Oh the Shibori! Embellishment Technique Number One

I've decided that I am going to document my Textile Embellishment class right hear on this blog. *lucky readers* I've also decided that I will be making myself something to wear featuring each embellishment technique we work on. *lucky me*. This means, no doubt, that I will come out with a few scarves to add to my already over-flowing collection. Wait, the frugalista in me just spoke: I'll embellish those I've always got. Bling 'em out! Bedazzle 'em! Paint them. You get the picture. Stay tuned!

Today: Stitch it, bind it and dye it!

This week in Textile Embellishment class, we got our gloved hands dirty with indigo dye and tightly stitched, knotted and bound natural fabrics.

Shibori is the Japanese word for a variety of ways of embellishing textiles by shaping fabric and securing it in that shape before dyeing. Securing or binding the shape creates resist areas for the dye, creating a pattern on the cloth. The word comes from the verb root shiboru, meaning "to wring, squeeze, press."

Rather than treating cloth as a two-dimensional surface, with Shibori it is given a three-dimensional form by folding, crumpling, stitching, plaiting, or plucking and twisting. Cloth shaped by these methods is secured in a number of ways, such as binding and knotting. It is the pliancy of a textile and its potential for creating a multitude of shape-resisted designs that the Japanese concept of Shibori recognizes and explores.

Well, I loved it! I prepared 11 samples, using different techniques, with a bit of a focus on hand stitching. My Granny taught me to embroider when I was young (boy was I prolific...I stitched like a fiend...) so Shibori, while having been in use for thousands of years, somehow felt familiar to me. Thanks Granny Stella!

We all stitched and bound etc on our own at home, then we had the Indigo Dyeing lab during class time:






We layed them out, overnight, to dry:






Following is the step-by-step result of my first attempt at Shibori. I will definitely be using this technique again!



Wooden-fork-binding a la Arashi Shibori (Japanese tradition dictates that a four meter pole is to be wrapped, but this'll give me the idea!) . I didn't iron it because I love, love, love the texture it created. I will be informing myself further as to the texturizing effects of Shibori. I would love to create a cumberband with a big ole bow or even a hem band out of textured fabric like this. Very cool!


Here, I folded a piece of fabric lengthwise several times, stitched and then bound it a la Nui Shibori.


This is the one that I rolled and bound a la Sugi Shibori.


Karamatsu Shibori. I folded a piece of fabric in half and stitched semi-circles on the fold.


A stitched flower. The technique is Nui or 'stitched' Shibori. I'm going to do a few of these for my denim project as well. They are going to represent Japanese cherry blossoms.


Another example of the stitched method.


This one paired Nui Shibori and Maki-Age Shibori. The second technique is what created the circles. I bound points of fabric. I love the strong repeat. I dipped this one many, many times and it was by far the darkest piece of fabric at the end of our dyeing session.


The piece of fabric that was wrapped in the bamboo sushi roller. I only did one dip in the dye which I regret now. A quick second dip would have made a positive difference I think. I like it though...very Japanese!


The stitched ginko leaf (Nui Shibori). Kind of looks like a fish.


This one I folded into a triangle and clipped. Sankuku Shibori. Unfortunately the clips left rust on the fabric.


My scarf!


This is a Koi fish, another Japanese symbol, that was created with a Sabra resist that is applied from a small squeeze bottle in the design/picture/pattern desired. I might be using a Sabra resist on one of my runway dresses. I actually changed the bodice on the mock-up so I could do it! (A seam issue).

So there you have it! As it turns out, I love Japanese Shibori!

You should try it!

Ciao Bellas!

Karen

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For My Friend Double N Jenn

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Candy Pratts Price's Fall 2010 Accessory Report

How Can I Say It With Only 5 Pieces?

I've just successfully navigated my way through my first official crisis of confidence. I thank my fellow designers for talking me through it. Melissa talked me off the ledge and helped me refocus and the dynamic duo that is Double N Jenn + Kenna T were so kind as to listen to my ravings throughout the day, that I was positively giddy with excitement and overflowing with design confidence by the time I left the school yesterday. This despite the many ripped stitches and redoes that peppered my afternoon. At least I was sewing with a purpose and clear idea in mind!

