Promised Pattern-free Poncing

 

Throughout the year, I've made a few more pattern-free garments, and made mention of them here with the promise of photos.  Today's photos serve as an example of why (until now) I have not been inspired to ponce about in front of a camera in them. 

 

I no longer have a big open studio with white walls, floor-to-ceiling windows and loads of foam-core board lying about the place.... I can never get enough space and light.  It's all murkiness, distortion and movement... but I hope you get the picture.

 

 

This (oops, I should have arranged those drapes... perhaps pressed out the creases..?) toga-esque number was a toile (muslin) for an idea I had for a dress for my book launch.  It is made from something I found on a bargain table in GJ's (I may have paid $2 or $4 per metre for it).

 

I wore it to my book launch.

 

 

 

In order to get my legs in shot, I either have to shoot downward or upward... and then there's not enough light or it's out of focus.... so I move in closer.

 

Behold, a really bad angle on the neckline drapery....

 

There were better photos of the dress itself, but ...ahem... they showed that it is more see-through than I thought it was.  (I'm glad that when I've worn it out, it has been with a more appropriate slip!)

 

 Again... I hope you can squint, use your imagination and see that it looks ok in real life.

 

 

 

You may have seen this top before, so just focus on the skirt here... I draped it on the stand (dress form), rather than on my body, and originally put the tucked detail at the front. 

 

 

When I put it on my body, I realised that the stand was somewhat taller than I, and the shortening/widening effect did nothing for me.  I turned the skirt around and hey-presto... a modern asymmetrical bustle-ish effect. 

 

 

(I love a bustle!)

 

 

 With two more garments to photograph, the camera battery ran out and the spares were flat.  By the time they are charged, there will be little or no daylight left.

It occurred to me to write off  this afternoon's attempt at a photo shoot completely, but I'm not too sure when the next opportunity to ponce about will arise.  So here they are... sort of... the promised photos.

I'll be running Pattern-Free classes at Handmaker's Factory and CAE soon.  It's heaps of fun and you get to play with lots of new ideas. 

Oh, and please don't think that all the garments are made to suit pixie-size bodies - the idea is that you drape garments that fit and flatter your own body, and mine just happens to be too small to carry loose garments or too much fabric.  You can see lots of examples here of the fab things that suit other shapes.

 

Headless in a Pattern-Free World

I've been whipping up a pattern-free garment storm, in preparation for my 4-day workshop at Grampians Texture in a few weeks.

 

I've also been Photoshopping my head out of a bazillion photos for student notes, which is strangely liberating ("Tired, middle-aged face, begone!!"). 

 

 

My week has been a world of ideas and experiments ..and of making myself a few new outfits.

 

 

I've also been working through ideas for shapes other than my own.  The whole notion of Pattern-Free is that you work around your own particular shape, and the more you do it, the better you get at judging what will and won't work (and you start to be able to eye-ball measurements on fabric that will fit your body's proportions).

 

The difference in proportion between this top (below) and the first photo in this post, is the difference between it flattering my shape and being a bit ordinary. 

 

The longer, tummy-covering drape would look a treat on some figures. Perhaps it's the posture here (it sort of freaks me out when I see family resemblance in a headless photo), but I can see this one on my eldest sister. She has about 7'' more height and a bust.

 

 

And I think that a bust wouldn't go astray in this twisted tube dress, too. Perhaps some hips... and maybe even a waist as well.

 

 

 

I've come to the conclusion that I'm a straight-tube sort of gal.  Minimalist....

 

 

...with a bit of a twist.

 

 

There are some shapes that would look fabulously fluid and flattering on anyone except people under 5'2'' with swimmer's shoulders and no bust. 

 

 

But Pattern-Free, being all about adapting shapes to suit the body, offers solutions...

 

 

Yup.  Minimalist and much better.

 

 

This week, I may  have also made my new favourite top.

 

..and dress. (Once again, the shirring elastic came out.)

Here I am, practising for when I wear it to art exhibitions....(art here by Manus Walsh and Ilse Theilan).

 

 ..and there'll I'll be, in Halls Gap in a few weeks time, throwing lots of fabric about the place with a bunch of great gals who love sewing as much as I do. I can't wait!

 

 

A Coat for All Seasons

The new pattern is at the printers... and will hopefully be here and ready to pack tomorrow.

 

 

It's a trans-seasonal coat for little girls (sizes 4-8), that can be made in anything from medium-weight cotton to winter-weight wools, and it's called the All Seasons Coat.

 

 

 It can be made with a collar and belt, like a little trenchcoat...

 

Or it can be made with a hood, and the belt is completely optional so it can be a cute little swing style coat.

