This is the seventh entry of the "Things to know" series...
My work has become much more deliberate, purposeful, intentional... and so, fewer garments have been made lately. That's okay, though. It is probably part of the "maturing" process, and the best things last for years, anyway.
There is a Japanese philosophy called "kaizen", which is about doing all things in tiny steps to achieve your goals. It is a beautiful process for the creative person, and one I highly recommend it for anyone who is having trouble slowing down, and/or keeping all of their balls in the air. (I read a wonderful book that inspired me to implement the strategies in my own life... "One Small Step..." -- if interested, you'll find the book's full datils on my Amazon slide show to the right).
Another thing that will help you if you have any time, attention span or frustration factor concerns, is to choose your patterns according to difficulty ratings. I don't know how many of you look at the difficulty ratings when you choose your sewing patterns, but there is a method to the madness (for Butterick, McCall's and Vogue, at least). Some of the reasoning is obvious, and some less obvious... I will help to demystify them for you now...
Very Easy:
The easiest and quickest patterns to sew. Perfect for the beginner or experienced sewer with limited time available. Most patterns have only five main pieces. Easy to sew fabrics are recommended.
Easy:
More details than the Very Easy category. Perfect for those with limited sewing knowledge or little time. Expect a wider variety of sewing procedures. Some fitting knowledge required.
Average:
Perfect for those with more time or sewing experience. Challenging construction details, more fitting and inner construction: interfacing, lining and underlining. More variety of fabrics - from stretch to synthetic leathers and suedes.
Advanced:
Perfect for those who like the challenge of fine couture techniques. Expect intricate shaping, hidden construction details, fine touches of hand sewing, and more. These patterns use the widest variety of fabrics.
There is a sewing-related video at the end of this post... it will all connect... you'll see.
Last night, my husband came home from work early and I left the house. By myself. Dressed like a grownup. (Well, my version, anyway - I had a bright tuquoisey-purpley thing happening) It was glorious. Went to a business networking event. I love going to these things, because the topics are often of great interest to me, I meet interesting people, and get to talk "shop" with people who speak my language. The event was a lot of fun.
The topic of the panel discussion was the current state of the music and movie industries, and what sort of challenges they are facing, and will face in this new digital age. Of particular interest, was how they expect the video game "" to really affect boys' interest in pursuing music and forming garage bands over the next five years. Hey, and did you know that the lightening fast speed of the internet can now get the word out that something is great or horrible in a way that significantly impacts box-office receipts within days? In music and movies, you really have to be clever to make money from a poor product nowadays, and that is a good thing. "Cloverfield" was the example of the terrible movie everyone will stay away from. Personally, I have heard nothing but how horrible that movie is, since the day it opened. "Juno" is enjoying the opposite effect right now. I'd love to see that... that is, if I can actually leave the house again so soon...
And, on a depressing note, I learned that in the movie and music industries, pure talent really doesn't mean much in financial terms these days... very skillful marketing efforts plus talent bring the success (at least in monetary terms and name recognition), not just the quality of the work. It wasn't always that way. As one of the panelists said "Show me the platinum artist who came outta YouTube without a big marketing behind them..." Someone offered an example. He replied "3 million dollars in marketing. Try again." That's kinda sad, isn't it?
I met one of the original organizers of the Woodstock festival (yeah, the big one), a comedy club owner, a children's' clothing designer, an intellectual property attorney... and more...
But the absolute best part of last night, was that it reassured me that I can still hold quality conversations with adults, that I'm not "out of the loop" when it comes to current trends and ideas, and that I have valid points to make, of interest to people who are actually intelligent businesspeople. They made referenced to books I've read, names I know, places I know about, even if I haven't been... Whew! Felt good.
So, when it was over, I was in Manhattan. Alone. And I took some video to show you that the hoppin' nightlife I imagine I'm missing, didn't seem to be happening last night. Walked past where they are setting up the tents for fashion week, but it made for very boring video, so I didn't include it here.
So, as with anything great...music, movies, clothing... you can come up with any idea, using any pattern or method, but to make it a quality item, you need to know how to navigate the rules for that particular pursuit. You won't get there without some amount of study, so here's some more help.
And I was more than happy to come back home to our warm apartment, and resume my cozy life.
