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| Stock blooming at Sanchez Farm |
Monday, August 10, 2015
Road to Half Moon Bay - Sanchez Farm (field trip)
Ench By Sew-36: Fiona, the Irish Laurel Dress
Dress creation brings out the romantic in me. When I looked ahead to my summer sewing, I thought if I could sew only one garment for the season, it would be a dress. Fiona, the Irish Laurel dress, satisfied my yearning to design and sew the perfect summer frock.
Hey let’s listen to the show! To do that you can either download the ‘cast from iTunes - Click on this link to iTunes ,
*OR* listen directly on the web, by clicking on this link
* * *
This dress was a very satisfying project for my arty romantic style.
In between sewing summer essentials - shorts and tees - I worked off and on to determine what design lines spoke to me about summer, mock up a miniature sloper pattern to test my ideas, draft a pattern from my sloper, and then finally to sew up Fiona, while summer was still on!
Hey let’s listen to the show! To do that you can either download the ‘cast from iTunes - Click on this link to iTunes ,
*OR* listen directly on the web, by clicking on this link
* * *
This dress was a very satisfying project for my arty romantic style.
In between sewing summer essentials - shorts and tees - I worked off and on to determine what design lines spoke to me about summer, mock up a miniature sloper pattern to test my ideas, draft a pattern from my sloper, and then finally to sew up Fiona, while summer was still on!
* Pensamientos Primeros - Thinking through my idea for this summer dress
- Part 1 - Planning Fiona
- Part 2 - Farewell to Summer Romancing Fiona, the Irish Laurel Dress
- Part 1 - Planning Fiona
- Part 2 - Farewell to Summer Romancing Fiona, the Irish Laurel Dress
*Technicos - Pattern Drafting and Kissing Zipper using a Prick Stitch
*Pensamientos Finales - Fiona's Design Lines have roots in my own history
Finians Rainbow was a modern American fairy tale. It expressed late 1960's dreams for racial harmony and folks coming together. Fred Astaire (Finian McLonigan) and Petula Clark(his daughter Sharon) added in the romance of America seen, and idealized, fresh from Irish eyes. The story of Finian's determination to plant himself a crop of Irish gold, intertwined with romance of countryside and a new happpily-ever-after love for Sharon draws me in as well today as it did when I was a kid who'd only recently arrived in a new place myself. Any wonder that the movie's costumes inspire my pattern work and sewing today?
Visit Me Encanta Coster/Enchanted by Sewing - my regular sewing blog for other summer sewing I enjoyed along the way... in between time spent bringing Fiona to life
Ench By Sew-35:Enchanted by Charles James - 20'th Century Fashion History
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| The Charles James Ribbon Gown - Muslin in the background |
Enchanted by Charles James - Stepping into a liminal space to study and enjoy glorious fashion designs and analyze the construction of those garments is the kind of thing that keeps me … enchanted by sewing.
Hey let’s go to the show together! To do that you can either download the ‘cast from iTunes - Click on this link to iTunes ,
*OR* listen directly on the web, by clicking on this link
* * *
Some months the Enchanted by Sewing podcast, journals my own sewing project accomplishments, techniques and creative ideas. Other times I share the source of some of my sewing inspiration. This month is inspiration time, as I take you along on an another in-the-,moment fashon exhibit - a visit to the beautiful Legion of Honor Museum in San Francisco , where I went repeatedly to view the exhibit, High Style: The Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection exhibit of the Brooklyn Fashion Museum.
This collection – which is housed and curated by the Metropoliton Museum of Art in NY City- includes a wide range of the work of 20’th century designers and couturiers.
There was no way I could share all of what I saw with you.
By my third visit, I realized that , despite the charms of designers and coturiers in the exhibit- Elsa Schiaparelli and Madeleine Vionnet, just to name a few of the big names, and some that have been almost forgotten- the hands-down winner for sharing with you, was Charles James. That’s because James, and his clients and admirers, worked to see to it, that more than his beautiful garments were saved in this collection, to motivate and educate future sewists, designers and couturiers. This historical treasure trove includes sketches and muslins which really tell the story of how he worked, and what went into the garments he fashioned. They are an inspiration for the creative process.
The body of Charles James work extends from the 1930s into the1950s. The garments he designed, constructed and created were worn by high society types like Austine Hearst, the wife of Mr. William Randolph Hearst, Jr., Millicent Rogers and Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney. They were also made for women with less blue blood like Jeanne Bultman the wife of the artist Fritz Bultman, and Gypsy Rose Lee!
