Sew What?! Mexicali Folk Couture Strikes Again

I like to pretend that my refusal to purchase scads of souvenirs is some kind of transcendence into a realm of heightened spirituality like, "I don't need twelve pairs of toy castanets, I'll carry every beautiful moment of this Spanish vacation in my heart."  More likely, it is because I'm cheap and fat, and every penny saved on tchotchkes is a dollar earned toward döner kebabs, fun-flavored Kit Kats, or Croatian pizza.  Don't even get me started on Croatian pizza.   

Yes, I'm cheap, chubby, and, lo theses many years later, I'm still tripping on all the untouched pairs of castanets left all over the house.  Recuerdos de España.

Apparently, my enlightened attitude isn't shared by my sister because, from one of her work trips to Mexico, she returned with an avalanche of souvenirs.  I can just see her, overwhelmed by the splendor of the mercado, eagerly shouting, "I'll take one of everything!"

Quite conscious of my inability to control the sewing urge when handed a pile of interesting fabric, Mary made sure that her purchases included a few yards of a striped Mexican textile in three colorways.  This fabric presented a particular challenge because each length was only eighteen inches wide.  Knowing that some creative piecing would be in order, I started draping the fabric on the dress form. 

My personal design challenge was to incorporate each colorway into the completed ensemble.

After several rounds of pinning, I decided on a poncho with a contrast yoke featuring a large neckline bow.  To balance the volume of the poncho, I made a simple pencil skirt, creating the necessary yardage by joining the fabric at the selvages.

Fast becoming a signature of Mr. Tiny's Mexicali Folk Couture,
the poncho and its bow are trimmed in eighteen handmade pompoms.
I hemmed a remnant of the white fabric to make the headscarf; the hat
is a purchased souvenir.

Envisioning a mid-century counterpart to Mary's overzealous souvenir hound, my concept for a photo shoot involved a classic car full of colorful souvenirs.  Time and finance are usually the fodder for the  epic battle waged between my lofty concepts and meager reality.  Thankfully, Mary's convertible Corvair, a million tissue-paper flowers, and our reliable friend-photographer, Fabian, came to my rescue.

When I told them that I wanted it to look like a sixty-year-old editorial from
Harper's Bazaar or Life Magazine, Mary and Fabian got right down to business.

Fabian always has a deft way of combining fashion and automotive photography.

Mary's shades are themselves a souvenir from our summer adventures in Venice.

"I have no impulse control and I don't care!"

As much as I loved Fabian's photographs, I couldn't help but notice my failings as a stylist; the matching basket purse I made is barely visible in any of the pictures.  And so, I feel compelled to give the purse its due.

The basket purse follows the color blocking on the outfit and, like the poncho, it
is trimmed in yellow pompoms.  If you're keeping score, that makes TWENTY!!! 

As much as I love it, I'm not sure how many opportunities Mary will have to wear this outfit in its entirety; like most of my (mis)adventures in design, it scratched a creative itch, allowing me to move on to the next project.  Thanks to Mary and Fabian for skipping the "Tijuana Taxi" and hitching a ride on the Mr. Tiny bandwagon!

"Tijuana Taxi" - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass (1966)

Cheers!

Mr. Tiny

Sew What?! A 1950s Circle Cape SUIT-ed for Fall

Before we succumb to Yuletide's wintry embrace, may we please take a moment to share with you one autumnally-appropriate "Sew What?!" creation before its seasonality expires?  Pretty please...?  Living in practically-seasonless Southern California, barometric changes factor relatively low in my design process; what works in May may be easily donned in December.  This particular ensemble, however, has a style, a silhouette, and a color story just made for the fall.

Our design & photography team - Mary, Mr. Tiny, Jessie, and Fabian

In a rush to get some pictures taken before everyone's focus shifted entirely to Christmas, we hoped that one of our amazing photographer friends had some time in their schedule for an impromptu shoot.  We were thrilled when our pal, Jessie Stopnik, an incredibly-talented professional photographer, deigned to answer her phone (even when she knew it was us calling).  When we learned that Fabian Fioto was also available, we all hopped in his '55 Buick and headed to the park.

Ideally suited for suits, Autumn always has me hankering to create a chic, two-piece ensemble.
As my tailoring skills are all but non-existent, I decided to create a sort of unstructured suit (a
pencil skirt and matching cape) out of a one-dollar-per-yard plaid I have had in my stash for years. 

