Mad Seamstress Weekend Re-cap

This past weekend was wicked busy.  I did so many things for the wedding it felt good but it was a little crazy as well.  My flower girl dress is done except for some closure buttons, My wedding dress Embroidery is on it's last stages, finished the black stretch vinyl jacket for my friend, a Client fitting and my my niece's flower girl dress fitting and dying the fabric for my Reception dress.

Amongst that was a field trip with my College Preview Students to Joann Fabrics for their finals.  Watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail with some friends while making wedding decorations and random Army men Pins.  I also attempted to use these little Fruit appliques to my nail that I think were thing sliced Fimo.

Now for a stream of photos to show you what I did.

 Dye Baths,  I prefer to do the stove top kettle method of Dying

 I had to borrow my friend Sheila's Designer SE because unfortunately as much as I love my Brother Innovis 900D I needed to embroider much larger then a 4x4" section.

 My silly nail Embellishments

Finished Jacket!

 On the Short Bus with the Kidlings from College Preview Fashion Fundamentals.

 My Clever TA and Former College Preview Student Graham

 Finished Embroidery for my Niece after her fitting and the straps for her dress.

Finished Dress!

Lastly my final products from the Dye baths for my Reception dress.  Jewel Tone rainbow

As you can see it was indeed a busy weekend but productive.

In my world today

There hasn't been a lot of personal stuff on the blog lately because a lot of it is hush hush or I'm so cussing busy that I can't see straight therefore I don't want to talk about it.

Well today I am going to talk a little bit about what I can.
We are currently on week # 2 of fostering this darling kitten.  She came to us as Fluffy and we have since re-named her Miss Rambo Fluffington the 1st or Rambo for short.  The Fiancee could not endure her to have a sweet pretty name so he chose Rambo, we just needed a more formal title to get along with the rest of the family.

Our other two kitties are the wiley looking woodland creature Sir Benjamin Franklin and the always proper Orange girl Princess Sophia Loren, or Franklin & Sophie aka Stankles and Chubbs.

Suffice to say she is a keeper and we are going to officially adopt her after she is fixed.

I am amidst another semester of teaching at CCAD for Pattern Drafting and Construction.  It is going well but I was in a bit of a funk at the beginning.  I think the break from winter accompanied by all the wedding planning was making me feel bogged down and not mentally prepared for this semester but I am totally on board now mentally and things are wonderful.  The summer CE classes for Pattern Drafting and Construction as well as my Draping into Pattern class are now open here if you want to apply!  Also this summer I am doing the High School 10-12 grade work shop and College Preview once again.  College Preview is probably one of my favorite programs to be a teacher in at CCAD.

I have been working on writing my testimonial for a international sewing machine company and there are several other exciting projects that may come from them as well.  I've already been talking to a company rep so it's another great thing in the works.  Once it's official you can expect a ton of awesome things.

I have some repeat client work gearing up for spring/summer.  Along with new client projects and work which is very hush hush right now ( I know it's sooo boring when I say Hush Hush but it just means it'll be that much better when I can talk about it).

Oh and I am going to be a guest lecture/workshop teacher for a local Private High School on Fashion design and the Pattern drafting process.  We are just sorting out the details.

I will have a great review about a Class I took at the Columbus Idea Foundry this week on Laser Cutting so look forward to it!

I am currently avoiding my wedding planning again...... perhaps later this week I will get back on board but I have a Jacket for a friend to finish.  It's a variation off of my Fencer Jacket.

Everything has it's place

I have been sitting here staring at my monitor twirling this Bic ball point pen for what seems like ages (in reality 30 mins).  Inside my head I am screaming kicking and crying in nervous horror.  

What in world have I gotten myself into?
I am talking about all my projects that I am currently working on.  Two competition submissions, a photo shoot, possibly two next week.  Packing for my weekend trip to NYC and what in the world am I going to submit for the Ohio Art League event this year? Also finishing my samples for my Kilala Meows class this month.  And finally getting together some simple things to sell for the Crafty Cotollion Handmade Nation Viewing on May 8th.  I am sincerely not trying to be negative here just collect my thoughts instead of mindlessly straing and twirling.  Writing it all out always makes me feel better and calmer.  I can construct a game plan that way.

First and foremost is my photo shoot next wednesday.  I have my models 80% booked, Mua/Hair is 70% booked, photographer is 100% booked.  No more then 5 outfits to shoot for my PR application.

Tonight I think I am going to unfortunately skip figure drawing as much as I love it I need to get a lot of things done before I head off to NYC for the weekend.  I started to work on my samples for my Kilala Meows classes but I need to finish them before I leave otherwise they will never get done.  I also need to get this leather skirt embroidery done before I leave so I can potentially take it and wear it there, not to mention I need it for next week's shoot.

There is nothing else I can do for my Hand and Lock competition piece until I order the fabric and get that in.  I suppose I could work on the muslin but I still have 2 more months so I'm not that stressed.  If I leave an entire month for my embroidery I will be just fine.  The smocking details will get done as I sew the body of the piece together.  I might double this up and use the body before the Embroidery to submit as my OAL piece for the "One Night" Show.  I would prefer to put up a piece to sell but maybe just an impact piece will be enough.

