Happy Spring!

A tiny sampling of pictures taken in the shop in the last 3 weeks. (Most of these things are sold, but the the black velvet gown, green party dress, the yellow day dress, and chiffon dress with open balloon sleeves-- are all still available.  I also have the white unform jacket in a larger size.).   So much fresh merch---- so much ironing to do!  

The peek-a-boo Abe shirt

Often when I'm hunched over needle and thread behind the counter in the shop I'm really just goofing off with my own clothes.  For example, this is the new Peek-a-Boo Abe shirt I've been playing around with lately

 It was a plain button down shirt that I liked simply for its soft cotton lavender stripes (plus it was already sorta nicely beat up).   I more or less rehashed it into a practical summer blouse with a bunch of one-of-a-kind details.

After cutting off the sleeves and mending a few holes

 I (1) made exterior armhole facings in contrasting stripes

(2)  derailed the stripes on one side of the collar for a sort of cubist mitered look,  

 (3) made a checkerboard-ish patch for the left pocket,  and
(4)  made an asymmetrical flap out of one of the leftover cuffs for the other pocket.



I opened up the top-stitching on the cuff/flap and inserted a 5 dollar bill, folded almost exactly to the size of the flap.  I sewed it back together, opened up a little porthole for Abe's face, and finished it off with white bias tape.    The idea here is to have a secure pocket that A) an ipod would not fall out of during a bike ride, and B) could hold a hard-to-get-at 5-spot to cover me in a flat tire or dehydration emergency.  I'm pretty sure I've rigged it so the only way of getting at the bill is to open up the stitching or cut the cloth.  We'll see.