also works.  Jeremy's clothing are based on geometric shapes which evolve into interesting pieces of clothing.  Visit his website: www.jeremylaing.com; you won't be disappointed.

I've noticed from the last blog that I've been into black and white clothing.  I must be in a dramatic mood and have been for the last two weeks...

Diane Kroe is a designer who thinks about the woman and her need for versatility.  She's made a dress design that can be worn multiple ways to make it look like you have many dresses .  The dress can be worn as a skirt as well.  Diane created a top than can be worn six different ways; as a wrap, halter top, shrug, jacket, cover up, and a crew neck blouse.  I'm sure there are instructions that come with each piece of clothing.  This is truly creative and functional.  Visit www.dianekroe.com.

I'll try and bring a little bit more color to my blog next week.  Till then!

black jacker and dress by Marie Saint Pierre - www.couturesnob.com
black and white geometric dress by Jeremy Laing - www.couturecarrie.blogspot.com
red wrap dress by Diane Kroe - www.ourfaves.com

Endless Creativity...

My body may be tired from going through a mini "bootcamp" lastnight, thanks to my daughter, but my imagination and creativity has been going for a couple of weeks and not tiring yet.  My daughter decided to put me through what she has to go through in Phys Ed class every now and then.  Beep test.  Constantly moving, running, burpies, push-ups, lunges, for 10 to 20 minutes.  I was practically on the floor when I was done.  Prior to that, I had a fantastic idea for a dress and I'm looking forward to working on it and my tank top designs either tomorrow or Monday.  Hope to post pictures of them next week.

Well, I was looking at designer dresses yesterday online.  There's no end to the creativity regarding clothing designs.  Caroline Herrera has some fantastic dresses for her fall 2009 collection.   Sheer fabrics and ruffles really make an outfit absolutley feminine and ethereal.

 

Tracy Reese is a fashion designer I love.  Color must be the first thing that inspires her designs.  She usually uses unusual combinations of colors in her clothing that make the pieces fresh and unique, and the combinations work! These two pieces are from Tracy Reese's spring 2009 collection.

 Revolve Clothing Company is a Canadian clothing business based in Toronto.  Revolve uses eco-friendly fabrics to make tops and dresses for women.  The designs combine clean lines and stylish silhouettes.  To view the designs, go to www.revolveyourworld.com.

I was looking at my fashion business notes earlier and came across the names of the Project Runway season 1 contestants.  The name I focused on was Daniel Franco.  He was the first to be cut from the show.  Daniel came back for season 2 and I was rooting for him.  He didn't make the final three contestants to show his collection, but he was on the show long enough to prove he's a good designer and a gentleman.  I looked at Daniel's website, www.danielfranco.net, and I love the projects he's working on currently.  You should visit Daniel's site to see what he's done and doing.

Till next blog!

Black ruffle gown by Caroline Herrera- www.fashion.about.com
Black jacker over ruffle gown by Caroline Herrera - www.fashion.about.com
Red blouse, plaid skirt by Tracy Reese - www.fashion.about.com
Red and black print dress by Tracy Reese - www.fashion.about.com
Brown and yellow trim dress - www.revolveyourworld.com

Sew, Sew, Sew!

Another weekend is here.  Can't believe it!  It seems like I was just watching Project Runway a few days ago.(It's on Saturday nights in the Toronto/GTA area.  That's in Ontario Canada for non-Canadians...)

I'm still working on a couple of New Year's resolutions.  One was to excercise more, and one was to post more pictures of my work.  Well, I'm doing those.  I feel accomplished!

I've completed a few projects this week.  I've made two samples of my daughter's blouse design, part of her 5 piece spring and summer mini line of clothing.  One blouse is sleeveless, and the other has big puff sleeves.  There's a drawstring hem thing going on with me.  I like them.   I haven't started making patterns for my mini line as yet.  I was coming home one afternoon from helping my friend prepare for her fashion show, and I had a sudden inspiration of what my fall and winter 5 piece line would be.  I may skip my spring and summer line and work on fall/winter!  What I would be designing is futuristic, millenium, whatever word you want to call 21st century clothes.

This pink bag I love, but when I tested it's function, it didn't pass the test!  What do I have to do now?  I'll have to stiffen the clothe bag more with more interfacing and lengthen the flap closure.  A weightier fabric would do the trick.  Haven't given up yet.  The style is so pretty.  This is bag number 5! 

