by Jessica Rose on April 28, 2010
For my next design, I’ve decided to create a flowy jersey dress with coloured flower-like appliques on one side of the neckline.
The original idea (see the sketch) was to make the flowers out of a two toned silk chiffon, and have a matching tie in the back of the dress. Though, the more I turn the idea over in my head, I think it will be better to have the dress loose at the back rather than fitted (so no tie), and as for the flowers- I’m still undecided- as I’m concerned about the chiffon fraying too much over time with wear and washing.
by Jessica Rose on April 27, 2010
Beginning with a theme, I’m now starting to work on my collection for Spring-Summer 2011. Walking to and from my studio in Toronto each day, I often take the path along Lake Ontario from just south of Roncesvalles to Exhibition Grounds. While I watch the rowers, sailboats, swans, and geese as I walk along the boardwalk, I dream about the early 20th Century women who walked along the beach here 100 years ago. My head fills with inspiration of women in sailor stripes and flowing white dresses mixed with English style gardens.
So my project for the next few months will be creating a story- exploring the theme of a seaside english garden (how romantic!) I’ll be playing with stripes, and florals while interpreting classic themes in a modern way.
by Jessica Rose on April 25, 2010
My first design for my blog is finished, and I’m loving it! I’ll admit, brown is not my favourite colour to work with (This is actually the first time I’ve ever designed a piece in brown!), but this dress turned out to be so cute with the chestnut brown mixed with robin’s egg blue- I may just have to start working with it a bit more.
by Jessica Rose on April 25, 2010
After sewing up the base of the dress, I took a visit to Mokuba (the most amazing Japanese ribbon store!) to find something for the straps- and found the lovely ribbon above! I was really hoping to find something in the blue rather than brown for a better match with my blue shawl, and am so happy with it- soft against the skin, and heavy enough to be durable with wear.
The final step was to sew on the buttons and ribbons, and I was so excited for the chance to use a button sewing machine for the first time. Unfortunately, the mother of pearl buttons just didn’t work out with the machine- cracking in half in just seconds under the pressure of the needle! So, back to hand sewing.
by Jessica Rose on April 20, 2010
On a recent visit to a friend’s studio, I was lucky enough to come away with this beautiful embroidered fabric- a chocolate brown with light teal Celtic- like patterns, which I thought would be a nice addition to my small but sweet collection of dresses this summer!
This type of fabric comes in panels with elastic thread running through the top end- so for the design I could either work with the elastic going around the entire body, or just in the back.
My initial idea was to bring the patterned edge of the fabric into a panel at the top of the dress (see the right side image), so I pinned the fabric up to my form to get an idea of how it could work using the panels. In the end, I wasn’t happy with the overall look, and went on to try something else- (see the lovely dress on the left!) I decided to keep the dress simple, and let the fabric really sing in this design. . .
