The Adeline Tunic

The Adeline Tunic is the third pattern I’ve added to my inventory. I love the versatility of layered dressing and this tunic is great for all seasons. It can be made in lightweight natural fabric such as voile or handkerchief linen for hot weather or wovens and mid weight knits and worn over long sleeve tops for Winter.

Adeline is a round neck sleeveless tunic with 2 length options. The midi length falls almost to the knee and the maxi is an ankle length dress (on average height woman 162cm or 5” 7”) The hemline is irregular and falls to 2 handkerchief points at the front and back. The deep pleat at the centre front and centre back gives the garment fullness and swing. The armhole is deeply cut as the garment is intended to be worn over a singlet or long sleeve top.

The Adeline pattern has been published in 2 sizes ranges, Small and Large. The pattern has 16 pages of instructions with diagrams and pictures. It can printed as multiple page pdfs or in wide format at a copy shop (2x AO pages)

Please enter my Rafflecopter giveaway by simply asking to be entered into the draw. I've only just begun to put my textile designs into the Kollabora shop. In the next week I should get about 20 designs listed. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

I had a wonderful group of testers help to get the design and instructions perfected for publication. Heres some of their pictures along with a link to their blog or Facebook page where you can read their reviews of Adeline.

Robyn in Sydney, Australia

http://www.sewingtheseasons.com.au/

Essence in USA

http://adventureswithbubbaandbug.blogspot.com.au/

Alyssa in USA

http://calmandcarrion.blogspot.com.au/

Wilma in Newcastle, Australia

http://www.empresswu.blogspot.com.au/

You can buy this pattern and see others by Boho Banjo art to wear on these sites

Shopify:      http://boho-banjo-art-to-wear.myshopify.com/  (icon on right side bar)

Kollabora:   https://www.kollabora.com/brands/boho-banjo-art-wear

Craftsy:       http://www.craftsy.com/user/506631/pattern-store

new fabric designs

This coming  Sunday I'll be launching my third pattern - the Adeline Tunic. I'll be showing pictures of the versions I made along with the fabulous creations of the ladies who have kindly given their time and patience to test the pattern in the last few weeks. There will also be the opportunity to enter a Rafflecopter draw for the prize of all three of my published patterns and 3 metres of fabric of your choice designed by me.

In the 2 weeks since the pattern went to testing I took a break from the pattern drafting which has had me absorbed for the last 6 months. I've been taking 2 online classes in digital textile design to improve my formerly very basic skills. I made my first textile designs 18 months ago in Photoshop and had the fabrics printed by Spoonflower in the USA for making into the garments in my exhibition last year at Breathing Colours Gallery in Sydney.

I really had very little idea what I was doing, just gleaned enough information off the Spoonflower web pages to scrape in on a wing and a prayer.

These were garments made from textile prints I designed in 2014
 

Green Woman tunic 2014

Domino tunic 2014

And here are some of the new designs I've made

I've been to fabric porn heaven and back....

Rodney and I went to Melbourne for 4 days to celebrate a friends 80th birthday. Getting me to leave home is always a challenge akin to separating objects joined with superglue....so I went with a pouty lip big enuf to trip over....

We arrived Saturday and went into the city centre to meet Rodneys twin sister and have a wander around. The fabric shop Tessuti is near Flinders Station and I've bought fabrics and patterns from them online so I went to check them out. It is a very tasteful and upmarket shop with a great range of high quality imported fabrics from Europe. Exquisite linens and prints were available. Unfortunately they were rather too expensive for my budget, average price range being $15 to $100 metre. The 2 fabrics I liked the most were $18 and $45 a metre so I made myself resist the temptation....

On Monday we had a few hours to fritter way in the morning so idly wandered up the main street of the suburb Glen Huntley where we were staying....and then...tah daaaah!....drumroll, trumpets....

exterior of Darn Cheap Fabrics, Glen Huntley, Melbourne AUS

....I came across "Darn Cheap Fabrics" the best fabric shop I've been in for probably 20 years! This is the kind of fabric emporium that ceased to exist a few decades ago since the Spotlight marketing strategy from the 1990s drove little independently owned shops to the wall and out of business. It was redolent of the "old days" when we truly had diversity and difference and speciality. I was in swoons-ville at the great variety of fabrics  -  AND! so many in the very affordable price range, like $5 -$50.

Heres some pictures inside the shop...

Its not a huge shop, but big enough to have such a wide variety of good stuff that it'll probably take hours to drool over! Also a fantastic selection of trims and buttons.

Needless to say, I had to post the 10 kilos of fabrics I bought to my home address, as to take the excess baggage home on the plane would have cost $70!

They have a website and do mailorder - www.darncheapfabrics.com.au

me with my booty from Darn Cheap Fabrics

pattern sweatshop

The Judith Suite pattern has been published and is now available for purchase. To see pictures and information  click on the ecommerce shopify icon on the sidebar and go to my internet shop. I called the Judith design a "suite" because the pattern has 2 dress versions, 2 skirts and 3 shirts. So many options that could be mixed and matched in so many ways you could create a new wardrobe for years to come from this single pattern.