Besides being the world's most powerful demon, Lord Sesshomaru is both a warrior and nobleman, a wealthy and powerful Feudal overlord,The Ruler of The Western Lands (believed to be somewhere in China or Mongolia) and a much feared (a murderously violent) aristocrat and as such wears a style of ceremonial Kimono which is only worn by the elite few of his social standing. This can be seen by the fact that he wears white, a color reserved only for royalty, brides, and the dead, and by the fact that there are so many imperial crests embroidered onto his Kimono.
Sesshomaru's Kimono is a very ceremonial style, of solid white, with full swinging sleeves that sweep in lengths just above his ankles. The lower quarter of each sleeve is dyed red, and the left shoulder is also dyed red.
On the front and back of each sleeve, near the boarder of the dye are embroidered three family crests (twelve in all). The crest is repeated on the neck and shoulder of the left side.
Each crest consists of a triple hexagon with a six petaled white plum/cherry blossom in the center of each red hexagon, surrounded by a white boarder.
There is some debate among fans as to the lower edge of the kimono and what it should look like, since the hem of Sesshomaru's kimono is never seen in either the books or the show. There is also question as to just how long the kimono he wears is; again, he wears a hakama over his kimono, so we never see the hem edge of it.
In the areas of Lord Sesshomaru's costume where we do not have a visual reference to go by, we must instead look to the history books and find out what a real warring lord of Endo Japan would have done, and in doing that, this is what my research told me:
When worn by common folk, soldiers, and laborers, the length of a kimono worn under a hakama would have been knee length. However, the kimonos worn by noblemen, lords, and aristocrats would have been long full length kimonos.
The length of Lord Sesshomaru's kimono should be long: very, very, very long. My study of Japanese fashion history tells me that a war lord of Sesshomaru's status, would have worn a kimono of overblown proportions, not only are the sleeves abnormally long, but so to would have been the length of the kimono, which in some cases would have a train several feet long in the back! All of this extra fabric however would not be seen, because it would be girdled with a braided cord, and stuffed into the legs of the overlaying hakama, thus helping to give the hakama it's huge ballooning pant-legs-effect.
Additionally, my research tells me that the hem edge of the kimono would be patterned and decorated to match the pattern of decoration on the sleeves and left shoulder. Note that the fact that the pattern is ONLY on the left shoulder, is an indication that this is not only a lord, but a lord of near Shogun status. Lord Sesshomaru is a very high ranking lord.
So my advice? I would say to make his kimono at least 4 inches longer than floor length for the wearer, and dye the lower 8 to 12 inches red to match the sleeves, and add imperial crests staggered at the same intervals as on the sleeves..
Beneath his Kimono Sesshomaru wears a white (or sometimes red flower print) Nagajuban.
This is the ONLY version ever to be drawn by Sesshomaru's creator Rumiko Takahashi. All other versions of his costume were created by the tv anime artists and manga inkers.
(my art from my fashion design costume portfolio)
On occasion, Sesshomaru is seen wearing a slightly different kimono. This can be considered either a mistake on the pat of the anime artists, or an indication that he has not one, but four different kimonos.
Alternate Kimonos #1 and 2 are essentially the same as his regularly worn kimono, the only difference being the color of the dye and patches.
Alternate Kimono #3 is completely different and is much less formal as is has no crests on it at all.
If you want to make one of the alternate kimonos, they are described as follows:
What's your take on this? I'd love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!
------------- If you liked reading this blog and want to read more stuff written by me, I have lots of websites, where you can read other things I write, here are a few of the ones I like the best:
All about Lord Sesshomaru's garb & . Plus, Sesshomaru & Rin and making ; and this is for anyone who needs help for their stories or for their SCA persona.
Sesshomaru's Alternate Kimono #2, is a very ceremonial style, of solid white, with full swinging sleeves that sweep in lengths just above his ankles. The lower quarter of each sleeve is dyed blue, and the left shoulder is also dyed blue.
On the front and back of each sleeve, near the boarder of the dye are embroidered three family crests (twelve in all). The crest is repeated on the neck and shoulder of the left side.
Each crest consists of a triple hexagon with a six petaled white plum/cherry blossom in the center of each blue hexagon, surrounded by a white boarder.