For one who can't be bothered matching plaids, I am like a moth drawn to tartan's heavenly flame.  There is something so decidedly traditional about the multi-colored warp and weft, something so collegiate/preppy, something so "Fall."  Trying hard to capture any kind of Fall that we could muster, I was overjoyed when the leaves started fluttering down from the trees in our backyard.  Thinking quickly, I grabbed a rake and a trash bag and gathered them up for the shoot.  Okay, the secret is out; what you can see in the photos is strategically-placed yard debris.  What you can't see in the photos is my sausage-y fingers scattering leaves like a spastic flower girl at a November wedding.  

Yes, with me on official leaf duty and Jessie masterfully manning the camera, Fabian was left to assist - learning quickly that operating the reflector (my usual position) is no easy task!!!

The big idea behind the cape is literally just a big circle with two arm holes.
The top of the circle cascades over the shoulders creating a shawl collar.

It's a kind of "convertible" collar that can be pulled up should the top on the convertible be down.
(Fabian won't forgive me if I allow this to imply that his is a convertible Buick - it is not a convertible.)

Every inch of once-raw edge on the cape is finished with self bias binding.
Thusly, the cape can be worn backwards, forwards, upside-down or inside-out should the
wearer choose.  The curved hem allows it to fall in a pretty dynamic way no matter what.

It always strikes me as funny that every time we prepare to photograph an outfit, Mary asks me for a detailed drawing of how I want her hair and make-up to be styled.  Without fail, she emerges from her toilette with something completely different (and usually better).

Wearing a vintage mock turtleneck and her own jewelry, I think she nailed it!
But let's just make sure that the only things falling from the tree are leaves...

As fortunate as I consider myself to be - surrounded by attractive people with legitimate talent - I can't help but feel a bit like an impostor in their midst.  I suppose a feeling of inadequacy is an often-universal symptom of the creative mind; Jessie, a self-described lifestyle photographer, wasn't confident in her ability to do vintage-styled fashion photography.  Having photographed some of Mary's past outfits (here and here), we knew that she was more than capable of capturing some beautiful photos.

I mean, even in our obligatory, "That's a Wrap" jump shot,
Jessie is really the only one to achieve success!

In this season of Thanksgiving, I am thankful for talented friends and family who allow me to participate in truly collaborative experiences.  An enormous THANK YOU must be issued to Jessie for taking the time to share her talents with us.  Our THANKS also go to Fabian for assisting us with his photographic knowledge of cars and camera reflectors.  And, heck, we'll even give a THANK YOU to Mary who, if nothing else, kept an errant "Leaf Boy" in check.

"Um...where are those dang 'Autumn Leaves?'"

They're right here!!!

"Autumn Leaves" - Keely Smith

Since we know that you like what you see, please feel free to view more of Jessie's work on her blog and her Instagram.  Fabian recently created a cool, online portfolio of his work that can be viewed here.


Cheers!

Mr. Tiny

Sew What?! 1930s African Loungewear

I take quite seriously the requests I've received asking me to include more sewing/design posts into the mix.  But ever since Mary started her new career as an air hostess, I have been hard pressed to wrangle that gadfly, rarely able to find a time when schedules can be coordinated for fittings, finishings, and photo shoots.  Lest you think that Mr. Tiny's Workshop has taken down its shingle, please be assured that I have continued to slave away at my trusty Bernina, churning out multiple new looks just waiting to be captured on camera.  So, be not dismayed; finally, the stars have aligned, allowing for Mary, Mr. Tiny, and Fabian to all be in the same place at the same time!  Here is a Sew What?! about which I think all involved can be proud.

See!  What a proud moment...
Behind the scenes is sooooo glamorous.

In last year's mania for African-themed ensembles (see here, here, and here), I picked up four yards of a beautifully-printed African cotton at the thrift store for less than one-dollar per yard.

Wanting to avoid full-blown African overload, I sent this lovely, if temporarily
woe-begotten, fabric to the foothills of my fabric Kilimanjaro for a full calendar
year until it was ready for a return trip to the summit.

Making the ten-minute trek from our house, we did our best to scout a location that would be a suitable Serengeti stand-in (bonus points for not requiring those pesky antimalarial injections).  In the glow of Southern California's late-afternoon sun, Fabian worked his mystical, moody photographic magic.

The two-piece ensemble consists of a six-gored, maxi-length trumpet skirt and a cropped,
bateau-neck top with flutter sleeves and an oversized, self-fabric rosette at the neck.

The pieces were created with a definite nod to both the silhouettes of 1930s loungewear and the economy of '30s-era sewing; four yards sounds like a fair amount of material but not as much when one considers that a full-length skirt on Mary measures fifty-two inches long .

