Wednesday 27 August 2014

Green dress, red roses

A new image "Green dress, red roses"


Green dress, red roses; digital image by Pearl Red Moon, 2014


And the image below is the repeat to be printed on fabric. Very large at 160 wide x180m long.


Green dress, red roses; digital image by Pearl Red Moon, 2014.  Repeat on textile

I haven't posted much lately but various projects are still coming together. I'm looking forward to launching my range of womens clothing patterns and, as ever, I'd optimistically speculated a few months ago that I'd be able to do that by the end of last month....heh.

In a May post I talked about my uncertainty of taking on the task of grading the patterns into multiple sizes. Though I trained as a Patternmaker in the late 1980s and know the theory of grading I haven't done it enough to be confident of doing it well and properly. I let my indecision over this paralyse me for several weeks, then came to terms with it and sought out someone in the industry to contract to do it.

I'm waiting on getting back 4 designs and in the meantime are writing up the making instructions. I'd like to be able to say when the designs will be ready for marketing - but having already let my enthusiasm suggest wrongly! - I'll just settle for predicting "as long as a piece of string"

My patterns will be different from the old fashioned, established commercial companies (you know who they are!) I still remember my very first school sewing project back in 1972. I made a little sleeveless blouse with darts and facings, from cotton fabric with little pink flowers (ick! is everything designed ever since a reaction to that pink flowered fabric?!) What a shock to open up the Butterick pattern instructions and try to decipher the weird and arcane method of making up. We were actually taught how to do something called tailors tacks (don't ask!) Within a few weeks I was purposely sticking pins through my cheeks so I could get detention and be sent out of the "Home Economics" class, I kid you not....

My distaste and aggravation for the making up instructions of the commercial pattern companies has only intensified over the years. For the short period of time that I bought commercial patterns (until at age 23 I went to TAFE and became a trade certified Patternmaker and Sample Machinist in 1987) after opening the packet I would simply discard the instructions unread and figure out how to do it through my own system of logic.

I'll be applying that same system of logic developed over the last 40 years in the patterns I design. No ridiculous 5/8" seams! phooaar!!...as for tailors tacks, haha harreddy haha! Patterns will be really simple too, so far of the 15 patterns I've developed none of them has darts or zips, I even hate using interfacing!

Wait and see...coming soon!... when I get to the end of that piece of string...