Experimenting with tule. Nylon tule is really not used in fashion, though I did seem some used recently on spring Comme de Garcon collection. It's a really cool material and I like to mess with it. It reflects light in sort of an erie way, especially when you layer it. Here it is sandwiched and gathered between rows of gathered fabric. Lavender and gray are a recent obsession.

Figuring It Out

Here are some dress concepts I've been working on. Silhouette is a significant part of a look. Understanding how the fabric drapes can deeply affect your finished product. Have you ever had the experience of making something out of amazing fabric only to find that the skirt doesn't hang the way you want? A lot of designers talk about listening to the fabric. Taking the time to understand the material is what makes all the difference.

Put On a New Coat

Culling through the piles and piles and piles of donated clothing, I'm amazed at how many coats I find. Who gets rid of a good coat that's not worn out? I have a friend that jokes there are three things you can't buy cheap, that's a couch, a bed or a coat.

Myself, I never throw away my coats. I have a great Jil Sander raincoat that I bought new about 10 years ago; it's a little snug, but I still love to wear it. It probably needs to be taken to the dry cleaner and rewater-proofed.. I have a sharkskin Balmacan that's on life support (a tear on the underarm and wear on the cuffs). It's impossible to repair and it's impossible to replace. So it hangs there forlornly in my closet, envious of a long black cashmere number from Moss in New York. I've had it forever and it's finally back in style.

So a week or two ago I found a great black wool coat, superfine and the only problem was that the collar had pilled. A great coat, in great shape, in a great fabric (I am always on the lookout for the ILGWU label). I took it apart only to discover that it was beautifully made in USA in the NY garment district. The guts were simply done, no pad stitching and very little fusible interfacing. Although well made it was less fussy than the inside of an Armani garment.

First thing I did was take off the offending collar. The pilling suggests that there is a small bit of synthetic in the fabric, but not enough to effect the drape, just enough to give it a bit of a sheen. Sweaty necks are hard on collars. It's easy to recut or replace a collar, so if you're vintage hunting and that's the only problem with the garment, you can still buy it. You may even be able to get away with simply removing the collar all together.

So updating a coat is easy even if you're not a super experienced tailor. Replacing the buttons are a great start. I bought these amazing antique uniform buttons on a trip to Paris. They're made in Paris itself around the turn of the 20th c. and they have a beautiful gold wash. They cost a fortune, compared to most buttons, but were a fraction of the price of making or buying a new coat. Don't skimp on buttons. They are a great finish. A lot of designers don't use good buttons because it's an easy way to cut production costs. I often buy damaged clothes if they have great buttons and then salvage them for later. The gold buttons I'm using in my collection came on their original card.

Besides replacing the collar and buttons on the coat, I wanted to add a little splash of color, without taking away the essential functionality of a basic black overcoat. A basic black coat does a couple of things, it protects your clothes from dirt and wear, but it also serves some more psychological purposes. It disguises your build making it difficult for predators / criminals to accurately judge your build or what you may be carrying on your person. It also stays neat looking by hiding dirt. The color sends a psychological message that they are serious minded. Black coats are a staple in NYC for a reason. I therefore decided to use some red and white silk twill from a damaged Diane Von Furstenberg wrap dress as an accent. I decided to insert slashes into the sleeves using the silk. I also used it as the underside of the collar. The combination of black, red, white and gold give the coat an auspicious feel. It's a color scheme familiar to noble costumes in both Asia and the West.

Coat linings are often in bad shape because owners tend to sweat in them, and rarely have them cleaned, leaving them stained. Also taking them on and off sometimes causes snagging or tears in the lining, especially if the previous owner wore a lot of rings.If you are an experienced sewer, or even a novice, putting a new lining in a coat is a great way to bring it back to life. The new lining will help it hang better and feel nicer against your skin. It's even a pretty inexpensive repair if you decide to take it to an alterations shop. It's usually held in by one seam. This coat had a beautiful saffron lining that wasn't too worn, but I will most likely replace. Just to make it feel new again.

Sometimes more is more (sorry Mies)

Inspiration doesn't always come like a bolt of lightening. Sometimes it's just a sense that something beautiful is lurking behind a rag. This nylon lace is a great example. A one time curtain, I'm trying to give it new life. The design itself is pretty traditional. It essentially has good bones. Nylon is an economy fabric and holds up well against direct sunlight, meaning it won't have to be replace in a few months. Watching silk curtains disintegrate over a few months can be heart breaking. In that aspect, Nylon is a miracle. Unfortunately it doesn't take dye very well and it doesn't really feel great against the skin. When woven it's about as comfortable as a hefty bag. Lace solves some of the problem. The variation in thread weights in the design motif help the drape, while the variation in positive and negative space give some depth. Plain Nylon just sort of hangs their lifeless and somewhat rigid as though it can't make up it's mind.

