small town frocks

Often in clothing design it starts with an idea or an objective… there are needs that have to be filled, such as a skirt of a certain length, a blouse in a specific colour, that sort of thing. In larger companies there are people who’s sole job is to source fabric, they are given a budget and specifications and they scour the global marketplace to make it happen at the best price. As an independent designer I am the person who decides what needs I want to fill and what fabric I’m going to use… within the scope of this project~ the need is to fulfill my creative whims and the fabric needs to be sourced locally and preferably reLoved. So where in a small town does one source large quantities of fabric, the drapery dept. of the local thrift store of course!

The pink brocade was given to me by my good friend Andrea. The lace is from a set of curtains that used to belong to my grandmother. The lining is a particular treasure that came to me by way of a local artist who was going to use it for banners for a local music fest… it was a WW2 silk parachute. While cutting the lining I came across the words ‘dog dirt’ scrawled on the silk… hmm. A google search revealed it to be a baseball moniker that means ‘scrappy’.

Of course this little bit of graffiti needed to be included… imagine jumping out of a plane in Europe with a couple pounds of silk in a bag on your back… scrappy indeed! Which got me to thinking that it was entirely possible that his loved ones were at home in a room possibly decorated with similar drapes to the ones that I had made the coat and dress from… reLove is an amazing thing.

The buttons on the coat are new. Made by a very talented FB friend in Vancouver, Grace Lee from eikcam, who just happens to be doing up some finery for an elegant hotel in downtown Vancouver… how I love this modern age… we never met while I lived in Vancouver despite our being similar ages and of a similar social circle, but here we are connected at last. The buttons on the dress were a gift from a woman I worked with ages ago who was a true inspiration and all round fabulous gal, they are a vintage treasure that I have hauled around with me for the last dozen years or so.

The pattern is my own, and is responsible for achy knees and my strong desire for a larger studio so that I can have a bigger cutting table and no longer have to cut large pieces on the floor… sigh.