I'm usually not one to write about music at all, much less my taste in it considering my Ipod still reguarly plays "Kriss Kross", "Snow: Informer", and "Counting Crows: Round Here".
Something funny that I noticed while walking around at work listening to this Ipod was how in Bad Romance Lady Gaga Does this crazy claw hand motion. I was trying to recall where I had seen it then the next song hit me! It was by NOISE in their song "Sam sam sou-gae" or "daydreams" translated. They do pretty much the exact same thing but 16 years earlier. Lady Gaga would of been 6 years old so I doubt she knew about them or even had any idea what K-Pop was. Shoot...... she probably has no idea who H.O.T. was or Clone and I'm sure she would of liked them.
Anyways here are the two videos so you can watch one after another and see what I am talking about. It is during the Chorus on the second time when they do a close up.
Just for fun my next 10 songs on my Ipod Play list are
- Park Ji-yoon - Sung in Shik
- Roo'ra - Ahn young
- Jem - 24
- Sechs Kies - Couple
- Young MC - Busta Move
- Two Two - Geu da Noon mul kka ji do
- Strong Bad - TROGDOR
- N'Sync - Bye Bye
- Green Day - When I come around
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Turn Into
What's the next 10 songs on your Ipod?
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
An Essay
Sometimes I like to just write for writings sake. With Prom Season coming up I remembered I had this essay that I wrote earlier when a former High School student of mine was asking for help to find or make her Prom dress.
And so here it is. A bit lengthy so don't feel bad if you don't read the whole thing.
Prom Season the never ending Bane of our Youth.
Prom season is always huge for any High School student be it, boy or girl. In my life I have gone to 6 proms during my High School career and for every reason from sympathy date, school assignment, and to first love, as a freshman till senior.
For the boys it is always pretty simple, one word, Tuxedo. At least it used to be that way. Now days there are a plethora of options for this once simple ensemble. Our young men can now choose their color of the suit, the color and style of the tuxedo shirt. They have socks to worry about, shoe styles and cufflinks. Then there is of course the option for tie, bowtie or ascot. A trend that I have noticed more also is the addition of a hat. Sometimes our young gentlemen want to pull a little Humphrey Bogart or tilt it like the cool Usher from his music videos. All of which must match up perfectly with their Prima Dona Prom date madam or sir.
The biggest challenge for the Prom Season is for the ladies, finding that perfect dress. It can equate to a women searching for her wedding dress or perceived as the trial run before looking for a wedding dress. Parent’s beware this is most assuredly a foretelling of the future as you may have the unfortunate pleasure to play a role in it. If you are lucky your lass already has a good idea of the dress she is looking for then it is simply a “Where’s Waldo” search amongst the sea of dresses which in itself can be daunting but we’ll get to the search a little later.
If you are unfortunate and have a particular princess then she wants something one of a kind and dramatic but will have to try on a million and one dresses before she is marginally satisfied. For that as lame as it sounds you may need a specialist. A specialist does not have to be a pageant director or stylists, it simply needs to be someone fashionable, preferably older who has gone to prom and not related to you in any way shape or form. There is something about the psychology of getting advice from a near stranger or some one you have no affiliation that makes it easier for the teen to take criticism and advice. This could simply be a friend of yours that the child looks up to as the “cool” Aunt or Uncle or just a store clerk that dresses particularly well and is knowledgeable. Another good thing to look out for is that whoever is giving the advice is not dedicated to just ONE store. That means they are selling something and they are trying their darn hardest to make their goal or make commission and could inflate the price with a few sparkly nothings that your little lady does not need. Just because they work for a particular store does not mean they have to sell from that store. I’ve worked retail for 16 years and I know that if my store doesn’t have it I can recommend them to a place that does and 9 times out of 10 they come back to my store just to shop and visit me because of the valuable advice I had given them.
Back to our princess! Do not be disheartened if she hates everything. If in hating everything has narrowed down the search to what she is looking for then it is still not a battle lost. You will also learn of the temperament and patience your girl has and as the adult lay down the law if necessary and give her an early reality check. Another good way to help her figure out what dress is best suited for her is give her a budget to begin with this will greatly narrow down the search. Even if you are willing to go all out don’t let her know that because that widens the options much too far. You can decide for this budget to be all inclusive, meaning dress, shoes, jewelry or allocate a different budget for each. It may seem trivial but these are small lessons that she will learn remember on budgeting later in life because it is associated with such a major event.