James didn’t just sketch up a gown and expect others to produce it. He worked in the true couture tradition (some say the only American designer who did). He draped fabric in complex ways to get what he was after. Often he created specialized support systems under his gowns, to enhance and extend their third dimensions . Charles James also used fabric in studied ways working with color, light and reflectivity in addition to the hang or drape of the material. He also focused on developing seaming techniques that molded the fabric into directions he wanted it to move.
I’ll be blogging more about Charles James garments I saw at this exhibit over time . You’ll find those in the podcast show notes and at my regular blog, MeEncantaCoser.blogspot.com. So if you find Charles James as appealing as I do, subscribe to the podcast show notes or Me Encanta Coser to be notified about new James postings.
Show at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco http://legionofhonor.famsf.org/legion/announcements/collecting-fashion-20th-century-couture-costume-and-textile-arts-collection?utm_source=Fine+Arts+Museums+of+San+Francisco+E-Mail+List&utm_campaign=e68929bce3-15_3_4_e_news_general&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9757c5111b-e68929bce3-85610377
Other SF show links
https://legionofhonor.famsf.org/highstyle
https://legionofhonor.famsf.org/highstyle/about
~ ~ ~
Hey let’s go to the show together! To do that you can either download the ‘cast from iTunes - Click on this link to iTunes ,
*OR* listen directly on the web, by clicking on this link
* * *
Some months the Enchanted by Sewing podcast, journals my own sewing project accomplishments, techniques and creative ideas. Other times I share the source of some of my sewing inspiration. This month is inspiration time, as I take you along on an another in-the-,moment fashon exhibit - a visit to the beautiful Legion of Honor Museum in San Francisco , where I went repeatedly to view the exhibit, High Style: The Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection exhibit of the Brooklyn Fashion Museum.
This collection – which is housed and curated by the Metropoliton Museum of Art in NY City- includes a wide range of the work of 20’th century designers and couturiers.
There was no way I could share all of what I saw with you.
By my third visit, I realized that , despite the charms of designers and coturiers in the exhibit- Elsa Schiaparelli and Madeleine Vionnet, just to name a few of the big names, and some that have been almost forgotten- the hands-down winner for sharing with you, was Charles James. That’s because James, and his clients and admirers, worked to see to it, that more than his beautiful garments were saved in this collection, to motivate and educate future sewists, designers and couturiers. This historical treasure trove includes sketches and muslins which really tell the story of how he worked, and what went into the garments he fashioned. They are an inspiration for the creative process.
The body of Charles James work extends from the 1930s into the1950s. The garments he designed, constructed and created were worn by high society types like Austine Hearst, the wife of Mr. William Randolph Hearst, Jr., Millicent Rogers and Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney. They were also made for women with less blue blood like Jeanne Bultman the wife of the artist Fritz Bultman, and Gypsy Rose Lee!
James didn’t just sketch up a gown and expect others to produce it. He worked in the true couture tradition (some say the only American designer who did). He draped fabric in complex ways to get what he was after. Often he created specialized support systems under his gowns, to enhance and extend their third dimensions . Charles James also used fabric in studied ways working with color, light and reflectivity in addition to the hang or drape of the material. He also focused on developing seaming techniques that molded the fabric into directions he wanted it to move.
I’ll be blogging more about Charles James garments I saw at this exhibit over time . You’ll find those in the podcast show notes and at my regular blog, MeEncantaCoser.blogspot.com. So if you find Charles James as appealing as I do, subscribe to the podcast show notes or Me Encanta Coser to be notified about new James postings.
Show at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco http://legionofhonor.famsf.org/legion/announcements/collecting-fashion-20th-century-couture-costume-and-textile-arts-collection?utm_source=Fine+Arts+Museums+of+San+Francisco+E-Mail+List&utm_campaign=e68929bce3-15_3_4_e_news_general&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9757c5111b-e68929bce3-85610377
Other SF show links
https://legionofhonor.famsf.org/highstyle
https://legionofhonor.famsf.org/highstyle/about
~ ~ ~
The Entire (over 400 items) Charles James Collection is Freely Available and Searchable Online at the Metropolitan Museum - Brooklyn Costume Collection. This collection includes not only beautiful garments, but muslins and design sketches James created along the way.
http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search?&ft=charles+james&what=Costume&pg=1A few Example Links in the above collection - Use this link to do your own searching
Muslin for the Ribbon Gown http://www.metmuseum.org/search-results?ft=charles+james+muslin+ribbon
Charles James Fashion Sketches
Clover leaf Ball Gown Sketches
http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/156717
Entire online collection at the Met.Wow!
http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online
Articles about Charles James
Entire online collection at the Met.Wow!
http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online
Articles about Charles James
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