project selvedge challenge 6

The End Result

 Assignment:

With just 4 of us left, this marked the last challenge before determining who would be the finalists.

We were each paired with a judge as our client, and given $30 in gift certificates to Secret Seconds thrift store for all supplies. The goal here was to make something that would both embody our styles as designers, yet please our "difficult" clients.

I was paired with Carly; a hair stylist at Boom Swagger Salon, regular critic at Project Selvedge, and fashionista. Upon meeting to discuss our design she expressed her affinity for backless garments, things that show off her shoulders, cinched waists, volume on the bottom, and collar situations.

Initially I was going to make a sea foam green palazzo pant from some curtains, but after two imperfect halfway finished pairs, they still weren't fitting perfect or flattering her in the right ways. Luckily, We had a great swatch of this stretchy, crinkly, shiny, tan fabric(marked as shower curtains but I'm pretty sure they were drapes) from the store which really lent itself to being a long skirt. So we went with that, which was great because i just sewed it up the back with one seam, and the lines magically created a super cool V-shape down her backside, and hugged her waist perfectly.

We also had a killer idea of taking a leather jacket and cropping it, with a curve across the back, which gave a rough, hard edge to the elegant design and also made it a little more casual. I found a great leather jacket, and it worked out so well! And check out the buckles to close it; those came from some thrift store belts.

Jacket? done. Skirt? cake. I just needed to make a top, and I knew I'd get hassled if this was all brown again, so I decided to use a little of the sea-foam green curtains to make a top I could see worn with just the skirt, and simple enough to fall into the background when wearing the jacket. the result? a cowl neck halter top(backless) and finished with the rope from the same curtains around the neck.

The end look was so great! Carly rocked it, and it was clearly something that was both her style, and mine mixed together. I was proud of it; I'd finished it perfectly, it was really wearable, Carly looked and felt awesome. What more could I have asked for?

And I made it to the finale! working on my collection as we speak:)

Project Selvedge Challenge 5

The End Result

The Assignment;

"This week you will need to imagine yourself dressing a client.  This client will need a garment for a very special occasion.  Her (or his) best friend is finally allowed to marry the love of their life.

For this gay occasion, your client will be traveling. Each of you will choose a different city for your client's destination"

The city I got was Portland, OR(can't you tell?)

So in this ambiguous description of our assignment, I picked up on this being intended for a gay wedding. Initially my reaction was kind of put off. A "gay occasion" how would I dress any differently for a gay wedding? doesn't that just leave us with playing off of stereotypes? 

I decided to go in the only direction I could think of that would be fashionable, and non-offensive, by doing menswear as womenswear and play with gender. I didn't have any of my usual models around this week(it was spring break for all those school-goers) so I had to model this one myself. 

A wedding in Oregon; a place that is on the edge of normal, very non-traditional and artistic, organic, natural, granola-y, you get the images in my mind. And what's more perfect; I love those types of aesthetics. So the result is myself, dressed in menswear(more little boys-wear) as womenswear. In fall tweed-ride like colors (my favorite, and also Portland-ish). 

So I started by buying tweed/plaid printed fabric for some little nickers. It was useful being my own model, because I had a pair of little boys pants that fit me nice and snug that I was able to base these off of. AND I was so readily available for fittings anytime, any day;)

Of course, this being my first pair of pants, I had some issues with a camel-toe situation. After researching the anatomy of a camel-toe, I was able to hand stitch my crotch area in a way that removed it(again luckily I was my model, otherwise that would've been quite awkward).

(if you're interested in this anatomy, click here)

Then I tried figuring out how to style them. I honestly preferred just a dress shirt and suspenders, with heels, but i felt that wouldn't be enough, that I had to sew something else. So I decided to make a vest.

 

below is the fabric I bought for the vest, which I was drawn to for the color. However I ended up scrapping it on thursday night at 9pm, after working literally all day on it because it looked horrendous, and I knew it would just distract the judges from my awesome pants.

but then I noticed I had some pink fabric left over from challenge 2, and I decided to try and make a NEW vest, without trying to base it off the paneling and strange structure of one i had in my closet(I think that's why the last one was bad) and just make the most basic vest shape, cut the front into points, dart it, and put in buttons. Somehow, I managed to complete it between 9:30pm thursday, and 9:30am friday.

