Tea & Symathy

Entered another competition on Friday. Don't worry, I'd already made the garment for this one. In fact, it wasn't too hard for me to fulfil the criteria for it- the outfit had to be at least 50% recycled, and considering most of the materials I use are pre-loved, it was just a matter of which look to use.

I decided on the outfit I designed and constructed for my major work whilst studying abroad in Hannover, Germany. Our brief was to design and style a portrait shoot. Being a little nostalgic these days, I decided to create a vintage style world.

Sourcing fabrics where I was living was not an easy task. But I did enjoy frequenting the Flea Markets, so managed to pick up and old jaquard woven table cloth. Meanwhile, I had everyone I knew drinking tea so that I could use their tea bags...

I dyed the table cloth to try and resemble a used tea bag, with creases from the folding, and had tea bags drying on every flat surface in my apartment. I actually think the land lady totally freaked out and threatened to kick us out (a scary conversation when spoken in German) because she found them all up in the attic laid out to dry.

Every vintage lady (in my mind) has a gorgeous parasol to accompany her, and so I bought a cheap umbrella, ripped the fabric off, and made a new one from the tea bags. I sourced a crocheted lace scarf from an Op Shop in Stockholm (a worldly outfit), which fit perfectly.

"Oh, are we doing a little craft project"- my flat mate didn't quite understand the intricate workings of a wearable artists's mind, but the umbrella was a success in broadening my scope of design.

Despite the fact it doesn't fit amazingly well, and I broke my friend and photographer's camera half way through the shoot, I survived the land lady and I think the portraits turned out OK.

Tea & Sympathy.

(With the gorgeously talented, Spanish wunderkind, and photographer extraordinaire of all these images, Gabriel Seijo Leiro)

It's kind of like a patchwork of memories from my time in Europe.

But wearable.

Music to your sleeves?

Imagine wearing a fabric that can play music. Literally, the very essence of the fibre contains songs that, under the right circumstances, will sing and warble a mixed up version of what they were written as.
This idea excites me so much, I just want to run out and revolutionise the world with it.

Alyce Santoro has created what she describes as Sonic Fabric- woven from the tape from old cassettes. The way she developed the idea is beautiful- borrowing the idea of Buddhist prayer flags which print symbols representing sounds such as "Om" on them. She wanted to be able to do something similar with her favourite sounds- more along the lines of The Beatles and Beethoven. When knitting the tape created very large loops, she wove it on a loom instead.

From this Sonic Fabric, she discovered that through altering a simple cassette player, she was able to in fact play the fabric. While it doesn't sound anything like the original songs, I kind of like the distorted sound it instead produces.

Alyce has started to produce products from the Sonic Fabric, such as these ties combining 50% cassette tape with 50% fibre.
(http://supermarkethq.com/product/recycled-cassette-tape-thin-necktie-3)

get yer kit out

From my excessive listening of Triple J, I heard on the Doctor's show yesterday a bloke call up from RMIT University in Melbourne. Today, a group of people are all getting together to promote Fair Trade.
How are they doing it?By having as many people as possible walk down the main street wearing nothing but Fair Trade undies.

Autumn is into its swing, so this is one chilly movement, but good on them, I say.
If I were in Melbourne I'd be right along side them.

Pants to Poverty is an exercise by Etiko to provide ethical and sustainable underwear that doesn't compromise on spunkiness.

"The power is in your pants"
That's right. So go on. Show us your knickers.


http://www.etiko.com.au/www/626/1001127/displayproductcategory/1010639.html

Musings

I've got a muse. FINALLY!
I wanted someone who was feminine, beautiful but not conventional, and who experimented with how they dressed.
I discovered Lou Dillon. The daughter of Jane Birkin; a rebel, model, actress and someone who is not afraid to dress up and have a bit of fun.
There are many images to convey her image and style in accordance with being my muse, however a film collaboration between her and Vanessa Bruno is gorgeous in its mood.

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGNDGLrfQbM)

Curiouser and curiouser

I am in the process of running some kind of circus. It's a one-woman show, but I bet it's entertaining. The story line?

Oh, only my slow demise into insanity.

For those of you unaware (which at the moment I am fairly sure includes no one that reads this), I am a final year fashion and textile design student.

By December, I will have (hopefully) a 6-piece collection fully made and walking down a catwalk.

And yet somehow I manage to think I need to take on more.
Never say No...yes?

