Tools of the Trade - 2400 years back

Tijerras/ Scissors

Celtiberian town of Uxama in Osma/Soria

Third cent B.C.

I wonder.... did her husband ever borrowed these good sewing scissors to cut paper?

Before Safety Pins there were Fibulas

I'd like to travel back and visit with the happy Greek Gal

Who fastened her peplos or chiton with this beauty

Before there were safety pins

There were fibulas

http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/clothing2.html

Ench By Sew-43-Part 1: Embellished and Printed Fabric, Reflections on an Exhibit at the Met in NYC

http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/448647

Click on this link in iTunes  to download the 43'rd episode of the Enchanted by Sewing Audio Podcast,  recorded in May
of 2016. Or listen directly on the web by clicking on this link.

This month's show is, Embellished and Printed, Reflections from a Historical Exhibit from an Historical Exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City - Fashion and Virtue: Textile Patterns and the Print Revolution, 1520–1620

In this Show

* Primero Pensamientos/First Reflections - 

I reflect on this exhibit at the Met and also on how the exhibits I saw there, relate to my own current sewing and  my interest in patterned fabrics  history.

*Entonces/Then

#FashionandVirtue

We go to the exhibit together. Remember that this is only Part 1 of this exhibit. I’ll take you back with me again, next month in the June show, for Part 2.

Web Resources 

I mentioned the Tanna Lawn fabric for my cur.rent sewing project, that I purchased a few years back from Liberty of London. In this podcast "Laurel Loves London" I talked about a trip to Liberty

http://enchantedbysewing.blogspot.com/2013/06/ench-by-sew-009-laurel-loves-london.html

One of the items in the exhibit we visit in the current podcast comes from the Victoria and Albert in London (V&A). Below is a link to a walk I shared with you around the fashion gallery at the V&A.

http://enchantedbysewing.blogspot.com/2013/07/ench-by-sew-010-v-fashion-gallery-tour.html

-Fashion and Virtue: Textile Patterns

and the Print Revolution, 1520–1620

http://www.metmuseum.org/press/exhibitions/2015/fashion-and-virtue

- Link to the 10th century block printed lions - that I think would make a great quilt block - Spoonflower would be my ticket! http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/448647

Ancient Egypt print block

http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/448512

Many wonderful links turn up when I searched on 'printed textiles' at the Met

https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=www.metmuseum.org+printed+textiles&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

"Nineteenth-Century European Textile Production

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/txtn/hd_txtn.htm

Ench By Sew-40: Year of Monkey Inspires Sewing

Click on this link in iTunes  to download the 40th episode of the Enchanted by Sewing Audio Podcast,  recorded in January of 2016. Or listen directly on the web by clicking on this link.

Kunghei fatchoy!*

The Celebration of the Year of the Monkey begins  just a little over a week from now. This month’s  “Enchanted by Sewing” show celebrates sewing inspired by the Chinese Lunar New Year

This episode:
Primero /First  - A brief introduction to the Chinese Lunar New Year

http://www.sftourismtips.com/chinese-new-year-san-francisco.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/12125631/Chinese-New-Year-2016-The-Year-of-the-Monkey-Everything-you-need-to-know.html

Entonces/Then: My audio notes from the show “China through the Looking Glass” a very popular textile and fashion show that ran  last summer 2015, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City

Y Tambien/And Also:  I include reflections on my own experiences with Chinese inspired patterns, textiles and fashions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheongsam

. . .

The American mid 20’th century musical “The Flower Drum Song” is a great way to get a sense of Euro-American people’s awareness of Chinese –descent communities in their midst. 

Chinese fabrics and styles, whether from history, stories, films or  a growing awareness of Chinese culture, have inspired elements in my sewing, since before I first put a needle into a piece of material.

Remembering where my inspiration to create and sew comes from, is just one more thing that keeps me…

Enchanted by Sewing


*In Cantonese “Happy New Year” is “Kunghei fatchoy “ (/gong-hey faa-chwhy/)

Samplers - Early Blogs

Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC, Textiles: Samplers

Seems a new idea

"Look at me, I was here."

Samplers were blogs too!


