Monday Morning Inspiration/Dior, Part 2

I always find the link between what's happening at the moment, and a suddenly remembered event to be so fascinating. When I started to feed the dogs Saturday morning, I realized that I had forgotten to buy dog food, all I had was about a tablespoon of dry food in the canister. Since I wasn't about to rush out at 7 in the morning, I decided that it was a "make it work" situation. I had some leftover rice, and hot dogs. So I heated the rice, sliced the hot dogs, added in a little pumpkin(they always get a little pumpkin), and served it up. When Berkley took a look at the food, the look on his face was priceless, it was like, "Really???" 

When I was maybe 6, we had been to visit my grandmother. Her favorite thing to bake was banana bread, and she loved to share it with anyone who happened to stop by, with a family who had just lost a loved one, and send a loaf home with us when we visited. My mother considered the bread to be cake, so she would only give it to us as a dessert, or an afternoon treat with tea. Since we had been away, and she had not had time to shop, there was little in the way of food in the house. I couldn't believe my eyes when I came to the table, and there in front of me was a slice of banana bread, and some canned peaches. SCORE!!! I couldn't believe my luck, I was actually getting to eat banana bread for breakfast?!! And, I think that's exactly how Berkley felt when he saw that bowl of rice with cut up hot dogs :) 

Before I fell and broke my wrist/arm, I had gone to the Dior exhibit at the Denver Art Museum. What a wonderful treat it was! So happy that I had the opportunity to go. The first post I did on the exhibit, you can see HERE. In that post I shared the incredible muslins as well as the black garments that I thought were so interesting. I took gobs of pictures. It's wonderful to have an opportunity to experience something like this, but why keep it to myself? While my pictures here on the blog do not begin to compare to actually being there, at least it gives those of you who have not seen the exhibit, a bit of a taste.

Today I would like to concentrate on construction.

This jacket took my breath away. While it is very much a period-like piece, the construction, especially that of the sleeve is perfection. 

The sleeve is actually a two-piece sleeve, but take note of the dart that radiates at an angle toward the hem.

Here you can see the dart and how it radiates from the seam. Just an incredible bit of construction.

I did my best to get an up close picture of the bead work. From a distance, it's lovely, but up close, WOW!

The construction of this little sheath dress is another work of art. From a distance, it looks as though someone has walked through a forest, or field and picked up every bit of greenery they passed. 

In reality, the dress was created with layers of ribbons, sequins, and feathers.

Each piece molded perfectly to the curves of the dress.

When I saw the exhibit, I had recently completed the Poppins Bag that I shared HERE. When I saw this jacket, I immediately thought of that bag and all the lines of stitching I did in order to create body. 

Without all the stitching lines, and the interior interfacing, this jacket would just hang rather than seemingly stand at attention. 

I'm sure that most of you remember this incredible gown that was worn by Nicole Kidman. What a treat it was to see it in person!!!

From the hand-knotted back mesh panel... 

To all of the intricate embroidery...

This is truly a work of art. Look closely at the embroidery and you'll see that it is the tambour embroidery technique that I shared with you HERE last week.

I hope you enjoyed taking a look :) I have lots more to share, and I am feeling more and more like myself with each passing day.

Have a wonderful week, and I hope that something will happen to spur some sweet memories for you! 

Rhonda

        

Monday Morning Inspiration

Like so many of you, I save a lot of pictures for inspiration. If you want to create beautiful things, it's important to look at everything you can get your hands on as you never know what will spark a little creativity. The first picture is one that I found last week and labeled it, "I Love This!!" I put it in Google images and tried to find its origination, but with no luck. I would love to see the finished garment, so if someone is a little better than I am about finding things, please let me know and I'll post the finished pictures. But for now, isn't this beautiful?!!! Be sure to take a minute or so and really look at the piece as the seam lines are so very interesting.


