Texture And Architecture

One of the things I'm doing in Ashland is taking a one-to-one coaching session with Diane. To prepare, she sent me some questions around the kind of work I like to do, what I'm proud of, and what I'm hoping for. One of the things I mentioned in my reply is my love of texture and architecture.





Diane designs her patterns for a completely different figure than mine so I haven't had much success making one yet. When I was at the Design Outside The Lines retreat in June, I tried on Helen's version of Diane's Faultlines vest  - bottom pattern in the above picture - and it looked surprisingly good on me so I'm making it using the fabric below that I bought from Marcy Tilton a few years ago. LOVE the texture. It's black black but very hard to photograph. It typically comes up some shade of grey.





I've been thinking about the sweater to shrug refashion. In the past - with RTW or sewn garments - I've had far more success with cropped designs that close across the front and are short enough to show off my waist than with ones that open at the front and - seemingly - draw a line straight to my tummy. This vest is the later type with a softer, asymmetrical hemline.





I sewed the muslin in a really busy print so it's hard to see all the edges unless you click on the picture. In the instructions, each piece is sewn and lined separately and then overlapped to join together - I think - they are not the clearest of instructions since there are a lot of you could do this or this or this design possibilities included, which are fabulous, but it takes some reading through to find the actual instructions.





I pieced the back, sewed the shoulder seams, and overlapped the front the way I wanted, and then pinned the sides in a configuration that worked.





The left side is a bit too long so I may change that angle. The fabric doesn't flap from the bust on me as much as it does on Millcent. She's smaller. At some point - hopefully soon - I plan to buy another - larger - mannequin so I have my complete range of sizes but for now, Millicent does her best.





With this vest, I want to incorporate more than one fabric. Far left is a light-weight woven stripe that may become bias. Next to it is a ribbed knit  that I'm auditioning for the bottom edge. The zipper has crystal teeth and is too long but if I could find a shorter one, it would be great for closing center front. My mind is bubbling with ideas and I'm telling myself not to dumb them down. That's another thing I wrote in my answers to Diane - that I want to create the ideas in my head and stop simplifying them all the time, to risk more.

There won't be any time to sew today. I'm off to journal and then coffee with my other mother and then an hour and a half drive to meet a friend for lunch. She's visiting her daughter three hours away and we're meeting in the middle.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - friends who will meet you in the middle