In November I interviewed with Peach Berserk, legendary Toronto screen printed punk-rock frock shop on Queen West, for a sewing position (“Head Sewer” sounds like a horror movie right?)… anyhow, after two awkward interviews I didn’t get the job, but they put me “on the list of super star sewers” for future projects.

It’s now February and I saw another post on Craigslist from Kingi asking for a Creative Accessories Designer. I wrote to her with some photos of my new bustiers saying “Hey! Remember me?” and she invited me down to discuss.

So… I go down Saturday afternoon, with somewhat lower expectations, she shows me some pillows and a bag in the showroom, tells me what she likes and doesn’t like about them, and tells me to pick out some scraps from two overflowing bins in the back room for a “sample” pillow. I grab a few pieces, trying to get some in colours I liked, with decent prints, and of decent size… show them to her, and OOOPs! I’d picked up some satin, polyester, and a couple bits of raw silk. My bad. Mixing fabrics is apparently not ok… and the pieces are too big! Okie dokie… so I go back and quickly pick out as many small or odd shaped pieces of raw silk I can find without much attention to the prints. With a mitt full of edges, misprints, and dirty scraps I tell Kingi I’ll be back Wednesday with some pillows.

Back at home I’m questioning my mission, purpose, etc… is this a cruel joke or a job? I sketch some ideas, do a bit of research on sewing with raw silk, find some funky quilting and patchwork inspiration and remembering Lada’s  alteration insanity (she was a designer in September @ heartbeat960 who liked to sew out front on the sidewalk) decided to try a patchwork collage. Took me a while to get into cutting up the fabric… not sure why exactly. Maybe worried I’d waste the bigger piece. But when I realized I didn’t actually have to quilt it, and I could use iron-on interfacing as a sticky foundation, I knew I was going to nail it!

She warned me about using “patches” of incomplete prints, messy prints, or no print. And when I asked about unfinished edges, it was alright as long as it was done nice. She also told me never to throw anything out, and she wanted “more” funky than the other pillows she had already. So, I took some of this, some of that… and baby this is how you turn shit into gold.

Upcycled… Raw Silk… Patchwork…  Collage… Berserker Pillows!!

Only finished one pillow so far… pictured below is the initial layout, the front, and the back… Next one I’m going to make a little more pretty with flowers and such. This first one I tried with my second choice fabric combos.

In January I decided to jump on the bandwagon and cash in on people’s insecurities… did you stick to your new year’s resolution to get skeletal? on the no-sugar diet with Ellen? if you did, or didn’t… here’s something to highlight your mid section (over or under other wares). Warning! May get you a TV appearance on “What Not to Wear”.

no scraps design… no kidding!

I stumbled on this amazing publication of brilliance while searching for “zero waste design” … fabric inspired by animals, clothing created without scraps, and a pretty wicked online zine format.

Wolf Sheep Workbook by foya collective

Read also…

precariousdesign.wordpress.com

In Montreal I found a broken adjustable dress form in a pile of trash and used foam, duct tape, and an old bra to try and make it my size. It didn’t really work out… the boobs were too high (rather the shoulders too low pffft) and 4 rolls of black duct tape is not exactly easy to pin through. Other than a very curvy hanger, it wasn’t much use for draping… so it ended up in the trash again when I moved.

Anyhow… I found this new idea for making a custom sized flat pattern. Basically you wrap yourself in saran wrap and then cut it off. Check it out…

fashion incubator – saran wrap pattern making method #1

While looking for different scrap patchwork and quilting techniques I found this great scarf tutorial that uses scraps and water soluble sticky stabilizer… click the photo for a link to the tutorial.

Apparently nothing new to many textile designers and quilters… but I can’t wait to get my hands on this stuff and experiment!

can be bought here

Materials donated by the Toronto Cat Rescue…

$35 each

sale proceeds will be donated back to the Toronto Cat Rescue

During my first month working at Heart Beat with Jodie, we experimented with bleach and spray bottles on various pieces of used and vintage clothing. Sadly, the best pieces were sold before I could get some photos!

Here are a couple of my sweater remix (deconstruction/reconstruction) completed pieces… the model is too damn skinny to wear them! The red hood is the latest one, put a couple red buttons on it last night.