Alright, I gotta be honest. It's been a while since this project, and I'm not sure I can describe it as well as I did for the first post. But I'm going to try my best!
Where I left off on the last post, I had just finished bending the metal for the back and seat.
I bent the tops of the sides to make the corners and welded them together at the center.
And then I cut and mitered a piece for the back of the seat.
That got welded together too, but I don't think I have a photo.
These half-circles are cut into the ends of the bars for the back of the chair. They fit around the back of the base of the chair, like so:
That welding is a little janky, probably should have spent a little more time on it.
A chair with a completely open back doesn't make a whole lot of sense, so next up was cutting and molding wood.
So we got this weird foam thing. Can't remember what it's called, but here's what we did:
1. Glue it all together to make one big block
2. Trace the outline of the back of the chair onto the block
3. Cut the block along that line using the bandsaw
And then we put several sheets of this bendy wood in between the two pieces of foam and clamped it. This sat overnight, and when the clamps came off, the wood was the exact contour as the metal for the back of the chair.
Like that!
Then I used some scrap plywood to cut out the shape for the bottom.
I didn't want the wood to be visible in the final chair, so I bent sheet metal to cover the back:
And cut out sheet metal and welded it onto the bottom of the base.
And remember the last picture in the last post? Here's what it turned into:
Probably the best finished piece out of the whole project. Too bad it's one of the least visible pieces. Oh well!
That circle is for the top of the new base design. Unfortunately, I can't find a picture of the sketch I made, so I'm gonna tell you about it with real pictures:
I started out by laser cutting a pattern, using the same curves as the back of the chair.
And then I bent four pieces of metal to be the legs.
I used the same curves as the back of the chair.
Not all the legs were completely straight, so I cut, rotated and welded back together a few of them. This ended up working in my favor - it gave the metal a nice texture when I painted it.
I cut them all down to the same length and cut half-circles into the top. These half-circles fit around the circle I made for the top of the base.
Like this:
You can see how the base was attached to an adjustable-height thingy (I think it's called piano bench hardware?)...but that's a story for the next post! We're also gonna talk about the upholstering and more structural stuff I put into the base.
I saw this fabric at Fabric Outlet at least a year ago and even though I didn't know what to make with it, I still got it. I'm sure it was on sale too.
I got some inspiration when I needed an outfit for my senior photos in May. I'd been seeing so many cute two-piece outfits in matching fabrics both online and around the city, and I wanted one for myself! It felt like a great way to have one super cute outfit that could also be split up and worn different ways.
The yellow in the gingham is perfect - just the right shade and very subtle. And the white balances it out nicely.
The fabric also has a good texture to it, which made it easy to sew.
For the pattern, I patterned my own circle skirt and used the bodice from my black Winter Formal dress for the crop top.
However, instead of an invisible zipper, I extended the side seam on the right so I could have a button placket.
The inside is lined with leftover muslin. You can also see the skirt's invisible zipper, and the matching button I used for the waistband.
I topstitched around the neckline, armholes and bottom hem so the fabric would lie flat.
The buttonholes were done on the machine (the machine was in a good mood that day!) and the buttons stitched on by hand.
The skirt was lined with leftover muslin as well.
Gotta be honest: I was ironing the zipper on the skirt while I was wearing it when our friends showed up to take my senior photos. Yay for second semester senior year time management!
And here's a couple of the really awesome photos we took that day:
Photo credits to Vincent Louis Carrella. To read more about his and Michelle Turner's ODE project (which these photos are from): http://www.ode.life/.
I'm going to keep up with posting every other week for as long as I have projects...hopefully I can find a little bit of time here and there to keep sewing in my dorm!
This project is over a year old, but I needed to post pictures before it started to get too much more wear and tear!
In Spring of 2015, I became obsessed with washi tape. I ordered a few collections off of Etsy (10/10 would recommend, but it can be a little pricey) I used it to decorate my crutches, my travel sewing kit, my notebooks, everything. So it was not a very short leap before I was decorating my technology too.
And decorating it in a very involved and elaborate way.
And maybe decorating during class as well. Probably a good idea I waited until after graduation to post this.
Seriously, what's not to love about washi tape! You can find all the colors and patterns imaginable.
Those are some wonderfully feminist stickers I have since added to my computer.
But wait...there's more!!!!
Yes, I decorated the keyboard too. So much Netflix-ing while I worked on this.
You might notice the super-duper cool chalkboard math notation print tape around the edges. Yes, I am that much of a math nerd. I got a whole role of that tape instead of just a sample!
I started by cutting off a piece of washi tape in the approximate size of the key. I put it on one of the keys and then used an X-acto knife to round out the corners and cut off the excess.
Then I used a felt-tip marker to write the letter or the function of the key on top of the tape.
I gotta be honest, this is not the most functional art project. The tape has worn out on a few of the most-used keys and gotten really sticky and needed to be replaced. (You can see that especially on the space bar).
Everyone else has a very difficult time tying on this keyboard, although that may be just because everyone except me uses a Mac. But not everyone can touch-type or read the loopy script on the keys, which can only make that harder.
I'm not complaining, though. It just means no one else will try to use my computer or micro-manage what I'm working on at school.
So rating this project: If you can touch-type and don't mind a little bit of upkeep, I would 10/10 recommend this project.
