Friday, May 17, 2013

A Sunny, Chic Set

Today, this lovely Friday in Spring, I get to begin a new project.  I am to create several dresses and other pieces of cotton, linen, and silk fabrics in various warm and bright colors...  Spicy, fresh colors.

One of my loveliest clients lives in a sunny, bright land of palms under azure sky.  She has commissioned me to create a chic and sophisticated set of custom made garments that will dress her up for all sorts of Spring and Summer days.

I am going to sketch the dresses, skirts, and tops here and will show the fabric options.  My client can therefore see some of her choices and others can watch the development of a custom garment project.

Dear A., please respond in the thread of our facebook messages; I will label the various designs and fabrics for easy reference.

Dress 1 and Dress 1.1


silk dupioni in red with black iridescence

off white cotton with a bit of stretch, medium weight




2--  Tuck-shoulder Top


Light and sort of sheer orange knit is at least partly synthetic, but I think it would be quite comfortable to wear, given that it is so light.  It would be tuck-able or could be worn untucked with a belt to define the waist.

Silk crinkle charmeuse... off white.... The glossy side could be used for a second of the tops, if you like.  The matte side is nice too.  I picked out the silk as an accent piece, actually (for the orange melange dress, see below) but purchased enough to make a little top too, if you would like that!



4--  Pencil skirt--  This vibrant colored skirt could be made of the deep royal blue that we discussed before OR it could be made of the deep vibrant dark red.  The pics below show the two fabric selections I like best for this skirt.  The fabrics are synthetic, at least in large part, but they contain lycra for good horizontal stretch that would be less likely to stretch out in the seat (thanks to the synthetic content, actually).  I have enough of both of these fabrics, in case you want one in each color.



Both of these skirt fabrics would go well with the lightweight orange knit as well as with the off white silk crinkle charmeuse.

6--  Cut-on Sleeve Dress.  This dress would be shapely yet NOT as fitted as the #1dresses (above).  An obi-style belt will look great with this dress.  The binding on the sleeve openings and at the hem and neck could be made of the off white silk charmeuse.  (Or some other color?)






7--  Fabric belts, obi style.  I could make two obi style belts and both of the belts would be reversible, so as to maximize their usefulness in this set of great garments.



Here are a few of the fabric options..... 
First, the fabrics I suggested for the skirts; I have enough of each for the obi belts.

 I also picked up a golden yellow linen/cotton fabric that I liked so much for the reverse side of the blue.
 .... and an orange silk dupioni that would also work for the reverse of the blue.
Of course either of the off whites would be nice as one side of a belt too.  And there are many other belt options here in my studio....

8.  Knit tee ensemble--  I saw a lovely jersey stretch knit in (mostly) black with a border print that features all the colors we are working with here....  Would you like a short sleeved tee with coordinating straight skirt made of this fabric?  The fabric is actually about 60% black but my photos make it look mostly colors.  My idea is that the shoulders of the tee could be colors-intensive, as could the hemline of the skirt.  If you don't want such an ensemble, it's no problem at all. I love the fabric and I will be the buyer of it unless you do want it.

Here is a sketch of what the tee-ensemble could be like: 


Finally (for this post, anyway!) I want to show you some other fabrics I picked up that I could possibly use for any of your garments, if you want.  OR I can keep them for myself.  When I started having visions with all the gorgeous fabrics in this color palette, I couldn't resist picking up several extra pieces!  My idea was to buy more that you would probably want, but none that I wouldn't love to keep for my own purposes.  Once you see everything and make decisions about which pieces you want I will figure out the division of costs for us.  Don't feel obligated to keep any of the pieces I have pictured here for you...  They are just ideas.....

The top fabric in this photo is washed linen, lightweight and beautiful.  The bottom fabric is a drapery fabric, actually.  It would be nice for a skirt, if you might want another straight skirt.  It has very little stretch to it, but it is nice......

Here is a textured cotton with a gold vertical thread.

That linen....

And another shot of the jersey knit with border-print colors.  Confetti! Or garden of zinnias!