“Coco Chanel became important because she cut a jacket that allowed a woman to move”
I have been quite taken with threads lately. During the past week I have taken pictures of the MOMA exhibition poster advertising Louise Bourgeois: An Unfolding Portrait, featuring her famous Spider Woman print. Spider legs are sprouting in all directions from the woman’s head. I also took a photo of a sweater by Sacai in Dover Street Market that featured embroidery that had rows of hanging threads. The problem with lots of loose threads is that eventually they must become woven into something or picked up and thrown away.
A feature in Surface Magazine that appeared on the Bibliography this past weekend provided a frame for me to begin to think about how all the things I have been exploring might come together in what is arguably a very loose weave but one that is beginning to take shape. I love people who can take very complex concepts and turn them into plain English and this is what Callidus Guild did during her interview for the magazine. She notes that the best fashion design comes from those designers who are really making a way for you to live. In this way the design becomes alive. In my view this goes for all good design including jewelry or furniture. When you read the interview Wednesday with a jewelry designer I met during my very inspiring trip to Seattle, Joanna Morgan, you will see the process a designer who thinks that way goes through during the process of design. I have had a number of interactions with designers recently who are thinking this way,
Another important point made is that in order to make modern and relevant designs, one must know history in order to move something forward into today. The question Callidus raises is how do you make things and how do you learn to make them? No one seems to be teaching this anymore. More and more designers such as Joanna and Callidus are self-taught. I have been feeling quite drawn to long ago skills that were still taught in school like embroidery, sewing and knitting and how I could deconstruct and re-construct garments in interesting ways. I loved J.W. Anderson’s recent collection for Loewe because it did just that. The fact that two designers I admire are self-taught give me the courage to maybe take a try at deconstructing/constructing/embroidering some garments myself.
Finally I have been speaking with other makers who know that there will be a retreat back to craft and there will be a need for educational structures that will teach the skills needed for craft based production and sustainable design. As an educator this sounds like something interesting to explore with others. Finally Guild reinforces something I already know; collaboration brings life to your work.
So let’s collaborate. How do you make things and how did you learn to do so?
To make things:
First I draw, then I gather, then I work.
To learn:
Google, youtube, mom, grandma, neighbors, Instagram and most importantly…trial and error.
Experimentation. Mistakes, Trial and Error yes indeed.
美貌と知性の融合
I graduated from Fashion Design in 1981. For the past 35 years I have taught sewing through workshops and print magazines. I am a contributing editor and designer at Vogue Patterns. Students from all over the world attend my workshops. During the Couture Workshops I teach in conjunction with British couturier Jon Moore, we are able to pass along skills learned from a woman who worked with Madeleine Vionnet.
I feel it is very important to pass these skills on so they don’t die.
I believe we will see a trend towards buying less and buying quality. As that happens I think there will be a renewed interest in ‘craft’ and people will find the time to make beautiful things themselves.
@kathrynbrenneoriginal
finesewing.com
I am with you 100% on where things are headed. I also think these skills will be taught outside of university as the focus there seems to be on technology. I am meeting students who are designing clothes but do not really know how to sew.
I learned to sew and knit from my mother and sister. I was hugely encouraged by a teacher at my primary school who gave us the freedom as ten year old girls (the boys did woodwork….this was the 1960s in the UK) to choose our own patterns and make what we liked. As an adult I’ve attended a few workshops to learn new skills and improve others. Nowadays, with the miracle of the internet, it’s easy to find tutorials if you’re stuck with a craft project. Don’t have much sympathy with folk who bemoan their lack of skills.
YouTube is where I used to look when I was taking sewing lessons and would get stuck. But you are right, it is much easier to get self taught now.
Wanting to embroider, sew, knit, or "deconstruct and re-construct garments in interesting ways" is something I have been thinking a lot about lately. Last week I took a moth-eaten cardigan and slip-stitched hand-cut pieces of old lace over the holes. I loved doing it because it recycled the sweater in a way that pleased me—and the design followed the path of the moths, a very organic collaboration with nature! My mother and grandmother sewed beautifully, and I agree that we need to preserve these skills for the satisfaction, beauty, and sustainability they can bring. And what stories we create when we sew or remake our clothes! We’re fortunate that so much how-to information is available electronically.
Oh I bet that is lovely! Wish people could post photos in comments!
try knitting….the yarns on offer online..from all over the world ..incredible colours weights texture..are so inspiring – look at Malabrigo in Uraguay or Jamesons in the Shetlands for example. Teach yourself plain stuff & then take off from there…so much advice & expertise on line too. Nothing easier than a scarf & yet what opportunities to develop from there. Look at Matty Bovan for ideas…
Thanks for introducing me to Matty Bovan! I did learn to knit and embroider when I was young and a couple of years ago took some courses in sewing. There is an upcoming course at FIT about reconstruction and I plan on attending. Something about taking apart and putting together is a different way is really appealing to me right now.
This is perhaps the topic nearest and dearest to my heart. I learned to sew and embroider in 1st grade, when I asked my mother to teach me. It was the beginning of a lifelong love of creating with fabric and thread. Recently I embellished a pair of jeans with fall foliage, in a dozen shades of autumnal oranges, golds, and reds. I want to make more, and am seriously flirting with the notion of this becoming a "side hustle".
I learned to knit at 19 from a friend, after having watched my grandmother all my life. When Grandma died I inherited all her needles and patterns–and her passion for creating with yarn. Today I was helping with knitting lessons in the Grade 1 room at the school where I am pedagogical director. A boy quietly noticed my skirt as I moved by his desk, and asked if I had knitted it–and I told him I had. I was happy to bring him new inspiration!