Styled with an armful of metal bangles, gold platform shoes, tousled hair and a
coordinating head wrap, Mary gave the look something completely modern.

And what's more modern than flying?  I ask you.

Speaking of flying...
The flutter sleeves were achieved by isolating the pattern of
conjoined circles in the print, finishing them with a satin stitch.

And so the sun slowly sinks on wacky tacky summer fashion

"Why don't you take a picture, it'll last longer?"

Um...we did.

With a huge vote of gratitude for artist and model, I anxiously await our next collaboration.  You can bet that there is at least one autumnal ensemble in the pictorial pipeline!

Hip-Hip-Hooray!!!

As is custom, we concluded the day with our usual jump shot.  I'll give you three guesses which one I am.

Cheers!

Mr. Tiny

Sew What?! Life's Too Short to Match Plaids

It's the easy ones that always give me trouble.  It's also the hard ones that always give me trouble.  Come to think of it, sewing always gives me trouble.  I guess I'm not very good at sewing.

My perennial complaint is that sewing is a necessary evil, its utility lying solely in transforming the ideas in my brain and the scribbles in my sketchbook into fabric-based realities.  I wish I could be one of those people who claims to find the act of sewing therapeutic but I get a pain from cutting and pinning...and from correcting my mistakes.

Exhibit A

The basic silhouette of this dress really couldn't be more simple; the margin for error was slim.  Feeling rushed to get it completed in Mary's absence, I hastily draped a skirt on a dress form and attached it to the bodice in a way that made it nearly impossible to remove when, upon her return, the fit was something awful.  The time I had spent matching the plaids, hand-picking the zipper, and hand-sewing the lining was all for naught, leaving me to wonder if it was even worth salvaging the dress.  As I ripped out all of my crude, uneven dainty, perfectly-spaced stitches, and hacked away the offending bits of skirt, I just knew that I would never get the plaids to line up the way they had before.  And then I had a sewing epiphany - life is just too dang short to match plaids!  After all, the first chapter in Mr. Tiny's wacky tacky Sewing Primer is dedicated to smoke and mirrors, the title being, "Distract 'Em with Oversize Flowers."

Having already cut the side sections of the bodice on the bias, I figured that as long as the vertical lines matched
from the bodice to the skirt, I could get away with my reckless placement of plaid.  I thought I'd try and confound you even further by making a garden's worth of self-fabric flowers so your eye would have no place to rest.  And in a final attempt at trickery I decided that the location for this shoot would place Mary in front of a mosaic wall in tonal blues that mimicked the blue check-pattern of the material.  Well, Did it work?

Because Mary's personal style has become so consistently inconsistent, I have decided to dedicate my design time to sewing things that are really portfolio builders for me as opposed to wardrobe builders for her.  Made from discount-bin, blue-checked cotton, this dress really has no practical place in a wardrobe anyhow.  The gown was born of thrift (using what I had in the stash) and a desire to try new techniques (a heaping headpiece, a one-shoulder dress, and bowers of fabric flowers).  Because the gown itself is a little unorthodox, I also wanted to stray, if ever so slightly, from such literal vintage-styling by encouraging Mary to create a more stark look with her hair and make-up. Thankfully, our collaborator and friend, Fabian, was available to work his photographic magic on our most recent fashion experiment.

Mary is always hounding me for dresses with pockets but she is NOT the boss of me!  I compromised 

by making a single pocket that is a large, lined, fabric flower disguised as part of the hip corsage.

For the headpiece, I cut approximately 457,879 bias strips of varying widths, starching them heavily

before turning them into flowers and attaching them to a chunky headband covered in self fabric.

Even with my fumble-fingered fixes, the dress is far from perfect.  But, as I said, my sewing is merely a means to an end.  An end if wherein I didn't find some sense of therapeutic relief, I might need actual therapy for my PTSD (Post-Traumatic Sewing Disorder).  The thing that haunts me most about sewing this look is that, even though the color and silhouette are completely different, the final product is so reminiscent of John Singer Sargent's most celebrated painting, Portrait of Madame X.

Madame M???
She's "Just That Type of Girl."

A big thanks to my favorite team, Mary and Fabian, for once again breathing energy and vitality into my humble, homemade creations.  I can't wait for the next time I get to be scolded by the pair of you for holding the reflector incorrectly!!!

Even though Fabian's car (a '55 Buick Super) is more famous than the three of us combined, I am honored to feature this photograph as a "THANK YOU" to Fabian.  In fact, it is my great pleasure to state, completely free from duress, that this first-class automobile is much prettier than Mary and emits far less noxious fumes...(Did I get that right, Fabian?).

