Fruition from Vintage Inspiration

The Making of My Strapless Lolita Dress

To start you off, I have had the slip that inspired this design for over ten years. It came to me via my dad via Bunny Bilson, a little tiny lady who lived in the White Mountains and at one point in time formed a sweet friendship with my--at the time--teenaged father. She was a ridiculously bad ass woman under five feet tall. After she died in 1993 my dad bought her house and everything inside of it--which is what she had wanted-- and all of her clothing became mine. Most of the textiles deteriorated at a single finger tip tough, but a few pieces had held up to the tests of mothballs and time quite well. Here is the story of one of the tougher items in the bunch.

Part #1

Nice to Meet You

Circa late 40's-early 50s.

Simple and just right in every way.

Semi-sheer cotton, boned bustier, elastic paneling, metal side zipper.

And of course it also has very pointy coned boob cups which was in vogue at the time. 

(I have them pinned flat in the above photos.)

Part # 2

The Muslin

Created July 2019

After painstakingly seam ripping this prized slip into pieces I preserved them in the form of a paper pattern. I kept this unadjusted version so I have the ability to exactly replicate the original if if I want to (it makes me feel just a little less heart broken about ripping apart the real thing). But now comes the fun part: designing and creating the dress inspired by this slip, not just recreating the slip. 

Here is the very simple drawing of changes I wanted make to the original

Lolita style skirt

Welt pockets

Flatter cups

Exposed back zip

Upper edge detailing

Adjusting the cups definitely took the most revisions, but finally they looked right.

 I love the way a marked up muslin looks.

But then comes the worst part. 

The sometime gun-wrenching bit.

You rip apart the muslin, seam ripping all seams being sure not the stretch anything knit or tear anything woven. Muslins should come apart pretty easily as they should mostly be sewn with a basting stitch.

Making sure to transfer the relevant markings, use the muslin pieces to create your final paper pattern. 

Once you've got your pattern completed the fun start all over again.

Except this time you'll be working with your final material.

So it's time to put that sharpie and seam ripper away.

Part #3

Nice to Meet You, Silky

Created July 2019

I chose a dusky purplish-gray silk that I fund at Kats Exclusive Fabric located in Borough Park, Brooklyn. Kat's is one of my all time favorite fabric stores. From the outside it looks small, but oddly intimidating as you have to ring a doorbell and it always looks closed. But their selection is insanely gorgeous, and the store is bigger than it looks boasting three stories of textiles.

The welt pocket turned out just as I had pictured.

The inside big of the pocket is attached at the waistline so that the weight of anything in the pocket won't reduce the fullness of the skirt. The weight hangs directly from the structured waistline.

The historical context in which women's clothing does not have functional--if any--pockets is information for another day. But suffice it to say I take pockets very seriously, particularly in womenswear. 

Voila!

Excuse the sweat spot. 

It's hot in NYC in the summer. 

Showing off that nice exposed zipper // a nice akimbo stance.

I couldn't be any happier with this thing. Though I anticipate much frustration scaling up those boob cups if anybody wants to order one in a not-Kelsey size.

Call of Booty: Garbedge Booty Shorts 101

First things first.

Call of Booty is an awesome pun.

Right from the very beginning, the booty shorts and ladies' boxer briefs were my top sellers. Good for everything from sleeping to wearing underneath a dress to avoid bearing your unders during wind or cartwheel season, they are also cute, and quick to make. 

My favorite variety have the fold-over waist band. We'll start with those.

This allows for an adjustable rise--meaning that depending on how you fold 'em, they can sit low around your hips or high up towards your belly button. It also makes them easy to fit, a factor that becomes especially important when buying clothes online. Because the shorts don't have any added elastic band in the waist, they won't cut into the fleshier parts of the hips. Still snug and firm around the waist, the fold-over waist band adjusts to fit just right. 

Then of course there is this classic:

The Drawstring 

This waistband allows for some of the same flexibility the fold-over waistband does, also adding an extra little flare. While the drawstring shorts can't be adjusted in terms of the rise, custom changes can  easily be made to the design for those who want higher waisted shorts.  