I found a blue t-shirt in my storage room and was just looking at it wondering what to do with it.  Started cutting the sleeves off Thursday night.  Transpired into this on Friday.  Love it!  The design is absolutely organic.  It also has a drawstring hem.  I like the flower detailing.  I'm going to make more in different sizes. 

Till next blog!

Two New Pieces from SK Clothes

How was your week?  Mine was busier than usual.   My son helped me make a little video clip for the fall/winter 2009/10 mini collection on Monday.  Wednesday, our computer got a virus and I spent the rest of the week trying to get it in proper working order.  Saturday was an all day trip to purchase a CD album my son has wanted since last year. 

I finished the last two pieces of my very mini fall and winter collection for the  2009/10 season  about two weeks ago.  Here's is hoping the spring/summer mini collection is finished on schedule.  The collection includes one blouse, one shirt, one sweater, and two skirts.  Previously, it was to include a pant, but I didn't have enough fabric, hence the skirt.  The skirt has a partial flared hem and is made of the same fabric as the blouse, a dark brown imitation suede.  The sweater was made from recycled acrylic knit fabric and I love the sleeves' futuristic look.  The sweater was previously a knee length open knit "coat" with a knit tie belt at the waist. 

 

Here is the collection together, including my daughter's bag design.  Hope you like it.  What took me so long to finish you may ask.  I was waiting to purchase fabric to make the pant and the sweater, which was supposed to be a futuristic inspired turtle/cowlneck sweater.  I decided to use what I had instead of waiting any longer.  I'm pleased with the results.  You can view the video on Youtube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBoP8RlCUPc

 Enjoy the coming week.  Till next blog!

A New Shirt from Old

One of my bohemian blouses I made about three years ago was made from a peasant skirt someone gave me for a Christmas gift.  I appreciate the gift, but the very volumous skirt made me look larger than I am already, so I didn't wear if often.  Instead of giving it away, it came to me to recreate it into something I would wear since the skirt had so much fabric.  This was the start of my recycling fabric.

It's fun to change a piece of clothing into something else.  It's also an inexpensive way to get a new wardrobe, if you're handy at sewing.  It's also a way of participating in the green movement.

This past week I completed two of a few projects I'm working on, one, an original women's shirt, and two, the second attempt at making my daughter's "sweety" bag design with improvements.

 The shirt was made from two men's large shirts.  One, the brown stripe, made the torso and sleeves of the shirt.  The peach striped shirt made the braided collar, the yolk at the shoulders, and the pleated cuffs with braid detail.

 The "Sweety" bag was made from my old brown jacket I had sewn years ago and a paisley print silk shirt.  It's lined with the paisley silk as well.  It's quite attractive!

I'll be talking more about used clothing being re-invented by local fashion designers in future blogs.  If something is cost effective, I'm definately in approval.

Till next blog!

Choose Your Dress

                                                      by Glutnix,  flikcr.com

 Merry Christmas everyone!  It's the day after Christmas.  Already!  As I get older,Christmas just sneaks up on me even faster, and I cannot believe that Christmas is gone for 2009.  I think I'd better start buying presents from January 2010 and put them away for 2010 Christmas season...  Got a surprise for my birthday.  The flu.  The day before I thought I had allergies.  Luckily, the flu was 70% gone by Christmas day so I could celebrate with my  family.  Hope your day was much better! 

I declare 2010 the year of the dress.  That's because I would like to start wearing them.   I wear skirts, and it's usually to go to church.  Skirt and blouse.  Mix and match.  Various combinations.   Simplicity is to throw on a dress, voila.  Add a belt, jewelry, shoe or boot, sweater, jacket, shrug (pick one or two please, not all).  I was visiting a church one Sunday, and was looking at the clothing women were wearing, and saw there was a need for distinctive but understated dresses.

What is (or is going to be) the SK Clothes dress style and silhouette for 2010?  Well, I like knee length, short or 3/4 sleeves dresses with a straight or subtle A-line skirt and a semi-fitted bodice.  Details of some kind are a must, whether willowy ruffles, a few sharp pleats,  buttons,  or gathers.

I have two questions for you women out there.  Choose your dress for the occasion.  I don't mind if you let me know as well.  What dress would you choose to wear to:

1.  A New Year's Eve Concert?

 

                     

               Oneworld, www.google.com                                    www.amazon.com 

2.   To dinner with friends?

   London Times, www.eBay.com                       Kathy Robertson, www.google.com 

I'll let you know my answer next week.   Enjoy the rest of the Christmas season with family and friends!

Til next blog!