Think of going straight to those Big Prom dress stores in the malls and around them if she wants to be one of a kind. Several stores have registries where once the dress is paid for no one else from their school can get that same dress. It’s a great option but also limiting. In those stores every dress that is sold is one less dress your girl can have. Also you won’t know the status of the dress usually until you get up to pay which can be frustrating all around especially if she fell in love with that particular number and you’re forced to start from ground zero. Another little tip about these stores is to go early in the day, you never know how long it will last, once a consultant is set on you they will continue to bring dress until you tell them quite pointedly to stop. If you are annoyed easily by sales people you can tell them up front that you are only looking for dresses to avoid them from bringing you anything unnecessary to make the process longer such as shoes, and jewelry. A good sales consultant will take that into consideration and respect your wishes or ask before throwing anything into the dressing room without your permission. Please remember that even if you are annoyed it does no good to treat your sales consultant badly, just keep calm and remind them exactly what you wanted and if they aren’t listening you can ask for a manager to set you with another consultant or just simply leave thanking them for their time and that you have things to consider before this major purchase. Being Rude to a sale consultant will not help anyone, it will most likely delay your services as they complain to their manager or fellow consultants and give you poor results.
If there are no results from this, broaden your range. Think outside of that bright colored flower scented bedazzled box. This goes for all girls. If they know what type of style dress they want then search on Google not just for “prom dresses”, try “evening dresses” or “bridesmaids” or “Quincera”(Hispanic sweet sixteen gowns), even “pageant” sometimes the dress in their mind can even be found as costume! The main dress types to search for are as follows:
-Mermaid - is narrow from bodice to hips or knees and flares out (think mermaid fin)
- Ballroom – Large floor length full skirt like a fairytale princess
- Straight – just like it implies, straight dress usually it indicates that it is also floor length
- Short – a dress with any variation of short skirt styles
- Corset – is the type of bodice top that has lacing in the back
-Sweet heart Bodice – meaning the front of the dress resembles the top of a heart curving up at the breasts
- Straight Bodice – Top cutting straight across chest
- Strapless – dress with no supporting straps and almost always has built in boning to hold it up
- Spaghetti straps – very thin straps resembling the width of spaghetti
- Empire – dresses that have a short bodice that stops just below the breast usually and has a flowing skirt starting at the high waist has a Grecian/roman look to it (Or think of the movie Emma with Gwyneth Paltrow)
My favorite of these searches is doing bridesmaid. Any company that does a bridesmaid dress with have a variety of styles, swatches of colors and fabrics, so that you can pick and choose the type of dress and colors yourself. It’s almost like making that perfect dress of your own. Typically they are not any more expensive then your run of the mill prom dress from a specialty store and in a lot of cases they can be cheaper. If you feel overwhelmed just looking up bridesmaid dresses on your own use a bridal website such as “the Knot” to help you look for them and narrow it down. Once you see several styles from a particular brand you can venture to their website on your own as well. Another advantage to using a third party website is a lot of them will tell you if there are nearby stores that carry those lines for you order from.
Another helpful way to search for dresses is to dismiss a low price point. Don’t feel like you have to spend at least $200 or else the dress just isn’t that special. There are dozens of beautiful dresses out there on sale all the time. Sometimes in these bridal websites they have sample dresses on sale for less then $100 and one of those could be the one!
There are also stores like J Crew and BCBG that have bridesmaid sections to order dresses. Don’t dismiss Urban Outfitters, Modcloth, Plasticland, FredFlare, Avantgaudy and some of those other “Indie” clothing stores. A lot of them have large dress sections with some very classy looking dresses. There is also Zappos which is not just shoes, Bluefly.com, and places like TJ Maxx and Filene’s basement carry a lot of designer dresses at discounted prices. Who cares if it was 3-4 seasons ago, that makes it better in my opinion because no one else is likely to have it or wear it! Remember Prom dresses do not always have to be this big extravagant taffeta ball gown. They are whatever makes the girl happy that fit with the guidelines of that school. If I had the variety in dresses when I was in school that the girls have today I would for sure have spent a lot less money and headache looking for what I wanted. For the recent generations they have the entire expansion of the internet virtually as a portal of stores at the tips of their fingers.
Lastly if they are really digging for inspiration they can check out some fashion blogs on the internet. Some of my Favorites that wear a lot of dresses are Weardrobe, Gala Darling, Doe Deere Blogzine, Keiko Lynn, Glamourai, and the website Polyvore.
