Fashion Unraveled Symposium... A mountain of things I haven't told you...

I don't want to exhaust you with this, but the symposium I attended this past Saturday set my creative and artisanal brain on ABSOLUTE fire.

Where do I even begin?

Okay, we all reach the creative point where we start to analyze why we do what we do.  Does it matter?  Is it silly or frivilous?  Why is this so important to me?

Maybe you bristle when you make something you feel is lovely (which, truth be told, is ALL that matters), and someone says something that indicates that they have missed the point entirely.  People are often impressed when I simplify an item I've made, by just stating that it was "custom made", and then, when they wanna know where to buy it, I reveal that I am the maker.  Then, I get the looks of "You must be crazy to make your own shoes!", or "Why aren't you doing this as a business?"

But, really, those are my own issues.  I do make things for people, lead tours, consult and source when I am the right person for the job, but this whole area of my life is so much bigger than that.  What i am beginning to tell you, could probably be a novel's worth of information, but I'll put it here, because I need to process and express it, even if it isn't widely read or commented on...  Sick with me, and I'll just add to this post in parts, until I'm done.  How long with that take?  I dunno.  Let's see....

Fabrics and Fabrics (and fabrics and fabrics...) and "Pretty Little Liars"...

Sometimes you just can't convey what you are TRYING to do until you do it. I cannot count the number of times I have walked into a fabric store, where a helpful salesperson tries to guide and assist me, and I just can't put it all into words.

Having visited so many fabric stores in the district now, I knew where I could find various fabrics, but I didn't want to get anything in a store where I couldn't find ALL the required components under one roof.  Enter FABRICS & FABRICS.

Have you ever heard the poem of the blind men who grope at an elephant, each one trying to figure out how to describe what he is touching?  One of them, feeling the side, surmises that it is a large wall.  Another, feeling the tail, decides that the object is a rope.  Another, after touching the tusk, decided he had encountered a spear. Turns out, I can't effectively explain just what I need the fabric to do until I show them.

All this tulle?  Will it be a tutu?

This deep poly red?  Will it be a shiny red nightie?

This smooth black fabric?  Will it be a tuxedo?

Red stitches? Will it be a roadmap?

What's under there?

Oh... could it be a parachute, perhaps?

Or the dream dress of a lovely 16 year old, who loves to watch "Pretty Little Liars"?

Just an indication... Not pressed, and the wearer is a different size/proportions than the dress form, but I've been promised pictures after the event! Special shout-out to Mandi Line who designed the original!