fashion and fabric
Ah the two things often ruling my life.
The McQueen exhibit...I finally went, though it was stupid of me to wait so long, going on the last week was not a great idea. It was very crowded but I don't think being sardined into a fashion exhibit was such a bad thing. I have a tendency to motor through museum exhibits rather quickly, it isn't that I'm bored or uninterested, I just take it in and move on. Being in a crowded exhibit I was forced to stop simply for the fact I couldn't much *move*, and therefore had to stand and stare at everything until my eyes wanted to bleed from all the pretty things. I'm just glad I'm pretty tall for a girl.
Anyway there isn't much I can say that hasn't already been said by everyone else in town. It was Awesome. Initially getting to look at these garments up close was a little sad, because though I understand technically how to assemble and how to drape them, I'm such a long way from being able to create pieces of that level of design...and it was slightly intimidating. But then again, aesthetic design has never been my strong point, and I don't think ever will. That's ok too, I don't need to strive to be another famous crazy good designer.
What I really enjoy is the construction, and in that way the exhibit made me feel much better about myself. It's when I look at amazing pieces of art and clothing and realize 'well, you can see a little hand stitching there, and those seams don't match up *exactly*. Hey, that armhole has just a midge of a pucker, and that panel doesn't fall *exactly* smooth...' and I feel a lot better about my sewing. I actually do get really frustrated when something isn't *perfect*, but I need to remind myself that if freakin McQueen was OK with a little pucker in his arm hole, then I need to lighten up.
Anyway.
I'm getting into swimwear of late, and I think this may be a niche that I can rather do something with. It's quite similar to lingerie, the construction is similar anyway, spandex is terribly forgiving, and once I figure out the damn crotch gusset for 20's styles with legs and no center front or back seam, I think it will be rather fun :)
The materials are also much easier to come by, and more reliable than lingerie materials. Though I have to say...I'm a bit leery about the best materials to use. I'm ok with walking into Spandex House and picking out ladies' swimsuit material from the wall, it's good stuff in general. It's *men's* material that's the problem. You can use the same material, but I think I would prefer for some things a non-stretch boardshort fabric used in most of men's swim trunks today. I suppose I can wing it in most fabric stores; as long as the fiber content is %100 man-made (generally polyester) in theory it should be just fine. I'm simply always perturbed that the people working in stores have no clue about fiber content and get grumpy when you want to do a burn test... ;)
The problem is that in swimwear these days one is contending with a chemical element. Ah chlorine how you kill everything...and destroy color. Chlorine will, with enough exposure, fade or discolor anything (with the exception of certain Invista innovations that I don't think are retailing to the general public yet...) but chlorine damages natural fibers so much more quickly, and if you get sold something that has a little rayon in it...who knows when that navy blue is going to turn funny colors.
The second problem is that I'm a small operation that can't buy wholesale from the manufacturer, since 1000 yard rolls are a little overkill at the moment. Le sigh. Anyway, I think everything should be fine if I do enough shopping around.
Also if this affair with swimwear goes on more than a year I'm getting a cover stitch machine.
End of rant. Will stop procrastinating and go sew things.
The McQueen exhibit...I finally went, though it was stupid of me to wait so long, going on the last week was not a great idea. It was very crowded but I don't think being sardined into a fashion exhibit was such a bad thing. I have a tendency to motor through museum exhibits rather quickly, it isn't that I'm bored or uninterested, I just take it in and move on. Being in a crowded exhibit I was forced to stop simply for the fact I couldn't much *move*, and therefore had to stand and stare at everything until my eyes wanted to bleed from all the pretty things. I'm just glad I'm pretty tall for a girl.
Anyway there isn't much I can say that hasn't already been said by everyone else in town. It was Awesome. Initially getting to look at these garments up close was a little sad, because though I understand technically how to assemble and how to drape them, I'm such a long way from being able to create pieces of that level of design...and it was slightly intimidating. But then again, aesthetic design has never been my strong point, and I don't think ever will. That's ok too, I don't need to strive to be another famous crazy good designer.
What I really enjoy is the construction, and in that way the exhibit made me feel much better about myself. It's when I look at amazing pieces of art and clothing and realize 'well, you can see a little hand stitching there, and those seams don't match up *exactly*. Hey, that armhole has just a midge of a pucker, and that panel doesn't fall *exactly* smooth...' and I feel a lot better about my sewing. I actually do get really frustrated when something isn't *perfect*, but I need to remind myself that if freakin McQueen was OK with a little pucker in his arm hole, then I need to lighten up.
Anyway.
I'm getting into swimwear of late, and I think this may be a niche that I can rather do something with. It's quite similar to lingerie, the construction is similar anyway, spandex is terribly forgiving, and once I figure out the damn crotch gusset for 20's styles with legs and no center front or back seam, I think it will be rather fun :)
The materials are also much easier to come by, and more reliable than lingerie materials. Though I have to say...I'm a bit leery about the best materials to use. I'm ok with walking into Spandex House and picking out ladies' swimsuit material from the wall, it's good stuff in general. It's *men's* material that's the problem. You can use the same material, but I think I would prefer for some things a non-stretch boardshort fabric used in most of men's swim trunks today. I suppose I can wing it in most fabric stores; as long as the fiber content is %100 man-made (generally polyester) in theory it should be just fine. I'm simply always perturbed that the people working in stores have no clue about fiber content and get grumpy when you want to do a burn test... ;)
The problem is that in swimwear these days one is contending with a chemical element. Ah chlorine how you kill everything...and destroy color. Chlorine will, with enough exposure, fade or discolor anything (with the exception of certain Invista innovations that I don't think are retailing to the general public yet...) but chlorine damages natural fibers so much more quickly, and if you get sold something that has a little rayon in it...who knows when that navy blue is going to turn funny colors.
The second problem is that I'm a small operation that can't buy wholesale from the manufacturer, since 1000 yard rolls are a little overkill at the moment. Le sigh. Anyway, I think everything should be fine if I do enough shopping around.
Also if this affair with swimwear goes on more than a year I'm getting a cover stitch machine.
End of rant. Will stop procrastinating and go sew things.