Polyvore can be a great tool not only to look for dresses but also to accessorize once you have found the perfect one. It is like an internet collage that you can make taking images from different websites and combining them into one and share them with other members or e-mail to friends for opinions.
For my parting words I just want to remind you what is really important in prom. You want to keep reminding your kids it is just another dance and it is more important that they have fun and make positive memories then become the gaudy Prom Queen who gets a flimsy crown. Heck if they want a crown go buy them one! It’s not the end of the world if they can’t find that perfect dress, it’s only as bad and they envision it. Keep positive and keep pumping all the positive things going on for them and it’ll make it that less painful. Think of Prom as a good time to teach your kids the importance of the bigger things in life like budgets, courtesy and patience and that might help you keep your sanity as well. If you get wrapped up in the hype then it does no one any good.
It’s just another dance a little fancier and at the end of the year.
And so here it is. A bit lengthy so don't feel bad if you don't read the whole thing.
Prom Season the never ending Bane of our Youth.
Prom season is always huge for any High School student be it, boy or girl. In my life I have gone to 6 proms during my High School career and for every reason from sympathy date, school assignment, and to first love, as a freshman till senior.
For the boys it is always pretty simple, one word, Tuxedo. At least it used to be that way. Now days there are a plethora of options for this once simple ensemble. Our young men can now choose their color of the suit, the color and style of the tuxedo shirt. They have socks to worry about, shoe styles and cufflinks. Then there is of course the option for tie, bowtie or ascot. A trend that I have noticed more also is the addition of a hat. Sometimes our young gentlemen want to pull a little Humphrey Bogart or tilt it like the cool Usher from his music videos. All of which must match up perfectly with their Prima Dona Prom date madam or sir.
The biggest challenge for the Prom Season is for the ladies, finding that perfect dress. It can equate to a women searching for her wedding dress or perceived as the trial run before looking for a wedding dress. Parent’s beware this is most assuredly a foretelling of the future as you may have the unfortunate pleasure to play a role in it. If you are lucky your lass already has a good idea of the dress she is looking for then it is simply a “Where’s Waldo” search amongst the sea of dresses which in itself can be daunting but we’ll get to the search a little later.
If you are unfortunate and have a particular princess then she wants something one of a kind and dramatic but will have to try on a million and one dresses before she is marginally satisfied. For that as lame as it sounds you may need a specialist. A specialist does not have to be a pageant director or stylists, it simply needs to be someone fashionable, preferably older who has gone to prom and not related to you in any way shape or form. There is something about the psychology of getting advice from a near stranger or some one you have no affiliation that makes it easier for the teen to take criticism and advice. This could simply be a friend of yours that the child looks up to as the “cool” Aunt or Uncle or just a store clerk that dresses particularly well and is knowledgeable. Another good thing to look out for is that whoever is giving the advice is not dedicated to just ONE store. That means they are selling something and they are trying their darn hardest to make their goal or make commission and could inflate the price with a few sparkly nothings that your little lady does not need. Just because they work for a particular store does not mean they have to sell from that store. I’ve worked retail for 16 years and I know that if my store doesn’t have it I can recommend them to a place that does and 9 times out of 10 they come back to my store just to shop and visit me because of the valuable advice I had given them.
Back to our princess! Do not be disheartened if she hates everything. If in hating everything has narrowed down the search to what she is looking for then it is still not a battle lost. You will also learn of the temperament and patience your girl has and as the adult lay down the law if necessary and give her an early reality check. Another good way to help her figure out what dress is best suited for her is give her a budget to begin with this will greatly narrow down the search. Even if you are willing to go all out don’t let her know that because that widens the options much too far. You can decide for this budget to be all inclusive, meaning dress, shoes, jewelry or allocate a different budget for each. It may seem trivial but these are small lessons that she will learn remember on budgeting later in life because it is associated with such a major event.