It was certainly not what I had expected. The source I mean. I have always maintained that the drawing, the putting of my ideas onto paper, was the most challenging aspect of this program for me, a self described 'non artist' (Of course I mean drawing in all forms: pencil to paper and the even more dreaded pen tool of Adobe Illustrator...*shudder*). Naturally, I assumed that my first real breakdown would somehow stem from the stress and pressure I feel when I have to draw.

In fact, it actually smacked me square in my fashionably draped solar plexus while trying to decide what outfits I will be sending down the runway. It has been such a stressor that I have actually taken to drawing to procrastinate and move my thoughts away from the catwalk (I know right?! Desperate much?).

The strangest thing about it is that I have never wavered in my design style and have had a very clear idea of what my design aesthetic is right from the beginning. I am proud to say that every design I have created, every assignment I have handed in could easily be identified as mine. Why then this sudden change?

As far as I can tell, in hindsight, I was over-thinking it. Imagine: I'm going to get 5 minutes max to showcase what I can do (This short time frame isn't helping...I have sooooo much to say and anyone who knows me knows that I am not a woman of few words. Au contraire!). The required 5 outfits also feels somewhat constraining but I know that this is really in the interest of time (to both keep the show at a reasonable length and to make sure that we all have time to finish our creations). I'm aiming for 7 + 1 (a surprise!). The question is, which 7? Ack!

Here's the criteria Melissa (our teacher/guru/wisewoman/calming presence) suggested to reel me back in: The pieces need to present a cohesive vision of who I am as a designer, with a clear client in mind. A girl needs options, so a good idea for any designer is to present her with some: A few dressy pieces, a couple of more casual pieces (I qualify this with the idea that I don't really do casual and neither does my target gal...no Lulu Lemons out on the street unless she's headed to yoga! Sweatpants? Karen doesn't think so!). Also, I should consider that the pieces need to be different enough so as to entice someone to buy each and every morsel (ie: if I am showing coats, I shouldn't send out two that may be interchangeable. They should be different enough (length, coulour, collar) so as to fit different purposes and/or outfits.).

After much thought, with a clear client in mind and a return to my original focus, I now have a pretty good idea of what I want to say and which pieces will say it best. I'm off to get it done!

Ciao Bellas!

The Flare Essentials?

Check out the "new flares". Kind of a skinny jean/flare hybrid. I love it!


The Flare Essentials?: style file: daily fashion, party, and model news

Day 1, Week3, Semester 3 With Many Pricks to Follow

Here we are: Day one of week 3 of semester 3. At this point, some of us are faring better than others with the work load and we each, I have no doubt, are experiencing a little bit of ‘do or die’, ‘fish or cut bait’. ‘Stitch in the ditch’.

There is no way to quit now (I never would) and I’m definitely not one to wish or ‘waste’ my days away (although, a day or two lounging on the beach would be nice right now!) but I do sometimes wish I could fast forward through some of the less glamourous things that are going to have to happen for a successful PDA 2010 Fashion Show (name to be determined forthwith!). Of course, I’m speculating but it is educated speculation.

Things like the lengthy, sure-to-be bleary-eyed sewing sessions, the pin pricks (they never get old!), the late nights, and worse, the early mornings. Not to mention the bouts of surging anxiety (it cuts while it sews a gazillion stitches a second!), the steam burns, the stitches to be ripped (It’s almost as though I have never met a line of stitches that I didn’t want to rip out!), the eraser shavings that get everywhere (that may just be me…the pencil never does what I want it to do!), the dwindling supplies and squeaky broke bank accounts. Add to the mix the fraying edges, the bobbins to be treaded (not a typo), the invisible zippers to be put in, the sleeves to be forced in and the lining to be lined up and the occasional broken needle might just set one of us normally mild-mannered polite young ladies (!) into full freak-out mode! Oh and there’s the stairs…oh the stairs (I’ve never counted but some mornings it feels like there’s at least 150-200)!

(The above list is in no way exhaustive and I encourage my fellow sufferers/style mavens to add to it in the comments section).