Beneath his Kimono Sesshomaru wears a white (or sometimes blue flower print) Nagajuban.
With this version we see Sesshy wearing either his black armor or his purple armor.
This is a rarely seen alternate version of Lord Sesshomaru's kimono, however, once it surfaced, it quickly became the most beloved one used by fans, as when wearing blue, Sesshomaru seems less fierce than when wearing red. This is the most commonly drawn version featured in non-cannon daijishi manga.
(my art from my fashion design costume portfolio)
What's your take on this? I'd love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!
------------- If you liked reading this blog and want to read more stuff written by me, I have lots of websites, where you can read other things I write, here are a few of the ones I like the best:
All about Lord Sesshomaru's garb & . Plus, Sesshomaru & Rin and making ; and this is for anyone who needs help for their stories or for their SCA persona.
What was lost has been found, and they were really nice about itat the Post Office too. I walked in this morning and the post master saw me and went out back. I was standing in line behind 2other people and he calls me out and tells me they'd found my missing package. YAY!
I just got my fabric in the mail today... my very expensive hand woven silk; it came all the way from Japan and I had to sign all kinds of papers from the Post Office and customs to release it, but I got it home today... and oooohhh, is it worth every penny! softest stuff I've ever touched! It's soooo pretty! I'm loving it. I can't wait to start sewing it! I've never spent so much on fabric before, but I wanted to make this costume historically accurate and it took me 3 months to find any one that had it. I can't believe I actually bought 5 bolts of it! It should be enough to make the 4 kimonos and one hakama.
Well, the next step is to get it up on the loom so I can start embroidering it. YAY!
What's your take on this? I'd love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!
------------- If you liked reading this blog and want to read more stuff written by me, I have lots of websites, where you can read other things I write, here are a few of the ones I like the best:
All about Lord Sesshomaru's garb & . Plus, Sesshomaru & Rin and making .
Do you think Join the debate and tell the world what you think!
Do you CosPlay? Here is
This is for anyone who needs help for their stories or for their SCA persona.
Want to join Squidoo? Than you need to read and
Are you seeking an online debate to join and tell the world what you think about it? Than you need to check out this that are waiting for you to speak out on them!
What was lost has been found, and they were really nice about itat the Post Office too. I walked in this morning and the post master saw me and went out back. I was standing in line behind 2other people and he calls me out and tells me they'd found my missing package. YAY!
I just got my fabric in the mail today... my very expensive hand woven silk; it came all the way from Japan and I had to sign all kinds of papers from the Post Office and customs to release it, but I got it home today... and oooohhh, is it worth every penny! softest stuff I've ever touched! It's soooo pretty! I'm loving it. I can't wait to start sewing it! I've never spent so much on fabric before, but I wanted to make this costume historically accurate and it took me 3 months to find any one that had it. I can't believe I actually bought 5 bolts of it! It should be enough to make the 4 kimonos and one hakama.
Well, the next step is to get it up on the loom so I can start embroidering it. YAY!
What's your take on this? I'd love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!
------------- If you liked reading this blog and want to read more stuff written by me, I have lots of websites, where you can read other things I write, here are a few of the ones I like the best:
All about Lord Sesshomaru's garb & . Plus, Sesshomaru & Rin and making .
Do you think Join the debate and tell the world what you think!
Do you CosPlay? Here is
This is for anyone who needs help for their stories or for their SCA persona.
Want to join Squidoo? Than you need to read and
Are you seeking an online debate to join and tell the world what you think about it? Than you need to check out this that are waiting for you to speak out on them!
I almost fell off the not-buying-clothing wagon -- I purchased fabric and notions in a kit, which one cuts out and sews at home. Does this count? Nearly, but not quite, I reckon. Anyway, said kit came from . I remember the original Clothkits very clearly from when I was a kid. Ma made a lot of our clothes back then, and while I'm pretty sure that none of them were 'actual' clothkits, there were certainly a lot of their catalogues hanging around being oohed and aahed over. (You can get a flavour of the full-on 70s feel of their garments .)
