Harlequin Hoodie - Cosplay or Fashion?

I got home from a fire show the other night, exhausted from a very long day.  As I was unloading the car, my body told me she was quite finished, and instead of carefully bending down to place the fire show box on the floor, I dropped it from about 2 feet up.

It exploded.

I think what happened was that the micro torch we use as a lighter was packed awkwardly, and the duvetyn fire retardant cloth was piled over the top of the box thickly, holding in any residual fumes from the fire eating torches and fuel can inside the box.  When I dropped the box, the big red button on the micro torch got tapped, and the resulting spark ignited the fumes and set the whole thing on fire. 

It was quite exciting.  As luck would have it, I happened to have a huge pile of duvetyn fire retardant cloth immediately to hand, and Darrell rushed over and bravely stuck his hand into the flames to pull out both of the full fuel cans, keeping the blaze from spreading to the rest of our house and garage.  I put out the rest of the flaming stuff, took a few deep breaths, realized I wasn't feeling tired at ALL anymore, and then checked myself for damage.

I got a little first degree burn under one arm (think, a bad sunburn about 4x5 inches) but was otherwise unscathed.  Darrell got away with a little singed arm hair.

The worst of the trouble was that my favorite purple swirly hoodie got all melted on one side.  SIGH.

So, the next morning I wandered into the sewing room and perused my mountain of fleece, selected a few colors that excited me, and made this:

It's a harlequin-inspired hoodie, sporting black and white diamond checkers and maroon and purple fleece.  It's got super fun sleeves and a curly hood with a little golden bell at the end.  Because, Harlequin.  The collar is also super duper cute - I made it curl down jauntily and it makes me all sorts of happy.

Let me know what you think!  Does it say Harlequin to you?  Or Nascar?  (The checkered flag thing might throw people off) Is it too costume-y?  Not costume-y enough?  Just right?  Leave me a comment!  This is rev 1, so I may sell it on my Etsy store or I may keep it, but I'd love any ideas for improvements and (ahem) bells and whistles.

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New Embroidery Machine Review - Brother SE400

My new embroidery machine arrived today!!!  I am SO excited.

It's a Brother SE400 Embroidery and Sewing Machine.  Originally I got the PE500, but the 500 does only embroidery, not regular sewing, and keeping that one would mean I would have to manage 3 sewing machines - one for sewing, one for embroidery, and my beloved Babylock serger.

I may just embroider penguins on EVERYTHING

I'm quite excited about it so far.

It comes with a whole bunch of preset embroidery designs, and you pretty much just get it threaded and then push "go", and change the thread when it's ready for the next color.  It's really super easy.  It also has 4 fonts so I can get it to spell stuff out.  Now I can stitch my name into my underwear!

I am fighting the urge to secretly embroider sparkly purple My Little Ponies on the butt of all Darrell's pants.

It's got a touch screen control panel, filled with icons which are slightly mystifying, but which claim to allow you to edit the size and rotation of the embroidery designs.  It also has a USB port so I can theoretically load in my own designs, although that promises to be a bit of a nightmare - the software is not mac compatible, and it takes a special .pes file format, and I haven't got the first clue about how to convert, say, my logo into an embroiderable design.

My first test was (of course) on fleece and it seems to like the fleece just fine.  I'm excited to see how this new machine enhances my hoodie designs.  Yay, Embroidery!

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Steampunk Fleece Jacket - Men's M/L

It's done!  It's done at long last.  Steampunk-inspired stuff sure is labor-intensive.  It's all about the details.

This is a Marino Gray fleece Steampunk Jacket.  It's not so steamy that it can't be worn with regular clothes, but the cut and the details invoke the Steampunk aesthetic.  I've been wanting to do a steampunk style hoodie for a long time, and this is my first foray into the genre.. so it's not "over the top" but I really do love how it turned out.

The buttons at the breast and collar are gorgeous metal coat-of-arms style, and there's a chain linking across the front and the sleeve.  It also has subtle metal gears on the front left, and a handy sleeve pocket as well as two regular pockets.  The spiral embroidery motif is worked in shiny copper thread, and just picks up the light in a fairly subtle way.  I used a shiny gold metal zipper on this one as well.

