Knitting adventures: Sweater Dress; Part 2

With several attempts at knitting sleeves under my belt, I was able to resolve the sizing and add the eyelets and yellow details.  My amazing model, Agustina, was really into the tactile quality that comes along with wearing little knitted puffs on your arms.  The dress turned out super thick and comfy, definitely a perfect cold-weather dress.  

My inspiration for this piece was drawn from visuals of The Neon Museum in Las Vegas. The museum site hosts over a 100 relics of Vegas history, both donated and found dating back to the 30's. I'm keeping my eye out for cheap flights to Vegas, as this is now high on my list of places to see.  I think my vintage aesthetic shows through in this piece, as I so much adore being able to experience a connection to history and the collections that we have assembled from it.

Be sure to check out Cheri Lucas's Neon Boneyard Photos  They are amazing and make you feel like you are really there!

Textiles Graduate Student Exhibition

A shot taken of the pieces of work completed during first semester at RISD. See other work here: Textiles Graduate Student Exhibition

Knitting adventures: Sweater Dress

Hello, lovely, new, sparkly knitting machine.   Machine knitting was big in the 70's and 80's and then companies stopped production.  Now, to be able to affordably come by this highly coveted piece of equipment, with all the parts, is hard!  These things have been known to show up under old ladies beds, at yard sales, on ebay for outrageous prices, and sometimes locally on craigslist.   I saw this posted on craigslist a few weeks before my knitting class at RISD had started and patiently waited until I knew anything at all about machine knitting to contact the posting.  So basically, I waited until the end of the first day when I immediately decided that I loved it! (this was after unsuccessfully knitting anything on the machine too).  My mother referred to this purchase at "impulsive."  Well maybe, but I see it as an investment; next Christmas, everyone will be getting scarves!

Attempts at knitting sleeves for my sweater dress: too small, too big, just right, but too short.  Fourth times the charm?  Having no real knowledge of pattern drafting or apparel work, this project has proven to be really hard.  It's amazing how tedious it is to count out stitches and rows to get the exact measurements.  Everyone says you'll use math for the rest of your life; well, thanks to Hanks Dairy Bar for improving my mental math skills and thanks to my Mac's dashboard calculator for helping me with the ones I get stuck on.

new patterns!

Here's to the end of another semester on my quest to conquer the trade of textile design.  The class that I am just finishing up focuses on using Illustrator and Photoshop as tools in the design process.  The repeats below came from an original painting of mine.  It's amazing how using these programs, you are able to quickly change colors, adjust shapes, rotate objects, etc to work out your composition and repeat.  I am by no means a computer person, but my confidence continues to grow as I see the perks of using technology!  I'm still unsure as to the right market and products for my designs....

Indian Block Printing

I recently did a presentation on this ancient craft for my Surface Design Class.  Check out this unbelievably, beautiful video to see the delicacy and intricate nature of the process!  The video was made for West Elm who sells products from these Indian Artisans.

Photoshop Tutorial

Etsy usually sends out weekly emails with help on how to improve your store.  The nice part about these blasts are that they usually contain links from fellow Etsians writing how-to's on topics in the hopes that they can pass along stories of their successes and tips on how you too can succeed!  I usually don't spend much time on them as Etsy is a huge time suck, but this one seemed particularly useful!  Check out the link here and my impressive photoshop-ing skills below, thanks to this post!Etsy: Shop Makeover with Photoshop

BEFORE

AFTER

I'm buying stock in gouache

  Nautical Florescence, Gouache, 12 ½x15 1/2

  Nautical Florescence II, Gouache, 13 1/4x14

  Greetings, Gouache, 10x13

  Geometric, Gouache, 10x21

Constantly rifling through flea market junk piles and antique store boxes, I am on the lookout for unique treasures to add to my growing collection of vintage ephemera. Looking at vintage travel postcards from the 1930’s and 40’s, I specifically was drawn to those illustrating sailing. The nostalgic, playful feelings evoked through a culture at ease, indulging in leisurely activities drew me in. Saturated colors and the graphic style used during the time period coincide with my personal design aesthetic and utilize colors that I typically gravitate towards. This concept was explored during a course on Surface Design, resulting in examples of floral, geometric, and conversational patterns in this series of gouache paintings.

Nautical Florescence II is featured in the new exhibit up at Silver Circle next month!

The Silver Circle Gallery in Putnam, Conn., announces, "Flora and Fauna,” a themed display featuring glimpses of plant and animal life as seen through the artist’s eye. The show represents 19 local artists that work in a wide variety of mediums. This exhibit will be held in the downtown gallery 2/2– 2/27, 2011