Think of going straight to those Big Prom dress stores in the malls and around them if she wants to be one of a kind. Several stores have registries where once the dress is paid for no one else from their school can get that same dress. It’s a great option but also limiting. In those stores every dress that is sold is one less dress your girl can have. Also you won’t know the status of the dress usually until you get up to pay which can be frustrating all around especially if she fell in love with that particular number and you’re forced to start from ground zero. Another little tip about these stores is to go early in the day, you never know how long it will last, once a consultant is set on you they will continue to bring dress until you tell them quite pointedly to stop. If you are annoyed easily by sales people you can tell them up front that you are only looking for dresses to avoid them from bringing you anything unnecessary to make the process longer such as shoes, and jewelry. A good sales consultant will take that into consideration and respect your wishes or ask before throwing anything into the dressing room without your permission. Please remember that even if you are annoyed it does no good to treat your sales consultant badly, just keep calm and remind them exactly what you wanted and if they aren’t listening you can ask for a manager to set you with another consultant or just simply leave thanking them for their time and that you have things to consider before this major purchase. Being Rude to a sale consultant will not help anyone, it will most likely delay your services as they complain to their manager or fellow consultants and give you poor results.
If there are no results from this, broaden your range. Think outside of that bright colored flower scented bedazzled box. This goes for all girls. If they know what type of style dress they want then search on Google not just for “prom dresses”, try “evening dresses” or “bridesmaids” or “Quincera”(Hispanic sweet sixteen gowns), even “pageant” sometimes the dress in their mind can even be found as costume! The main dress types to search for are as follows:
-Mermaid - is narrow from bodice to hips or knees and flares out (think mermaid fin)
- Ballroom – Large floor length full skirt like a fairytale princess
- Straight – just like it implies, straight dress usually it indicates that it is also floor length
- Short – a dress with any variation of short skirt styles
- Corset – is the type of bodice top that has lacing in the back
-Sweet heart Bodice – meaning the front of the dress resembles the top of a heart curving up at the breasts
- Straight Bodice – Top cutting straight across chest
- Strapless – dress with no supporting straps and almost always has built in boning to hold it up
- Spaghetti straps – very thin straps resembling the width of spaghetti
- Empire – dresses that have a short bodice that stops just below the breast usually and has a flowing skirt starting at the high waist has a Grecian/roman look to it (Or think of the movie Emma with Gwyneth Paltrow)
My favorite of these searches is doing bridesmaid. Any company that does a bridesmaid dress with have a variety of styles, swatches of colors and fabrics, so that you can pick and choose the type of dress and colors yourself. It’s almost like making that perfect dress of your own. Typically they are not any more expensive then your run of the mill prom dress from a specialty store and in a lot of cases they can be cheaper. If you feel overwhelmed just looking up bridesmaid dresses on your own use a bridal website such as “the Knot” to help you look for them and narrow it down. Once you see several styles from a particular brand you can venture to their website on your own as well. Another advantage to using a third party website is a lot of them will tell you if there are nearby stores that carry those lines for you order from.
Another helpful way to search for dresses is to dismiss a low price point. Don’t feel like you have to spend at least $200 or else the dress just isn’t that special. There are dozens of beautiful dresses out there on sale all the time. Sometimes in these bridal websites they have sample dresses on sale for less then $100 and one of those could be the one!
There are also stores like J Crew and BCBG that have bridesmaid sections to order dresses. Don’t dismiss Urban Outfitters, Modcloth, Plasticland, FredFlare, Avantgaudy and some of those other “Indie” clothing stores. A lot of them have large dress sections with some very classy looking dresses. There is also Zappos which is not just shoes, Bluefly.com, and places like TJ Maxx and Filene’s basement carry a lot of designer dresses at discounted prices. Who cares if it was 3-4 seasons ago, that makes it better in my opinion because no one else is likely to have it or wear it! Remember Prom dresses do not always have to be this big extravagant taffeta ball gown. They are whatever makes the girl happy that fit with the guidelines of that school. If I had the variety in dresses when I was in school that the girls have today I would for sure have spent a lot less money and headache looking for what I wanted. For the recent generations they have the entire expansion of the internet virtually as a portal of stores at the tips of their fingers.
Lastly if they are really digging for inspiration they can check out some fashion blogs on the internet. Some of my Favorites that wear a lot of dresses are Weardrobe, Gala Darling, Doe Deere Blogzine, Keiko Lynn, Glamourai, and the website Polyvore.
Polyvore can be a great tool not only to look for dresses but also to accessorize once you have found the perfect one. It is like an internet collage that you can make taking images from different websites and combining them into one and share them with other members or e-mail to friends for opinions.