"Just That Type of Girl" - Madame X

(If only the car in the video was a '55 Buick)

Cheers!

Mr. Tiny

Sew What?! An Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Matchy-Matchy Ruffle-kini

While it has heretofore gone undiagnosed, I am certain that I suffer from profound Matchy-Matchy Syndrome.  The symptoms exhibited themselves early on, when as a child, I sat starry-eyed watching Doris Day in a 1962 fashion sequence from That Touch of Mink in which mannequins at Bergdorf Goodman modeled luxurious lounging pajamas of acid-green brocade with matching robes, smart skirt suits with linings to match the blouses, and mink coats with interchangeable, satin overcoats meant to coordinate with every ensemble.  Since then, the height of chic was defined for me by a woman's ability to have everything match, a theory which has not always served me well.

My matchy-matchy fate was sealed when I watched Bon Voyage!, another seminal film from that fabulous year for female fashion, 1962.  In it, Deborah Walley wears one of the coolest (and hottest), matching, seaside ensembles that has ever graced the silver screen - a wacky tacky matchy-matcherson's dream come true!

Deborah Walley as wild woman in Bon Voyage! (1962)

Living in one of the sun-worshipping capitals of the world, I have seen many
a far-out swimsuit.  None have ever come close to rivaling the sophisticated
savagery of Ms. Walley's leopard-print bathing costume with matchy-matchy
accessories. 

Have you ever seen a suit suite like this?!!
Everything about the outfit is oversized - the hat, the glasses, the duffel bag, the style!
As Bon Voyage! is a Disney film, it is possible that old Uncle Walt, considering the bikini
too risqué, ordered the addition of the criss-cross modesty straps with the belly-button bow!
In my opinion, this could very well have been the precursor to today's monokini and those
much-coveted "Scandal Suits" presented by Cole of California in 1964.

Having enjoyed a winter season in California that was close to breaking records for its mild manner (aside from a recent, freak hail storm), my thoughts easily stray to summer.  As a result, I have been revisiting many of Deborah Walley's beach-bound performances in Gidget Goes Hawaiian, the AIP Beach Party movies, and, of course, Bon Voyage!  Consequently, my first real "Sew What?!" project for 2015 is an itsy-bitsy, teenie-weenie, matchy-matchy RUFFLE-KINI!!!

This navy, white, and citron-yellow floral-print cotton was
purchased at my favorite place for my favorite price - 99¢ per yard!
It had been sitting in the stash for years waiting for just the right project.
Because the flowers are printed in large scale (7-8 inches), and I figured
that my best bet in diminishing the material's overtly flower-power
message would be to gather the fabric into miles of ruffles. 

It takes miles of ruffles to make a Ruffle-Kini.

To send this outfit truly over-the-top, it was imperative to find a finishing touch that indeed went over the top...over the very top of the hat.  As shown in the illustration, I had the idea of a long fall cascading from the pinnacle of the Put A Lid On It! Sun Hat.  As it happens, fake hair - even "cheap" fake hair - isn't all that cheap.  I found an online distributor of the finest polyester fibers masquerading as human hair, but the ponytails were always the most expensive pieces.  I decided to take a chance on an eight-dollar, twenty-nine-inch, clip-on, bleach-blonde extension and pray for the best.  When I got the "hair," I just removed the clips and rolled (and sewed) the hair into a ponytail.  I don't think my makeshift fall would fool the likes of Vidal Sassoon, but I am happy it turned out so well.  The following images, taken by our pal, Fabian Fioto, are the soon-to-be-legendary results of a photo shoot which we lovingly refer to as, "Legends of the Fall."

After all, any outfit is made by the fall!
Even after sewing all of those ruffles, I had exactly enough fabric to
make a matchy-matchy hat, beach bag, cover-up, and ruffled mules!

Nobody told me how much work it was to apply so many layers of ruffles to a bikini.  About halfway through the process, I was all the way ready to give up - out of both frustration and concern that the result would look like a bulky baby's bathing costume!

And I was afraid that the ruffles would look too juvenile!
I think Mary was able to prevent things from going too far
in the diaper cover direction!

For each piece, I either made my own pattern or made it up as I went along.

"I'm forever blowing bubbles!"
What you can't see in this photo is Mr. Tiny and Allie going blue in the face
trying to blow as many bubbles into the frame as possible...to questionable result.

The only photo I took all day was this behind-the-scenes shot.
Never having had an on-set hair expert, we felt very lucky to have little Allie on
hand.  Working so diligently at taming the fall, it might have been nice if Fabian
let her use the ladder once in a while to climb to the top of Mount St. Mary!