IT NEVER HURTS TO ASK!

I love to make custom tweaks to your garment so that you are indeed getting exactly what you're looking for! I very rarely charge extra for custom changes--unless of course the request requires me to make an entirely new pattern, or uses significantly more materials. 

I sew my own cording for the drawstring shorts, so not only will the cord match and look just right, but it will give and stretch just like the rest of the shorts do.

___________________________________

Aside from the waistband, 

there are some other crucial distinctions to make, most importantly between the three styles of shorts I sell. So far we've seen only the true booty shorts. 

Here's one more, for good measure.

Next, we have the... 

Boxer Briefs. 

These are very different from the booty shorts. They have a completely different design, shape, feel, and look. These shorts are excellent loungewear, great for the gym or for yoga, wonderful under skirts and dresses, and great simply on their own. Originally, I designed these shorts by special request on Etsy. A women had written to me requesting a pair of sleep shorts that would "hold" her thighs. She was six months pregnant and terribly uncomfortable at night.  She had always been one to sleep naked or in her husband's boxers, which no longer fit her. And the naked thing, she said, was more uncomfortable feeling than any clothing. The buyer requested that there be no seam running through the crotch (at least, not one in line with the butt crack) as well as a sturdy fit that would feel secure and not bunchy.  

The result was my Ladies' Boxer Briefs, A.K.A. The Cup Your Bum and Hold Your Thighs shorts.

These are hands down my top selling item and receive nothing but rave reviews. Here's what I did: I moved the crotch seam to the sides of the legs, and added a square panel into the crotch so that the shorts are virtually wedgie proof. Because there is no seam in the crotch, they can be worn with or without underwear. The inseam is just about 6" in length, though, this can easily be shortened or lengthened by request.

Heather gray Ladies' Boxer Briefs 

Last of all there's the...

Bloomers!

These shorts have a basic design similar to the classic booty shorts with a few crucial changes that create an adorable elastic bloomer. These shorts have a basic waistband--meaning, it's not a fold-over and it's not drawstring. Instead the same soft jersey that composes the body of the shorts extends up into a fold. Depending on the sturdiness of the fabric you choose, I do sometimes add a very soft and giving elastic into the waistband for extra elasticity.

The next feature of these shorts lots of loose gathered fabric around the booty, sides of the legs and front, creating a loose feel and that bloomery poof we all love so much. The hems of each leg are gathered into a soft jersey band, completing the bloomer shape. These shorts are particularly nice for yoga and lounging in my opinion. Because of the loose fit of the material--not to mention the wonderful stretch--they allow for a superb range of movement, yet because the hems fit snugly around the thigh, they stay in place and hide your unders and don't ride up.

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Forever Yours from the Garbedge Etsy: Clothing booties since 2014.

Thrifting a New Etsy Listing

 I scored this pretty pink floral material at a thrift store a few months ago. It was the first time I'd been into Threads of Hope, and they had some siqq shit for a fabric hungry seamstress.  What better way to kill the 15 minutes I had before my psychiatry appointment? If I can't have NYC's Garment District at my finger tips anymore, at least I can thrift me some good textiles here and there.

 The floral is slinky and hard to keep folded, which, as any good textile hoarder knows is the most obnoxious quality a fabric can have. After it slithered off my fabric shelf and onto the floor for just about the millionth time I decided it was time to get it off my shelf. 

I had been desperately wanting to put a few new summer designs in my Etsy shop, so I made this flouncy little number. (Skirt is available here in sizes XS-3XL). 

Gathered. Elastic waistband. Lightweight. Slinky. Rolled hem. 

I'm keeping one for myself, because this is going to be the summer of wearing things I don't usually wear. This means, I'm coming for you, dresses! I'm coming for you skirts and above all, I'm coming for you, not-wearing-the-same-thing-everyday. Summer is busy for me, and Garbedge Clothes is seriously still lacking in debuting summer items. So here. Here is a very simple summery skirt that I made just for you (anybody, really). But mostly just for you. 

