Sew Thus is Life...

So when I started my collection I asked a few of my peers (and my very out-there work study supervisor) how they felt about a purse made of lacquered feathers. It was met first by confusion, then intrigue, then finally after some thought, a hearty "Yes! Do it!" So I embarked on stalking eBay for bird feathers. I decided on macaw parrots as they naturally have the greens and blues so prevalent in my collection. I found a great deal on sets of 50 (thanks to kcvpjulie ) and set out to make a feathered bag. I already had hollow clamshell purse frames in my possession and I also needed to make the "shells". My professor suggested using buckram (a glue-covered woven fabric that's used in hat-making  to create the shape of my bag. I found buckram alone to be too flimsy- but backed with oak tag (a heavy paperboard) I found the shape and sturdiness to be quite pleasing. It ended up looking like this: buckram frame from the inside From there I had to practice my...

I'm currently embroiled in a package war with PhilaU and FedEx. Currently highly dislike both parties. They are keeping me from fully cutting out my wedding dress. Ticked off. Anyway I promised my new Problem Solving creation so here goes.  This was inspired by 1960 and 70's fashion and the textiles of Zandra Rhodes. The challenge was stripes  while utilizing high or low contrast. I created "stripes" from recycled vintage polyester and painted chipboard. The underdress is poly taffeta and plastic. fun times.

...but I thought this would be a nice time to see what I'm doing in Problem Solving since I wont be posting any more pictures of anything wedding related till the dress is done. Selfish? Yes. If the groom shouldn't see the dress till the day of why should you? (j/k) Anyway for those not in the know of PhilaU classes, Problem Solving is the class that is like those random Project Runway challenges (make a dress out of dog food! or and old coat! or streamers! I figured it'd be a nice interlude to keep you entertained for a while. So here we go. This project was to study  deconstruction and reconstruction. The challenge was to buy a coat from the thrift store, take it apart and re-work it into a garment or other body adornment. The body emphasis was the shoulder. My base inspiration was Junya Watanabe, a Japanese designer; and Nicki Minaj. This is the resulting "romper". The top is the shell, the shorts are the lining and batting cut out of the jacket. The knit wai...