Wearable Art Show - the 2015 Creation

The Wearable Art Show is coming up soon, and this year I have been chosen to be a Runway Challenger! That means that myself and five other artists will each be paired with a local business and challenged to create a piece of wearable art using only items from that business. Last year I was a participant in the Open Call portion of the show, where anybody could choose to participate by making a piece of wearable art from anything, and get a model to wear it down the runway. Although most people chose to work with recyclables, I chose fabric since that's my thing, but I consider it wearable art since it is more of a show piece than something one would actually wear.

I wanted to do a sky-earth thing, but not in a mother godessy way (although it may come across as such). I made the top first, starting with a fitted bodice using a blue fabric... I think that's the only new fabric I used in this whole thing. Then I made strips of old green coloured bed sheets and then pieced them below the sky. I didn't want a harsh line of transition between the two, so I took long strips of bedsheets and braided them together and stitched them to the bodice in a sashing kind of way. Some braids are tight and some are loose, more noticeable up close.

The skirt is the dirt or the earth. I pieced it with old wool yardage and corduroy from large pieces, old pants, and also tweed from old coats. I love texture, so I also stitched it so that it tucked up and under in some places, just like how the earth is bumpy and uneven. I made braids of the wools and cords as well here. In between the grassy lower bodice and brown earth, I draped braids I made by combining green bedsheets and brown wool and cord.

The cloudy shoulder topper is something I needle felted. Despite several stabbing instances, it turned out fine!

And coming out from the bodice are little felled wool sweater birds that I attached to wire, so they are "flying" out from the piece. I think from far away they are not noticeable, but I needed to add that detail!

I truly enjoyed making this piece so much! I would love to display it somewhere but my house is so tiny and I would not be happy to see it gathering dust as it hangs up here (since I am lacking in the dusting department). So it hangs protected in my closet. Maybe I need to do some more fibre art and eventually have a show and I can display this piece with it?

Gwen Stephani Would Want One...

Huh? Explanation - I have a friend who has seen a lot of my makes and apparently commented to another friend that I am cool like Gwen Stefani.... when this other friend relayed this info to me, I laughed. I mean, that's quite a compliment to have one's coolness compared to the coolness of Gwen Stefani, but I laughed because I don't see it. I am Sooooooo not that cool! If asked who I think I am like, it would be Liz Lemon. Actually, I have had a few people tell me I remind them of Liz Lemon, which I also take as a huge compliment because I like Liz Lemon. A lot. We share an affinity for night cheese. But back to Gwen Stefani... I made these hoodies right before a street festival in which I had a booth (the Hootenanny on Hunter Street) and I needed to make tags for them. So after the fabric content and before the washing instructions I wrote that Gwen Stefani would want one, and obviously I would know what she would want because we share a coolness level, right? Exactly.

This was a first foray into Frankensteining such obviously different fabrics into a top.

Example 1 - purse made from cord, wool tweed, and vintage linens

I mix fabrics all the time in purses but this was a little intimidating. especially using some fabrics that stretch and some that don't, and could possibly shrink!


Let me introduce my best friend

I love this thing!  It lets me sew different fabrics together like a dream!

So anyway, I have been making these hoodies. The top one is a prototype and the one I wear. But I have since sold a few, including this guy:

It's my design, but it was easy to do, if not a bit time consuming. I have a basic pull-over jersey pattern I made that I based this off of. I started by making the front panel with wool tweed fabrics, and pieced around it. After making a few I realized that I should make a pattern that would be easier to re-create. I also want to host a few sewing friends for a sew-a-long and I realized that my non-pattern method would not be easy to follow. I may head in the pattern-making direction, but not sure. I do love creating, and tire of making the exact same things over and over.... If anyone reading this wants more details, just let me know! I'd be happy to share tips and techniques! 

So Apparently I Have a Fall/Winter Collection...

Sewing is fun! Wheeeeee!!!

This past fall I was asked to participate in the local University's Fashion show - not as a model (hahahaha!) but as a designer. I was pretty excited, I mean, I know I can sew, and I know I can make wearable clothing that holds together, but I always have a problem calling myself a designer. Maybe because I am mostly self-taught? I don't know. Anyway, they asked and I said yes! The only problem is that I make clothing pieces one-at-a-time and often with no exact size in mind, and when I go to craft shows it is often with one piece of that design in that size. Now I was going to have to make clothing to fit the models with not much advance notice. Also, I strive to have a day-time job as well (although in this fall there was Work Unrest and I am not working much which actually worked well for this fashion show, if not for my bank account).

I laugh in the face of minimal work!

The unofficial title of my collection is 15 Days. That's the amount of time I had to work on the outfits after I got the measurements and got a few Very Important Job Interviews out of the way (I did get one of the jobs - yay me!)

I whipped up one skirt right away, and I pulled two hoodies/jackets from my existing stuff so I had three half outfits - did I mention I needed to provide a minimum of ten outfits?  I didn't? 10 outfits. 10. That's a lot, but I do love a challenge!

Yes, that is kale in the front pocket. No, the Kale was not in the fashion show outfit.

I quickly realized that dresses were the way to go.  So I started a new idea that was continuing with a new favourite of mine - mixing wool and jersey. I know, sounds odd, and most people don't like mixing different fabrics like that, but I love texture and I love wool and the stretchiness of jersey, and so here we are! Notice the hoodies above - love them!

The dress - near completion

So this dress was built!  I painstakingly made it symmetrical. I love symmetry. I mean, I don't sit down and say, "Let's make this thing symmetrical" but it just happens. But symmetry takes time, especially when you are not using a pattern and your method involves laying everything down, cutting pieces, laying them out, and eyeballing it each. and. every. time! Although I love the look, I admit to recognizing the need to bring asymmetry into my life a bit more. New Year's Resolution #1 I think!

Progress shot

This dress will also be featured in Trent University Fashion Show's magazine they are putting out. I am not sure when that is happening, but I think that's pretty cool!

I *was* going to put all the clothes from the fashion show in my etsy shop, but as I was making this beauty I knew I was going to keep it. I need to advertise my skillz, yo!

I want to post about other pieces I made, but I will do separate posts, maybe some tutorials?  I haven't done a tutorial before. Surely this old dog can learn some new tricks, along with continuing to call you Shirley :)