1–  textiles:  find a nice cheap western print on comfortable cotton

2–  measurements: crotch — from front waistband height to back waistband height; hips — around the trunk;  length — waistband to hem; measure it all out, add 2″ to hips measurement for comfort/ease, and add seam allowance (1/2″ all around is fine)

3–  start cutting.. watch yurr finners..

4–  MAKE A POCKET IF YOU WANT!!

5–  sew the pocket/patch/embroidery on before you sew the panels together

6–  iron the seams as you go along to make it look better..

7–  get the elastic and stretch it as you sew it to the waistline

8–  clip the stray threads, hem the bottom, and WALLAH: they look just like the real thing!!

9–  perfect fit

10–  show them off to your friends!!

NOW, what you’ve all been waiting for, the new and improved “SCHMOLODEX”!!  Made from door trim, ring binders, and a dowel rod, it can EASILY accommodate contact information for hundreds of your most colorful friends.  Place it on a desk, mount in on the wall, suspend it from the ceiling; ANY way you look at it, batteries aren’t included.. THAT’S RIGHT!!  There’s not a single circuit to bend, no buttons to push, and nothing to rub… SOOOOO, sneak into a local construction site and build one TODAY!!

I started with this one because a good elaborate idea was already in motion: with “red moon” colors and textures, the plan was to create a plaid using strips cut from the leftover costume materials by weaving them together, then applique them onto the lapel.. this was going well until the automobile carpet material was too thick and stiff to conform to the curves of a lapel on a human, and as a woven piece, it looked like a crafty grandmother’s dinner jacket from medieval times.. but since the materials were already in place, to get the same effect, an airbrush was used to paint black over it all, then all the stitches and strips were ripped off to reveal the white lattice; finally, red, gray, and white stripes were stitched to finish the plaid.

the future of sirocco was in mind: the “dream machine” color palatte of pastel colors was stitched on with thread of varying weight, fiber, and sheen creating a complete yet disorganized checkerboard..

the nautical theme was acheived with waterbased latex paint; masking and overlapping layers of paint was used to give the stripes a subtle illusion of depth; time and wear should slowly change them like waves on the hull..

the bold line curves from neck to hem: an extra 1/8”, so simple.

a jacket with room for decoration; selvage attracted me to creating patchwork: working as apprentice patternmaker at oxxford clothes, i was the after-hours scavenger, collecting all the selvage off the cutting room floor for their exotic locales colorfully woven along the edges of the otherwise exceedingly bland (but ridiculously expensive) bolts.. these strips of material have irregular vertical stitches to support the weight of whatever might be shoved in the slots..