Archive for the ‘process’ Category

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slippers – but not yet quite

March 28, 2011

I’ve been doing lots of experiments lately. Nothing definite to show yet, so I wanted to show (again) some experiments I did. One thing that’s lacking when making my own wardrobe is the shoes. I don’t expect to design some killer heels anytime soon, but flipflops might actually be doable. Two designs I’ve seen a long time ago keep haunting me: Naoca by Naoko Hirota and the sole mates by Samira Boon. Though different, both are close to perfection. Nothing could be taken away from them, or they wouldn’t function anymore and nothing needs to be added. Though, and that’s an interesting contradiction, I’m not sure if I would wear them. I think I would just put them on display and be happy to watch their beautiful simple form, wishing I had designed them.. Anyways, as you can see I’m trying to come up with my own version. Summer is approaching fast in the northern hemisphere and my feet long to get some sun! I’ve been trying out different lay-outs of the ribbons around my feet, I’m curious which one you prefer.

Thank you, everyone who subscribed last week! The purse is on its way to Simone in New York. Congratulations!

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experiments

March 17, 2011

Textiles and the things you can make from it, never cease to amaze me. Trained as a product designer, I’m fascinated how versatile textile can be as a material to make three-dimensional structures. The fibres from which textiles are made are almost one-dimensional, they are very long in only one direction. But then, when these fibres are knit, woven, crocheted, knotted, felted or pressed they can form the most wonderful structures. Some of those textiles become all of a sudden three-dimensional, with the most intricate and beautiful structures (look at these architectural textiles for example). Isn’t that amazing? Another fascinating example are the crocheted sculptures Daina Taimina makes to explain complex hyperbolic surfaces (she has an interesting blog too).

Most of the fabrics we use to make garments with, could be categorized as two-dimensional: a large surface with a minimal thickness, they are flat. But then again, the possibilities to transform such fabric into three-dimensional objects or structures is just endless. When making clothes, in fact I design a surface for a three-dimensional volume. And when an architect designs a building with a roof made of textile under tension, he does essentially the same.

Anyways, these were all the thoughts that came to mind when I (re)discovered that old technique called smocking, which is in fact a way to make a flat surface more interesting and three-dimensional. I’m not such a big fan of those smocked childrens’ dresses, but I absolutely love this honeycomb pattern. I experimented with different distances between the pleating of the fabric, to see how that influences the structure. I’m rather pleased with the results, and thinking how I can implement this in some of the designs I’ve got in mind for spring.

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ink & a pattern

March 3, 2011

Yesterday evening I had a spring-is-in-the-air-and-I-need-to-get-rid-of-everything-dusty-I-haven’t-used-in-years mood. It’s the best mood to turn over your drawers and see what surprises have accumulated in their dark and dusty depths. One of them was this bamboo pen and a little pot of indian ink. I bought it years ago in the hope of drawing more and prettier pictures, but that never worked the way I imagined. This morning I decided to use it. I drew a sketch of the pattern for the brown dress of the previous post. Hopefully it explaines well enough how the pattern works. Read the rest of this entry ?

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fabric shopping

February 11, 2011

Every morning a few birds and I think we can feel it. The birds sing and I look at the buds in the tree in front of my window. I’m sure it’s there, the first signs of spring. Or else I can’t explain what happened to me this week in the fabric store. After a brief moment of inexplicaple buying frenzy, I suddenly found myself on the pavement outside the store with a very very heavy bag. Eightteen, yes, that is six times three meters of fabric in the most wonderful textures and prints were in that bag. Wanna see? Read the rest of this entry ?

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mittens – part 2

February 8, 2011

Finding the right material is the hardest part. Since the start of this project friends began to bring me their left-over bits and pieces of material. Lucky me who got a piece of the most gorgeous crinkled black leather, that once came out of some Hugo Boss stock. In the right glove you can see how I cut out a thin bit and replaced it with a thicker piece of the same leather. For warmth, they are lined with the same woolen fabric as I used for my winter coat.

Some making of pics, and the trick to the wrinkles at the wrist after the jump. Read the rest of this entry ?

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the making of mittens

February 7, 2011

Yes I know, paper is not a practical material for clothes. And gloves not only consist of a thumb. These are some pictures of my glove making experiment.
For years I’ve had the warmest mittens, made from organic sheepskin and bought at a farmers market from an organic sheep farmer. Recently they left my house without explanation, or at least they’re nowhere to be found. Some might call it a cosmic sign, I call it a good reason to learn something about glove making. A Blackle search later I came accross this site. There’s enough information to keep you busy for a week, but this part is in fact the text of an old glove-making book. It includes some photographs and a few useful diagrams to help you make your own patterns.
I love the elegance of gloves, but my fingers stay much warmer in mittens. On top of that, mittens are less complicated to make, so I decided to adjust the pattern by leaving the fingers together and only cut out a hole for the thumb. Since the pattern in the diagram doesn’t have a scale mentioned, I experimented first with paper. With the circumference of my hand as a guidance, I drew a form that looked like this and this diagram. Then, with some scotch tape, I glued the whole thing together, to get a feel for the size and how the pattern worked. To get the thumb right was the hardest part, so that’s what you see in the pictures. Tomorrow more making of!

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