Savage Beauty V&A Trip

Photo: V&A

I was so lucky to be able to visit London this Friday to go to the "Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty" exhibition at the V&A museum. It was a truly amazing experience that I feel I have waited most my life for. I have always found McQueen such an inspiration and if I had just 5% of his talent I would be a very happy designer. Having studied his designs for my Fashion degree and just through being a fan I thought there wouldn't be much I didn't know or hadn't seen. Boy was I wrong! I was almost brought to tears by what I saw and experienced. From more structured tailoring experiments through to a dress made of razor clams. My senses were totally overwhelmed and I know it will be a long time before I feel like that again.

V&A

The selection of designs on display was extremely well presented, you were taken through a pathway of different collections and stages of McQueen's career. It was almost like glancing into the different facets of his personality, reflected onto his designs. Each person that I saw looking around had a different emotion from wonder, repulsion to just being plain confused! After reading through the catalogue I came across a quote from McQueen himself that really rang true "I don't want to do a cocktail party, I'd rather people left my shows and vomited". It wasn't just a presentation of pretty dress after pretty dress. People were divided by opinions on each outfit.

V&A

On a more technical note I think the success of this exhibition is not just down to the genius of McQueen himself but also how well it was curated. I was glad that photography was not allowed, I am bored of looking at exhibits through other peoples camera/phone screens. I felt like it forced people to be part of the experience and take in every last detail and second of the journey. After going to the recent knitwear exhibition at The Fashion And Textiles Museum that was really disappointing this was a breath of fresh air. The clothes were in glass cases, catacombs, projected into glass pyramids using a victorian magic trick and shelved in a large cabinet of curiosities.

 It also has timed entry which makes sure there are only a certain amount of people in at once. I found this made it so much more enjoyable than most exhibitions I have been to (I'm not going to say anything about the stereotype of Londoners being rude). The show catalogue is also a great way to read back into the exhibition. It is really insightful on the pieces that I saw and includes all the clothes shown as well as promotional and editorial images to accompany them. It is also only £25 which I think isn't too bad considering the quality and quantity of info you get.

V&A

This is well worth a visit even if you don't know much about McQueen! Aesthetically there is a lot to appreciate and if you are interested in fashion and the design process you will be there for hours. All I wish is that I could be locked in there overnight so I could properly go around and study every exhibit close up and on my own!

Returning To My Sewing Machine

 After being in a massive knitting rut and a lull in Etsy and Folksy sales I thought of taking a little holiday from advertising and making things solely to sell. I was starting to not enjoy what I was making which no crafter should ever experience!

I lasted the total of 3 hours on my day of without creating anything and then cracked the sewing machine out to finish the sofa cover (its not knitting so it doesn't count!). It wasn't perfect but it turned out really well!

Extremely bad photo and messy living room but you get the picture!

I haven't sewn anything since uni which was now 2 years ago, time goes so fast! But I remembered a couple of Burda patterns and fabric I had bought before christmas to make for spring. I want to start wearing all of my own makes so I bought a shirt pattern and basic dress and jacket pattern.

Three different blouse patterns smart, work and casual!

So last night I decided I wanted to make the tux style shirt, but with the regular cuffs so it is still wearable. I traced the pattern and and cut my fabric out in record time. Now to the sewing! I started the pleats for the front panels and lasted a total of 20 minutes before I realised I had cocked it up already! My pleating effort resulted in this:

What even is this?

Look how uneven and wonky those pleats are. I obviously got over excited so I turned to the instructions for help. After all I followed the pattern pleat and sew lines so I must have gotten confused. That is where I found the downside to this pattern, there is no explanation about the pleats and I still don't know what I did wrong, considering the panel ended up an inch out! 

I went and stared at my yarns for a bit, I find this tends to calm me down and give me ideas, mental I know but it works for me. And then I thought I need to take this into control and the only way I know how to get my pleats with mathematical precision would be with knitted pleats! I cant help myself. So I chose a white viscose 2ply with some clear lurex and knitted a pleated panel.

Much Better!

You can't see the lurex much in this photo because It is very subtle. I wasn't too worried with it being sheer because I had cut out 2 cotton panels to back the knit with so it could sit on the shirt front flush without pulling or distorting. 

