My Model is an African-American Barbie Doll

ב"ה

I've always wanted to be a clothing (and shoe) designer. When I was in my teens, I used to knit and crochet Barbie Doll clothes and sell them in a local consignment store. Since then, I've done a lot of different things, including making clothes for myself:

Like this one

<======   

And this one =========>

 <========= And this one

And I also made some stuff for girls and boys: Like this ===> 

And This <=================

And This ===========> 

But in order to sell my fabric designs on my Spoonflower site I have to order swatches (8"X8")  and with 400 + designs I have a LOT of swatches. I was using them to make glasses sized "clutches" sort of. 

Like these ^ 

But I discovered that the swatches that I have also make some very nice "Barbie" Doll clothes -- Here are some of the dresses I made (I gave 5 of them to my great-niece who was so excited!!! 

I have the drive to be a business owner, But I need the knowledge to "Make it so"

ב"ה
All my life (more or less) I've been trying to make money with my own business.

I've always wanted to do my own thing, work for myself, but I never knew how to do the hard stuff. The hard stuff is things like trying to find a market, trying to get the word out.

My first business was when I was in my teens. I was knitting and crocheting Barbie doll clothes and I would sell them at a consignment store in a nearby town. I augmented that with lamps made from 7-up cans (the one I made for myself lasted perhaps 30-35 years). I sold more of the lamps.

Fast Forward to my 20s. I was a student at FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) and after washing out in flat pattern design (2ce) and Draping (only once) I decided to try jewelry design where I learned how to render designs (as in paint them on paper). I also learned how to make my pieces out of silver and gold and added stones (I had a stone setter who helped me with faceted stones). I sold mostly silver, but some gold, to co-workers of mine and my mother's. I didn't exactly make enough to support myself, but I did okay (I still have my account book almost 45 years later).

About 30 or so years ago, I partnered with my sister-in-law for a graphic design business. We had a few customers. When my SIL went her own way, I continued with the graphics business, though I had no idea how to "drum up" business. I did logos and stationery, layout for newsletters, and invitations (those were fun) in addition to working on flyers etc. for two non-profits. I earned a bit of money, but, again, not enough to support myself.

In the 90s, I had a client to made tees and for her, I did a lot of designs that ended up on tee shirts. I did a few "city" designs (I particularly remember a peach for Atlanta and an apple for NYC). At one point, she told me she had an idea to design tees for young Jewish women, so I started designing what I came to call "Strong Jewish Women" (and "Strong Biblical Women") designs (I have them on my CafePress shop, but I can't link directly to them (you have to copy this link text and when you get the CafePress home page linking to this, https://www.cafepress.com/compugraphd2 put the copy in the URL line and paste, then hit return). I don't know why CafePress does this, but it's the only site I have the Strong Jewish Women on.

In any case, over the years, I've been designing graphics for my Zazzle site (https://www.zazzle.com/store/compugraphd ), my Arts Now site (http://www.artsnow.com/compugraphd ) which is less expensive than other sites, however, since the merchandise comes from China, it takes longer, my PrintPop site (http://www.printpop.com/compugraphd ) and, for fabric, Spoonflower (https://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/compugraphd ) which I've also used on clothing that I've made.

So I'm hoping this time I'll be successful. (BTW, if any of my MLM FB friends wonder why I'm not a friend of MLMs, I can list for you MLMs I've paid for and either made less money than I paid for the kit or make no money).

I do have a drive to have my own business, but I'm missing a lot of the information necessary to make my business a reality. Right now, thanks to one of the lists I belong to, Women Helping Women Entrepreneurs , I have a mentor (FINALLY! I've been trying for about 30 or more years to find a mentor!) My mentor is helping a LOT and I really like her (she's patient with me and I really need that).

I also really need to make this, or some business, work -- I'm getting to the age where it's very hard to find a job and even if I do find one soon, I will need to find something soon after that that earns me enough to "pay the bills" but I won't have to go someplace out of the house every single work day.

This is What I've been Working on

ב"ה

I've been working a lot on my designs these days -- I'm designing fabrics on Spoonflower and making clothes out of them (I'm not great at the sewing part -- more on that later). These are some of the things I've made.

