Everyone Else Is Doing It...

The Panda took me out on a lovely dinner for two, and as we shared sangria and tapas and chatted he asked me an odd question "Have you ever thought you might just try it?"  He was referring to kissing a woman, and his reasoning was that when you start hanging out with a group of people you begin to be influenced by them.  It got me to thinking about the other ways that being part of the 'derby family' has influenced me.

   I have learned that big cellulitey thighs are fine, even sexy.  That fleshy upper arms, hairy armpits, wobbly boobs, round stomachs, bony shoulders, nobby ankles, red cheeks and sweaty sweaty exertion are all cool, normal, wonderful!

I have considered getting a tattoo, after seeing so many bodies inked with beautiful, humourous, sometimes confronting images.  I have looked at myself and decided not to get a tattoo, that my body tells its own story of  family, struggle, sunshine, breastfeeding and mortality.

I have learned that people are people, and however you try to categorize them, there will always be some that can't be neatly placed in a box.

I am greatly looking forward to the next roller derby bout at the Chillout Festival, where I may be reffing (if I put in enough hard work!), and I will definitely be having a stall selling derby shorts, skirts, and dolls.  (Here's a sneak peek!)

Oh my goodness, no wonder I get tired!  But its all worth it ;)
  

Three Tiers for Slicer!

Hip Hip Hooray!

My latest project, some ruffle-butt shorts for a derby lady, had me reflecting on matters of scale.  For example some people are tall and delicate, some short and bold, some small and sharp (the combinations are endless) and the need to mirror the qualities of the person in the textures and design features of the costume.
The only important tip when making ruffle-butt shorts is to sew 2/3rds of your centre back seam first, so that you have a nice flat space to apply the ruffles.  Once they're on you can construct shorts as normal ie. inseams, then centre front seam joining up to the remaining part of the centre back seam.
  I hope she likes them!

Bloomers for Meanie*

I have been enjoying myself sewing derby shorts for the girls, each girl asks for something different, a little reflection of themselves.  Meanie* (not her real name) asked for ruffles, so ruffles she got.  The weight and stretch of the fabric meant that I had to make the ruffles first (which is actually pleated), then attach them to the shorts' legs.

 

I cut strips of fabric, then used a kebab stick to fold the fabric into pleats as I basted them.

 I attached two rows on the legs, and then I removed the original basting so that the legs still had maximum stretch.

 Then I added little bows because I thought it would look cute!

These are for roller derby, but they would be gorgeous on a little girl for summer, and the self made pleated trim could be used for anything!

Big Ugly Pants

When I bought these pants ($1) I thought I could make jeggings for myself, but after seeing this before photo I quickly changed my mind!

So I decided to make jeans for my little boy.

 First, I cut off the waistband (but kept the elastic for later), and cut the inseam and crotch seams.  This leaves a the side seam, which we will use for the side seam of our smaller pants.

Next, I use a pair of the kids pants as a pattern (because I'm stingy and they grow so quickly I don't want to buy every size pants patterns).  Just make sure your inseams (marked A and B)are both the same length, because they will be sewn together.

From here on in, you just make them like a regular pair of pants (inseams, crotch seam, finish the waistband).  I was able to use the original waistband elastic, but it depends on the construction of the original garment.

  Finished, at the moment they are still a bit big.  I'm sure it won't be long until his super-grow legs catch up!
One of the advantages of using 'plus' size garments, is that there is plenty of fabric!  I looked at my leftovers, and thought I might just have enough for a pair of summer shorts for my little girl.

  You can just see the pattern I have drawn on, with the little B at the back, and the pockets (obviously too big at the moment) at the front.

All I did was stitich a line to form the new pocket bottom, and then cut away the excess pocket.

Then, I just finished off the shorts as normal, except that I made them flat front and elastic back, because I only had a short piece of the elastic left!  I also used some thrifted braid from my stash so that they could be as long as possible.

I think they turned out better than the pants!