I decided to put this lace through the ringer. I first dyed it using the spray bottle technique which I mentioned in an earlier post. Even with the variation in colors it still looked a little dull and the floral pattern seemed a little precious. To resolve the problem I made tears in the fabric and placed it on a complimentary background of deep rich teal, making the orange POP. The tears allowed even a bit more of the teal to show through. It also added some variation in the pattern, making it seem a little less factory made. Perfection is fine sometimes, but in inexpensive lace, it can look cheap and mentally repetitive.

To add interest and even more depth I've added sequins. It's a beautiful effect that makes the fabric seem even more precious while ensuring the tears don't feel accidental. The fabric will most likely end up a pleated skirt, which means I'll end up sequins embroidering about 5 yards of fabric.

Broken Promise

Promises, promises. A dress with so much promise. What started out as a nice piece of yardage, basically a printed rayon shawl. (There is a large Indian / Pakistani population near the donation sites so there are tons of beautiful paisley embroidered fabrics sometimes with an ugly snag or single spot. I really loved the beautiful blues and lavenders, golds and paisley in this example. A problem with the grain caused a serious problem. I tried blocking but to no avail. The result as you can see was, no matter how I recut the pieces, an impossible to remove bubble at exactly gut level. A decidedly unflattering effect. In retrospect the design was too precious and a bit historical so I'm sort of glad it turned out that way.

So many amazing fabrics

The beauty of a project like this is the ability to experiment with every conceivable type fabric with no cost and damage to the environment. The diversity of materials available is a mesmerizing. There are angoras and silks and mohairs and incredible blends that haven't been made in fity years. There are amazing colors to work with. As most of the garments are slated for the recycling in China already, if they head over chopped up it doesn't really matter since they'll be shredded anyway. It takes a lot of pressure off when that $200 a yard cashmere is free.

This week I'm doing quite a bit of experimenting. As many of the fabrics are unmarked I've been surprising to find how much synthetic is blended into some fine fabrics. Finding nice colors that will dye Nylon has been difficult. Below is a photo of me attempting to create a faux ombre effect using synthetic dyes and a spray bottle. The design of the lace is nicely execute and I I like the weight. Normally I'm not so keen to work with synthetics, but there is a much wider variety available and many that aren't attempting to poorly imitate luxury fabrics. I feel this lace will add some nice texture. Since it's not particularly valuable, I feel quite a bit easier about experimenting on it. I tried to dye it several times without it taking. Idye poly a product available form Dylon is giving me the most success, but the color selection is pretty limited. By using orange and a sort of rusty red, I was able to create a nice semi-ombre look. I'm thinking of pairing it with a deep teal. I'll keep you up dated.

Next is a fabric I'm loving. It's two types of mohair, both napped fabrics. I'm making an applique motif in a beautiful aqua angora that started life as a suit. There was quite a bit of moth damage, so after drying the fabric for about an hour on high (in order to destroy moth larvae) I cut out these lovely stone motifs. I am trying to avoid heavy historical reference so I'm using motifs inspired by Motherwell and Tucker Nichols to keep it modern and not to fussy. I thought about using flowers, but decided ultimately to avoid literal motifs in favor of simple designs. I'm also playing with scale. The appliques ( a fancy word for patches) ties into my whole depression era motif. Why don't people use things until they wear out anymore? I'm coming around to the notion of patina in talking about fabrics.

The last item is a also inspired by Modernism. I've discovered a fusible backing that dissolves in water. I'm sewing mounds of organza spaghetti and giant pailettes to create a thoroughly modern piece of meat. I have no idea how this will end up, but the green color, although just a test is exactly the mood I was looking for. It's sort of a Cy Twombley attempt at graffiti and I'm rather happy with the result. I'm going to try varying the size of the strips and minimize the visibility of the silk threads. The sequins are vintage and the fabric is too. I found them at completely separate places. In fact I've been carrying around the sequins for ages and figured it was finally time to do something with them. The fabric came from a green dress from the late 60s. Giant cuffs and butterfly collar in a puffy lighter green polyester. Yuck! Apparently the previous owner sweated battery acid, so after cutting away the offending parts, I was left with a lot of little pieces of fabric. I like the idea of having negative space in a design. I have no idea yet how I'll use it yet, but I think it's pretty amazing stuff.

Fabrics.

No fabric is off limits. I found this amazing fabric, a bed sheet. It's a vintage print probably from the 60s / 70s by the company Wamsutta. The great value in this fabric isn't necessarily in the fiber, though it is a good quality. The value comes from the richness of the colors and the extremely high standards of the graphics. The print is a bear motif for a childs room. The combinations of Pink Green and Orange seem extremely fresh. I'm sure with some research I can find out who the graphic designer was for this fabric. I wouldn't be surprised to find out it is Eames or Alexander Girard. In any event it will make a stunning summer dress. Just try and find this fabric anywhere else. Vintage textiles are an excellent resource if you're looking to create something totally original. I also found a Raggedy Anne and Andy print that would have been awesome, but somehow it disappeared into the bailer before I could get to it.