Competitions. I love entering them, as they give me some kind of satisfaction. Having your work accepted by someone other than your family (well, my family are very open with their critiques, and will more often than not tell me when something doesn't work), and in some cases paraded in front of many people you don't know, makes me feel like I'm a part of a network. My competition is no longer just myself, but a whole gaggle of other frantic home sewers. And let's face it, in a world where consumerism pumps out thousands of garments a second, where else would wearable art creations manage a stage?

Searching the net 3 weeks ago, my friend and I came across a competition that looked like it had been designed purely for me. Alice in Wonderland themed, Art U Wear. Brilliant.

Not quite so brilliant was the due date, 3 weeks from when I came across the comp. No worries, I told myself, You can do it.

What followed was a two week insight into what the next 6 months of my life are going to be like.

Social Life? Nil.

Eye sight? Poor.

Ventures outside my house? Are you kidding? See this handcuff? Yeah it joins me and the sewing machine you're looking at.

And what an emotional roller coaster.

First, the colours didn't dye as I wanted.

Then, the design stopped working for me.

The skirt took days to stitch together. And then the small patchwork pieces would fray and come apart from each other.

My dog found it nice to sleep on.

And about 1.2km of thread were used up. A few more kilometres were covered every time I ran out of thread and had to run to the shops to buy more.

But somehow, I still don't know how, I came out the other end, a dress in hand looking nothing like I'd planned, but a dress all the same.

What I also came out with was a realisation...

I actually love doing this stuff.

I got an email today from a lady who edits a textile magazine. In it she asked me to enter another competition.

And you know what?

I think I will.

The show must go on.

AVATAR

Okay, okay, I know I'm about 6 months behind the rest of the world, but I finally went and saw Avatar at the movies last night. For a long time, I have been resistant to my brother's urges to go and see it. I knew there had been a lot of hype about it, but honestly- it's just a sci-fi about aliens, right?


Official Avatar Movie
(http://www.avatarmovie.com/)

Wrong.

It was amazing. Stunning, in fact. I just couldn't get over the animation and effects.
(And had a story line that would've made Walt Disney wish his company produced it.)

Set in Pandora, the film (for those who haven't seen it) is a classic- human takes over universe, in process boy meets girl, universe fights back, happily ever after.
But there are more levels than that. The sense of empathy between races, the comments on war as well as the ecological undertone all make Avatar a very layered, complex and interesting film. The connection the Na'vi, the local humanoid population of Pandora, have with their environment is profound, and one that as humans, we can learn from.
We are too immature, as a species, to forget our selfishness and learn to listen to others. We think we are boss of all, but really isn't it just a case of the smallest dog has the biggest bark?

(http://www.boncherry.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/avatar-james-cameron-movie.jpg)

At the moment we want to travel to the stars, eager to discover what we can about other forms of life. But as soon as we discover something out there we want, guaranteed we will offer little regard for whoever calls that place home and take the resources for our own benefit. As Stephen Hawkins said this week- when one country goes to another, they don't just visit and bring a tea cake. They invade.
Applying this principle, Hawkins, I think rightly, assumes that whether it is human or another species travelling to a foreign planet, when they get there it won't all be fun and games.

(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwMySXM0hakDLT7AreRvkirrFXYlmuzUEekeS1foNxUYbheC4FLvKZQs_vftKb8He_zdgNcXltmN_W_QQmIKgi3id3drzZ9tnbWUOj16BpHwOk39coGF8sFk5XGKhdPlhdobJRk3wRqEE/s660/Avatar+james+cameron.jpg)

Space fascinates me. Dr. Who is my all time favourite tv show. But with the way we're treating our own planet at the moment, why should we be allowed to venture out and inflict our youth on other life forms?


(http://img.verycd.com/posts/0705/post-425982-1178217025.jpg)

Cape it Away

New Obsession: Capes.

It all started with Elvis.

(http://www.retroplanet.com/mm5/graphics/00000001/Elvis-White-Cape.jpg)

Friend, Muse and Burlesque beauty Baby Blue Bergman required a sequined cape to adorn her for a performance she was giving.

What followed was a creation that turns the wearer into the mirror ball (and hence life) of the party.

(Baby Blue Bergman, in action in the elvis cape I made for her. Photograph by Michael Kerry)


It continued with Peacocks.

(http://therealestatecoconut.com/files/2008/09/peacock.jpg)

A house full of animals, all showing off to each other, following their animalistic instincts.

I'm hooked on the cape. Baby Blue Bergman already wants two more...

Cape it away, baby.