A Size Medium girl's tee (10-12) made into a dress (I've done many of these with my fabric)

Some for me, some for accessories, and some for Barbie doll. 

This one I made for my niece's wedding

More Barbie Doll dresses

 And this one I made for my great niece for her birthday a few years back

I've also been working again on my 3D printing jewelry. I got some inexpensive fake leather bands (neck sized with a closure in the back) and started using them to create jewelry like this:

Since the 3D printer is not "open to the public" so to speak (I go when they have "maker space") in the summer, I asked them to print a few pieces for me and I just picked them up today -- I'm going to try to work on making them necklaces over the next week or two (or perhaps more).

I'm trying to sell them, but I haven't been terribly successful. I also haven't been terribly successful selling the girls' tee dresses (I've sold two to a friend for her grandchildren) or the Barbie Doll dresses (I haven't sold any of these, but I did give some to my great-niece, who was so excited when I went to visit and had grabbed 5 to give to her).

I'm still working on "things". This is my FaceBook Page link if you want to see more. 

Project: Runway Is Coming Back!!!!

ב"ה

So I noticed it's been a while since I posted here. This doesn't mean I haven't been sewing -- this just means I didn't write about it.

I'm currently working on a few projects. I finally finished off a shirt I designed to be printed on the fabric and just cut out. I have no idea what size the shirt is -- it's probably the size of a toddler or a child. I think it could be for a boy or a girl -- Here's a picture of it:

I also have been working on a couple of dresses -- here is one: 

Here is another: 

And another:

I'm also working on a Toddler tee (this is one panel):

Last night I finally was able to attend a quilting group (I'm not much of a quilter -- this is my first effort -- I'll need 9 total panels like this to make a 6'X6' quilt for my bed (my current quilt is under the panel)):

Before I used my 8"x8" swatches for the quilt panels, I decided to use some of them for Barbie Doll clothes -- here are a few designs I did: 

So I"m doing "stuff" (I have a few other projects mapped out in my sketch book). So stay tuned for more 😉

Why I Stopped Sewing Tonight

ב"ה

So, as the year moves along and Shabbat (The Sabbath) is ending earlier (tonight it ended at 7:45) I have more time Saturday night to sew. I finished one piece I was working on and finished one part of a two piece outfit. The latter is a strapless dress (which I can't wear as it is) that I intend to make a cover up for (I started it already) using the same fabric I used for the trim on the bottom of the dress. I made the dress from one of my fabrics (it's an eclipse design -- gold on black -- with a gold Chai (חי) in the middle. The dress is from jersey fabric, but the trim (and the cover up) are from a gold satin that I got from Hobby Lobby.

I was hoping to have this outfit done for the holidays (Rosh Hashana -- ראש השנה  -- starts Wednesday night this week and the last holiday, Simhat Tora -- שמחת תורה-- ends 3+ weeks later and this year, since it is Thursday and Friday, it goes right into Shabbat (שבת), it ends up being a 3 day "holiday", so I have a lot of days to wear things).

In any case, I was sewing along and I needed to change thread (different colors), so I took the bobbin cover off and changed the bobbin. Only one problem -- I couldn't find the bobbin cover.

So I went to pin the overlay for the second outfit and forgot about the missing bobbin cover.

So I went on the 'net to find out how to order a new bobbin cover, couldn't find the right one and e-mailed Singer. Then I sat down at the machine and there it was, right in front of me!

 This is one of the children's outfits I made recently -- I've been trying to sell it.










And this is another children's outfit I made recently.

Trials and Tribulations

ב"ה

So I've been working a bit on my sewing. In May, I decided to buy my own sewing machine (I'd been using my Mom's and, even though she never uses it, I figured I'd give it to her and get my own). So, as I said, I bought a Singer sewing machine from Amazon (thank goodness!) and started sewing on it. Mind you, since August 2015, I made myself four dresses/outfits and I also made a dress for my great-niece (out of satin) with my Mom's machine.

