www.thesewingroomalameda.com: I’ve been perusing the websites of several cottage core linen clothing brands recently, looking for some inspiration. You see, I’m traveling into a bucolic but “comfortable” phase of life and my clothing needs to reflect that. I also really just love wearing linen which just also happens to be a glorious fiber to work with - it wears beautifully with age and also happens to be quite sustainable, given it’s a natural fiber. So, when I was gifted a length of taupe embroidered linen from Fabric Wholesale Direct, I knew I needed to get cracking!
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Blogs are a very underused form of expression and as shown in this entry a great tool for teaching. This article highlights such a unique aspect of the fashion industry which is historical fashion but for everyday use. Not many places will teach people how to make these dresses in ways that will last and stand up to the wear and tear of everyday life. In the theatrical world I have found costumes to be made to focus on how it looks under stage lights and show needs rather than practicality. I also appreciate this blog's attention to patternmaking rather than the process of putting it together because I have always found patternmaking to be a very challenging and somewhat glossed over part of the construction process. Overall I thought this article was informative and I only wish there could be more information on the embroidery process seen all throughout the dress.
Pattern making and altering is such an important skill set to have in costume design and Jennifer Serr shows just how useful it can be! Pattern making companies like Simplicity, McCall’s, Butterick, and Vogue sell patterns that are meant to be followed precisely. The instructions make them easy to follow, but difficult to customize and make your own. Understanding principles of sewing like darting, draping, and finishing allow people to alter patterns for fit or style, like Serr does while making her cottage core wardrobe. Her alterations of a Simplicity bodice dress allowed for a more fitted silhouette that was better suited to the aesthetic she wanted. This is especially important for theatrical costuming. If you have to make nine of the same dress from a single pattern, finding small ways to alter each dress makes the entire ensemble more diverse and visually appealing for the audience. Still, altering a pattern requires a lot of patience and revisions to get the desired effect.
This dress is so cool! It reminds me of another article on the blog this week about cultivating creativity. One way that I get inspired is looking through magazines, blogs, or other posts. I take something from one idea then get inspired and turn it into something else. Embroidering a dress is a cool idea. That's similar to what I did when I painted this really cool sun jacket. I found a leather jacket that looked almost like it had been bleached with sun patterns all over it, so I decided to paint a jacket in the same way. Mine came out great, and it didn't cost $150! Taking inspiration from artists just like her is a great way to make some cool stuff. I recently started embroidering, maybe a year ago, and it is so fun, but so time-consuming. I respect her greatly for embroidering this dress in such beautiful detail.
The author got her fabric from fabric wholesale direct- I love fabric wholesale direct! I buy all of my project fabric from there, they have so many options and the way they display swatches online makes it very doable to buy somewhat accurate fabric. It’s not perfect, online will never beat in person fabric shopping, but it’s close. She mentioned that she used the book Pattern Making for Fashion Design for help while making her pattern, and I’ll have to check it out. I love Frankensteining patterns together much like the author did for this project, but having more solid technical knowledge regarding pattern making would really help me take that skill farther. Frankensteining patterns is such a fun problem solving process, not only does it save you time from starting a pattern draft from start, it also saves you money from having to buy a whole new pattern. The author also mentioned that she wanted to create something “cottage-core” because she was entering a “bucolic but comfortable” phase in her life. As an aside, I think its really interesting how a way of life that is traditionally difficult and a lot of hard work (‘cottage living’ is basically homesteading) has been romanticized as a desirable and cozy way of living.
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