A Year of Pretty - January 22, 2014

Another great colour collection inspiration.

Design Inspiration - part 4

 

brought to you by the lovely folks at design seeds.

Fabric Finds - part 1

I have a passion for fabric; a crazy obsession really. I have piles and piles of fabric that I’ve bought and have no idea what I will use it for . . .or even if I will ever know what to use it for. Fabrics that I have fallen in love with and just felt a need to have.

In Seville, Spain, I bought six meters of scarf weight silk in a bold blue, yellow and orange pattern in order to copy the dress shown right (though poor girl, the designer neglected to match the pattern on her backside) That was in 2008. Now 2011, the other day I found the fabric . . still wrapped in tissue and then in paper and tied with string. Below that was a 3 meters of eggplant purple beaded lace I oohed and aahhed over in Tomar, Portugal - no idea how I will use it. Embroidered wedding white satin from San Francisco - no wedding in sight. The palest of pink crepe from Paris. The list goes on . . . through four huge Rubbermaid storage bins.

Tomorrow I go back to school to study fabrics and design. In particular design for costuming for stage, ballet and opera. That’s right, I’m going to Tutu School. I am immensely excited, especially since this will give me a viable excuse to buy more fabric.

I really enjoy using different fabrics together, whether it be the same colour be different textures, or the same texture but different colours within the palette. Imagine a full length dress flowing with three complimentary tones of pale blue.

There are several fabric designers that are brilliant at offering coordinating fabrics within a same line, such as Lila Tueller (shown here right and offered by spiceberrycottage)






Or, mix n’ match fabrics in complimentary tones from several different designers as done by fabriccloset (shown here left and several of which I have tagged as My Favourites on Etsy and am seriously enamored with). I may not know yet what I want to make with these fabric combinations, but they do call to me and inspire me to be creative.


It’s a good thing I have a separate room just for sewing and fabric storage.

Fall is in the Air

This morning I definitely felt the air was crisper and decidedly cooler. Walking to my studio I could see that the color of the leaves on the trees has really started to change. My observations were solidified by a large noisy flock of Canadian geese flying overhead. Gone are the languid and lazy days of summer. Fall is finally here.

The official autumnal equinox took place this year at 12:55am this morning, and marked the beginning of Fall in the Northern Hemisphere (those lucky enough to be living in the Southern Hemisphere celebrate vernal equinox and are marking the beginning of Spring . . .oh, to be in New Zealand or Australia right now!)

Sadly, from now until the winter solstice on December 21, the days get will shorter. Luckily in Vancouver we still get a number of sunny clear days in September and into October. However, the temperatures will continue to get colder as we tilt further and further away from the sun.

The good news is that this will provide the best conditions for producing colorful fall foliage - clear days followed by cool nights. If there is too much rain, or early frosts and freezing temperatures, then the colors won't be as vibrant. But too little rain and the leaves fall from the trees before they've even had a chance to change color. Instead of yellows and reds, the leaves quickly turn brown and die.

When I was young(er) my brother and I used to love piling up the colored leaves in our yard and jumping into them.

Then we would have to rake them up, only to jump into them again. This continued until the time a little slug found its’ way from the underside of one of the leaves into my mouth. At six years old, this was traumatic and promptly ended my days of jumping into piles of leaves. But I still have to give a little smile each time I see a small child running through the leaves. And I will admit I still find delight when I shuffle my feet through the fallen dry leaves and listen as they crackle and swirl up underneath me.

Happy Autumnal Equinox !