By June, the machine was no longer working properly, so I contacted Amazon and they told me how to send it back and they sent me another just like it. By the beginning of August (this month), it was no longer working. So, this time, when I sent back the old one, I ordered a different model. It only took a week for that one to stop working (this was last week). So this time I ordered a Brother. We'll see if that helps.

In the meantime, I'm making a shirt of my great-nephew (using a Dinosaur design I created on Spoonflower) but with the machine issue, I'm worried I won't have it done by his birthday (September 14th I think). I'm also working on creating eyeglass sized purses out of 8" X 8" squares of my designs (I have a ton of them because whenever I want to sell a design I have to order either some fabric to sew with or an 8" X 8" swatch). The above pic is of five different designs.

In any case, I'm in a sewing holding pattern right now. In addition to the shirt I'm working on for my great-nephew, I'm also working on a "one-yard" pattern I created to see if it works. (This is it, but don't buy this one -- the one I'm working on actually is a "one-yard" pattern, not an 8" X 8" one. I won't be certain until I finish the piece what size person it'll fit). I used this idea to create a couple of my sketch designs to go on fabric, 3 yards, so I want to check this pattern out before I spend the money the fabric will cost in my size -- I used my own measurements.

I'm looking forward to the new season of "Project: Runway" which is due in a bit more than 2 weeks. I can't wait.

Teaching Myself to Design and Sew

ב"ה

Trying to Teach Myself to Create My Own Designs

When I was a teenager, I began taking the first steps to being a fashion designer. I learned to sew in classes in my town, in summer classes for students, and in adult education classes. I learned the basics of sewing, but, since I never had the opportunity to set up a room where my sewing machine (the gift I asked for when graduating High School) was set up permanently, it was difficult to motivate myself.

During this period, I also learned how to knit (in the summer program I attended for 6 summers, where I learned art and woodworking, among other things). I had already known how to crochet.

Since I didn't have the wherewithal or the patience to create clothes for myself (unless I had an already created pattern) I began creating doll clothes by knitting and crocheting them, using my own Barbie (or was it Malibu Francie?) as my model/mannequin. I sold them at a local consignment shop.

I also went to Fashion Institute of Technology. I tried taking Flat Pattern Design (twice) and Draping to use these skills to create my designs. By that time, I had begun creating drawings of clothing on tracing paper (I would trace the figure of a comic book character and draw clothing on them like these (the sketches on this page that aren't the jewelry). I have a collection of hundreds of designs (clothing, shoes, handbags) all of which have never been created -- they still exist on paper and in my head (I did actually have one created for me, but I discovered one problem with only designing in two dimensions -- I made a design error by using satin -- which is flat -- for the main part of the dress and velvet -- which is fuzzy and anything but flat -- for the waistband. This, unfortunately, instead of making me look slimmer, made me look chunkier). 

New Project

Learning to Make My Own Patterns

Fast Forward many years (I'm not admitting how many). My nieces visited for the summer and, while looking for something to watch, stumbled upon the 5th season of Project: Runway. Since my niece Lara is also into designing (she designed the dress she wore to her sisters wedding and she also designed dresses for four of her younger sisters and her cousin for that wedding), she and two other of the girls (in later years, some of the younger girls also watched with me) and I got hooked on Project: Runway.

It was Project: Runway that got me back interested in my own designing and my niece and her hard work (and learning to create her own designs) that inspired me to try my hand again at creating. I have been designing fabric on Spoonflower and, in order to put my designs up for sale to others, I need to order swatches for myself. So I have a bunch of design swatches and I decided that I could start out with using them to create doll clothes.

February 13, 2012

I hope to use this lens to trace my progress. I am creating this lens today, February 13, 2012.

I still have my Flat Pattern Design book and I am using this book to teach myself step by step. I began by using some scrap paper to create a pattern for a 1/4 circle skirt, which seemed to me to be the easiest way to start. I drew the pattern and then cut it out in muslin (a friend of mine, knowing I wanted to eventually try to teach myself to sew my own clothes and create my own patterns, bought an entire bolt of muslin for me) to make a sloper (a muslin version of the garment using the pattern in order to work out the "bugs"). The picture here is of a partially sewn version of that sloper.

