On reflection, this year has been a year of teaching and of commissions. Both of which are grand; but both tend to see me working on work differently to the way I work on things when I am just creating and making from my heart and my head and my hands.
In the past few weeks I have carved out three hours a week just for myself. I have been attending 'sewing' which is all I can say; a group of women gather in a shed/studio and make clothes under the guidance of the amazing Narelle.
People alter trousers; modify and adjust existing clothes; follow patterns and make shirts; draft patterns off existing clothes and then sew new versions; and also draft patterns from an image. Amazing stuff.
I am sewing from patterns, drafting from existing clothes and modifying and altering.
Here is the first stage of my latest project. I am sewing a tunic style dress from a Japanese pattern book and have decided to add a few contrasts and a bit of hand sewing.
As I wandered around I thought I wanted to add some detail to the pockets and this is how they are looking.
The dress is the beautiful purple linen, and I like that one pocket has a vertical detail and one pocket has a horizontal detail.
Before stitching.
Sewn onto the front of the dress - sadly the purple is not a good colour in the photo; it is a beautiful violet colour really.
I bought this nice oatmeal coloured linen top but found it was a bit short. So I decided to add a bit of length front and back in a contrasting colour. And at Narelles' suggestion, I added a little something to the pocket to bring the whole lot together so to speak.
And my first attempt ever at drafting a pattern from existing clothes. I loved my pair of loose, linen pants with a stretch band waistband and together Narelle and I worked out how to re-create them. So happy!
The bottom photo shows the colour best; the top photo shows the trousers best. Laugh.
So at the moment, this feels like some of the most creative work I am doing, and I am enjoying it oh so much.
In the past few weeks I have carved out three hours a week just for myself. I have been attending 'sewing' which is all I can say; a group of women gather in a shed/studio and make clothes under the guidance of the amazing Narelle.
People alter trousers; modify and adjust existing clothes; follow patterns and make shirts; draft patterns off existing clothes and then sew new versions; and also draft patterns from an image. Amazing stuff.
I am sewing from patterns, drafting from existing clothes and modifying and altering.
Here is the first stage of my latest project. I am sewing a tunic style dress from a Japanese pattern book and have decided to add a few contrasts and a bit of hand sewing.
As I wandered around I thought I wanted to add some detail to the pockets and this is how they are looking.
The dress is the beautiful purple linen, and I like that one pocket has a vertical detail and one pocket has a horizontal detail.
Before stitching.
Sewn onto the front of the dress - sadly the purple is not a good colour in the photo; it is a beautiful violet colour really.
I bought this nice oatmeal coloured linen top but found it was a bit short. So I decided to add a bit of length front and back in a contrasting colour. And at Narelles' suggestion, I added a little something to the pocket to bring the whole lot together so to speak.
The bottom photo shows the colour best; the top photo shows the trousers best. Laugh.
So at the moment, this feels like some of the most creative work I am doing, and I am enjoying it oh so much.
making your own clothing is a very satisfying thing. the stitching on the pockets remind me of keith smith's caterpillar bindings.
ReplyDeleteOh V you are so right - it is incredibly satisfying...and I hadn't even noticed the caterpillar-ness of the stitching, but everybody else has!
Deletethere is such comfort in stitching cloth, like braille for the soul, a very different form of exploration to drawing or painting or stitching a text block into a book, the haptic sensibility becomes fully engaged
ReplyDeleteSo true so true Mo - sitting stitching is so good. You feel intimately involved with it in so many ways - slow and gentle creation. Go well.
DeleteThis whole post resonates with me and it is wonderful to hear someone speak the thoughts that have been swirling around in my head half formed. Thank you for a wonderful year of thoughts and beautiful work shared.
ReplyDeleteThanks yo uBrenda - it is good to connect across the inter web! Go well wiht your ponderings...
DeleteSometimes it's good to do something completely different. I can still see your markmaking in the details though.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jac - it has been the kick start that I have felt I needed to stimulate creativity again; and it is so much fun! I must admit I keep thinking about how to make simple and plain clothes have a little bi too magic too...go well.
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