Party Pants.

Oooooooh yeah!

I've always struggled with pants. Pants that fit well are so hard to find in stores, and even harder to make. Because of this, I grabbed a basic pants pattern from JoAnn fabric, to modify for my design. Simple enough. My only problem was the pants pattern I bought was plus sized. And my model is a size 4.

Armed with what I've learned in costume construction, I decided to make the pants anyway, and then take them in. But before the resizing commenced, I had to take a picture. So here I am, in my size 14 pants, before they were taken in. They have a nice Hammer Pant quality to them, no?

From the lookbook photoshoot.

I think they turned out okay though. :)

Yeeeeeaaah..

I am not a blogger. Period. I suck at it. But here we are! Over a month later, my project is done! I'm going to backtrack, and I'll post things as they developed. Sorry.

This shrug was finished back in November, right before Thanksgiving, though it didn't make it into the first photoshoot. There is the obvious ribcage reference, and I continued the "bad veterinary stitches" as my professor Dylan calls them. The whole shrug was hand sewn, and made of (my favorite of the fabrics I have) knitted tie dyed wool, really pretty and gauzey.

Lunar Gala has been going well too! I have 10 lovely models already assigned, and I'll start fitting with them when we get back in January. This was the sign that was posted at our LG meeting, back when the models were assigned and they had to come meet me for measurements.

This lovely lady, my muuuuuuse. Emily Gavin modeled for my whole lookbook. She was so excited and great through the whole thing. What a great model. The lookbook turned out incredibly wonderfully amazingly fantastical, I'll post those photos soon as well.

And finally, these cool kids, the models of Spirit. I've taken on another fashion show for spring semester. I'll be designing for Spirit Fashion Show as well as Lunar Gala. It'll be a lot of work, but since my LG collection is done, minus fittings, I think it'll be great. I'm meeting next week to start really fleshing out my ideas for SFS. All I'll say about that is: Grace Jones.

Winter break has been awesome so far, can't wait to get crackin' on some super fun personal projects, as well as my portfolio. And now back to watching Pulp Fiction and eating graham crackers...

Sleeeeep.

Things have been fast paced, to say the least. Photoshoot with Emily is on Sunday. I would elaborate more, but I have not had more than 5 hours of sleep per night, for over a week. So I'll be brief, here is what has progressed so far:

Knitted shrug.

Final drapes .

Under structure and lining.

Dylan Jacket mock up. (Kinda looks like a fortune cookie, right?)

Finished Dylan Jacket.

Coolest fabric ever.

NOW I AM GOING TO BED.

xo.

Emily!

Meet Emily. My lookbook model! We're shooting next weekend! Let's just hope I have all the pieces done by then. Eep.

I mean, are you surprised?

The new Lady Gaga, nuts. I know everyone is posting this, but I had to. Dior, McQueen, etc.

Spirit.

It's s hard to think about next semester, right now. Next Monday is my last course selection of college, this semester will be over in less than three weeks! Kind of hard to believe. Next semester is also Spirit Fashion Show, in April. Spirit is the black students' association on campus, and like Lunar Gala, they hold a fashion show. My friend Tina is on the board, and she's been encouraging me to apply. Honestly, it is so hard for me to think that far in advance. But last night I made a point to get the submission done, and turned it in at just the last minute!

Lust, Sloth, Pride, and Gluttony finishes from my Spirit Fashion Show submission.

The application required a mini project. They asked for 3 to 5 sketches on the theme of "Seven Deadly Sins". Since the show is usually pretty theatrical, I went with gowns inspired by 4 of the 7 sins: Lust, Sloth, Pride, and Gluttony. Here is some of my process:

Second Wind.

Yesterday was really productive. I ended up working in studio from noon until 8, finishing this skirt, and starting the final of everyone's-favorite-dress. I think I need to start naming these pieces, instead of referring to them as "the teal skirt" or "the drape-y dress".

When all is said and done, with Pieces and LG over, I will be very excited to wear this skirt myself, in real life. It fits beautifully. It's relatively simple, and will have a one sleeved top worn with it. Like so:

Still deciding if that waistbelt is actually going to happen. The one sleeve top though is a definite.