Last night, I used drawings in my Flat Pattern Design book and see-through graph paper to create a pattern for a simple blouse (front and back) and sleeve (see the photo in the module above). Today, I copied and scanned the paper pattern (so I wouldn't be using the original to cut the muslin and can reprint the pattern as needed). I used the copied pattern to cut out pieces for the muslin sloper for the blouse (see the photo at the beginning of this lens). Stay tuned for more progress as it happens.

February 14, 2012

Today, I sewed one side of the blouse sloper. I first sewed two darts in the front. then I sewed the shoulder of the front to the shoulder of the back, folding the center part over, since I will eventually need to sew in an area in front for snaps or other connectors.

I then pinned the sleeve to both the front and back cut out areas, pinning the highest part of the curve on the sleeve to the shoulder part I had just sewn together. I used the sleeve that I had previously hemmed at the wrist end.

February 15, 2012

So, as you can see, I sewed together most of the blouse sloper. I am definitely understanding why making the sloper is the first step -- I can see that when I cut the pattern, I didn't leave enough seam allowance (well, I more or less didn't leave any).

I also think that, perhaps, I need to try this with a kimono type blouse. I may begin all over again.

February 19, 2012

So, today I decided to try sewing the top and the bottom together to make a dress. Again, I'm finding out why one makes a sloper first. I've learned that I need to leave a bit of seam allowance, I need to hem the skirt before I sew up the side seam (though I've started another sloper of a circle skirt and did the hem first and then sewed up the side and from that I learned that I shouldn't sew up the entire hem -- I should leave a bit near the side and sew that after the side seam is sewn)

So I'm trying a new pattern.

(Later on Sunday the 19th:)

I had previously cut out another circle skirt -- I used that pattern to cut out a new skirt sloper (the one mentioned above, where sew up the entire hem and then realized I should have stopped close to the side seam and then I should have done the hem). It's a bit large -- longer than the first one (in the pic here) and wider. I may baste around the waist and gather it.

I also cut out another bodice/blouse/top pattern. This time I made it kimono style (since I had so much trouble putting the sleeves in on this one). I left plenty of seam allowance (ok, so it's a bit big, but that'll give me space to fit it better, I hope!)

Well, I'm starting to figure out why I had so much trouble with this class "back in the day" (as they say).......

add →

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Trying to Teach Myself to Create My Own Designs

When I was a teenager, I began taking the first steps to being a fashion designer. I learned to sew in classes in my town, in summer classes for students, and in adult education classes. I learned the basics of sewing, but, since I never had the opportunity to set up a room where my sewing machine (the gift I asked for when graduating High School) was set up permanently, it was difficult to motivate myself.

During this period, I also learned how to knit (in the summer program I attended for 6 summers, where I learned art and woodworking, among other things). I had already known how to crochet.

Since I didn't have the wherewithal or the patience to create clothes for myself (unless I had an already created pattern) I began creating doll clothes by knitting and crocheting them, using my own Barbie (or was it Malibu Francie?) as my model/mannequin. I sold them at a local consignment shop.

I also went to Fashion Institute of Technology. I tried taking Flat Pattern Design (twice) and Draping to use these skills to create my designs. By that time, I had begun creating drawings of clothing on tracing paper (I would trace the figure of a comic book character and draw clothing on them like these (the sketches on this page that aren't the jewelry). I have a collection of hundreds of designs (clothing, shoes, handbags) all of which have never been created -- they still exist on paper and in my head (I did actually have one created for me, but I discovered one problem with only designing in two dimensions -- I made a design error by using satin -- which is flat -- for the main part of the dress and velvet -- which is fuzzy and anything but flat -- for the waistband. This, unfortunately, instead of making me look slimmer, made me look chunkier).

photo

text

New Project

Learning to Make My Own Patterns

Fast Forward many years (I'm not admitting how many). My nieces visited for the summer and, while looking for something to watch, stumbled upon the 5th season of Project: Runway. Since my niece Lara is also into designing (she designed the dress she wore to her sisters wedding and she also designed dresses for four of her younger sisters and her cousin for that wedding), she and two other of the girls (in later years, some of the younger girls also watched with me) and I got hooked on Project: Runway.