BUY THIS BABY BEFORE THEY ARE GONE!

 I only have enough fabric for 2-4 more skirts, depending on what size(s) people order.

Visits from Garbedge Past: A Year in Review

Revisiting some of my favorite garments from 2014

1

Repurposed vest made entirely from Kai's cast-off Carhartt pelts. 

There were a few incarnations before I was happy with the style, but in the end she was a pieced together femm beauty.

Sold to sweet Geraldine in Ireland.

Geraldine's review of her purchase: "My favourite item in my wardrobe!" 

2

Button down linen crop top in black and brown with scavenged copper buttons.

Sold to a sweetheart in Pasadena, California.

3

Brown linen tulip skirt with brown canvas waist. 

Also sold to Geraldine in Ireland. Girl's got style...!

4

Open-back linen tank with pater pan collar.

Also, ignore my attempts at modeling, or in other words, don't look at me!

Sold to a lady in Reno. Her item review:

"Ahhhhmazing quality and detail. The sizing is true to fit. Shipment was on time. Comfortable and sexy. Killer shop! Love love love."

Oh, my self indulgence...

5

The Rheanin top. 

Made from yet another one of Kai's discarded and oversized teeshirts. 

I was particularly attached to this one, as it came right off the RAW runway in Brooklyn.

First Garbedge Fashion Show; maybe the last Garbedge fashion show.

I was happy to see it sell to someone in Vermont.

6

This striped ruffled tank-top that's hangin' off of little Allie.

Sold to Miss Urban in NYC.

Six seems like a weird number to land on, but my favorites are my favorites.

Happy 2015 everybody. It's a comin!

Cleanin' Out the Garbedge Closet

...and you know what that means!

FREE CLOTHES!

If you pay for shipping, I will send you these hand-made articles of clothing for free. I just want them to have good homes. 

First up, there's this extra tiny tee.

What a stud, right?

XS

The sleeves are made of a paint studded cotton bottom-weight, and the rest is a super stretchy soft jersey. This top is real old-school Garbedge from the Devoe Street days in Brooklyn, when my bike had a place to hang in the hallway, and Maya and I were building a vegetable garden in the courtyard, and I slept by the ceiling in a bunk bed with Chessy.

Next up, we've got  the Endless Struggle Teeshirt Dress

XS

Made from the cast-off XL teeshirt of my old landlord, a skateboarding, ex-edgman Brooklyn daddy of two with a knack for sculpture and hella clothes to bestow upon me to meet my sewing dreams.

Do you have a tiny butt?

These might be for you.

XS

Waistband: 26"

Rise: 8.5"

Inseam: 26.5"

These jeans are made of a heavy cotton canvas. 

Reinforced with copper rivets.

X pocket detailing.

My best guess would be that these are a 00, but I'm not entirely sure.  

All I know is that they are too little for my booty. 

Just a note: the machine I use for rivets and tack buttons happens to be named THE DEEP THROAT.

Just sayin'.

And then...

The scoop-neck elegant tee. 

I don't have any good pictures of these, but you get the idea.

This shirt has no ribbing around the sleeves or neckline, so the shirt drapes in a real pretty and simple way. There is a decorative seam running up the back. 

I have 6 of these in stock right now: Two pale gray, two white, one bluish gray, and one in lace. They are all a size M.

LENGTH (shoulder to hem) 23.5"

SCOOP NECK 4"

HIPS 36"

BUST 39"

Black Jersey Tunic Top

S

This top is made of a super light-weight black jersey. 

It's almost long enough to be a dress. Almost.

Measurements:

+24.5" LENGTH (shoulder to hem)

+30" WAISTLINE (at seam)


If you are interested in anything, please e-mail me at garbedgeclothingdesigns@gmail.com.

Check out my etsy shop, too!
etsy.com/shop/garbedgeclothes