A few weeks back, I did an inspiration post on buttonholes. I found this picture a little later, but I thought you would enjoy it nonetheless. Again, take a close look as the little bias pieces around the buttons as they are finished with thread arrows.

 What a gorgeous idea for a coat lining.

 Take a look at this sleeve.

 And this one. I don't know that I would ever do it, but it is interesting.

This sleeve I will be doing. It is just so pretty and delicate.

This coat is actually from the late 1800's. I would wear this today in a heartbeat, although I think I would prefer not to have the crocheted twists at the hem.

I missed posting this dress when I did the 1960's post, but what a fun little dress! Not for everyone, but still fun.

For those who enjoy repurposing, check out this top. It looks like 3 different sweaters were used to create this piece.

 I love the lines of this skirt. What a fun stripe project this would be.

Vintage garments and patterns are always a great source of inspiration. Look closely at this piece. The top actually wraps around to the back closure. Beautifully done.

Now, for one of the most disgusting things I've seen in a while...oh my goodness what was this designer thinking???? Sorry about that. I didn't mean to make you spit out your morning coffee ;) But then again, even bad design can spark an idea....maybe. 

Have a wonderful, inspiration filled week!
Rhonda

Sleeves On Saturdays

Last night I had the opportunity to talk to the Chicago Chapter of the American Sewing Guild. What a great group pf ladies! My program was on drafting sleeves. I was told to plan on a 30 minute talk, but the talk went on for an hour!!! Hopefully I didn't wear out my welcome :), but they seemed to enjoy the evening as much as I did. I hope so anyway. As I drove home last night, I thought about the fact that there are a number of new followers to the blog....welcome!!! So I thought I would showcase of few of my favorite sleeve posts.

When I was in design school, I found a drafting book devoted to sleeves. I was in love! Since then, I have had a passion for sleeve drafting.

So first up is a coat that I actually drafted when I was in school....yikes!!!, 30 years ago!!! I made a joke last night about having clothes that I have made that are now vintage. Oh well, I love the coat, and yes, I still wear it. I'm actually thinking about making some separates to wear with it and put it in this year's Haute Couture Fashion Show. The title of the show is Through The Looking Glass and the focus is on Alice's journey through Wonderland, so I think this will fit into the theme. 

Piped Coat Sleeve with Shirring

Next, The Twisted Petal Sleeve.
This sleeve is actually a play on the traditional petal sleeve. You can see the finished garment HERE.

When I initially did this sleeve, I didn't give it a name, so I thought I would call it the Floating In Pleats Sleeve. The top for the above sleeve and the dress below were actually done for posts I did for Sew News on collar drafting. Take note that the sleeve actually follows the curve of the princess line. Very feminine.

All Points South Sleeve  This is a very easy sleeve to draft. Be sure to take a looking at the drafting photos to see just how easy it is.

The Bending Willow Sleeve looks rather strange when it's laid out flat, but drapes beautifully on the arm.

Watch Me As I Walk Away Sleeve This sleeve looks rather complicated to draft, but just follow the instructions and it will work out perfectly. This is a great sleeve to use for color blocking.

The Gathered Keyhole Sleeve I'll be honest, this sleeve is a little tricky to draft, but it's such fun, so I think it's worth the effort.
                          
The Pleated Epaulet Sleeve  This sleeve gives the shoulder a very squared look. It looks great in a t-shirt as well as a jacket or coat.

The Rounded Square Shoulder Sleeve  is one of my favorite sleeves. Very easy to draft and it opens itself to lots of design possibilities.You can see a picture of me in the sleeve HERE.

 The Cowl Draped Sleeve is a lovely sleeve that looks great with a cowl neck blouse or dress.

So this is just a sample of some of the sleeves we've done on Saturdays. Click on the links above to see the drafting instructions. You can also go to my Sleeves On Saturdays Pinterest page.

To all who have been around for a long time, thanks for all of your support and to those who are new, I hope you'll find lots of inspiration and maybe give a little pattern drafting a try.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Rhonda