I'm hoping to have this guy finished today. The fabric I chose is gorgeous but a little shear. I've flat lined two layers of fabric, and then lined it with a black cotton twill for support, and so far, it looks good. The fabric is very temperamental, wrinkles easily, wont lie flat, etc, though I think with a little finesse, it can be controlled. Before I hit studio I have to make a run to JoAnn's (shudder), and see what this Designer Days event is all about. Grant is working there today, so hopefully he'll put aside some cute items for me. :)

Happy Weekend!

"Skin is skin."

Just got back from seeing Coco Avant Chanel. Seriously amazing, go see it, now. Costumes are incredible! I am feeling so inspired...

Gotta get one of these striped boatneck tops, so chic.

Wait.

At Lunar Gala practice.

I swear I am not going to let this thing die. I have never been a good blogger. But I am trying! Lunar Gala rehearsals have started, and I'll be making decisions on my models this week. It's really hard to choose girls!

Dress, inside out.

I have 3 pieces done! I think this dress turned out nicely. The low cut in the front is very sexy. I am a fan.

Detail of the back.

The twist in the back looks a little wonky on the dressform, but it drapes nicely on a 'real' girl. Susie's just a little stiff sometimes.

Back.

A lot has developed, I wish I was a better blogger and could keep this thing up to date. I finished a second dress, as well as a top, though I've yet to photograph them. I would like to be moving at a slightly faster pace, but there are other projects and classes that are adding to my workload right now. I'll try to be more diligent about photographing the process as well.

And finally! I have been spotlighted by Victor's new blog, d'Arte magazine! Check out my goofy face here.

Spoils of The Hunt.

Faaaabric. At Liz's.

It's all bought! I'm back in Pixburgh. New York was so much fun, big thanks to Liz, Nikki, and Katie for their fabulous hospitality. Quite a bit of money spent, but it was definitely all worth it. The shopping was exhausting, and I found everything I needed. With some minor conflicts, of course.

This guy. I walked into Mood with the swatch, and the staff told me that they were all sold out. Whaaaaaaat. After a mini freak out, I ended up at New York Elegant, and thank god. I am never shopping at Mood again! Elegant was awesome, they offer a student discount! I gave my swatch to one of the employees, and they found almost the exact same fabric immediately! What a huge relief. I love this fabric, I pretty much designed around it. I hadn't really thought about what I would do if it was gone.

And in other news...

I am a Lunar Gala Designer!

Just got the email yesterday. My first design meeting is tomorrow night. Thaaaaaanks Ed and Sabrina! :)

These lights will inspire you.

Tomorrow I leave for New York! The big reason for the trip is purchase all the fabric I need for the project. Should be exciting! Any NYC friends that are in town, let's get together! Looking forward to some beautiful fabrics, good food, maybe stopping by the CK Collection store...

xo.

Name ideas.

beyla

(great grandmother's name)

a.beth

(my first initial, middle name)

samson

(first dog's name)

alex woolfson

(obviously)

Your thoughts?

Lunar Gala.

I submitted my Pieces project to Lunar Gala! It's our student run fashion show on campus. Last year I was the photographer for LG, but this year, I definitely wanted to design. The show will be in February, probably around the 20th. Hopefully, my designs will be chosen, and I'll be able to show my work in a fun fashion show, with models.

Here is my submission portfolio. The folder and format was inspired by the lovely Christine. :)

Sorry for the crappy picture quality, I took these with my iPhone. I wanted to use all white on white, so that the inspiration, fabric, and designs popped. I used ripped paper, white tape, and sewing pins to put everything together.

There are 4 panels. The binder folds open, to the LG designer application, and a small note that I wrote to the design judges, explaining my intentions and the work to be done during my Pieces course.

Those two panels open again, to reveal (left to right): inspiration, color palette and fabrics, and finally the designs.

These are by no means my final finishes. I'll spend a lot more time on the finals. But since I don't have the fabric yet, I didn't want to render the finals, without knowing the exact color, texture, and material of the final fabrics. The little dolls simple color block out my intentions for each look.

Flats.

A smattering of flats. This isn't everything by any means, and these are super rough sketches. The finals will be done in Adobe Illustrator. I think making the flats first will help me figure out exactly how I plan on making the mock ups.