Scooped-back Red Dress

I love this red dress…it came out with such a sweet shape & soft drape.  Plus, the back is fairly dramatic.

This image makes me think of a cherry-bomb marie antionette….very confectionary.

Model: Janey Cho Makeup: Kenya for Ruby Envy Felt Dress: Jenne Giles for Harlequin Feltworks. Photo: Moja Ma’at

The Feltettes!

I mostly make felt dresses for fun & creative challenge.  Please enjoy these musical fruits of my fashion folly!

Model: Janey Cho Makeup: Kenya for Ruby Envy Necklaces: Jenne Giles for Harlequin Feltworks. Photo: Moja Ma’at

FilzFun Photo Credits

The beautiful images included in FilzFun 35 would not have been possible without the collaboration and collective talents of our photo teams:

Moja Ma’at, Photographer

Angelica Garde & Jenne Giles, Stylists

 Kenya Aissa from Ruby Envy, MUA

 Diana Regua, Hair

Monika & Sara, Models

Moja Ma’at, Photographer

 Kenya Aissa from Ruby Envy, MUA & Hair

Jenne Giles, Stylist

Amber, Model

Moja Ma’at, Photographer

 Tamra-Marie, MUA

(Rose Dress styling by Mil U Ranon & Jenne Giles)

Ana, Model

Decisions, Decisions

Rose Flamenco Sleeve 2010

I am working on my upcoming article for FilzFun Magazine.  Though it has been a difficult process of choosing images, the bright side is that I have gotten the chance to revisit some of the original disks of photoshoots from the past few years.  There I discovered many lovely images that I had originally passed over.

This shoot was a particularly amazing one: the model was spectacular and we really had an all-star team, all of which shows in the final quality of the images.  These photos depict garments made of my Rose Scarves.  It was the hairstylist (who is a multi-talented and dimensional artist), Mil U Ranon, who suggested that we go in this direction.  I used just about every safety pin I had on hand to layer the scarves to create these stunning ensembles.  Moja Ma’at took these images and Tamara Marie did the make-up.

Alas, these do not fit into the body of images I will use for the article, but at least I can post them here where we can enjoy them.

Rose Dress 2010

Sorting through images

I just picked up the disk of images from our last photo shoot in North Beach, SF.

Now is the hard part of sorting through them!!  Decisions, decisions.

Here is a lovely image of our model model, Sara, in the first plastic raincoat.  I love the look of the plastic and the floating lines that recall a child’s simplified drawing.  I think feltmakers will appreciate the waterproof nature of the raincoats with the felted appeal of the finished dress underneath, as much of feltmaking involves using plastics whether in the form of waterproof shoes, aprons, buckets or plastic resists.

Lesson learned: you don’t want to go too thick on the plastic!  Drape matters

Little leaps of faith

A couple more dresses felted & finished!

Finishing the dresses (shaping, putting buttons and ties, etc) takes almost as long as the felting does but can be a great design challenge.

I am amazed at the many small leaps of faith that are possible with construction: little things like buttonholes matching up or putting in a zipper are such small miracles.  They just kind of work if you do the steps right!

Some construction notes on these 2 felt dresses:

There are 2 buttons holding the front of the green felt dress closed: one at the neckline and one at the waist (in addition to the visible ties/bows at the neckline and an additional tie on the inside waist)  I elongated the buttons using a small threadchain.  It really helped give some extra play to the garment’s drape and prevented distorting the felt fabric, which can happen when a button is attached flat to the fabric’s surface.  Plus, the threadchain made it easier to anchor the thread in the back bit of the felt fabric, so the thread is not visible on the garment’s surface.  Threadchains are way cool and fun to make.

In this empire-waisted dress, I used a large rubber band to establish the straight line under the bust.  Then I marked it out with a dressmaking pencil on the felt fabric.  I marked the front, back and both sides and then divided it up into smaller units (1 inch units in this case) with whatever was left over going into the opening at centerfront for the bow.  I used an awl to punch holes on both sides of my markings and then passed a thick silk yarn through the punched spots.  This was a great way to add functionality to the dress, as it can now be easily cinched to fit the body and opened to allow for easier getting in/out.

Getting some place

a beginning….