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 POCKETIFYOUWANT!!
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!!
After the days of t-ball and varsity sweaters, the only real hope adult life gives for the possibility of uniforms is the slim chance you’ll become a Red Bull Girl or a member of a cult or perhaps a fireman. Lucky for Sirocco, our friendship is so thick we all have this natural craving to dress alike. Somewhere along the way we all began falling in love with our “uniforms.”
It began with simple necklace medallions made from duct tape and nickles on the set of Cleo in the Universe.
Next, three of us went for a day trip to Le Brea Tar Pits and insisted on matching pink tank tops.
Cast and crew black beanies on the set of Red Moon.
Some beards.
Stripes for Fourth of July, 2010.
And most recently, our customized neon striped, hand sewn tank tops for our camping trip to the place M*A*S*H was filmed.
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..