Pattern cover of the Judith Suite

I split the pattern into 2 size ranges, sizes XXSmall, XSmall and Small in one bundle and the Medium & MLarge in another so that the individual pattern size can printed without being nested with multiple sizes. The option to print on wide format pages is also given. You can either take the files to Officeworks on a memory stick or send as attachment and they'll print the pattern at actual size on 2 pages measuring 85cm x 119cm, costing $4 each.

I'm hard at work on pattern #3, a tunic called "Adeline" and hope to publish this one at the beginning of March

short version of  Adeline tunic

2015 - bring it on!

The Zelda pattern has gone through the rigours of being tested by my group of intrepid sewists and will soon be published and up for sale as a pdf download....January 5th I hope.

The testing group was marvellous and with their advice I was able to finesse a few details to get the pattern perfect.

Meantime I'm two thirds of the way into putting together the next design. This one is called "Judith" and is a pull over dress, top or skirt with several options. The Judith design can be made as separates - a short sleeve top and elastic waist skirt. Alternately the skirt can be attached to the drop waist bodice and become a dress. The full circle skirt can be left smoothly hanging or be embellished with tucks that add texture and interest. There are two inset pockets at the waistline which add interest with the way they droop open. Though with a button added the pockets don't have to droop.

If all stays on track (!!??) I hope this pattern will be published before the end of January (this year!)

A colourful version, with tucks in the skirt.
 This one was in my recent exhibition and has been sold.

cotton stripes, lots of fun ways to
use stripes with the Judith

Back view, with tucks

Front view, linen

side view, linen

A cotton print with featuring my digital art

side view, with my digital art print

Front view, with tucks

Call for testers!

The momentous moment has arrived and the Zelda Top pattern is ready to be sent out for testing..(phew) ...HOORAY!!!

I've worked so hard for 2 months to learn how to set up the pattern as a pdf download. It meant learning to use the Adobe programs Indesign and Illustrator, which were entirely new to me. At the beginning of starting this mission - waaaay back in September I'd optimistically and ignorantly speculated I could pull it together in a couple of weeks. Ha de harredy hahaa....the bliss of ignorance indeed!

Though (so far!) there are no regrets at plunging into this journey. Despite moments (days..!) of intense frustration it feels worth the blood, sweat and tears to acquire all these new skills. Naturally, I hope the long term result will be to make some money back out of the product that so much time and effort has been invested into, but frankly, I feel so elated at all that has been learned and achieved I think it has been worthwhile whether or not there's financial success. On reflection, that is actually a good attitude to have as an artist or you'd never start that journey!

The final stage of developing the pattern before it can be released to market is a very interactive one. I need to get a group of people together who are willing to "test" my pattern by receiving the pdf package, printing it out and making up the garment. Testers will join a closed FB group to give me feedback and share their ideas and experiences with the other testers. Through this process I can find out if there's any faults in the way the pattern is constructed and get advice with the best user friendly way of publishing the instructions.

If any of my blog readers are interested to join in please go to this document to find out more information about what is involved and decide if you want to return your details to me.

click on link to register interest:   http://goo.gl/forms/XH2RzDzvk7

Zelda

Hi, I'm back after a long quiet spell. However, my inactivity in blogging works in inverse proportion to how busy the rest of my life is....and I have been beavering away like the veritable headless chook (I love mixed metaphors)

My enterprise in setting up an independent clothing designer business is progressing...I've just been sidetracked down the long and winding road. Months back I explained that I felt daunted by the task of grading my clothing patterns (drafting into multiple size fittings) and had sent them away to a specialist company. Six weeks later they had done only half of one pattern so I got them back. The business couldn't be based on a turn around like that!

During my researches on the internet to find a company that would do the grading I discovered an excellent online course that would upgrade my rusty skills and knowledge to the digital era. So I took on the "Pattern Workshop" and for two months have been educating myself in the programs Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Indesign, specific to designing clothes patterns for publishing in PDF format. It has been both frustrating and elating.

I'm now within a week or 2 of putting out my first design for "testing". This is the last stage of the design process where the pattern and instructions are sent out for checking to people who sew them up and give feedback.

This is the pattern cover I designed for the womens top I call "Zelda"

Zelda pattern cover

a version of Zelda

 Despite the challenges I've had a great time pulling this design together and can't wait to start on the next one. I have at least another 15 patterns that are already styled in my workshop and another 50 ideas that are niggling to be made real, so now the greatest frustration is where to start and not having enough hours in the day!

Violetta

Violetta, digital image by Pearl Red Moon, 2014

This newly created image will be developed into a textile soon...The face is taken from a painting I did in 2002.

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...

more Lucy

"Lucy loves Paisley" digital image Pearl Red Moon, 2014

I've been using a face I call "Lucy" for about 5 years in my art. To date I've made about 15 different versions. Here is another digital interpretation that will be printed on fabric soon. The repeat will be very large, the image above being 142cm wide and 170cm long when printed.