I made the front panels by sewing the cut out shapes on the wrong side of my knitted pleats then cutting out the panels, this ensures you don't get a huge ladder and that the shape is correct. Cutting out knit is a nightmare without backing. You could also use bondaweb but you can sometimes see it under the knit and it can make your fabric a bit too crisp. 

I have set them into the fronts and they look great! So far so good and a good mornings sewing before work. It did only take me another 10 minutes to go wrong again but I might change the design to regular button stand rather than concealed just to make my life easier. As I will wear this shirt for every day rather than the black tie its intended for. 

But thats tomorrows problem!

Experimenting With Upcycling

As you know from my older posts I have recently moved and what this has made me realise is that I own way too many clothes! I used to make a decent amount of money whilst I was a student buying from charity shops and jumble sales and then re-selling on Ebay. Of course this means that you get left over with a load of unwanted clothing. So i was sorting through trying to cram it all in my little studio when I found a grey jersey maxi dress I used to wear but for some reason just abandoned it. I started thinking and came to the conclusion that I could incorporate my goal of using up my oddments of yarn and create new products for my shop quickly and easily!

So I started simple and cut along the waist seam instantly creating a crop top, it was then I decided to make a grey and yellow colour scheme. I took a ball of yellow cotton yarn I think I bought about 3 years ago and did a cute little blanket stitch around the hem. This covered any bad patches in my cutting and added something a little special I think.

Then out of the skirt of the maxi dress I tried my hand at making t-shirt yarn, I found an awesome illustrated tutorial by FUCK YEAH CRAFT! a blogger and Huddersfield crafter and got cracking with my own t-shirt yarn. It only took about 20 minutes to have a ball of yarn ready to use. I started by crocheting a waist band and hem then knitting a marl of some remnant yarn I had that was a really weird mix but I think it looks good. I ended up using a grey wool then yellow silk and kevlar. The knit forms 2 panels front and back and comes together at the seams to create tassels. Then a quick i-cord to make a drawstring waist.

Fuck yeah craft blog

So I had my outfit I just needed a little extra, so I carried on with the i-cord and made a cool multi stranded necklace that I think really finishes the outfit off. All three pieces I made for this item last week are now available from Etsy and Folksy. I think It definitely worked out a success! Let me know what you think.

Buy this on Etsy:  https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/GraceCookKnitwear?ref=si_shop

Buy this on Folksy: https://folksy.com/shops/GraceKnitwear

Moving in- My Yarn Stash

Finally I have moved all my yarn over to my new little studio room. It is still not finished and I only have one of my machines and some of my books but it's really coming together. Really love my organisation this time. To stop myself from completely messing the place up (like normal) I have colour coordinated all my cones on a bookcase and put all my balls of wool into cardboard boxes then made a thread lattice on the open side of the box. This means I can easily find and see all my yarns without them falling all over me! And it compacts them down!

(Ew crappy phone photography)

Mm lovely fabric wardrobe

I also found my old patchwork blanket and cushion that my Godmother made for me when I was young, I actually think it ties in pretty well with the colour hodgepodge! You can see a little sneak peak of my bargain £3 charity shop curtains that are actually really nice hung in there. 

I have so much to update on I think I am going to need to get cracking with the blog posts. And hopefully learn how to take better pictures!

Vintage And Bargain Shopping

There's a lovely charity/vintage shop at the strait in Lincoln called The Attic, It has some well chosen donated items and some great vintage picks too. I popped in last month and picked up a couple of things.

New Etsy Packaging and Items

I had my first UK buyer on Etsy this weekend who purchased one of my snoods, I really want to focus on my UK sales and get a really base here that could lead me into maybe doing fairs or craft markets. So I made and pressed the snood pretty quickly and decided to knit and include a little freebie to help the impression on the buyer, I just made a little wrap around bracelet/necklace. It was cute but it felt a little unexplained so I decided to make packaging for both the snood and the bracelet. I think it turned out really well! I just printed the design onto an a4 piece of card, cut out and stuck in place! I think it makes them look so much more professional and worth a bit more too. I think I'll keep experimenting with it and maybe come up with a free printable or something!

Christopher Kane Fall 2014 Knit Faves

I've always looked forward to when Christopher Kane went back to knitwear, he always used to do such strong knitwear. Don't get me wrong I do love his collections but as a knitter I always want new inspiration! So this collection is a bit frou but i think it would translate into some really nice knit pieces as well as socks. I think the yellow and grey colour palette really gives it an edge. Well done Mr. Kane!