Monday, April 22, 2013

Croquis

You saw my personal croquis in my post about rapper skirts. I'm quite excited about her because it gets me excited about new projects and even better, gets me to think about pre-planning of projects. See, I recently inventoried my stash along with ideas about what the fabric should become on a personal springboard account and I have so much fun seeing my fabric and what it'll become...you know, once I finish stage one of paperwork.

Making a croquis is surprisingly easy. There are few great tutorials hanging out about the internet but here's my take.

First, you should take a straight forward picture of yourself in your favorite underwear against a contrasting wall. Or you can take a page from Oona and take some sassy poses. I chose a pose in which my arms are not against my body because I know that in my sewing design I need to clearly delineate my hips which is harder to see with the arms right next to them.

I imported that photo into Inkscape and connected my graphics tablet (I use a Wacom Bamboo). Select the pencil tool (draw freehand lines tool) or F6 and trace fairly carefully around your figure. I tend to zoom in and do it in line bursts but if your hand is steadier do the whole thing at once.

Once your line is drawn, switch to the edit paths by nodes tool (2nd from the top) or F2 and hit ctrl-L to simplify your line. Nudge the line to match your silhouette as needed node by node.

Wha-la, your basic croquis.

I skipped my hair because it's long and not really a style so my croquis is bald. Other than that there's other marks that are really useful on a croquis. I mark my knees so that I can accurately gauge skirt lengths, elbow marks to gauge sleeve lengths. My bust got marked for necklines and high bust considerations and finally natural waist and what I call comfortable waist must all be marked for it to be truly functional.
Now there's a fully functional figure on which to draw any designs making sure that the garment proportions fit my unique ones. For the actual sewing plan, I usually mark all the measurements as well.

Other things to mark if wanted- collar bones and belly button.

Monday, April 15, 2013

Black Hares graphic design

My current ongoing graphic design project is for The Black Hares. I'm enjoying it primarily because I have a definite fondness for rabbits/hares and also I'm pretty much given free rein in my design (b&w being my main constraint).


Their logo was hand-drawn and then digitized. The text came first mainly because I wanted to break away from my usual font ruts to create a text that suits the chaotic pub environment they are usually in. In fact, I went to one of their sessions and sketched out my ideas right there at the beer-damp table. I wanted the hare to be in a dynamic position and decided that the spirals were infinitely appropriate to folk music and so the hare was born.

I've since modified the logo to form the website banner, facebook buttons, and cards.


A little less often, I make gig posters for them. I employ a stencil vibe showcasing their two instruments making it rather clear this is a band gig poster. The relevant information (location, time, date) is slightly buried within the graphic elements but still clear at all sizes-Goudy Bookletter is really a great serif font for that.

Monday, April 8, 2013

Butterfly Stab Binding-The Magic Lantern

Ah, at last, a book.

I have this big folder on my computer full of things I'd like to figure out how to do myself. Many of these are things I'd only be in the position to make in the unseen future but hanging out in there was a picture I'd found on tumblr

of this amazing butterfly stab binding. I thought sweet and saved it.

I finally got around to trying it out. There were a lot of missteps (some of those holes have thread going in at all times...so tricky to figure out), a lot of thread knotting itself (grrrr...) and just general redos. The resulting book can only be a practice book due to the stretched out holes (there's no way to make that sound not dirty) and a general skewedness. My holes were not symmetrical which further lead to confusions and it's not even! GRRR! (it means the cover is gonna rip easier/not last-it's also a totally a rookie mistake) Plus I totally forgot my original plan to do it long-ways....



Still I'm happy with it! It's been awhile since I A. made a stab binding book and B. made a totally new binding so I'm pleased with it.



After I finished it occurred to me to search for Becca Hirsbrunner to see if she had a blog. Sure enough, she does! With a tutorial for the binding. Another to file under the "could've made your own life easier" category but I'm totally excited. Have you seen her bindings?! I think I want to do the stars next!

Monday, April 1, 2013

Orange & Black Tommy (Top Hat & Bow-Tie)

Ah, first a description of what a Rapper Tommy is. Also called a character, they are a sharply dressed person who is meant to engage the crowd with the dancing. They sing a calling on song meant to grab the audience's attention and generally make jokes all throughout the dance. Our Tommy is also a musician so he got a sash but Tommys do need to look sharper than everyone else. We combed the charity shops of Sheffield and found a dinner jacket that fits him (well, sort of, it's just slightly too big in the shoulders but I seem to be the only one who notices). So with that main base, it was up to me to make the bright orange accessories. He got a pocket triangle (actually a failed sash end!), a bow tie, and a top hat.

I've sewn up a variety of fabric hats mainly of the Scrooge night cap variety. I have been meaning however to take my hat making repertoire up a notch and begin with a flat cap so I had buckram in my stash. Now I had expected it to become a Renaissancey flat cap for M's Balkan Bandit stage costumes and I figured that'd also be a step up in difficulty so I was looking forward to it. However, it came to be a few days before our competition and we still hadn't been able to buy a top hat for under £absurd. So...I made a top hat. Why not?

Well, 3 curved hand needles (one of them was a book binding needle!), a burn, and 3 shattered machine needles later I really questioned my sanity/ability-to-evaluate-my-own-skills. It was certainly a learning experience! I didn't have millinery gauge wire for the brim rim so I doubled up jewelery wire and shattered my machine needles. I didn't have any mull so I used dressmaker's felt creating a thick and stiff body that was so thick my needles bent rather than make it through though thankfully it stays very upright! Ironing the buckram together really didn't work despite the internet telling me it should have and when the steam made my buckram soft I panicked and burned myself off the buckram. And let me tell you I am thrilled I needed to trim it with bright orange ribbon because the glue stains from my failed top to brim technique are hideous. I hated the crown to side attachment so much I sewed a strip of bias binding to hide the top. Oh, and despite my trying to follow the standard ratio of top hat to face height it's like 3 inches taller than any other hat! This is a special hat.

Which looks spectacular from afar!

the trailing ribbon breaks up the expanse of black from the back

I have to keep reminding myself that this was my very first hat, that I drafted the pattern myself, pretty much guessed at the construction after a half hour on the internet, and that while I look at it and see construction/technique failures, everyone else is just like "What a tall top hat on that dashing fellow!" It really just demonstrates that we are our worst critics. Though I cringed every time M handed it to an admirer.

That bow tie is embarrassingly easy in non-fraying fabric. Ready? Sew a rectangle, turn it seams in, and whipstitch closed. Pinch it in the middle  more or less evenly and sew it ruched. Wrap a thin strip around the middle and sew tight on the back. Sew to an elastic that is slightly looser than the neck. Boom-bow tie. (yeah, this Kitmistress was not going to tie a bow tie before every round)