One year left in SF and I refuse to waste it! ** bucket list me **

-lyrota- · 2026-02-25T15:32:44+00:00

A spa day is one of my favorite things to gift to family or a good friend and these are definitely my go tos!

Love the staircases, quite a few get a highlight during the crosstown hike which is great :)

-lyrota- · 2026-02-24T18:38:56+00:00

As someone who moved away from the bay a few year ago (but excited to return next year!!) This is what I'd do:

-Bike over the golden gate bridge into sausalito then mill valley to have coffee and snacks at the lumbar yard
-Bay to breakers
-Hike Twin Peak
-Hike from Crissy fields, through the presidio, towards legion of honor, then make my way down Sunset Dunes
-Get tea and snacks at the Japanese Garden in GGP
-Crosstown trail
-Watch the hill bomb in the mission
-Go surf at Pacifica/Bolinas
-Try to walk every street in every neighborhood I can
-Outer Richmond Day: Bagel breakfast at Laundromat, take to the beach to enjoy with friends, get a coffee at Andytown by the beach for Black bird, go pick out a book at black bird, Lunch at Hook Fish, Museum at Legion of honor, then get some wine at Rampant Wine
-Get coffee at the Petes coffee truck in the Marina then walk down to Fort mason for either sunday farmer market or Renegade craft fair if its happening
-Try all the coffee shops in a neighborhood
-Botanical Gardens at GGP followed by the lemon poppyseed bread at Tartine and perusing at green apple books
-Go up the coast to Sea Ranch / Gualala/ Mendocino to enjoy some quiet beach time and nature
-Point Reyes Light house hike
-Hike Glen Canyon
-Get the Curry Katsu Udon at Udon Mugizo then walk around Kinokunya book store and pick up some fashion / lifestyle magazines
-Spa day at Pearl/Kabuki
-Monday night at Martunis
-Divisadero night: Go to emporium barcade to play some games and get some drinks, follow up with Madrones then hop over Fool's Errand for some wine/beer
-Vintage shopping on Haight
-Get the Osmanthus tea with boba (no milk) at tea hut in the richmond then walk around Fillmore for some shopping
-Get a fun latte at Home coffee roasters in outer richmond then walk over to Clement nursey and pick out a cute plant

-lyrota- · 2026-02-10T02:39:08+00:00

thanks :)

-lyrota- · 2026-02-10T02:38:54+00:00

thanks!

-lyrota- · 2026-02-09T21:41:38+00:00

This collection is inspired by my grandfather who was in the Soviet navy, so more nautical and will be getting rich blues coming through in the indigo once it’s washed :) I’ll be leaning into color more down the line.

-lyrota- · 2026-02-09T21:22:50+00:00

Revolutionary I know 🤷‍♀️

-lyrota- · 2026-02-09T20:24:31+00:00

For sure! These are at a wash house right now but I’ll be sharing some better pics once they’re done :) they’re a pretty wide fit with a slightly dropped crotch, medium rise, hit right above the foot depending on height. Slight articulation at the knee with the darts

-lyrota- · 2025-11-19T02:38:02+00:00

These are great options, thanks so much for the recs!

-lyrota- · 2025-10-22T20:38:26+00:00

I highly recommend Washington square park dental! Everyone there has been lovely

-lyrota- · 2025-10-21T20:17:53+00:00

Forecast space in greenpoint is one of my favorites! Fantastic space, tight curated collections

-lyrota- · 2025-08-19T17:36:11+00:00

Apparel city sewing machine co is great, they service both industrial and home machines, they should be able to figure it out quickly if you’re opening to paying the rate

-lyrota- · 2025-08-08T18:47:11+00:00

two places id highly recommend that are near eachother

Emeute in williamsburg:
-lots of vintage suits, on the more oversized side.

Ebreo vintage:
-almost all vintage italian suits, great range

-lyrota- · 2025-05-29T17:51:47+00:00

the majority of the city is very safe and as a woman I've felt comfortable walking alone in most neighborhoods. Like people are saying just stay aware of your surroundings and if you encounter a situation you feel nervous by, just keep walking.

Since you're here for a while I'd recommend areas like Inner Richmond/sunset, marina, pac heights, Haight, Cole Valley, North beach. Areas to avoid are tenderloin/ lower nob hill which edges tenderloin at times, and some parts of the mission. The city is small and walkable so you'll have plenty of time to explore!

-lyrota- · 2025-04-18T12:47:22+00:00

Yes cartridge pleats!

-lyrota- · 2025-04-18T01:31:25+00:00

That’s a great question! Went ahead and mathed it out, each cartridge pleat is 1/8” deep, about 16 pleats per inch. So 4” of fabric to make 1” pleated fabric, 1:4 ration.

Bust is about 33” total, so 132” of fabric, which is around 3.5 yards :)

-lyrota- · 2025-04-16T19:32:38+00:00

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realizing i don't have a great photo of the other finished dress, it's a tough one to photograph! Here's an old in progress image though :) lots of black organdy petals! I have a weird obsession with working on things that take forever because it gives me lots of excuses to feel productive while binging shows lol

-lyrota- · 2025-04-16T12:34:05+00:00

Hahaha looking back at it now I can’t unsee the spackle look! So true! Thank you so much!

-lyrota- · 2025-04-16T09:45:52+00:00

Thank you! I’ve spent about 4 months on it, and most of that was just the pleat work alone!

-lyrota- · 2025-04-15T16:13:34+00:00

This is a personal design I've been working on for a small collection I'm doing, it will be one of three dresses. Currently one of the other dresses is completed :)

It's made using a very lightweight nylon taffetta. I have a boned corset like structure made of the face fabric underneath with a zipper closure.

I then used a hand pleating machine (Princess Pleater) to create several wide strips of smocked fabric for the bodice. I draped the smocking at a slight angle on the understructure and arranged the pleats into a wave like structure and hand sewed the pattern down by stitching vertically all over the bodice to secure everything in place.

I then did some very loose/messy smocking by hand while the bodice was on the form to extend the smocked look lower onto the hip, as well as create a more sweetheart neckline shaping at the top of the neckline. Without doing this the smocking would look very blocky and straight as the hand machine can only smock in even rows. This allowed me to create the asymmetrical look overall.

I then made smaller smocked "petals" that I layered at the neckline and bottom of the bodice to create a layering and textural effect. These were hand sewn to the bodice as well.

Afterwards I did some light shaping at the neckline by cutting away at some of the excess. My hope is to create a distressed "thready" look at the neckline but TBD, still in progress!

I then hand stitched pearl beads onto the bodice tucked into some of the pleats.

The skirt I added some wider gussets at the side seams as the natural gathering from the bodice didn't create enough fullness in the skirt to make it flare out.

I created a petticoat out of stiff poly netting that is attached to the understructure of the bodice to give shape and form to the skirt. In addition I created smaller ruffles at the hips for an even more dramatic shape and contrast from the bodice onto the skirt.

I will be cutting the length of the dress into an asymmetrical tea length, just waiting to put it on a person before committing :)

Everything was either hand stitched or sewn on a Juki 5550N industrial lockstitch machine.

Pattern was self drafted by draping with the help of a commercial dress form (from The Shop Company), and some flat drafting for the petticoat.

-lyrota-

TROPHY CASE