49
sensational skirts Alison Willoughby
Ceative Embellishmet Ideas Fo Oe-of-a-id Desis
10
SkIrTMAkIng
InSPIrATIOn Choosi a soce fo yo ispiatio is vey sbjective. Whateve yo choose, it has to be somethi that yo love, ot a secoday imae—fo example a imae ot of a maazie o someoe else’s wo—bt somethi that is yo ow wo. Yo eed to mae it yo ow—it shold be yo imae, yo photoaph, yo video, o yo dawi. If the imae is yo ow fisthad ispiatio, the yo will have a sto base—somethi to loo bac to, ad ely po late i the desi pocess. If yo ae stc fo ispiatio, ty this techie: elae a favoite imae o photoaph. Iceasi a imae’s dimesios ot oly ceates a lae aea to loo at, bt the details that wee tiy become lae ad moe abstacted. Tae the photo ad pt it o a lae piece of pape so thee is space to loo at it, ad othi else is distacti the eye. Fist, loo at the whole imae ad do a colo stdy of it, mixi with pait the exact colos to match the photoaph. Secodly, Secodly, se a viewfide (a piece of pape with a ectale o sae ct ito the middle of it) to do a colo stdy of a favoite aea i the photoaph. Examie the exact colos aai—how may diffeet eds ae thee i the wold? Tomato ed, fie eie ed, st ed, apple ed, adish ed, tea-cotta tea-cotta ed, taffic-liht ed, oe ed… By focsi i o a smalle aea, yo will fid it easie to mix the colos yo eed.
1 Thee ae plety of decoative
fabics available. Most shops will allow yo to by small amots, o to tae swatches away with yo. 2 A atist’s stdio is a fasciati
place. A epositoy fo fod objects, ispiatioal photoaphs photoaphs ad imaes, setches, ad swatches, swatches, as well as wo i poess. 3 Fabics ca be fod i all sots of places, as well as taditioal dessmai soces. Maets ca ofte offe expected fids fo istace, ad Idia sai shops have beatiflly coloed lihtweiht sils. 4 Stoes that cate to paticla
disciplies may yield eat fids. This paticla shop is i Lodo’s Soho, ad spplies theatical costmies as well as the local blese shows. 5 Thift stoes ad atie maets
Shape ad texte ca be exploed i mch the same way. Looi at the mite details is ccial fo this way of woi. Stdy the detail, mae a dawi of it, chae the scale of it, ad mae a setch fom it, o o it. These mas ca be tasfeed, ite liteally, staiht oto a textile, textile, whethe this is by dawi ad paiti staiht oto the fabic, o scee piti ad emboidei staiht oto fabic. Texte ca be epeseted by a cetai ality of fabic—fo example, PVC is ood to epeset a shiy paited sface, ad mohai is ood to epeset a flffy clod, o a do’s haiy coat. Choosing fabriC
The type of mateial that yo choose fo yo sits will be iteal to the fial eslt ad its sccess, o othewise. Thic, heavyweiht cavas fabics, lie cotto twill o deim, will be toh ad wea well. Howeve, too may layes of weihty mateial will be challei to wea. Covesely, expecti lihtweiht sily fabics to sppot a complicated ffle, o embellishmets wold be foolhady. Balace a stdy laye, with a fie lii, o match yo ambitios to the fabic yo have i had.
ae a tease tove of ispiatioal fids, fom costme jewely, to atificial fits. 6 Wo that is eai completio ca
be h i yo wospace while yo decide what fiishi toches it may eie.
62
THE COLLECTIOn
TIE SILkS Me’s ties povide sch a wide selectio of patteed, coloed, ad texted fabic. Whe si all these ties, yo et a vaiatio of fabic, colo, ad shape becase yo oly have a small amot of each fabic.
1.
Pic apat the seams o the ties yo ae oi to se ad io flat, mai se the diamod template fits oto each piece of fabic.