For the Crafty Cotollion I think I am going to make kanzashi fabric flowers in arrangements for pins and hair clips maybe do some cute sweater clip type of thing with chains.  I don't need tons just a few things since this is going to be a small shared space. 

There are many good things that have been finalized for this summer such as securing my favorite TA (teacher's assistant) to be with me during my High School Summer Fashion workshop and College Preview programs.  Having this wonderful Fashion Illustration Teacher Irina to help me with my College Preview on my monday critique and illustration days.  My adult Continuing Education classes are filling up nicely and will make me very busy.  My Favorite of these classes is the new Draping into Pattern Class that I will be teaching. 

Ahhhh!  I already feel so much better and it doesn't seem as impossible now that I have it all planned out and capped it off with some good news!
Sorry this was an all txt post but I will have pictures for you in the next upcoming posts this week like the Leather skirt and a sewing book review!

MEOW!

CIMG4000, originally uploaded by tornangel012.

Oh man....... this has been tough to try and blog everyday. I'm not sure I can get that accomplished but I am still trying. I have another 2 weeks to get into the full swing of this. I've been good about taking the daily photos just not about posting them. This little gem of a photo is of my cat Kilala. For those who don't know her she has quite the personality. She was whining for treats when I took this picture.

Following are some photos from my college Preview Class.

This last one is of my Teaching assistant and Intern Teresa trying on a dress we bought to deconstruct.

Finally this picture is from my outfit from two days ago.

Armani Exchange Army green button down shirt and sleeve buckle detail

Striped Harem pants made by me

Toki Doki "I love LA" watch

Zigi Soho Watch

Octopus and Bat necklace made by me with fresh water pearls

Tomorrow I promise some test shoots from the Cincinnati photo shoot and today's Outfit plus whatever I end up wearing tomorrow.

Its all starting up again

Another long overdue post.

Several things going on in my world right now.
I just sold a piece at the OAL (Ohio Art League) Event One night in a Hundred. It was a great event. I wish there were more people who had come to support us but I think they ended up doing pretty well. I connected with several people there such as the Collier West owners and my Golf Buddy John from the CCAD Golf Outing I did.

Speaking of which that was a good time and another good connection. My Scramble team WON the CCAD Golf outing and I am forever immortalized on a Plaque in Canzani. Having been the ONLY actual representative of CCAD on that team I am also ingrained in the memory of the president of the School ~points~. Also my cart buddy was once a well established woman's accessories designer who sold to Saks, Henri Bendel, and many other high end stores. Also happened to be alumni of the same High School that I am from but many many years earlier.

Along with CCAD news I just finished my first workshop with the High School students and it went perfectly. They all loved it, had a great time and had a lot of things to take home to show their parents. A lot of parents also spoke to me and thanked me for such a great program. Those kids were amazing. They Accomplished more then I ever thought they would. I can't wait for the College Preview to Start.

I have a trunk show coming up at Undone on July 25th. I am trying to get a lot of pieces done that can be worn and interperted with the lingerie. Good thing I have my two interns starting next week to help me get this going.

Yep that's right I have interns this summer. How crazy is that? I hope this will really help me to focus and jump start on advertising myself and getting into some boutiques outside of Columbus.

Other interesting news that has nothing to do with me is that two of my former college classmates have made themselves pretty famous. First is Ra'mon Lawrence-Coleman who is going to be on the new Project Runway coming up on Lifetime. Second Matt Ames was just in an article in W as a rising fashion designer to look out for. Congrats guys seriously! I will be there someday. I'm severely contemplating that I need to do the Project Runway route before I get too engrossed but I hope that I do well enough on my own to perhaps not need that.

Only time will tell.
In the meantime I am going to try several different formats and things with this Blog. I am also going to be moving all my www.torn012.net content to my www.tornangel.com site. As well as making updates with the help of my trusty Andy!

In the Works

I know I don't update as much as I should.  unfortunately my life only seems to be exciting once a month?

I do have some very promising things going on.  I am making lingerie for a Local Lingerie and Shoe Boutique called "Undone".  It is super exciting for me because they will be the second person that has ever whole sale bought from me and the First who has whole sale bought from me that is actually clothing!   I am also going to do a trunks how there once I get more of my stuff together and organized.

I am also meeting with a potential connection to have my clothes in a commercial Photo shoot for some new shoe company and to possibly provide the clothes for their runway show in November.  There is the possibility of me being a Part of the next Agora which is very exciting to me.  

I am still searching for a Male Fit model that I can use that is dependable.  I really want to start to get into menswear again.  I think I may just have to give up and use the male mannequin body that I have.  

Also in CCAD news this summer will be QUITE busy for me!  I am also very excited to be teaching so much.  I will be doing two summer workshops and I think I am going to make it almost all challenge projects like "Project Runway" or just stuff I remember doing in College that made an impact on how I design and look at Fabrics.  In addition to the Work shops for high school students I will be doing the Advanced Pattern Drafting and Construction class for Continuing Education and College Preview for the High School students.   I will be so busy this summer and it will be AMAZING!!!

I just love to create, teach and collaborate!

Speaking of Collaborate I did a custom order on Etsy a while ago and the Artist always said he would name the ring after me if he kept making and selling them.  I thought he was just being polite and yanking my chain a little but he actually did!  The Esther Ring!