pond_ripple's Fabric Blog

This is the first in a series of posts about my latest project, a fancy steampunk inspired coat. The pattern is loosely based on a Simplicity pattern, 2172, that I have been slowly altering as I go along. Here are a few sketches to show the basic idea for the coat. The Simplicity pattern I'm using; all the new pattern pieces made moving everything to an empty tin box necessary. This is my first sketch when I had simple dreams of adding a hood and maybe changing the neckline. This is a much later sketch showing how I've chopped off the patterned skirt in favor of a pleated and much more dramatic one. This also shows the fancier detachable sleeve option. I honestly don't know how many sleeves I will make. The plan at first was to do the pattern with a few small touches thrown in to make it my own. Adding a removable hood and changing the neckline slightly were quickly followed with making detachable sleeves, and adding a high collar in the back. The pockets b...

Today's #SFDesignADay is  pen and ink ! Lucie Duclos (known as  Snowflower  in the Spoonflower Marketplace ) will show you all you need to know to delve into this rewarding design process. Be sure to follow along on the  blog  and in your inbox until March 15 as we feature a new Design-A-Day technique, presented to you by members of our talented community of designers! Lucie:  Pen and ink drawing is a line based method of creating images. Subtle variations in style and line quality can range from whimsical and clever illustrations to super realistic drawings. There is an endless amount of pen and ink techniques, but I prefer the basic black and white line drawings because you can create strong graphics with a clean, modern look. And you can always add color at the end and still keep the black outline for definition! Lucie:  Let’s start by picking a theme, let’s say “leaves” for example. First, I li...

This pair of suede boots was one of the major projects that made up my renaissance faire outfit. It was my first time making shoes of any kind, but they still turned out fabulous and warm! I had a lot of inspiration that went into the final design and I put it all together in a pinterest board  that is still growing.  The main sources that influenced the final design: This pattern was the initial pair of boots that I was going to make, but I have very short legs and wide width feet. That would have basically meant distorting the pattern and doing a load of trial and error to get them to fit, but the simple turnshoe and tongue style were something I did want to incorporate in my finished shoe. So I looked around online to see how to make a boot that actually fit an individual person's foot. This tape mold method was the way that sounded the best to me to get a custom fit while still hanging on to the style of the first boot pattern I liked. And I pick...

A new project that I have been designing like crazy for is my Cantaloupe Vineyard cheater quilt. When finished it should be a little under 6' long, and a little over 5' 3" wide. Now obviously it's not quite as big of an undertaking as a true patchwork quilt, but it is a large enough project that it's getting spread out over a couple of months. This is an approximation of what the finished quilt should look like: Of course things change from the concept to the execution, and even that has changed over time. This quilt started out as a 1 Yard Cantaloupe Quilt Block that I had designed to show off the Cantaloupe Vineyard fabrics side by side.There wasn't much of a plan when I ordered the yard from Spoonflower and got a cheap yard of teal cotton elsewhere to back it. After simply layering it with batting , sewing around the edges, and turning it right side out, it was quilted. At first I thought it would be finished and that I would take a few photo...

So it has been rather quiet of late on this blog, but not because I haven't been sewing, crafting, and designing. Actually I have been doing too much to have time to share. November 21st and 22nd my friends and I attended a renaissance faire in Louisiana, and I made a dress and boots for me as well as a jacket for my friend. Hopefully, there will be a post for each one starting with the dress :) So I basically went all out when designing this outfit. The base fabric is a wine colored broadcloth, and the underskirt is a navy satin. The undersleeves are organza with the gauntlets made of the same material as the dress. It is embellished with four separate gold colored brocade trims, gold stitching, and glass pearls. The woven trim on the edge of the overskirt is gold tone with pearls. The gauntlets are held in place with brass lion head buttons, and the lacing rings are fancy brass leaves. There is also a matching snood with some more of those glass pearls on it. I also w...