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 I am trying to avoid heavy historical reference so I'm using motifs inspired by Motherwell and Tucker Nichols to keep it modern and not to fussy.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.