There is something about the creative work with texture and color that is integral to making or embellishing clothing that is my deepest joy.
I have been so drawn to embroidery and denim and I imagine your jeans are spectacular! You should do a side gig for sure.
Throughout my life, I have enjoyed most crafts and became a knitwear designer of hand knits. My most fulfilling use of crafts for the purpose of making avant garde clothes came after I learned to use, and manipulate, various knitting machines. I don’t suggest this is an easy task to learn but I used my tools to make unique fabrics, which I then turned into clothing. Totally fulfilling despite the work involved.
Look back at early McQueen……this was how he started out. His exhibition included knitted lace "dresses", totally unwearable unless you happened to be rake-thin and uncaring about the way you looked, but look at how his talent developed.
I should say that "maybe taking a try at…." is not indicative of any talent. On a more positive note, see if you can get hold of "Golden Hands" magazines from early 1970’s – this was a phenomenal instruction manual for multiple projects.
And you might try crochet, probably an easier way of constructing your own original garments than knitting
Thanks for all the wonderful advice and the McQueen history for inspiration.
I learned to sew in first grade on my mothers Singer featherweight. Barbie clothes. Over the years I have used books written mostly in 70s for form ideas, Making Simple Clothes, Cut My Coat. I see woman’s and menswear in magazines and make for myself my impression of that thing. Making my living sewing in retail, film and now freelance I get the most satisfaction by scaling up patterns offered by Barbie 🙂
I would love to see some of those Barbie clothes! When I was little I loved my Barbie and especially a slinky, strapless long black dress with a tulle ruffle at the bottom! Did you ever re-create that number?
This made me think of my grandmother and all of the things she literally used to whip out of this grand Singer set up that I so desperately want to recreate. Now that I have completed my masters programs and have time, it would be such a joy to be able to bring back my creative side (although most of it was room design and writing).
I went to a local fabric store just to get the scent, feel and ambition again and looked for the 70s style pattern packs I was accustomed to seeing – for nostalgia mostly, a few I simply wanted to find and have. Looking at the patterns in store, it took every fiber of my being not to look at each pattern as a project/program manager and in milestone and dependency. I don’t know if that is ok because that is how I am built or I am carrying a 24/7 availability of paranoia and neuroses.
Such an interesting question to ask yourself! As a professor of social work/welfare I have to constantly excavate my thought process as I know I always have the capacity to empower and/or control. Because you are so aware of what you think I see no neurosis in your future!!!
Love Mary’s story about reinventing her moth-attacked sweater. Nothing so adventurous or clever as Mary’s design sounds but I have also saved clothes with snags or moth holes by covering the hole or tear with another interesting piece of fabric of with beads/sequins. Did something similar with a much loved pair of trainers that went on the toe. I covered both toes with some fabric and several people asked where I got my trainers from.
So clever. I recently went to an amazing exhibition put on by Eileen Fisher about her upcycling process where moth holes became golden embroidered leaves and other beautiful things. Oh how the world could be different if everyone took just a moment to be so thoughtful, creative and make do.
Thank you for these thoughts, Lyn.
This morning, while reading Alyson Walsh’s recent new book, "Know Your Style," it occurred to me for the first time in many decades that I, too, could design and make some of my own clothes. I took home economics classes in junior high and high school (I’m almost 72 years old) and was a fair seamstress, but not a designer. My most recent clothes-making project was fringing my 501s. It took hours. But it was so rewarding to turn those 501s (which I already loved) into jeans that were uniquely my own. And now I want the fringe to be three times longer. 😉
What a great story! I have a few denim projects In mind myself.
This awakens a desire I have had for a few decades. My mother had a great sense of style AND was an amazing seamstress. I inherited the style sense but I could not manage the complexities of sewing. I can visualize clothes that are stylish and flattering to mature women who work hard to stay fit but I can’t find them in the store. I would love to know more about educational outlets to learn the components taking a garment from design to final production.
Sounds like a good project for one of my interns! Where are you located?
Hi Lyn, I am a self taught corset maker. I learned a lot of what I know by reading, reading, reading, and experimentation. However, the most rewarding and valuable part of my self education has been my chosen — almost procured — personal associations. Early on in my career, I found experts in my field, studied their work (hands on and close up if I could), befriended them, and picked their brains for as much knowledge as I could. I find that if you outwardly show your passion, people can’t help but want to teach you what they know about a subject.
Recently, I wanted to expand to making other things besides corsets, so I took a job doing bridal alterations. I’ve been sewing with some highly educated and seasoned European seamstresses. Working with these women, I have learned so very much more than I might by going to school here in the US. These amazing ladies each went to "sewing school" in their native countries, which has a different focus than America’s schools of design, so when it comes to patterning and construction these women are a treasure trove of knowledge. I consider myself blessed to have happened upon just the right job to learn what I really longed to know.
I remember deciding to make my first bridal line and asking my boss to show me how to make real what I had sketched. She invited me to come in on a Saturday and we would start patterning for my designs. That Saturday was a long day of constant learning… but as we worked, everything clicked and made sense. She showed me drawings in books that were not even written in my language and explained the concepts and reasons why things were made that way. She demonstrated the different ways to change things to make them look slightly or entirely different. I spent the day in awe of her with a heart full of appreciation and wonder. I drove home, my eyes filled with happy tears and my head aching from all the thinking. It was an amazing feeling to finally be handed the missing pieces of a puzzle that I had been trying to solve alone for years.
I guess what I am saying is that as long as there are experts, the craft will carry on; and if you want to learn it… make new friends with these experts. These people, who share your passion and understand your desire to create, will become some of your most treasured and truest friends, and as a side effect of these friendships, you will be making some pretty awesome things.