Learning from Experience

Postcard Peplum and Shibori Shawl: Almost done!

This is the update from the last blog post, "Shawl gone Awry."

The second attempt of dyeing our Shibori Shawl went well, it looks amazing! We have made beautiful progress on our top and we are now planning on making a belt out of the shawl. We're on schedule and feeling great!

 

Shawl Went Awry

Throughout the whole course of "Future Fashion" our most worked upon subject was dyeing fabric. We've produced our own dyes and lived through all the horrors every beginner dyer could possibly experience. It is quite evident that we have gained some confidence in the field of dyeing. Lets face it, we gained confidence that should not have been gained, we became cocky. We were assigned to make a product that portrayed our thoughts on the word "travel." We thought and thought and we ended up coming up with a peplum top made of post cards. To go along with the ever-so-eclectic top, we decided to make a shawl that had shibori patterns in the pattern of tire tracks. We spent a lot of time stitching the patteren in, our patience dwindled stictch by stitch. When it was finally time to dye our masterpeice, we had little to no patience left, we were told to put a couple of coats of dye on our fabric...but we went and did the opposite. Our main objective was to get it done, not to do it thoroughly. We did it all in 15 minutes, at the time we were proud but when we came back the next day, we were baffled. What the heck was this faded rag infront of us?! It had an uncanny resemblence to a piece of clothing found in your Grandma's attic; dingy and faded. To fix this mistake we chose to dye it again with sun-dye, hoping it would end up darker. With the awful sight of a faded fabric fresh in our minds, we decided to drench it in dye. Go big or go home, right? As I write this the fabric is in the midst of drying, all fingers are crossed.  Overall, we have learned MANY things! We will definitely not make this mistake again. So what is the moral of the story? you could say "listen to your elders!" but that only covers a sliver of the probelm, so, here's the moral: slow and steady wins the race. No matter how overused the phrase is, it's overused for a reason.

Jersey Knit Horrors

Cutting is a simple skill that you learn in preschool, but when it comes to cutting Jersey-Knit fabric it's a whole different story. My partner and I had to cut out patterns from this fabric and had a difficult time doing so. We nicknamed this the "annoying fabric" and I'm sure many wouldn't beg to dffer. After a hard, and long session full of frustration and agony, Ms. Liz and Mr. Branson came to our aid and did the rest for us. On this topic, Brandy Melville is a brand that uses this fabric. They are known for crafting it into collared tee shirts that feel like clouds. We have it easy as consumers of this brand. All we do is pull out a couple of Benjamins' and boom! we have a new (and did I mention soft) tee shirt. It's a knit fabric (so its super stretchy) and hard to work with, which makes it a pain to cut. I have great respect for Brandy Melville factory workers and others who have to handle this troublesome fabric.