I posted this because while all of the above may loom large before me/us (especially the pin pricks…@#$%!), I just wanted to say to all those who may hear me complain over the next couple of months that despite all of the mini-tortures described above, I'm still excited to get up every morning because each @#$%ing prick of the pin into my fingertip brings me one step closer to my first fashion show. Clothes I designed and made myself, walking down the runway, music blasting and people gasping (it’s my blog…I can dream if I want to!). What a fabulous end result!*

Now…I need to decide what I’m sending down said runway. I’m having a tough time with that!

Ciao Bellas!

*I must say here first, in writing (I’ve said it out loud many times), that I do not want to follow that fabulous Frozen Laundry chick and her band of merry freaks…I just can’t compete… ;)

The One Thing I Know For Sure: There Will Be Sewing!

So here I am, nine months into the Fashion Design Program at Pacific Design Academy in Victoria BC and I’m being asked “What do I want to get out of this? What do I want to do with the knowledge gained once it’s in my perfectly polished, pin pricked hands?”

I want to be a fashion designer! I want to be the fashion designer: Of the moment, of the minute, of the evening. I want to see people appreciating and wearing my designs. I want to create for other people, the same visceral reaction I feel when I lay my eyes upon a beautifully constructed piece of wearable art: a frisson, a gasp, a smile and the undeniably feeling of “I want!” (Or, even better, “I have to have.”).

I did have a plan going in: I wanted to have my own boutique featuring a mix of local and international designers with varied points of view and price points. I envisioned a mini department store with separate areas for a very exclusive selection of shoes, handbags, jewelry, outer wear and, of course, dresses galore! A boutique whose patrons would come from far and wide for both the selection and the experience: Champers in the fitting area, tasteful music piped from hidden speakers, a fabulous mirrored chandelier sparkling in the middle of the room and a gaggle of talented stylists at the ready with shoes and bangles to top of the perfect little frock. My New Dress may still come to fruition as it was envisioned and described above but it may have to take on other forms on the way there.

Let’s face it: The economy sucks right now. This is not the time to sink all of my cash into a business that relies heavily on the disposable income and luxury buying habits of a population that is, at the moment, credit crunched. Don’t get me wrong. I know to the very core of my dress obsessed being that there will always be the need for a pretty new dress (prom, holiday parties, weddings etc). But, with the fashion industry becoming more and more one of mass market consumption and low rent ‘designer’ lines that are made available at prices that make the Recessionista/Frugalista in all of us smile from ear-to-ear, there really needs to be some serious consideration about the feasibility of the My New Dress retail concept that I have always envisioned.

So, that leaves me with a few interim options, all of which we students are being urged to consider. Do I want to take my new knowledge and work for somebody else? Do I want to intern for another designer? Do I want to create and attempt to sell my first post graduation line to local stores? Do I want to move to a location that might seem more conducive to the future success of a fledgling new fashion designer (I cannot consider nor promote the idea of a return to the East Coast…too darn cold for my tropical loving bones!)? Do I want to work as a seamstress and, on the side, create custom dresses and gowns for select clients? Do I want to focus on pattern making? Cutting? Textiles? Project Runway Canada (!)? Do I want to market and hire myself out as a personal stylist? A personal shopper? A retail buyer? A distributor? An agent? A Trend Forecaster? Do I want to do merchandising for store displays and windows? OMG and Whoot! Whoot! (With a little Ugh! thrown in there for good measure) So many opportunities to choose from…The world is my runway!

As I write this today, the plan that is currently percolating involves a kick-ass e-commerce website and a whole lot of sewing! I’ve currently got what I believe to be a great stockpile of designs at the ready. All of these beautiful dresses deserve to see the light of day and are sure to bring the frisson!

So there you have it! Essentially, all of the above words amount to nothing more than a qualified "I'm not sure yet." I'm not at all worried though. In fact, I'm giddy and thrilled about the potential of each and every possibility.

I want My New Dress to be a successful enterprise. The scale of that success certainly remains to be seen and will be determined only by the reaches and/or limits of my desires.