2. Lay ties oto leftove leftove pieces of fabic
fom the sit base. Sew thoh both layes dow the cete of the tie sils. Place the diamod template so that both the top ad bottom poits ae diectly o the sew lie, ad daw aod it. Daw ot twety diamods ad ct them ot—yo ca do moe if yo eed them. 3. Whe all the diamods ae ct ot,
tae yo tailo’s chal ad ma a dot o the sit whee yo wold lie to see the fist clste of diamods. Tae a diamod, ad with the sil faci pwad, place the top poit
o the dot of tailo’s chal. Stat at the bottom poit ad, followi the aleady sew lie, se i stitch to sew dow the middle ad hold the diamod i place. Whe yo et to the ed, leave the eedle i the fabic, tae aothe diamod ad place it ext to the fist diamod. Sew p ad bac alo the diamod, so that yo fiish at the joi of both diamods. 4. Wo a whole diamod clste i this
way, si six diamods fo each diamod clste. repeat these steps fo the est of the sit. If yo thi yo eed moe diamod clstes, ma moe dots with the tailo’s chal. Fiish the cete of each clste with a btto.
MATErIALS & EquIPMEnT ➜
sc k, u 2 y (2 m) c k —u p pv
Leftove Leftove pieces of fabic fom the sit base
➜
Old ties
➜
Bttos
➜
Lae diamod template F
➜
Cad fo template
➜
see also
Decostctio, paes 12–13 Ctti ad stitchi layeed shapes, pae 49
tip
Tae ito cosideatio the base fabic of the sit whe selecti the colo ad patte of ties. Hee we chose blac ad ed.
gALLErY OF PrOJECTS
Iveted raibow
Plme
Aod ad Aod
Willescle's Flowes
Bttos
Tapesty
49
sensational skirts Create runway-worthy fashion! Mae head-ti, show-stoppi sits si simple sewi ad embellishmet techies with 49 Sensational Skirts . Tasfom thift stoe ds ito way-wothy fashios with cleve cstomizatios o mae ad decoate a sit fom scatch si the hady bod-i patte template—o pevios sewi owlede ecessay!
COnTEnTS FOrEWOrD SkIrTMAkIng InSPIrATIOn DECOnSTruCTIOn COnSTruCTIOn
Atho Aliso Willohby, a iovative textile desie ow as “sitil” fo he wo o had-costcted iticate sits, offes p foty-ie fablos sit desis, pls oe sassy mii sit, i this iovative sewi ad cstomizi boo.
DECOrATIOnS PAPEr PATTErnS MAkIng uP FASTEnIngS FInISHIng
inside Crafters will find: ●
●
Coe techies illstated with step-by-step photoaphs, fom sewi fabic ito seams, pleati ad chi to scee piti ad addi embellishmets. Istctios o maiplati fabic to ceate fablos effects sch as fes, loops ad layes; how to decoate yo sit si beads, bttos, bades, ibbos, ad myiad fod objects; how to ceate ie pits ad pattes with pes, paits, ad foil.
Also iclded is a special sec tio by the atho o ispiatio execises to et yo ceativity owi. 49 Sensational Skirts has all of the ifomatio a aspii sit mae eeds to et stated ceati cstom fashios. Alison Willoughby works almost exclusively with the skirt. Its large at surface is the ideal canvas for the application of layered and manipulated fabric. Aliso n has been running her own business in London since graduating from The Royal College of Art, with an MA in Constructed Textiles Mixed Media. She has exhibited, sold, and lectured internationally.
THE COLLECTIOn LOOPS & TAgS
LAYErIng uSIng FOunD OBJECTS MArk MAkIng CuTTIng & STICkIng ruFFLES & runCHIng
gLOSSArY OF TErMS InDEX
1 3 2 x 9 ⁄ 4 , 128 paes Papebod, 7 ⁄
700 photoaphs © A pril 2008 interweAve p ress llC And C AnAdA by
press ,
is distributed to the book trAde in the u.s.
independent p ublishers Group,
in the u.k. And e urope by
seArCh
in n ew Z eAlAnd by dAvid bAtemAn ltd., And in AustrAliA by k eith Ainsworth
p ty ltd. interweAve press llC is Also the publisher of 14 CrAft mAGAZines inCludinG i berArts , p ieCework i eCework , Q uiltinG uiltinG Arts , C loth loth p A per s C issors , f iberArts p Aper s Cissors
n terweAve n its . k nits And i nterweAve
ISBn 978-1-59668-061-6 $24.95 uS/$29.95 CAn Apil 2008