For me, there is no denying the greatness of the above photos.  However, when I stopped "directing" and truly left Mary, Fabian, and the afternoon sun to their own devices, the photos became really special. 

We were lucky enough to have the use of some beautiful friend's beautiful home for the afternoon.
They were gracious enough to let us shoot indoors and out!

I'm allowed to say , "Wow," because I am neither the subject of the
 photo nor the photographer.  All I did was make the lousy ponytail hat...

How to stuff a ruffle-kini!

This one is my favorite.

Or maybe this one...

Or maybe this one...
After Fabian had taken exactly one million photos of her in the bikini, Mary changed so Fabian could get some photos for his own portfolio.  I decided to do as the cool kids do and photo bomb; I snuck behind the bar and popped up just as the shutter clicked.  Initially, Fabian was none too thrilled with my hijinks, but we all ended up thinking the photo was pretty cool!

I'm not sure that there is any cure for Matchy-Matchy Syndrome, let alone any treatment.  Furthermore, I'm not sure that I would want one anyhow; much like Deb's beach get-up, I think it would be impossible for this matchy-matchy leopard to change his spots!

Whether you prefer matchy-matchy or mixing-and-matching, wacky tacky
will always encourage you to make with the fake hair and WHIP IT!

As always, a huge THANK YOU to my compatriots, Fabian, Allie, and Mary, for elevating my crimes against fashion into something beautiful!!!  Thanks also to our hosts for endangering their position with their home owner's association and neighborhood watch group by opening their beautiful Beverly Hills home to our ragtag bunch!  MERCI BEAUCOUP!!!


Cheers!

Mr. Tiny

Sew What?! Putting Summer Sewing to Bed in Beach Pajamas

First things first, this isn't my first time at the beach pajama-recreation rodeo; you might remember last summer's "The Copycat's Pajamas."  Well, over a year later and not completely satisfied with the results of my last attempt, I realized that it was time to revisit the idea of the 1930s sur la plage by completing a long-unfinished project.

I had long earmarked a floral-print, rayon-linen blend in the stash for some flowery beach pajamas; Using that fabric, I actually made the top in the midst of my Summer 2013 mania for Deco-era halter tops.  Out of the same cheery, dogwood-printed material, I constructed the "'Fun in the Sun' Hat" for my most recent "Sew What?!" project.  To complete the ensemble, all I had left to sew were the pants.  With the previous pajamas, I simply made wide-legged pants.  I wanted to tweak it a little by making a more period-appropriate flared trouser.  I even toyed with the idea of including contrasting godets but couldn't find a coordinating material in a suitable weight/color.

The concept

Settling on as wide a flare as the fabric would allow, I came to a startling realization once the pants were completed - it was time to take photographs!!  If I have a forte, sadly, photography is not it (but I'm working on it).  Luckily, our pal Fabian and his trusty camera were available and ready for a seaside shoot.  So, in the glow of the afternoon sun, we headed down to the shore.

As is the case when presented with so many great photographs, it is no small feat when tasked with choosing a favorite...so I didn't (I guess editing isn't my forte either).  Get ready for a picture-heavy post!

Limited fabric means the pants aren't as wide and wonderful as I had hoped for.
Nevertheless, the circumference of each hem measures forty-eight inches!

"Greeting from sunny California!"
Picture postcard perfect

Girl-on-gull action

Modeling clothes can be such a bother...

Wanting a little something extra, I isolated the floral design with a satin stitch and made a 2D/3D (2 1/2D?) corsage. 

Casual summer clothing is always a favorite to create and the heat
wave around here is only encouraging me.  Darn you, global warming!

But even if the weather says otherwise, I suppose it is time to put summer sewing to bed.

Every time I thought Fabian had captured all the angles that he wanted, I directed Mary to "frolic."
Getting fairly restless each time the frolic was called off so we could try something
else, Mary was joyful when at last she was allowed to splash in the surf!

With the temperatures across Southern California reaching into the triple digits, we are still deep in the dog days of summer.  When faced with the alternatives, we don't really mind it.  We're having a heat wave!  Do you like like summer or are you ready for it to be over (at least the Northern Hemisphereans among you)?  Are you ready for sweaters and scarves?  Pumpkins and pine cones?  Coats and candy corn?

We'll feel fine when Fall finally rolls around; until then, however, we'll still be here, soaking up the sun!

 

"Heat Wave" - Ethel Waters (recorded 1933)

Cheers!

Mr. Tiny