Manic Pop

I just realized I hadn't really talked about my Mod Faces top I made riiiiiight before my exhibition! I whipped this baby up in about 3 hours, pattern and everything! It was a really simple pattern to make: just a princess line with added flare at the bottom from waistline to hem. You get a semi-peplum-ish effect, but not as drastic. This fabric is a vintage one-way stretch knit that I found on Etsy. I waited 3 weeks to buy this fabric! Why, I don't know but I couldn't stop thinking about it.  The seller confessed that she had a hard time parting with it since she loved it so much! The inside was finished off with my serger, in a matching color for once!  You also may have noticed that I got a new hair cut! After almost a year (yikes, I know!) of not getting even a trim, I finally got it cleaned up to what I wanted since last year. The talented Nikki over at Kelly Cardenas Salon in Wicker Park did it for me today - she's fantastic!   Back view.

Here are the long-promised photos from my exhibition at Lomography Chicago on August 10th! It actually closed yesterday, so my dresses and art were hanging for a good 2-3 weeks or so which was nice. I forgot how long it takes to get film back! Plus, when labs are having slight issues it can take a bit longer. All images shot on a Holga CFN with 120 film. These images actually came out way darker than my normal ones . I haven't used my Holga in a good year or so, perhaps I forgot which speed of film I normally use.   Max's family came out! My own store manager won the La Sardina giveaway! Attempted double-exposure. Sort of worked. Lomography Chicago may have gotten some more photos but they haven't posted them yet. I took 24 shots and sadly, only these 8 or so really came out. I had about 4 others of me just finishing the roll off at home so really only one roll of 12 photos came out! Argh. If you've been watching my Instagram, you c

So I got really excited on my break at work today when I got an email from Burda about a webinar they're doing on a pattern technique called "Transformational Reconstruction" developed by Japanese designer Shingo Sato. I hadn't even heard of Shingo Sato until today let alone his design technique but oddly, it's sort of the path I'm going down with my designs anyway as seen with the Sunrise Panel dress as well as the Petra Dress and the pattern making involved in those designs. What I did there is perhaps a "light" version of Sato's where the darts and shaping are hidden in the seam lines. If you've been reading this blog long enough, you know that my design aesthetic focuses largely on color blocking, unusual seam lines, and a love of anything psychedelic. Note: All photos stolen from the internet. Sorry! I'm super-excited. Let me know if it's yours and I'll take it down.  Shingo Sato teaching.  More designs using

I'm pleased to say that the Lomo show went really well! The turnout was really nice and people really liked what they saw!                                                          Top worn by me also Manic Pop.       Photo by Piper Robbins I have far more photos coming. Since it's an analogue photo store, many of us took photos with our film cameras (and I brought my Holga along). I have the CFN 120 version which I bought in 2009. So we have to do this really retro thing of (omg!) waiting a week or so for photos to be developed and prints to be made!  Photo by Erica Chatman. The film I was using in my Holga was 120 film, so it actually has to be processed at a special lab and sent off to New York. So keep an eye out for a blog post chock full of only photos from the Lomo event around next week! Otherwise, I'm still working on new things including a custom order of a Sunrise Panel Dress, but one thing I've been playing with and really, really delving in

I think every year, I have one project that pisses me off sooooo much that I just end up in tears and throwing it across the room at some point or another. Last year it was the Cloud Dress (which isn't difficult at all) and this year it was this dress! At some point, the zipper just decided I needed to completely rip it out. Lucky for me, I had adjustments to make on the entire dress. This dress is definitely NOT HARD to sew, but that stupid zipper still made me much more upset than I ever needed to be. I can't tell you how many zippers I have sewn in my life: probably around 100? Maybe less? I have a technique down but all the hand-basting, pressing, going slow in the world wouldn't get this one to not bunch. Ok, I lied - it looks quite alright now. I always do a lapped zipper due to the fact that I can't find any invisible zippers that are more than 24" long in stores. I always forget to look on the internet for them and by the time I need them, I&#