It's a men's size 40, which is a teensy bit small on my hubby, so I'm in search of a model... so let me know if you wanna try it on and let me take pictures of you in it.

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Men's Flame Hoodie - The Fire Inside

This hoodie was a custom order for an old friend who used to fire dance with me.  Due to a car accident a while back, he's not able to do much fire dancing anymore so he wanted a hoodie that lets him express that fiery nature regardless.

I love how it turned out.  I didn't get the greatest pictures, since I wanted to ship it out quickly.. but the details on this one are fabulous.  There are flames embroidered on the sleeves and on the front, and the edges have a really cool embroidery pattern along them.  There are inside and outside pockets, and the tip of the hood is red, which is super fun.

To make this hoodie, I took design ideas from three different hoodies I've made in the past.  The main pattern was the same as the Legolas Hoodie, and the design was of course modeled on my flame hoodie.  I also took a few elements from this Samurai hoodie I made for my hubby ages ago (which he still wears all the time and it's in amazing condition.. I wish MY hoodies lasted that long, but I am pretty hard on them!)

My fiery friend promised he'd send me pics when it gets there.. I hope he does, I can't wait to see it on him.  :)

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Forest Faerie Hoodie Revisited

Christmas 2009 there was a serger under the tree.

I got it out of the box and spent hours twiddling with it, learning to thread it, and jumping up and down excitedly.  I'd wanted a serger for years, and now that I had it, I wanted to make something amazingly beautiful and warm, just for Me.  Enter: my first hoodie.

I chewed up a whole box of colored pencils sketching, deciding on each seam, each detail, each line.  I drew so many different sleeves that I fell asleep dreaming of sleeve designs.. and this multi-leaf design (which has become a bit of a signature for me) came to me in a dream that night.

It took me about 2 weeks of sewing (and re-sewing), and what resulted was the first ever Forest Faerie Hoodie.  I fell absolutely in love with it and have worn it almost constantly for 2 years now.  I've spilled on it, slept in it, walked and biked in it, gone camping in it, and once dropped a flaming torch on it while showing off my fire eating skillz.  It's still my favorite hoodie.

However, after two full years of warm cuddly goodness, and watching other hoodies come and go and not quite measure up, I decided it was time for a new Forest Faerie Hoodie. 

I've gotten a bit better at making hoodies since that first try, and two years of wearing this hoodie gave me loads of ideas for improvements:  

• I ride my bike in the cold, cold morning air and my upper arms still get cold.  New hoodie has double-thick sleeves that go all the way up.
• The pockets are warm but my hands fill them up.  New hoodie has inside pockets for phones and headphones and junk, leaving the main pockets free for my hands.
• The embroidery was sort of wiggly, as it was my first try and I didn't know what the heck I was doing.  I have since learned about stabilizer.  New hoodie's embroidery is *gorgeous.*
• The lighter green hem was always kind of bunchy.  New hoodie has a simpler embroidered hem that's smooth and hugs my hips.

This hoodie is the reason Fire Pixie Fashion exists.  I am wearing the new one now and it's soft and delicious and warm and oh so delightful.   I'm not sure how it is that clothing can make me so happy on so many levels.

Now.. what do I do with the old one?  I'm not one to keep things in the back of my closet for sentimental value, and it's a bit too worn out to sell "used."  Maybe I should gift it?  Advice?

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Forest Faerie Coat - Finishing Touches

Finished up this coat yesterday and I shipped it off to Hawaii. :) It's hard to see them go!! They're so PRETTY when they're all brand-new and shiny.

I do have another project on the drawing board, and I also am feeling the urge to:

1. Make more little stuff - gloves, scarves, hats, etc (my Etsy store feels kinda empty)

2. Make some how-to videos

So stay tuned...

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Wildwood Elf Coat Finished & Listed on Etsy

This coat is finished!  It told me it's the Wildwood Elf Coat.  :)

It's been photographed, and listed on Etsy.  :)  Enjoy!

