Tag: press

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In Progress

Wool, satin, and lace

I’m making good progress on my tuxedo-y suit using my grandmother’s vintage Pendleton wool. I’ve done the single welt pockets (a first time for me!) and the construction of the jacket body, and I’m now working on the many collars and lapels. The placement of the welt pockets (which are hidden under a front flap) is way too high, though, and the pockets are too narrow to be useful, though – this is the second time I’ve had BWOF jacket pockets be waaaay too narrow for my hands to fit through, so I must remember that for next time.

Inspiration

Catwalk this way

The first ever Fehr Trade catwalk show on Sunday was a massive success! The four designs I showed went down really well with the crowd and with the backstage ladies alike (who couldn’t keep their hands off that gorgeous silk!). I’m so pleased with how everything went, from the models to the music, to the organisation (by La Geneve North and Fat Talent), and most of all, by those of you who took time out of your Sunday to come down!

Unfortunately, my photos from the catwalk itself didn’t turn out too great, owing from my camera’s autofocus delay “feature”, but luckily the backstage shots did. You’ll just have to imagine these ladies strutting to the dulcet bleeps of The Blow‘s “Pile Of Gold”…

Inspiration

Sign of the ‘Times

To follow on from yesterday’s comment about the New York Times Ikea hacks article, as things transpired throughout the day yesterday, I became less and less disappointed with being omitted from the article text itself. Sure, I gave what I thought was a good article with interesting things to say, but I know enough about the publishing world to accept that sometimes your articles get really, really chopped down and that word counts are super strict even when the topic is so interesting and varied. And did you see how many people the writer interviewed for this feature? I’m amazed she covered as much ground as she did!

In Progress

Nearly there…

Remember that velvet pirate jacket I was working on, ooh, two years ago? Well, as much as I hate that thing and all of the fabric choices associated with it, I have been slogging through and doing a few things to it here and there over the past few months.

Inspiration

In the swing of things

A day after I landed in America for the start of my holiday, I got an email from the New York Times asking if they could interview and photograph me for an article on Ikea Hacks. I gave a phone interview whilst in Pennsylvania, but the photographer didn’t catch up to me until today.

In Progress

Un-English Update

I bought a ton of sewing magazines! I managed to pick up the February and March issues of Knipmode magazine (March was a special double issue with a full supplement of sailing-inspired clothes! Perfect!), plus the Dutch language version of the March issue of Burda World of Fashion magazine. I figure I never read the instructions in the English versions of Burda anyway, so it didn’t matter much if it was written in Dutch as long as I could see from the photos what sort of fabric to use…

target=“out”>February and March issues of Knipmode magazine (March was a special double issue with a full supplement of sailing-inspired clothes! Perfect!), plus the Dutch language version of the March issue of Burda World of Fashion magazine. I figure I never read the instructions in the English versions of Burda anyway, so it didn’t matter much if it was written in Dutch as long as I could see from the photos what sort of fabric to use…

I’d only just vaguely heard of Knipmode before, but I had a chance to thumb through a copy in the supermarket before I bought it and I was delighted to discover it’s very similar to Burda WOF – about 40 patterns, all very fashion forward with glossy model photoshoots showing the finished products, plus one pattern where they go in-depth with lots of step-by-step diagrams, a plus section, and a few fashion mag-esque pages on how to accessorize what you’ve sewn. One thing I really liked is that Knipmode show a technical drawing next to the glossy photoshoots so you can see what it’s like right there without having to flip to the center section. And Knipmode’s step-by-step pattern has the largest diagrams ever!

If you’re not familiar with Knipmode (as I wasn’t until the weekend), here’s a few of my favourites from the February and March issues to give you a feel for their style… a hooded, zippered sweatshirt with kangaroo pockets, a denim skirt with a kilt-inspired styling, a perfect wrapdress for woven fabrics and a button-down shirt and khaki cargos for men, a knit long-sleeved top with an assymetric neckline, a v-necked, half-surplice top with a collar, a pair of sailor trousers with the button-up flap in front, and a woven shirtdress with a belt and band collar.

And in other non-English language news – my arse is famous! I was approached by a nice woman from IKEA’s head office in Sweden asking if I wouldn’t mind if they used the skirt I made from an IKEA pillowcase in their in-staff magazine. I was delighted and sent them some hi-res photos and answered their questions about why I hate IKEA (answer: I love their goods, I just detest everything about their store experience), and I got a copy of the newsletter today. Not only am I featured inside, but my arse is on the cover!