adaptations

I admit it: I find commercial patterns so, well, commercial. But I've learned to value them in their adaptability. "Adaptable?" You're thinking. "Ha!"

No, it's really true. I make a habit of once a month zipping over to my local Joann's for the cheapo pattern sale. Lately I picked up 10 Butterick patterns, half for little girls and half for women. But truth be told, I never make those patterns. I rarely even open the envelopes, yet I sit with a shelf full of them.

Why? Because they inspire me. My problem with commercial patterns is that they are rather uninspired. (When I say commercial, I mean the big ones sold at the fabric store in the deep drawers with the 3" thick catalogues. I do not mean the ones made by people like you and me.) Sure, they seem to look great on the package, but they lack flair.

But they are great for adaptations.

I love to use a good size chart on the envelope flap. And I will often take a look at the pattern pieces for a glimpse into their shaping and overall measurements before I draft my own. Cheating? Nah, just part of the learning process for me.

Try it sometime: spread out your patterns, and figure out what your *really* like from each. Take a square neck from one and match it with a pouf sleeve and bubble skirt from another. It's a truly original adaptation... you'll like it.

Here are some great pattern finds!

• Bonnie Reversible Girls Dress by emilierebekah (ok, shameless plug there... but it's a good pattern!)
• Fluerette Bubble Skirt by hyperart
• Very Easy Vogue Vintage Top and Culottes by patterncellar
• Vintage Nautical Vogue Top and Pants by sydcam123 (so cute!)
• Animal Outlines Pattern by beckarahn (embellish away!)

Homemade at Hila's House

So we like to make things at our house. (You can check out my etsy store to see some of the things I make: handmade hila.) But we also hold a special fascination for making those things that we typically think of as un-makeable.

Yep, I've made a big, gelatinous batch of homemade laundry soap. Why did I choose to do it? Mostly, I have some pretty specific financial goals and this (in addition to many other baby steps I'm taking) brings me a little bit closer to it. On the other side of the coin, the mentality of "I like to know what goes into my (insert product type here)" doesn't really hold: I made it with washing soda, borax, and a bar of soap. I couldn't tell you that i have any idea about the contents of those. But again, it's cheap and works well.

But would I choose to enter the all-out-frugal-penny-pinching-miser status that goes with making the following?

• Homemade Shampoo. Varieties available, but I think that I'm better off making a homemade conditioner of something like olive oil and parrafin. (My hair is very frizzy, get off my back.)
• Homemade Deodarant Ok, so I'm naturally against the idea of homemade deodarant, but upon further thought, the stuff from the store doesn't work all that well anyways. (Come on, you've had that moment in an elevator where you realize that smell is *you.*) So sure, this will make the list.
• Home Cleaners. No link, just the standard "mix baking soda with water" rigamarole. I'm actually super into this idea. Cheap, works ok. However, I won't give up my standard bleach-down-the-kitchen followed by a nice-smelling wipedown.
  

But perhaps the real question is, would I tell my friends? Does it naturally label me as a hippy wunderkind? It doesn't help my self-image that I drive a hybrid. I ride my bike quite a bit, to the point that I can strap kiddo onto and I have equipped with a goods-hauling backpack. Why is there such a stigma attached to frugalism that helps the planet?

Hippies be damned, I just love saving money!

Speaking of money, here are some money-saving etsy finds.

• "Fight Club" Duct Tape Wallet from CustomWallets (my favorite movie + favorite adhesive product!)
• Porcelain Baby Head Coin Bank ("Save for the Future") from modernfx (weird, yet intriguing)
• PIF Lunchbox Love Notes (Pay it Forward) from Uneek4u. (Free, just do something nice! Search etsy for PIF and find many do-gooder listings.)
  
• Variety of Reusable Lunch Sacks from WasteNotSaks
  

The inverted box pleat

This week's project, the Betty Jumper, came about from a peruse through the sale Simplicity patterns. I found a pattern for a women's dress that featured a curved yoke of sorts. And voila! the Betty was born.

In another post I will talk about the use of commercial patterns in creating other styles. For now, I am focusing on adapting a bodice pattern that started with a gathered front to a box pleat. The box pleat itself provides a lot of opportunity for easy style!

A basic box pleat is defined by wikipedia as:
"Box pleats are knife pleats back-to-back, and have a tendency to spring out from the waistline.^[2] They have the same 3:1 ratio as knife pleats, and may also be stacked to form stacked box pleats. These stacked box pleats create more fullness and have a 5:1 ratio. They also create a bulkier seam. Inverted box pleats have the "box" on the inside rather than the outside."

A bodice can use either the standard or inverted, but note that the inverted lends itself to "peekaboo" styling.

Here are some suggestions for going wild with a bodice box pleat:

1. Keep it simple. A basic or inverted box pleat at center is no vanilla way to say "I put thought into my garment."

2. Double up. Try side-by-side box pleats or off-center box pleats. Stretch your pattern engineering skills by simply widening your bodice pattern piece at an interesting point.

3. Get horizontal. A horizontal box pleat from armpit to armpit can look adorable on babies and toddlers. For older girls, this pleat can work if it lays high above the bust.

4. Peekaboo! Add a strip of fabric which will serve as the inside of the inverted pleat. A great choice would be a high-contrast fabric of similar weight to your garment's fabric.

5. Triangulate. On a pattern like the Betty, you could sew the top of the pleat in the standard fashion, but then open it up to where the bodice meets the skirt.

Try it! You'll like it! Here are some other great examples of pleats as embellishment:

• Birthday Party Dress from PinkLizzyfromAus
• Pleated Skirt for Girls from SewFrivolous
• Hard to Resist Accessory Pouch from sewingsparklz
• Slate Scarflette from flutter