For my parting words I just want to remind you what is really important in prom. You want to keep reminding your kids it is just another dance and it is more important that they have fun and make positive memories then become the gaudy Prom Queen who gets a flimsy crown. Heck if they want a crown go buy them one! It’s not the end of the world if they can’t find that perfect dress, it’s only as bad and they envision it. Keep positive and keep pumping all the positive things going on for them and it’ll make it that less painful. Think of Prom as a good time to teach your kids the importance of the bigger things in life like budgets, courtesy and patience and that might help you keep your sanity as well. If you get wrapped up in the hype then it does no one any good.
It’s just another dance a little fancier and at the end of the year.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
It talks to me
For me choosing fabrics and what I am going to make is a very organic process. I see fabrics or materials and they instantly talk to me and tell me what they want to be made into. I find it much harder to design and then pick a new fabric out. I work much better just buying something on a whim and making it work. Almost everything I buy fabric for that is planned out does not turn out as I would of wished it to. Usually I end up scraping that idea and re-working the pattern and re draping it all into something much more fantastic.
Currently I am nearly done with this piece of Leather. It told me it wanted to be a pintucked wrap skirt.
It was a bit laborious going through this on my Innov-is 80 Brother machine but she toughed it out and all I needed was to change my leather needle about 3 times. I'm always suprised how well that little electronic machine can handle heavy fabrics. Still I prefer my Sears Kenmore for heavy leather. It was a good experiment.
Very soon I am getting a new machine! The Brother sewing and embroidary machine Innov-is 900D!
Currently I am nearly done with this piece of Leather. It told me it wanted to be a pintucked wrap skirt.
Now I am in the process of encrusting the closing flap with Swavorski crystals and glass beads.
 |
| From Drop Box |
Very soon I am getting a new machine! The Brother sewing and embroidary machine Innov-is 900D!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Hand and Lock - Colors and Fabric
I just made my order today for my Hand and Lock competition fabrics. I am using Silk Organza for the body and Cotton Jersey for the beading underneath. I am also getting some worsted weight cotton yarn to do some cording. All bought from Dharma Trading Company. Yes the website looks cheesy BUT they have incredible prices on dyes, natural fabrics and yarns and many other assortments of things. I was able to get an 11 yard bolt of 100% silk 45" wide Silk Organza from them for less then $40 which is AMAZING. I could fathom making my own wedding dress if the price is that low. If you checked out the website you'll notice it all comes either white or natural colors in the fabrics and yarns. Personally I think that is fantastic, since you can then dye the colors to suit what you want and need. Perfect for this contest since I wanted to experiment with some ombre on the sleeves. It will also make it so much easier to match my colors.
Speaking of colors I was looking for inspiration swatches for them since some of them seemed unfamiliar to me. The following are all the colors in my portion of the brief that I am supposed to be using.
The pictures are of the following Indigo, Indigo, Antique blue, Blue Smoke, Crystal, Azure, Lead, Azure, Light Foam, Sky Blue, Sea Breeze, and Crystal.
Speaking of colors I was looking for inspiration swatches for them since some of them seemed unfamiliar to me. The following are all the colors in my portion of the brief that I am supposed to be using.
The pictures are of the following Indigo, Indigo, Antique blue, Blue Smoke, Crystal, Azure, Lead, Azure, Light Foam, Sky Blue, Sea Breeze, and Crystal.
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
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!
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!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
My Hertitage Bag
There are few pieces that I like to exclaim about on their own entire post but I feel this bag from Tiger Tree is one of them.
I remember when Josh and Niki first got these Heritage bags. Josh was in the store and told me the story of how he came across these great tool bags that were canvas and leather with a doctor's bag sort of mouth metal frame. I instantly had to have one to tote books, knitting and othes goodies. Unfortunately at the time I was a bit shy of the stark white canvas and the sizes that he had left. Patiently I waited and sure enough they got more, and even better custom made in collaboration with Tiger Tree. They had them made with black and navy canvas and even though the price was higer it was well worth it. Fortunately I also had my Groupon for them as well so that shaved off a nice chunk.
In the end it doesn't matter this bag is FANTASTIC! (please excuse the new leather dust in the photos)
I remember when Josh and Niki first got these Heritage bags. Josh was in the store and told me the story of how he came across these great tool bags that were canvas and leather with a doctor's bag sort of mouth metal frame. I instantly had to have one to tote books, knitting and othes goodies. Unfortunately at the time I was a bit shy of the stark white canvas and the sizes that he had left. Patiently I waited and sure enough they got more, and even better custom made in collaboration with Tiger Tree. They had them made with black and navy canvas and even though the price was higer it was well worth it. Fortunately I also had my Groupon for them as well so that shaved off a nice chunk.
