Well as is one of my usual habits, I was zipping around BurdaStyle checking out the new stuff, when I found THIS. Well, as not my usual style I decided to comment. I rarely ever say anything over there, so no one even knows I'm there half the time! LOL! Anyways, here is my answer:
***Where do you find sewing inspiration?***
EVERYWHERE! My mom was a seamstress, sew I was already sewing at age 6. I was 16 when I graduated from a fashion design college. In the 20+ years since, I have created tons of patterns and sew all my own fashions.
I not only create my own patterns, but I also design my own fabrics as well. I paint up watercolors and than get short runs of the fabric printed up. I get ideas for a lot og my designs from nature: birds, cats, the sky, waterfalls, trees - everything inspires me to paint. Than the fabric made from the paintings inspire the flow of the dress pattern as well.
Erte is my biggest inspiration. Much of my designs are reinterpretations of his designs. I just love his art deco and flapper styles.
Also, Japanese Kimono, esp those from the Momoyama period (1500's). I love sewing kimono, because the lines are simple and allow for display of big bold fabric prints, which thus allows me to create huge print fabric designs as well.
***What magazines, websites, books do you look at for project ideas?***
Dover Books are my #1 source of inspiration. You see, I'm a life actor, which I means I CosPlay 24/7/365 and have for years. My daily wear consists of recreations of garb from the 1500's - 1800's as well as the 1920's. Dover reprints tons of French, fashion illustrations, vintage paper dolls, Goody Lady, etc. Of course they are the ones who reprint Etre's fashion prints as well.
National Geographic and Smithsonian Museum books are huge sources of inspiration as well. I get lots of ideas from cultural photos and antique paintings. I enjoy creating ethnic and historic bases patterns.
And than of course there's my #1 source of inspiration: comic books. Yep, you heard me: comic books! I'm a huge fan of comic books, manga, graphic novels, super heroes, etc, and well, like I said, I'm really big into CosPlay, so of course a lot of what I design was inspired by comic books. :)
What's your take on this? I'd love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!
Obsessed? I'm Not Obsessed... REALLY, I'm not!
When Next You See Me I'll Look Like This:
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If you liked reading this blog and want to read more stuff written by me, I have lots of websites, where you can read other things I write, here are a few of the ones I like the best:
- All about Lord Sesshomaru's garb & Making a Lord Sesshomaru Costume. Plus, Sesshomaru & Rin and making Rin's Costume; and this is for anyone who needs help Creating Character Profiles for their stories or for their SCA persona.
Categories: About me · Anachronism · Anachronist · Business · CosPlay · Gothic · Life · Lifestyle · Maine · Old Orchard Beach · SCA · Wendy C. Allen · comic books · cosplay in public · costume making · costumer · costumes · creativity · cross dressing · crossplay · drag queen · dressmaking · fabric · fashion · fashion design · fun things to do · inspiration · interesting facts · life blogging · medieval · my thoughts on... · painting · pattern making · patterns · sewing · sewing a costume · sewing a kimono · sewing advice · theater
Tagged: About me, Anachronist, Black Bobcat Fashions, BurdaStyle, CosPlay, cosplay in public, dressmaking, EelKat, Erte, inspiration, Japan, kimono, pattern making, Purple Peacock Patterns, sewing, The Rabbit Hole, Wendy C. Allen
Waiting for Emmett to come.
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