Earlier this spring, when I was in the fabric district one of the stores on 8th Avenue, (perhaps it was Ebad) they had a giant cardboard box filled with odds and ends that they were selling for silly prices. One of the treasures in the box spoke to me. It was a length of a border printed Pucci-esque jersey. It was in the bin because there was a slight printing error in the fabric. I think that the piece ( about a yard and change) cost me about a subway fare, perhaps it was a bit more.
I'm in the middle of solving problems on an invitation that I'm designing . I am also figuring out my next trip to Boston to ease my mother's transition from a medical facility to home. So, of course it seemed the perfect moment to expend some nervous energy making a dress out of the fabric.
The fabric has borders along both selvages and I was nervous about getting enough fabric for the body of the dress out of a not quite full width, of not all that much fabric. I cut out the back of the dress and then decided to cut the front on a fold but just narrower than the border. I then cut open the front and added the border to the center front of the dress.
I have been seeing lots of young skinny women wearing short shift dresses with wide borders. My legs aren't really suited for short skirts but I did add the border to them hem of my dress. A half width of the border edges the neckline. I still have enough left to make a top, but sans border.
My serger made sewing up this dress really quick work. I also like how serging the edges gives a nice stable edge that is easy to turn and hem neatly.
I like how border prints area bit of a logistical problem to work out. This particular print was ok, but not that great without the border. The border is a definite improvement. In making this dress I realized yet again that I could never be a commercial designer.Having access to unlimited resources is not all that interesting to me. Having to put something together, a one -off with out quite enough fabric and a weird problem to solve always gets my creative juices going.
I'm in the middle of solving problems on an invitation that I'm designing . I am also figuring out my next trip to Boston to ease my mother's transition from a medical facility to home. So, of course it seemed the perfect moment to expend some nervous energy making a dress out of the fabric.
The fabric has borders along both selvages and I was nervous about getting enough fabric for the body of the dress out of a not quite full width, of not all that much fabric. I cut out the back of the dress and then decided to cut the front on a fold but just narrower than the border. I then cut open the front and added the border to the center front of the dress.
I have been seeing lots of young skinny women wearing short shift dresses with wide borders. My legs aren't really suited for short skirts but I did add the border to them hem of my dress. A half width of the border edges the neckline. I still have enough left to make a top, but sans border.
I like how border prints area bit of a logistical problem to work out. This particular print was ok, but not that great without the border. The border is a definite improvement. In making this dress I realized yet again that I could never be a commercial designer.Having access to unlimited resources is not all that interesting to me. Having to put something together, a one -off with out quite enough fabric and a weird problem to solve always gets my creative juices going.
I very much doubt that many designers these days have unlimited resources. Thinking outside the box is certainly a desirable trait in a designer
ReplyDeleteI guess that you are right Nancy K...somethimes though I feel like what I do is the equivalet of dumpster diving designing.
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