In the end it doesn't matter this bag is FANTASTIC! (please excuse the new leather dust in the photos)
This Bag is coming with me on my Shopping trip to Soho in NYC in two weeks!
Monday, March 29, 2010
Hand and Lock Embroidery Contest 2010- It's only the beginning
I've decided that I am going to enter in the above international contest. I looked into it last year but had missed the deadline and felt that I was ill prepared either way. This year I feel much better about my opportunity to be in this. I have a new confidence in my beading and smocking techniques as well as my overall design. Fortunately for me this year's theme is Militaria! Which is perfect I love it! Something that I always try to put in my aesthetic as it is. The only thing I could see going wrong is that international military references that I am pulling from. I have been heavily studying the different medals of honor between the US and UK. I was thinking of sticking with the United States metals such as the Purple Heart and Medal of Honor but am not sure how the UK judging would welcome that. I remember from my past experience with the Styles Scotland Competition in College that you must be aware of who your judges are and where they are coming from. Overseas and even in other cities judge everything differently. The things that I could think would be a fun twist on a medal of honor could actually be viewed as an insulting bastardazation of their culture and history. I'm treading on some very very loaded territory here with this contest.
My first order of business is to pull images for inspiration. It is a Militaria theme and then you must pick a more specific color pallete already chosen with a description. Which can be found on their website here.
I have chosen the last set
"Air Reactions
Rotors and windmills, stromy seas, magnificent waves, sudden splashes and sails. In a plane amongst wind-strewn clouds, parachutes, hot air balloons and power kites. Smoke and steam, typhoons, hurricanes and tornados. This theme should represent our place along side the power and delicacy of nature. It should use light and transparent fabrics, fluid jersey and ultra fine knits. Structures in waves, puckering, gathers and textured falling lines.
Colours - blue and grey tones, lead, antique blue, light foam and sea breeze, crystal, blue smoke, indigo, sky blue and azure."
Everything sounds perfect for the setting of a Semi steampunk oceanic voyage right? Or as I like to think of it LAPUTA, the castle in the Sky. That Anime has Military influences, not the best costume but hey it works for what they are doing and it is an older anime, not so much fantasy as the story line.
My biggest gripe is the fabric they describe to use, how in the world am I supposed to produce a heavily embellished military inspired jacket from "light and transparant fabrics, fluid jersey and ultra fine knits"? I need a good wool or canvas to support what I am doing so we shall see. Especially since I want to add fur to the collar.
I did find a wonderful source for 100% silk organza that has 11 yards per bolt for fairly cheap.
Well I shall continue to Brainstorm!
I did pay my my fee which was 29 pounds for Open Entry which equals anout $42 US. I can't wait to get started!
My first order of business is to pull images for inspiration. It is a Militaria theme and then you must pick a more specific color pallete already chosen with a description. Which can be found on their website here.
I have chosen the last set
"Air Reactions
Rotors and windmills, stromy seas, magnificent waves, sudden splashes and sails. In a plane amongst wind-strewn clouds, parachutes, hot air balloons and power kites. Smoke and steam, typhoons, hurricanes and tornados. This theme should represent our place along side the power and delicacy of nature. It should use light and transparent fabrics, fluid jersey and ultra fine knits. Structures in waves, puckering, gathers and textured falling lines.
Colours - blue and grey tones, lead, antique blue, light foam and sea breeze, crystal, blue smoke, indigo, sky blue and azure."
Everything sounds perfect for the setting of a Semi steampunk oceanic voyage right? Or as I like to think of it LAPUTA, the castle in the Sky. That Anime has Military influences, not the best costume but hey it works for what they are doing and it is an older anime, not so much fantasy as the story line.
My biggest gripe is the fabric they describe to use, how in the world am I supposed to produce a heavily embellished military inspired jacket from "light and transparant fabrics, fluid jersey and ultra fine knits"? I need a good wool or canvas to support what I am doing so we shall see. Especially since I want to add fur to the collar.
I did find a wonderful source for 100% silk organza that has 11 yards per bolt for fairly cheap.
Well I shall continue to Brainstorm!
I did pay my my fee which was 29 pounds for Open Entry which equals anout $42 US. I can't wait to get started!
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