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"Deep in the Forest" Coat Preview

I've been experimenting.  :)

I tried a lot of new things with this hoodie.  It was really fun to make.  I am getting to the point where I am confident enough with my basic designs that I can really start to play with the details and not worry too much about the outcome.. I can generally fix anything that goes to far awry and I'm relaxing enough that the "mistakes" or oddities seem to add to the overall look instead of detracting.  Also, making mistakes sometimes leads to a brand new idea that I wouldn't have come up with otherwise.  Love when that happens.

I'm still tweaking on this guy.. there are a few more little changes I want to make and lines I want to clean up, etc, but it's so close to being finished and so unusual and fun that I really wanted to put up some pics.  Please let me know what you think.


Also, not sure what to call this one.  It makes me feel like I'm deep in the forest, so right now it's the "Deep in the Forest" coat, but I think I can do better....  (sorry about the weird lighting but the weather is quite exciting right now)

the back is my favorite part.  The spiral hood design inspired the whole thing.

from the front.. the triangle neckline is really interesting to me

I love how long the hood is and I really like the sleeve cuffs, they're cool

pocket flaps are nifty too.  :)  

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Fleece iPad case

I got my hubby an iPad for christmas, and yesterday I made him this fleecy case.

It turned out a little bit girly, but it's pretty cool.  It closes with velcro at the top so the iPad won't slide out.  It makes me happy..  It's making the fraggles happy too.  I might add a strap or a charging port or something if I make another one.. but this took me 10 minutes, and is perfectly suited to its purpose.

I adore easy quick projects sometimes.  There's a certain kind of satisfaction that comes from finishing a high-end, labor intensive coat, but another kind that comes from 10-minutes-to-DONE!

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Peacock Pullover Hoodie with Sparkly Purple Seams

 I just finished this Peacock pullover a couple days ago.  I had a lot of fun with this one.  I started with this peacock fleece panel, and the fun part was laying out the hoodie so that the peacocks' eyes and feathers all ended up in the right places and the lines flowed well.

This was a bit of a challenge.. I took a long time deciding what should be the front, how to fit the sleeves, etc.  I finally decided to add the blue panel underneath the sleeves because I could lay the fabric out better that way.

Originally I'd planned for the peacock fabric to go all the way around the body, but when I cut and sewed the sides of the garment, the whole thing came out WAY too busy.. so I decided to extend the blue down the sides as well and I'm really happy with the result!

I decided not to put a hood on, so the peacock on the back could peek at you without being covered up.

The cuffs are done in purple ultra-cuddle fabric, which is very soft and really nice to the touch.  I experimented a lot before I decided on the seam color.. there are so many colors in this fabric that *everything* looked good!

However, being the Princess that I am, I simply can't resist sparkly purple.  The seams really add a lot to the look, and add texture and shine (sparkly is GOOD!!)

I originally did the side seams and underarm seams on the inside, also using sparkly purple thread, but .. the stuff that makes the purple thread sparkly also makes it a little itchy.  I am not willing to wear itchy things!  I redid the inside seams with soft ordinary purple thread.

More pictures in the photo gallery.  Also it's for sale on Etsy.

Let me know what you think about this one.  It's so unusual and so bright!  I think I'm going to make one out of this Dolphin fleece panel next.

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Glovies and Fleecy Arm Warmers

I love making gloves and arm warmers.  They're quick to make, satisfying in that "I just made three finished products in under an hour" kind of way, and they use up extra fabric scraps so I don't have so much waste.  LOVE that.

I really adore having them too.  They add bright color to any outfit, and they're all funky and stylish and stuff.

I've listed a few pairs on Etsy .. take a look if you have a minute!  These make great stocking stuffers, or else really nice "just for me" presents.  :) :) :)

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Mad Hatter Fleece Tailcoat

For Halloween, my hubby Darrell wanted to be the Mad Hatter.. he had just about all the costume bits except for a good Mad Hatter Tailcoat, so .. since I had a bunch of fleece on hand, I made one up for him out of cozy dark blue anti-pill fleece.

Of course, Halloween in San Francisco was unseasonably warm, so he ended up running around with it under his arm for all of Halloween.  Ah, well.  He still looked darn good.

However, the fleece tailcoat has found its purpose.  He puts it on first thing in the morning now that the weather is turning chilly.. and I must say it delights me to see him so scruffy and yet somehow so formal while sipping his tea.

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