It was Project: Runway that got me back interested in my own designing and my niece and her hard work (and learning to create her own designs) that inspired me to try my hand again at creating. I have been designing fabric on Spoonflower and, in order to put my designs up for sale to others, I need to order swatches for myself. So I have a bunch of design swatches and I decided that I could start out with using them to create doll clothes.

photo

text

February 13, 2012

I hope to use this lens to trace my progress. I am creating this lens today, February 13, 2012.

I still have my Flat Pattern Design book and I am using this book to teach myself step by step. I began by using some scrap paper to create a pattern for a 1/4 circle skirt, which seemed to me to be the easiest way to start. I drew the pattern and then cut it out in muslin (a friend of mine, knowing I wanted to eventually try to teach myself to sew my own clothes and create my own patterns, bought an entire bolt of muslin for me) to make a sloper (a muslin version of the garment using the pattern in order to work out the "bugs"). The picture here is of a partially sewn version of that sloper.

Last night, I used drawings in my Flat Pattern Design book and see-through graph paper to create a pattern for a simple blouse (front and back) and sleeve (see the photo in the module above). Today, I copied and scanned the paper pattern (so I wouldn't be using the original to cut the muslin and can reprint the pattern as needed). I used the copied pattern to cut out pieces for the muslin sloper for the blouse (see the photo at the beginning of this lens). Stay tuned for more progress as it happens.

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text

February 14, 2012

Today, I sewed one side of the blouse sloper. I first sewed two darts in the front. then I sewed the shoulder of the front to the shoulder of the back, folding the center part over, since I will eventually need to sew in an area in front for snaps or other connectors.

I then pinned the sleeve to both the front and back cut out areas, pinning the highest part of the curve on the sleeve to the shoulder part I had just sewn together. I used the sleeve that I had previously hemmed at the wrist end.

photo

text

February 15, 2012

So, as you can see, I sewed together most of the blouse sloper. I am definitely understanding why making the sloper is the first step -- I can see that when I cut the pattern, I didn't leave enough seam allowance (well, I more or less didn't leave any).

I also think that, perhaps, I need to try this with a kimono type blouse. I may begin all over again.

photo

text

February 19, 2012

So, today I decided to try sewing the top and the bottom together to make a dress. Again, I'm finding out why one makes a sloper first. I've learned that I need to leave a bit of seam allowance, I need to hem the skirt before I sew up the side seam (though I've started another sloper of a circle skirt and did the hem first and then sewed up the side and from that I learned that I shouldn't sew up the entire hem -- I should leave a bit near the side and sew that after the side seam is sewn)

So I'm trying a new pattern.

(Later on Sunday the 19th:)

I had previously cut out another circle skirt -- I used that pattern to cut out a new skirt sloper (the one mentioned above, where sew up the entire hem and then realized I should have stopped close to the side seam and then I should have done the hem). It's a bit large -- longer than the first one (in the pic here) and wider. I may baste around the waist and gather it.

I also cut out another bodice/blourse/top pattern. This time I made it kimono style (since I had so much trouble putting the sleeves in on this one). I left plenty of seam allowance (ok, so it's a bit big, but that'll give me space to fit it better, I hope!)

Well, I'm starting to figure out why I had so much trouble with this class "back in the day" (as they say).......

amazon

Pattern Making Books from Amazon

How to Draft Basic Patterns

Though my book has a different cover, I believe this is the book I have and am using.

 Buy Now

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March 9, 2012

So, as I mentioned before, I had cut a new skirt -- this is what I've done with the new skirt pattern since I cut it out. (In the pic, I put the new blouse pattern over the doll's chest)

March 11, 2012

This is what the blouse part looks like with the bottom darts sewn in. As you can see, while the skirt is big but can be gathered at the waist (which I did with some basting at the waist), the blouse is quite large and will need some alterations. I think you might now be able to tell why I had so much difficulty with Flat Pattern Design when I was in FIT.

March 20, 2012

Today, I sewed up the sides of the blouse piece. The sides are snug around the hips (which is further down than it ought to be) and loose everywhere else. The sleeves are a bit long, but they still need to be hemmed.

I do still need to put in some darts on top.