If you can't touch type but are willing to re-draw the letters every once in a while in a more legible font, then maybe a 7/10.
If you hate typing and wouldn't want to deal with upkeep, then I'd give a 4/10. It's not a zero because this project is still hella cute and everyone deserves to smile when they open up their computer :)
On July 4th weekend in 2015, I decided I wanted to take a more decisive step in my growing interest in clothing sustainability and ethical fashion. I had also just finished reading the amazing book Women in Clothes and wanted to push myself to discover more about what clothing and sewing means to me and how I can better harness that energy.
So for one whole year, I did not buy any new clothing. I was only going to find clothing at thrift stores, clothing swaps or make it myself. I did make a few exceptions for things I know I can't thrift or make: shoes (but I would make a valiant thrift effort first), anything with underwire, shoes and tights.
A notebook page where I first wrote out what my rules would be.
When I first started this journey, I thought I would be sewing and thrifting all the time so I could have all the clothes I wanted. But as the months went on, I focused more on paring down my closet and working to create multiple outfits out of garments I already had.
I didn't buy any tights all year. Turns out, I didn't need more than what I had. I also only bought one pack of socks a month before my RTW fast was over. I threw out socks along the way as they became too worn to wear, but instead of replacing them, I decided it was okay to have a smaller sock drawer that wasn't overflowing.
I only bought one RTW pair of shoes:
And the rest of my shoes have come from thrift stores. But I also only bought a couple of pairs this whole year. All the shoes I had before are still in great shape, and still fashionable enough to wear. Lesson learned: you don't need a dozen and half pairs of shoes to have cool outfits.
I sewed my own formal-wear for events and bought jeans secondhand when my favorite pair wore out. I found black sneakers at a consignment store and got all sorts of interesting shirts and dresses at clothing swaps. And I kept wearing all the clothes I had accumulated in years before, instead of pushing them to the back of my closet. I wore so many garments until they were worn out - and then I salvaged or donated the fabric so it could be used again.
Here's the best part: I didn't even miss ready-to-wear clothing. I saved so much money this past year and I love the clothes I have more than ever have before. I felt like I was pushed to dive deep and ask myself about what I really truly wanted to wear and what I was most comfortable in. After doing so much capsule wardrobe research, I could feel myself gravitating towards a few shape, silhouettes, fabrics and looks that I loved the most. There was a capsule wardrobe emerging from what I already had. So I started donating and giving away garments I didn't wear so often anymore.
There were still several garments that I wanted very badly and I had a hard time finding at thrift stores. Things like high-waisted jeans, a good denim skirt, a casual black dress, or the perfect green t-shirt. After several months without good high-waisted jeans and wishing every week I had a pair again, I know I'll get good use out of them and want to bring them back to my closet.
When my RTW fast was over, I didn't want to immediately go on a shopping bender and buy a ton of garments who's origins and impacts I didn't know. But I also wanted to finally craft my ideal wardrobe before I went off to college, and I definitely didn't have enough time to sew a dozen garments this summer.
My main color palette
So I decided to design my own conscious wardrobe. I looked at the garments, shapes and fabrics I loved the most and sketched them out. I looked at the colors I know are most flattering on me, but also work together as a color palette.
Accent colors and silhouettes for pants/shorts
I love variety, so it was difficult to finally pare down what I was drawn to the most, but I think I'm almost almost there.
I made several copies of the silhouettes and colored in each one. Then I spread them out and moved all the pieces around, making sure each garment could (hypothetically) be worked into several outfits.
And about the part where I'm a variety junkie: I realized a completely minimalist wardrobe was not going to be 100% me. You'll notice I didn't sketch shoes or sweaters/jackets, because that's generally where I throw in some weird thrift store find that makes the outfit special. I decided I was reserving those areas (and my 90s floral print mom jeans) for the off-kilter, non-mainstream looks I love.
A photo posted by Taft Weber-Kilpack (@taftisseamstress) on
Then I put each of my final pics in my sketchbook, and looked around online for a sewing pattern to match each one. In some cases, I had the same pattern in multiple colors.
I also noted what I needed for each pattern. Sometimes, I knew I had fabric that would match or already owned the perfect pattern. So I noted where I needed to go shopping or save up to buy the PDF online.
In some cases, I already had the perfect garment!
And in other cases, I just needed to slightly alter something I already had.
I also decided that if I can find the garment at a price I'm willing to pay and I know it was ethically manufactured, then I will buy it ready-to-wear. I don't have time to sew all these garments, but I still want to maintain the minimal-consumption shopping I've kept up this last year.
Of course, I will try to thrift the fabric or find the garment secondhand if I can, but that isn't always a guarantee.
And then I made a plan for what I'm doing moving forward!
My next step is finding out where I can buy ethically manufactured fabric and notions. I'm looking to support business that have little to no negative environmental impact, are made locally, pay all employees a living wage, or support other social initiatives. Right now, I'm going to try salvaging fabric from thrift store garments, but if anyone has suggestions, I would love to hear them!
I'll keep you updated as my Conscious Wardrobe adventure continues...
-Taft WK
P.S. You might have noticed there was not a post last Wednesday. Since my summer is coming to an end and I'm moving to college soon, I will be going back to a post every other Wednesday. I'll try to keep this up as long as I can - it just depends on how much sewing and crafting time I'll have when classes start.