So an extra part of this challenge, was to make(from whatever materials we want, from anywhere, with our own money) a "mini" accessory for the ZACC board members to wear and auction off at their fundraiser event. Below are some photos of a leather rose hair clip I made.

the tutorial I used is here. (roses because they are the Portland flower)

p.s. the blouse I used is part of my vintage collection, from the 1920s, soon to be sold on etsy if I can let it go.

Project Selvedge Challenge 4

Challenge 4!

ASSIGNMENT

Basically for this one, we were paired with a dancer and told to choose a song which will inspire a dance from them and a design from us. We had $25 to spend anywhere and could also use leftover fabric from past challenges. Also, we had 2 weeks.

It turned out my dancer; Dana, and I already new each other from mutual acquaintances and being on the same floor in the Dorms Freshman year. So it was great; there was no need for introductions or small "get to know you" talk!

When we first met to brainstorm we were both finding ourselves drawn to Florence and the Machine as an artist choice. Florence is a great inspiration for me because she does the elegant lady-like flowy style but always with an unusual edge. I've got the pretty flowy look down, but need that edge in my work so decided this was perfect. Her music is also very artistic, and always tells a story and evokes a lot of feeling, and has a lot of power in it. Perfect for dancing!

CHOOSING A SONG/VISION

So I was debating for a good few days between Dog Days are Over; a peppy, upbeat, pop song which would probably be a crowd pleaser and easy to recognize

and Hurricane Drunk; a song I was really pulled to initially, but then looked up the lyrics and found it to be very depressing and dark(it's about a break-up and going out and seeing your ex and then drinking yourself to death)

In the end I decided I felt like taking the challenge of something that actually required some creativity to make it work. Hurricane Drunk does have this painful, moody, stormy side(visually giving me ideas of wind-blown, disheveled, unraveled etc). But I started to form this idea in my mind where this character is facing this storm, and it's pushing her down, but she keeps getting back up, she has a boldness and strength, and is a fighter. She's being tossed around by life, but stands there saying "what more could you do to me?". If that makes sense......

INSPIRATION

MATERIALS

I decided to use my purple jersey from the first assignment to make a unitard; I'd dyed it with the dye I used on the linen so it was a muddy purple color, perfect for this.

Then I went and got some "ghoul" fabric which was a gauzy mesh, a few fabric bundles from a thrift store, and some metal chains and black feathers at Joans

I originally was trying to figure out how to do a bodice bustier with the rope-like yarn I found at the thrift store, but it just wasn't really doing much for me

Then I decided I liked the gauze on the bodice and went from the above styling, to the idea on the left which allowed this flowy look and was flattering on Dana, and allowed the chains to be on her shoulders which was where we really liked them best

Oh and below is a picture of the AWESOME dance studio lent to the dancers to practice in for this challenge

 I decided to use the rope as fringe on the back, and ended up figuring out a really basic Macrame design for it, shown best in the photos below

above you can kind of see the gold painted string i had wrapped around the straps, just another touch of that strong, boldness which I was trying to evoke. I also made this one sided wing-like fabric drape beneath her arm, I felt like the asymmetrical placement and style was a little shout out to Florence and would also be great for dancing. And I didn't mention it before but that metal circle in the center of her chest is actually a bike part, so that's a shout out to Found.Foraged.Formed :)

HAIR AND MAKEUP

Carly from Boom Swagger Salon did this incredible hair-do for Dana! I asked for it to be back-combed like crazy with a braid across the fore-head, and it ended up exactly how I imagined. I then had a bunch of dried twigs, leaves, and flowers which I'd collected, to add to her hair with the help of my Aunt Judy who's great with this sort of thing. 

LE FIN

Initially when I heard what this challenge was, I kind of panicked. Dance? Interpreting music? WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH MY SEWING SKILLS?

But then I started brainstorming and started to have so much fun. In fact this was by far the most enjoyable, fun, creative, and stress-free challenge for me thus far which was pretty nice. I think that it helped to be pushed to have a really clear vision and be able to communicate it well. Because of course working with someone else to complete a vision, you HAVE to communicate your ideas. 

In the end, I really loved what I did. Both me and Dana worked really thoughtfully with the concept of disorientation, vulnerability, weather beaten vs. strength, boldness, hardness, overcoming and power. These elements were included wonderfully in the dance she choreographed, and I think they came across in what I designed with the tattered soft organic qualities mixed with the gold accents, metal chains, and macrame(soft armor)

and also Dana is beautiful :)