Monday 28 October 2013

a collection / chapter end

Suffering (;

I knew this would come. 
I have this self-imposed rule that I draw a pattern straight after a new design is born, no matter what. And if I make any changes I transfer them immediately too.
Obviously, there are exceptions. Sometimes I am not sure and think I can draw the pattern later. Sometimes the drawing is very free-style as it is in process anyway. Although I must say through experience my pattern-development got more and more accurate as it just speeds up the process, and although I know by now how to cut what, it is still of advantage to have the pattern finished, named and neatly stored. 

A year has passed. It feels like a chapter is finished and it is time to move on. But before that I wanted to present what I have done in form of a collection. I decided which of the designs will be part of this collection and did the last fine tuning. And I spent the whole weekend to create the final drawings of those patterns, I mean the final final ones, which was quite painful as I had to test and work out if it is all correct, like super correct. Because they will be graded and if there is an error, it will be in every size.... 

(... From now on I am not only drawing the pattern immediately but also do the final drawing.)

Well, now I only have to choose the fabrics and manufacture and present this collection in my shop. What a big event!

Friday 25 October 2013

Smile! i can cu .....

Another Holi-day entertainment

Some nights ago I had the idea to stamp my logo onto my Hand stitched clothes instead of screen printing it. 

Why now I don't know, but I found a kit online and today it arrived which was really nice as I told the kids that we would do some T-shirt prints and we still had another Holi-day to fill.
























My oldest designed a smiley, we transferred it onto the rubber and after some airplane maneuvers that filled the carving time, he decided which clothes should have a smiley on and voila his first collection:




The best part of it was to hear the boys scream and giggle when I lifted the stamp and they found the smiley on the fabric.

Well prepared I transferred and carved i can cu's logo and have already tested it on several proto-types. 

What a nice day!


Sunday 20 October 2013

2 weddings and lots of rain

Show off time

They are married and the sun is shining now.
The last two weekends where marked with two weddings and pouring rain. But the rain has stopped both times for the wedding ...

I might get some more and better pics later on but this is a little peak into i can cu's wedding world.

  Hand stitched tie (in church)

 Hand stitched dress

 Hand stitched dress with poncho

Friday 18 October 2013

Man's World

Tied up

Well I said I do not sew lots of men's clothes but as it seems I have to.
But this is more of an emergency project. I could not bare looking at a bought tie again for a whole evening, or actually invest in buying one. I don't understand the tie-concept and have not seen one I like so far.

There is a special occasion on tomorrow therefore I spent my morning entertaining a very bored toddler and creating a Hand stitched tie. 

At least I can concentrate on my red stitches tomorrow. I might make a toddler's and boy's version with elastic band around the neck as well.

Tuesday 15 October 2013

Jealousy and a jacket

Anniversary present

I recently had an unexpected visitor and found myself walking down High street. I do not get there very often and also know why. One reason is that I use any free time for everything else but shopping, and then for example, if I would take my youngest with me I could rather stay at home because we would only end up arguing which way to go. But I must say there is also nothing I would want from there. I thought I give it a go and find an anniversary present but no, no, no.



I had coffee instead and decided to finally make the jacket that I had in mind, already months ago. The fabric waited and I had still some days left before the big event.

I do not particularly like hand-sewing men's clothes also because they are usually very big. But the jacket issue kept coming back so I thought I want to solve it one day. When we lived on the remote Scottish Island our life happened mainly outdoors and we therefore needed to be dressed appropriate but not necessarily designed. Living in the city now, the focus shifted and the outdoor gear should look good too. There are good brands that produce good looking outdoor gear to high prices but the quality just does not keep up. The lining rips or the
water repellent surface does not survive cleaning or seams open or the material is too noisy and would scare wildlife away. 

As it was a surprise, I had to take an existing jacket for size reference and started designing it. I have never made a jacket this big and with lining but it was fun. For fitting I had to reveal my secret but he was still chuffed later when he was wearing it. Made of stretch denim with woolly lining it is warm enough for the cold season but still thin enough to layer it with even warmer layers underneath. The only thing it is not waterproof, so this prototype wont be the one for going fishing.
There was not enough time for pockets but I might sew some at a later stage if they are required. The buttons are hidden under the edge but a part of them can be still seen, which makes it interesting. I used a straight stitch throughout. Because I finished the outer jacket first the lining creates an additional line of stitching right next to the main one, which looks really nice. The advantage of this construction is that the lining does not fight with the outer layer and this is more comfortable to wear. 

But the nicest feedback was that he chose to wear this jacket to the wedding we have been invited to rather than the suit jacket.......

I want one too.