 

Here we have a gorgeous-yet-anonymous child, modelling the hoodie version....

 

And the back....



It's fully lined, and has some fancy new tricks for making patch pockets and cheats-methods for a tailored-looking collar. 

 

 You'll be able to see a few of the pattern-testers' versions around the bloggy traps soon.  There may even be a couple of giveaways.  Watch this space... and perhaps ask your favourite YOU SEW GIRL stockist to get it in for you!

 

Toga tube dress

So, I've been poncing about in rectangles of fabric again... calling them clothes....

 

 

This idea (which is based on a Pattern Magic 3 idea)...

 

...got me thinking about dresses.

 

And in usual fashion, this is the toile (muslin) for the idea, made in fabric that I bought for $1 per metre (although it's actually ex-(swanky)-designer fabric).

 

I tried it in the double-sided knit that I bought at Addicted To Fabric, but I didn't have quite enough to get the right drapey effect.... and I didn't photograph it.  It'll be recycled into something fabulous, at a later date...as is the way of things not-quite-right around here....

..and I'm wearing the toile.

 

Since it's actually winter here, this dress has only seen the light of day under this wrap cardigan... and usually a scarf and coat on top of that. Shame... I quite like the toga effect, and nobody sees it.

 

There was much knitting of green cotton yarn to make a dress-length version like the knitted top in the photo up there... but it all ended in tears (and the undoing of nearly 3 metres of machine knitted fabric).  One dropped stitch..... I won't dwell on it... But I haven't had the heart to start again yet.

 

I'll be playing with more pattern-free design over the next few weeks, in preparation for my Pattern-Free Garment workshop at GJ's fabrics at the end on the month and for my 4-day workshop extravaganza scheduled for Grampians Texture next year.  Gosh, I may even get around to blogging it.

 

I'm fully aware that this particular style isn't for everyone, and I want to assure you that there are many, many other options for pattern-free stylin'... It's all about working with the fabric around your own shape, making designs that fit and flatter, and you can make skirts, tops, dresses, jackets and wraps.  It's quite endless, once you get a feel for it, and it's LOADS of fun. 

This is not a knitting blog...

 ..and yet... here you see more knittery.

Between revamping beret patterns, I've used the knitting machine as think-music.  Without a map ( I never take notes) I tried to remake the red jumper (sweater) that I accidentally destroyed a few weeks ago. The original was an improvised version of Teresa Dair's Vaganza, from her book "I Knitted My Way".

 

There were a few minor...errr... quirks... in the sleeve and tail departments.

Which means that the optional split or knot detail is limited to knots....

 ...which is actually quite fine and comfy.

The longer tail works well when worn in the "shrug" variation... (it's a tad Matador, don't you think?).

 

 ...and the back, with its sometimes-neckline-sometimes-back-detail works just fine.

Quirks and all, I've been living in it.  Melbourne has turned COLD!

 

Winter Warmers

It's winter ...and I'm loving the layering opportunities that winter provides.  Too much is never enough, I say.

 

Sock yarn from Spotlight for $4 a (big) ball inspired a bit of machine knittery.  

 

 

There was then a mad dash back to Spotlight when there wasn't enough yarn purchased to make the sleeves....

 

Enter black merino, also on sale for $4 a (small) ball. 

 

Those natty suits that the character Bel swanned about in in The Hour inspired a deconstructed version of the little belted cardi. 

 

 

...forgetting, of course, that I am not a statuesque, hourglass-figured beauty in impossibly high heels. 

 

 My belted cardi is better-suited to comfy-womfy studio wear than to glamourous swanning about.

 

In this yarn, I like the reverse side of the stockingette stitch better, so I seamed it from the knit side and it's now reversible... and very deconstructed. 

 

And it can be beltless.. pinless.... whatever it wants to be.

It's basically 4 rectangles with a little bit of simple shaping (casting off a stitch per row) on the shoulder seams of the front and back pieces.

The pattern was made up on the fly at the machine and (you'd think I'd learn) no notes were taken about stitch or row count, or tension... or anything.  The sleeves are a tad long, but add to the comfy-womfy factor.  The rest of the fit is fine. 

I'll never be able to repeat it.

Ho hum.

In other wintery news, I've spent the last week revamping my beret and kids beret patterns as downloadable pdfs. 

Each pattern has 3 head sizes, with 3 crown depths for each size.  That's actually 9 beret patterns per pattern. 



 You can see the original blog posts (with much younger me and much wee-er wee girl) here and here. 

Hope you're keeping cosy if you're in these wintery parts.... or enjoying summer elsewhere!

Got it!



Still up to my eyeballs here, so this is a quick one.

