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"Its real value ... is to make exquisite, one-of-a-kind clothes using all the various needle crafts." Cathy Horyn, of the New York Times, on the subject of couture
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History
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And now for something completely different…
June 1, 2012 – 11:14 am
OK, maybe not all that different. It is, obviously, a sewing project, but I consider quilting, and really all home dec sewing, to belong to the dark side of the force. However, this project was fairly quick and pretty much painless. Among the first world problems that have been occupying my brain cycles lately are [...]
Me Made May 2012!
May 31, 2012 – 9:04 am
So, in the end, I could not resist the siren call of Me-Made-May. If you would like to see a wealth of handmade clothes from several places in the world, please look at the Flickr pool here. Following are my contributions. Trousers blogged here: http://couturearts.wordpress.com/2007/07/29/blouse-and-trousers/ Top blogged here: http://couturearts.wordpress.com/2012/01/09/retrofuture-air-hostess/ ============================================================== Hand-embroidered dress blogged here: http://couturearts.wordpress.com/2009/06/15/attire-for-uncertain-times/ ========================================================== Blouse blogged [...]
Functioning Industrial Machine!
May 26, 2012 – 5:40 pm
I just fixed my industrial! It took me a while (8 years maybe?). Initially, I thought the problems might be user error. Then I finally got that there were 3 problems with it: Needle height, which was pretty easy to diagnose and fix; timing, which was easy to diagnose and hard to fix; and the [...]
Tie Dye Stripe Redux
May 21, 2012 – 5:40 am
Remember this dress? Even after I stopped looking at it for several weeks, it still had so many problems that I must consider it a wadder. BUT I was still enamoured with the concept, so I figured it was time to try again. I changed many things. The fabric for the new dress is a [...]
Denim Patchwork
May 11, 2012 – 12:15 pm
If you are a person who has a limited appreciation for wacky clothing, you might want to click away right now. . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . OK, now that they are all gone, here it is! This skirt formed [...]
Hot Pink Trousers
May 6, 2012 – 1:35 pm
These trousers have been on my to-make list for ages. I bought the fabric close to a year ago. After my epic jacket project, I wanted a quick project. This fit the bill: less than 48 hours start to finish. The pattern is from Burdastyle 4/07. I’ve made it before, so it was all traced [...]
The Big Reveal
May 4, 2012 – 5:33 am
After all of this buildup (10 blog posts detailing my progress!), I hope you’re not disappointed. I’m not. I love it! Embroidery! Beads! Color! Dye! Quilting! What’s not to love? So, for those of you who are just joining us, this project is based heavily on a current-season Isabel Marant jacket, the Weez embellished tie-dye [...]
Tiny Dye Bath
May 3, 2012 – 10:23 am
The embroidery that I’m working on now is calling out for a touch of yellow. But, alas, I have no yellow floss. Enter the world’s smallest dye bath: a red plastic party cup containing a length of formerly cream-colored silk embroidery floss and a bit of yellow dye solution.
Embellished Jacket Progress 10
May 3, 2012 – 9:51 am
It’s the home stretch with this jacket now. The shell is complete. I’m adding a swoosh of crazy-quilt embroidery to the lining where the tag would normally go. In the unlikely event that I would ever get a tattoo, it would depict crazy quilt embroidery.