Anyway my clothkit skirt arrived this morning. Wot a treat. I was in near raptures when I opened the package. Its just so bloody tasty. I had to make it up right away. The pieces are printed directly onto the fabric:
and it comes with zip, thread, instructions and a Liberty print lining:
The instructions were very clear and straightforward. In just a few hours, I had a skirt. This skirt made me seriously happy making it (so satisfying). And yet I am (if possible) even happier wearing it. It is a very jolly skirt. Just check out the lining and facing:
how jolly are those buggies on the lining?
Anyway, we just went out for a pint (to what, to my mind, is the -- and also, happily, my local) and I got Mr B to take some pics. Here is the skirt from the front:
And the side:
and the whole shebang:
How nice to have lovely, long, light, Scottish evenings again.
So I heartily recommend the . The pattern covers a good range of (5) sizes, and is a good fit; the fabric amounts were generous, and the instructions completely failsafe (I inserted zip, and attached facings and lining without breaking into a sweat or (what's more usual) making some sort of bobbly, wobbly, rumply mess). But it's the quality of the fabric and design that really swings it for me -- a super matt baby-cord cotton exterior, a very appealing print by the wonderful , and a tana lawn lining. And everything made and printed in the UK.
My aunt Bonnie came over this afternoon to try on the white dress - hooray! Shortly before she came, Eva just begged to go pick blackberries in the back yard. I always get scratched up to no end from the tiny hook shaped thorns on the blackberry bramble. So despite a thorough handwashing, I didn't notice that one finger was still bleeding slightly until I saw the BRIGHT red drops on Bonnie's dress as I was attaching the hooks and eyes.
Thankfully, prompt application of hydrogen peroxide removed the stain *completely*. We determined where the hooks and eyes should go on the neck strap, confirmed that one spot on the hem in the back needed to be straightened, and addressed the corset which was bunching slightly in the front. All three minor issues have since been resolved and the dress is finished!
We took a few pictures when Bonnie was here this afternoon. I hope to take better photos (with better lighting, where you can see the difference between white chiffon and white satin) soon but for the moment I will go ahead and post what I have. Looking good, Grantie! Looking good!
I am boarding the crazy train! I need to make and finish my 1950s style cocktail dress, complete with poofy tulle petticoat within about two weeks. I think I can do this. I have a plan. Today I will draw and cut the patterns. I need to modify the patterns both for the top bit and the skirt: I am adding darts to the top and pleats to the skirt. I am also combining two of the skirt's panels in the front. Whoever designed the original pattern didn't have a good eye for lines...
Anyhoot, I shall cut up an old sheet to mess with for the top of my dress because I need to do some major custom work on it. My E cup boobs tend to make me look fat unless what I wear is nicely fitted at the waist. Thankfully I can ask my friend (and, uhuhuhuh, maid of honor) to help me with figuring that one out. The skirt will also be a challenge... I'm thinking about playing with bias cut but perhaps I shoudl play it safe. Maybe the extra pleats could be bias cut? Ah, but I only have a certain amount of fabric. Must stay on the ball... And I have no time to experiment either. The pleats and modifications are enough work.
I love the fabric: it is ever so slightly shimmery and it has a lovely texture and a good flow to it. It should be a beautiful dress, assuming I don't fuck it up. I'll wear it anyway.
The dressmaker is quite often perceived as someone who will mend, alter, repair, replace and sometimes, god forbid, even make a garment and do it for next to nothing and unfortunately many dressmakers themselves have fallen into the trap of trying to compete with the High Street in order to stay in work and are always busy but poorly paid.
I was passed a job last June from a dressmaker who didn't have enough time to finish the six silk bridesmaids dresses she had taken on for a September wedding. At this point she had only made one and it had taken her three weeks to complete and she expected each of the others to take the same amount of time so was worried that she wouldn't make them in time which is why she passed them onto me. When she told me how much she was charging the girl I was in shock, she must have bought over £400 worth of fabric on the strength of a £50 deposit, a whole roll of silk, a whole roll of lining and one of net all at retail prices, she said that she buys from them because 'the people are so nice', they can afford to be when they're taking that much money off her.
She was also making wraps, bags, cravats, breast pocket handkerchiefs and a veil for the girl who wanted to pay no more than £1000 for all of it! When I asked why she was working for so long for so little money she said that if she charged more she wouldn't get any customers as they could buy cheaper in Debenhams. I did point out that she was working for less than 50p an hour, but I see that she is still advertising in Devon Weddings magazine.
