DIY: Sewing An Organic Corset Dress

Yay! Here is another organic cotton sewing video on how to put together a corset dress.
This 'corset dress' is made with 100% organic cotton fabric with low impact dyes sourced locally from Spiritex for under $5! It's made from end of the mill scraps - and I can say this project is not as easy as my other tutorials but is well worth the time spent crafting it. The biggest challenges for me were that the base fabric was not stretchy which doesn't leave room for sizing mistakes, creating the corset look takes a little more time and patience to piece together and lace up, and attempting to make blah fabric look sassy takes some planning. I made this project to see if i could possibly take very boring tan checkered pattern fabric and turn it into something sexy and fun - the style is inspired by the many drawings of woman's clothing I did in the 80's as a child.

PS- You will want to add a zipper, side ties or some other open/close device on the sides if you don't use stretch fabric.

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE!
Let me know what you think...

xoxo

(Learning to) Sew With Local Organic Cotton Part 4

Trust me when I say that I know I went a little too short on this organic cotton jumper, with that said I think it would be rockin' with various long/cap sleeve tops & some leggings - (but I only have purple leggies and didn't want to mess up the pic.) This sassy little jumper is made from 100% locally woven organic cotton and upcycled buttons I cut off some funky thrift garb, totalling $3. It's meant to ride right under or at the bustline, and the buttons actually do work they are not just for decorative flare. I got the design idea from a Feel Good Style article featuring some cute eco summer fashion, so I can not claim the design as my own, but I am searching out cute outfits to help me learn to sew just by looking at the picture.

All you need to make this jumper is some organic cotton, or upcycle cotton fabric (stretchy is better- mine is not stretchy enough), and scissors, thread, measuring tape and two buttons. I have not figured out how to sew a button on my sewing machine yet, the directions are so BLEH I can't understand them. But sewing buttons by hand was really nice since I started zoning out into a peaceful creative state. OM!

PS- In the Picture are the second hand red cowgirl boots I got that I said I would wear "everyday forever" and so far I have...even when it doesn't match at all. :)

(Learing to Sew) With Local Organic Cotton Part 3

This is my latest project using locally grown and woven organic cotton from the scrap box at Spiritex (located downtown Asheville NC). But there is something totally different and exciting about this creation, and that is the fabric was originally undyed natural organic cotton (off white) and this is the fabric I made my own natural non toxic dye for! The bottom portion of the sundress was dyed with plum skins from the fermenting plums on the ground under my landlady's tree. The top panels are textured organic cotton and were dyed with a mixture of grass, onion skins, and the left over plum dye making a dusty barely there pink. I love it! I made up the sewing pattern based on a few organic summer dresses I had seen and loved, in attempts to make my very own. I think this dress would look hot in a bright red! The total cost of the project was under $5... now that is saving some green!

Learning To Sew: Local Organic Cotton Part 2

This is my second project using locally woven organic cotton I bought from Spiritex, an Asheville organic clothing & fabric store. This was actually scrap fabric too, which I purchased for around $2, it was rolled into a little black ball of organic cottony goodness. I won't claim the design as my own, the reason this skirt is especially adorable (besides that my wrinkly bug bite covered knees are accenting the piece) is because I used the coolest book ever to get the idea! Generation T 108 Ways To Transform a T-shirt is the freaking greatest book for beginning and advanced crafters- the projects are totally easy and some of them blew my mind. The finale' project is a wedding dress made entirely of white t-shirts! The book came out a while back, long enough that I am certain every crafty New Yorker has seen it - but I had never laid eyes on such innovation. Love it! This sexy skirt is my very first project I tried from the book, and although it said to make one straight tube I had to actually make a bit of a triangle shape to get it right. The satin ribbons are even organic! Yippee! <3

(Learning to) Sew With Local Organic Cotton

My mom never taught me to sew, she barely could sew a button on a shirt after popping off, she was more of the "let's go to the mall and get something new instead" type. When I was 10 she tried putting me in sewing classes for a week but I puked at class (had some flu) and missed the important lessons - my only memory besides the toilet in the ClothWorld was that I had coaxed the sewing instructor's son to actually finish my project for me. (Super fulgy shorts and top.) When I was in college I finally got my first sewing machine, which I mainly used on mixed media art projects that were not at all meant to push through the thing, and I nearly killed my sewing machine 100 times. To my surprise the only person I met who knew how to sew at the time was yet another boy- Rodney Tassistro. He taught me how to load the bobbin and push fabric through and even got me to try out a actual pattern. I stuck mostly to sewing art though, since I could not be tamed by the rules of sewing clothes.
I have been making frankenstein-ish outfits on occasion ever since, but recently i am determined to really learn to sew. Here is a picture of what I threw together yesterday morning, made with locally grown, milled, woven organic cotton I bought at Spiritex. It was actually a ball of scraps with a rubber band around it for like $2, and I barely put thought or work into it - but best believe I am going to sport this thing. The belt is something my neighbor Heather picked up for me at a flea market :) ... I love when hippies get sick of their cool beaded shit!

New Organic Lingerie By On The Inside

Have you been wishing for some new organic lingerie to come on the green scene, the kind that is so comfy, so sexy and so totally organic!?! Me too! And the real kicker here is it is actually an affordable price (I know I know, it's like the Jeanie in the lamp really listened). Locally based lingerie designer On The Inside has now delved into using organic cotton in some of her skivvies, and aren't we all glad because her stuff is super cute and will be available at The Oko Box sometime this week! She not only is local to the Asheville NC area, but she uses organic cotton fabrics that are woven locally too by Spiritex. And to top that off Spiritex uses North Carolina threads to weave with. Crazy huh, and then The Oko Box is local to them. This is a very locally local organic lingerie project with a light footprint & we would like to share it with everyone! Be looking forward to some new organic panties, cami's and bra sets at The Oko Box.