draping on the stand

Here's some of my attempts last week at draping on the stand (Elsie is a trim size 12) to make some dress/skirt/top patterns.

Nice skirt detail - 3 folds into a side dart on a pencil skirt

simple cowl neckline - just like a dress from Kookai I wore to my graduation 10 years ago and have kept in my wardrobe ever since (despite it not fitting for the last 8 years) as I've wanted to recreate it myself so I can carry on wearing it - well one like it

shoulder of mutton sleeve (don't think I'll offer to make Zoe's wedding dress!)

4 drapes (no bulk at the side seam) into a waterfall with 4 cascades to it designed to be a false wrap over a straight skirt foundation

I've been framed

I imagined I would be posting a picture in this posting of a large picture of Mecca framed by me and hanging on a wall I am instead writing how I had an unsuccessful attempt today at framing a rather large picture of Mecca (2.02 metres x 1.43 metres) and I thought it was all going so well when the weather happened to be nice enough for me to take the top down on my car (a great buy 5 years ago, now fully bought and paid for, remarkably well running and still attracting admiring glances from girls and boys alike - I read somewhere that England has the highest average number of days of rain per year of any country in Europe and also the highest percentage of car owners who own convertibles thus proving I and many others are nothing if not optimistic). Especially good fortune as taking the roof off was the only way to fit the wood in the car in order for it to make it's journey from Leeds to Manchester, extra good fortune that it wasn't raining on the Manchester side of the Pennines as would normally be the case. I also marvelled how I was travelling at 70 miles per hour with no roof on the care as I reached the summit of the M62 motorway (1221 feet above sea water for those pub quiz goers out there) and still felt remarkably warm and safe. The same could not have been said 6 years ago with the roof on when attempting the same journey (minus the wood) in my Ford Ka when I would have been holding my breath and hoping I didn't get blown by the ever present wind into a passing lorry. Only spotted one other brave sole attempting the same crossing with no roof - I assume their car was new and still a novelty but don't understand the car registration system these days so couldn't tell for sure.

Attempt 2 to frame 2 pictures of Mecca, same size should take place first full week of April with bigger moulding, more care and better communication between all involved (that's 2020mm not 2200mm for the length of mdf back board).

Unsuccessful framing exploits but great journey, great company and great curry.

I'm a 'frayed knot'

A piece of string walks into a bar and asks the bar man for a pint. "Aren't you a piece of string?" says the barman. "No", replies the piece of string, " I'm a frayed knot".

Must have learned that joke when I was about seven, and I still think it's funny. Actually it's not frayed not I'm blogging about but a french knot but I've not got a joke about one of those.

Spent last week therapeutically sewing french knots onto all the brown seeds in the design of a couple of metres of fabric I'd bought from America (designed by Anna Maria Horner for FreeSpirit). Had no actual purpose for the fabric in mind whilst I was doing it. Was going to use it to make up a dress but decided it was a bit bright, which given my general wardrobe collection probably sounds odd. I definately don't subscribe to Henry Ford's way of thinking - " any colour you like as long as it's black".

Some of the fabric, complete with french knots, has become a little clutch bag this week. It's lined with some of the linen I bought from the dark satanic mill I visited in Bradford last week along with the blackout lining and chocolate brown dupion silk for a couple of roman blinds, padded with fusible wadding and finished off with brown bias binding on the edges, even the inside seam is bound with the stuff. Snap fastener closure. It was supposed to be something else but I need to adjust the pattern I created as it wasn't quite fit for purpose.

Struggling to get fabric by Anna Maria and several other american designers (Heather Bailey, Tula Pink) I've been investigating how to go about becoming a Retailer for some of them. Becoming a retailer looks to be a bit of a heavy investment but I could dip my toe into the water buying fabric in bulk to use as a designer though.