March 22, 2012

I decided the best way to fit the top (blouse) was to turn it inside out and put it on the doll. I pinned it on the doll, pinning the seams on the side I was sewing it.

March 25, 2012

Ok, so I sewed up the darts.

April 17, 2012 (Tuesday After Passover)

I had already pinned the two pieces together, so today, I finally sat myself down and sewed them together. Because the pattern for the top was way too big, I ended up laying it down sort of like a blouson (the back is pinned at the waist). The sleeves still aren't hemmed and, because it's a sloper, I'm not going to put a fastener in back.

May 8, 2012

Taking the plunge into actual fabric

Despite my lack of success with the muslin version of my pattern (OK, two abject failures), I decided I wanted to try actual fabric. Fortunately for me, in order to sell my fabric designs on Spoonflower, I had to buy swatches (or more, but, for the most part, I did buy swatches) of the designs. So I have a bunch of swatches, which are just about the right size to make a doll skirt. So I took the swatch of the fish design and worked with that. I cut out the pattern (I had scanned one of the patterns from the graph paper and I was able to print it off and use the pattern).

I still have to deal with the closure in the back (I used some of the leftover fabric to make a waistband) and I still have to hem the bottom, but it's not a horrible a start (I think, I hope).

June 27, 2012

Well, this is the best one I've done so far. I still have to hem this, and it is a bit tight around the hips, but I made it with an elastic waist.

July 11, 2012

I took some of the leftover fabric (after making the skirt, which still isn't hemmed) and am working on a top to go with the skirt. It'll be sleeveless and I probably won't hem this either (when I get to making my own clothes for me, I hope some time soon, I will hem them; keep in mind, it's easier to hem full size people clothes than fashion doll sized clothes). I also am showing you my sewing table here. This, for me, is neat.

Compugraph Designs Spoonflower Site

Spoonflower is a place where a designer can design his/her own fabric. I have some designs on fabric there -- click on the picture to see all the fabric designs.

Spoonflower also has a weekly contest where you can vote for your favorite design.

Brief Interlude -- July 26, 2012

While I'm still teaching myself pattern making and clothes making, I can sew a straight (or semi-straight?) line. So I've been taking some of my custom design fabric swatches (8" X 8") and making pillows out of them (with a piece of felt on the back). One of my friends saw the swatches I had and one of the pillows I had made and asked me to make a couple of pillow for her. (Read about how I created the design on the rightmost pillow in this lens.)

These are two I made for myself -- the one on the right has the design I used for one of the pillows I made for my friend (though I used a beige piece of felt for her pillow; black for my own).

Sewing Machine Day

I just found out today that September 10th is Sewing Machine Day. This may commemorate the day that the sewing machine was patented (the man credited with the invention is Elias Howe, but Isaac Singer perfected the up and down motion soon after.

Two alternate dates for Sewing Machine Day are March 1 and June 13.

Fast Forward to August 2015

So I've still been working on the idea of sewing my own clothes. But for now, I've sort of given up on making my own patterns. I decided that since my niece who is going to Fashion Institute, studying fashion design, was getting married, I'd surprise her by creating my own dress (which, actually, ended up as a two-piece) using a fabric that I designed based on the Jerusalem sky line (the wedding took place in Israel). The colors of the wedding were in the yellow/orange/brown range, so I created the outfit in the brown range. It was hardly perfect, but it worked and I got a lot of compliments on it.

Two days after the wedding was the bride's brother's Bar Mitzva (my nephew). So I made a dress for that event also.

The print design, also one I created, is a rainbow version of Lemonade. I figured the color blocking would be more flattering

So that brings us to October 2015

Another niece was getting married, so I created this dress with a print that has a grape motif (another of my fabric designs). We ended up not making it to the wedding, but we made שבע ברכות (Sheva Brakhot -- literally 7 Blessings -- it refers to the blessings that are said at the wedding and at any place where the bride and groom eat a meal, for the first week after the wedding, where there at least 10 males over the age of 13) -- it's sort of a dinner party. So I wore the dress there.

And Beyond (into 2016)

I decided to make a dress from a curtain. I haven't worn it yet....