Wednesday, March 16, 2016

What about creativity?

Sometimes, you get an idea for a new way to use some fabric that you just wanna use.  And what can happen in the creative process, is the creation of something that is uniquely, and specifically "you".

Over the holidays this year, I was absently fondling some fabric, letting creative ideas marinate in my brain,  when my sister-in-law said to me, what will you use that fabric for?

Purchased at Metro Textiles, during a Speakeasy.


Too loud and too hefty for a skirt, too specific (occasional wear) for a skirt, too Dr. Seuss to simply be the "guest star" in a garment, I knew I wanted to use it in a way that didn't require too much shaping or many seams.  So in love with this funky fabric, I feared it languishing in my stash for too long if an immediate decision wasn't reached, I announced my intention. I wanted it to be fully front and center on a pair of apron/utility pants design idea that had lived in my head for a while now.

Note: I NEVER placed this fabric in the stash.


"I have a utility-apron pants idea. With a much smaller apron than you're imagining." I said.

"Do you mean, like... a loin cloth?" She asked.

A denim loincloth, from an FIT exhibit.


"Yes, but a shaped one!  With splits in the front and back, so i can sit down easily, and everything stays in place!"

Strangely enough, this is also a popular yoga pant look, but done in a far less interesting way.


So, now I've made the pants, or, in reality, added a loincloth and waistband to an old pair of pants.  And in doing so, gave a new life to a great pair of pants I made in 2008, but never wear nowadays (for no good reason).

Pants fabric purchased from Rosen and Chadick - it never dies!  Washes like a dream! Doesn't fade!

One apron panel flipped up, to reveal pants beneath... 



These pants are more than pants to me.  They are the kind of thing I wear without a thought, and then begin to notice knowing nods from fellow creatives, and confused stares from others as I navigate my daily life.  These pants will greet me in the closet, telling me to put them on, reassuring me that no one else has to like them, promising me that they will stay on and stay up, because they conform to my body shape, and no one else's.  These pants are my companion, and I am excited to wear them out somewhere very soon.

Monday, March 14, 2016

Happy Pi Day!

(Reposted - this one is from last year's pi day - It was a Saturday)

Happy Pi Day, all!


The perpetual shirt...


My son: "Mom, you should wear that shirt on Saturday!"

Me: "Really?"