a J. Crew top

I wanted to make this top as soon as I saw it - it had sequins AND looked comfy too. This J. Crew top is selling for NZ$532. I spent $12.90 on materials and it took me 7 hours and 15 minutes to make.

Now the top itself was easy enough to make, no dramas there. The real problem was with the sequins. The original top used light blue, silver and bronze sequins; I could only get hold of transparent light blue, clear and gold sequins. Also, I couldn't find individual sequins so I had to buy the strings of sequins and then take them apart one by one. 

Sewing the sequins by hand

At the 11th hour... I ran out of sequins. I thought I had enough sequins to get at least the front done, but clearly I'm terrible at estimating. So I ran out of sequins, the shops had already shut and I had an early flight out the next morning. That was that.

The "finished" product

The back of the top (this is also supposed to be covered in sequins)

So clearly this top was a disaster. The sequins were the wrong colour, I ran out of the sequins, and I wasn't even able to finish the top.

When I photographed the top, I tucked it in and wore a high-waisted skirt to cover up the unfinished bit.

Weekly Loves

Lot's of florals this week! Last week I loved sparkles, this week I'm really liking florals. Especially for the new Spring 2012 collections :) It's not spring without florals

Adam Spring 2012

Carolina Herrera Spring 2012

Karen Walker Spring 2012

Prabal Gurung Spring 2012

Proenza Schouler Spring 2012

Sonia Rykiel Spring 2012

Thakoon Spring 2012

a RED Valentino top

I thought this RED Valentino top was really cute. The bow is just adorable! It's selling for NZ$327; I spent $25.10 on materials and it took me 2 hours and 50 minutes.

These are the pattern pieces I made - one front and back piece (both pinned on a folded line) and one sleeve piece (pinned on a double layer of fabric)

This is the fabric I used for the bow - I overlocked the edges to keep them tidy

Pinning the bow in place

Making small stitches

The finished piece:

The finished top - laid flat on the floor

I think this is actually the best job I've done yet of copying an designer item! This top was quite simple (but then a lot of other things that have seemed simple have been the ones that I've stuffed up the most). Im really happy with this Copycat item! :)

Weekly Loves

Giambattista Valli Spring 2012

Giorgio Armani Spring 2012

Gucci Spring 2012

Louis Vuitton Spring 2012

Mary Katrantzou Spring 2012

Nina Ricci Spring 2012

Peter Pilotto Spring 2012

a Roberto Cavalli pair of pants

These Roberto Cavalli pants remind me of pyjama pants. I love the leopard print and tassels, but I couldn't imagine wearing them outside!

The original pants cost NZ$1,283; I spent $38.80 on materials and it took me 7 hours and 15 minutes

So obviously the leopard print is different. I was trying to find a leopard print in a silky material and this was all that was available. The leopard print is actually quite small in comparison to the original.

It's really tricky working with slippery material - it's hard to pin it straight and even harder to sew straight. That's why the inner leg seam of the pants is warped: I couldn't line up the edges of fabric pieces.

 I made tassels out of black embroidery thread (I used 3 bunches to get them nice and big) and I used the same tutorial as I did for the Antik Batik scarf.

The seam on the waistband and the centre seam on the pants isn't lined up properly - it's a bit off centre. I only noticed that after I'd finished sewing.

Here's my label :) I'm making labels for all the clothes using printer fabric I bought online. That's the actual roberto cavalli label, I just added my own Copycat touch to it!

Here's some photos of me making the pants:

At my sewing machine

Pinning the hem of the pants

The pants are actually pretty fun to wear! They're growing on me