 

I finally remembered to snap a photo of the finished cowl-front dress (a descendent of the green dress, and many others).  Having fluked a perfect cowl on a pattern-free top a while ago, I've been working on making a pattern for this dress idea.

 

It's been one of those between-book-chapter-writing think-music projects.  Now I have a pattern (and seven toiles/muslins) for it.

 



 

For me, it's the perfect little dress for summer in Melbourne.  It's a little bit slinky but not too sassy, not too casual but nor is it formal, and most importantly, it's super-cool and comfortable.  I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself.

 

 

I want it in green... and blue.... 

 

I have to find the right fabric...and finish a chapter (or two).

 

 

 

PS. Since I Facebooked the photo this morning, I've had requests for the pattern.  I'm afraid it's only in my size, and I'm not sure how easily it'd alter to fit different proportions.  I'm a bit on the titchy side of average height/size.  We might have to allow a bit more think-music time for that one.

 

 

 

Big pictures and little pictures, woods and trees.

This little corner of a table in my studio is indicative of the whole, big, chaotic picture, right now.



I haven't wasted much time lately, with tidying.

It's been all about bringing a book manuscript into being, which means working between computer, sewing machine, cutting table, ironing board and photography table, balacing bits of foamcore board on everything and staying up late, sifting through and cataloging hundreds of images....  And writing.  Writing and re-writing.  Drawing diagrams and writing some more.  It's coming along.

The trip to the USA, Quilt Market and possibly teaching some classes while I'm in that neck of the woods, is another work-in-progress.  (If you're interested in doing a class with me while I'm in the North-West in May 2013, please email me at info@nicolemdesign.com.au and we'll keep you in the loop).

I'd like to say that everything has been running smoothly, but between bursts of efficiency, there has been a fair bit of unpicking, re-cutting, starting over, everyday life issues getting in the way.... and all the while, I've been riding waves of inconsolable, crippling grief, as my mother's awful illness is stealing the last of her reflexes and dignity.

I hear my mother's voice, "You just can't see the woods for the trees". (She said that to me a lot, when I was a kid.... I wonder why?)  But I know now that she showed me how to see both the woods and the trees - how to see the bigger picture and how to find my way through, tree by tree.  To throw in another cliche' or two - she also showed me how to stop to smell the roses, and taught me to count my blessings.

And so, I've been enjoying the process of seeing new ideas become reality.  I'm thanking my lucky stars for new opportunities and for the talented community of designers and crafters around me.

It's been great to work with wonderful fabrics like this one above, by CurlyPops and below, by Kristen Doran.

I appear to be fitting in a bit of theraputic garment-sewing and going out with friends, too.  Here I am in a  new pencil-skirt on High St Northcote on Saturday evening.  (Spy-photo by my friend Tracy).

I've been seen about town, wearing cowl-neck slip dresses of various shape and with various configurations of safety pins and drapery.  They're all toiles (muslins), as I try to recreate something I once did quite accidentally ...and unfortunately, pattern-free.  It's getting close to what it's supposed to be. Nearly there. No safety pins in this one.

This green is the best colour... but it's a cotton rib knit, so not too drapey and a bit clumpy on the old hemline.  Regardless, I've been swanning about in it like I'm on the set of Mad Men or something, pretending it's all glamour and couture.  I just love the green.

And I still haven't made a pattern for it.  Little Miss Freehand-Cutting is going to have fun recreating it in 'proper' fabric, huh?

 



Today I dropped in on an old friend, and some old work. 

When the wee girl was a wee baby, I was - as usual - trying to juggle too many things: one of them being freelance patternmaking for accessories companies like Haul.

 

My very small part in the work of getting these laptop sleeves to market was done at a time when I was trying to fit everything in around a highly-mobile baby who wouldn't sleep, and when I was trying to get my own fledgling business off the ground.  Haul was going through a period of growth and change then, too.  To see that these products have stood the test of time is somewhat satisfying.  It's reassuring to know that it's worth the effort to keep working through even the toughest of times, and to find one's way out of the woods.

 

In the ten years I've known Scott, I've seen him work tirelessly on building this fantastic business, which is based around functional, fashionable accessories made from recycled upcycled urban waste (billboards, number plates, print blankets, truck inner tubes...).   He's won awards and gone from strength to strength (and did I mention, worked really, really hard..?).  Last week, he announced that he's moving on to other things, and closing Haul.  I feel a bit sad, but at the same time, I see the bigger picture and the opportunities that lie ahead, and wish Scott every success.

 

(BTW - there's currently a 35%-off sale.  Last chance to get yourself a bit of Haul).



 

I must get back to the business of working my way through these woods... again.  If I don't manage another blog post before Xmas, please have a happy and safe one!