Saturday, May 19, 2012

Cut-Up Couture by Koko Yamese





Sculptural Dress with Deep Collar






Tunic

Balloon Top
Blouse with Buttoned Shoulders
Draped Blouse
I ordered the book, Cut-Up Couture by Koko Yamase, from Amazon without having seen it in person at all. I just loved the concept and the photos of projects on the cover. When it arrived I jumped on it right away and started plotting. Most garments are made with Large or XLarge sweatshirts or tee shirts. I thought my DH had some but he couldn't or wouldn't come up with any to spare. I sleuthed around and found a web-site, Cheapestees.com, that sells such things cheap. I ordered a bunch which arrived quickly. 

You use one, two or three sweatshirts, cut them according to the easy to understand instructions and illustrations, sew for a few minutes, and, voila.... you have something else. Talk about re-purposing! These are fun, fun, to make. The Draped Blouse (using one men's XL sweatshirt) took me 20 minutes to make, including the cutting. The Tunic, using 2 red short sleeve T-shirts and velvet ribbon took a little bit longer. The Balloon Top uses one men's Large sweatshirt and satin ribbon. It was a bit more confusing to construct but still quick. 

My favorite is the Sculptural Dress with Deep Collar made from one Large and one XL men's sweatshirt. My DH thinks I look like an elf in this.

I also made the Blouse with Buttoned Shoulders which uses 3 long sleeve Men's Large sweatshirts. This took the longest to construct because of the 10 buttonholes. Now I have to figure out what to do with the top half of 3 large sweatshirts. It can be worn 4 or 5 different ways including a skirt and harem pants (not to be photographed on me) depending how you button it.

I also tried the Inside-Out Blouse from T-Shirt. It was thrown away within 15 minutes. Ugly on me. Maybe good on you.

For fun, easy, youthful projects try this book. There are also designs using men's dress shirts and neckties. Cute also.

5 comments:

velosews said...

Wow. You look amazing. The styling and colours you've used at just so stunning.

Gail said...

The buttoned shoulder top is just amazing. I love your style - it is so consistent.

Terri K said...

Ann I had the same reaction to this book when I bought it, also unseen, from Amazon. I am in the process of moving and setting up my sewing room so I haven't been able to start new projects yet. Thank you for showing us the interesting pieces you made from this book. I liked so many of Koko's ideas I didn't know which to make first.

Anonymous said...

I've made two things from the book so far and loving it!! Thanks for sharing.

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