Web Resources:

Exhibit Notes - "American and European Embroidered Samplers" The Met
http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2015/american-and-european-embroidered-samplers

Images of All Items in Exhibit
http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/objects?exhibitionId=74d331ac-483c-41e1-babd-7a6015db21fd

Embellishment Inspiration: Personable Lions - Antique Printed Fabric

 These charming lions were block printed on cotton fabric, in Iran,  sometimes between the 10'th and 11th centuries. Eventually traders imported block printed fabric on to other lands and  Europeans were inspired by the use of wooden or metal blocks, to print on fabric of their own. 

I think this design would make a charming modern fabric. A quilt for a child? Definitely! But also I can imagine borrowing this pattern for patch pockets, tote bags, or miniaturized for a border print on a skirt hem or shirt cuffs.

Web Resources: Fashion and Virtue

Textile Patterns and the Print Revolution, 1520–1620

Ench By Sew-36: Fiona, the Irish Laurel Dress

Dress creation brings out the romantic in me. When I looked ahead to my summer sewing, I thought if I could sew only one garment for the season, it would be a dress. Fiona, the Irish Laurel dress, satisfied my yearning to design and sew the perfect summer frock.

Hey let’s listen to the show! To do that you can either download the ‘cast from iTunes - Click on this link to iTunes  , 
*OR* listen directly on the web, by clicking on this link
* * *

This dress was a very satisfying project for my arty romantic style. 

In between sewing summer essentials - shorts and tees - I worked off and on to determine what design lines spoke to me about summer, mock up a miniature sloper pattern to test my ideas, draft a pattern from my sloper, and then finally to sew up Fiona, while summer was still on!

* Pensamientos Primeros - Thinking through my idea for this summer dress
     - Part 1 - Planning Fiona
        - Part 2 - Farewell to Summer Romancing Fiona, the Irish Laurel Dress  

*Technicos - Pattern Drafting and Kissing Zipper using a Prick Stitch

*Pensamientos Finales - Fiona's Design Lines have roots in my own history

Finians Rainbow was a modern American fairy tale. It expressed late 1960's dreams for racial harmony and folks coming together. Fred Astaire (Finian McLonigan) and Petula Clark(his daughter Sharon) added in the romance of America seen, and idealized, fresh from Irish eyes. The story of Finian's determination to plant himself a crop of Irish gold, intertwined with romance of countryside and a new happpily-ever-after love for Sharon draws me in as well today as it did when I was a kid who'd only recently arrived in a new place myself. Any wonder that the movie's costumes inspire my pattern work and sewing today?

Visit Me Encanta Coster/Enchanted by Sewing - my regular sewing blog for other summer sewing I enjoyed along the way... in between time spent bringing Fiona to life

Ench By Sew-35:Enchanted by Charles James - 20'th Century Fashion History

The Charles James Ribbon Gown - Muslin in the background

Enchanted by Charles James - Stepping into a liminal space to study and enjoy glorious fashion designs and analyze the construction of those garments is the kind of thing that keeps me … enchanted by sewing.

Hey let’s go to the show together! To do that you can either download the ‘cast from iTunes - Click on this link to iTunes  , 
*OR* listen directly on the web, by clicking on this link


* * *
  Some months the Enchanted by Sewing podcast, journals my own sewing project accomplishments, techniques and creative ideas. Other times I share the source of  some of my sewing inspiration. This month is inspiration time, as I take you along on an another in-the-,moment fashon exhibit - a visit to the beautiful Legion of Honor Museum in San Francisco , where I went repeatedly to  view the exhibit, High Style: The Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection  exhibit of the Brooklyn Fashion Museum.

This collection – which is housed  and curated by the Metropoliton Museum of Art  in NY City- includes a wide range of the work of 20’th century designers and couturiers.

There was no way I could share all of what I saw with you.

By my third visit, I realized that , despite the charms of designers and coturiers in the exhibit- Elsa Schiaparelli and Madeleine Vionnet, just to name a few of the big names, and some that have been almost forgotten- the hands-down winner for sharing with you, was Charles James. That’s because James, and his clients and admirers, worked to see to it, that more than his beautiful garments were saved in this collection, to motivate and educate future sewists, designers and couturiers. This historical treasure trove includes sketches and muslins which really tell the story of how he worked, and what went into the garments he fashioned. They are an inspiration for the creative process.

The body of Charles James work extends from the 1930s into the1950s. The garments he designed, constructed and created were worn by high society types like  Austine Hearst, the wife of Mr. William Randolph Hearst, Jr., Millicent Rogers and Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney. They were also made for women with less blue blood like Jeanne Bultman the wife of the artist Fritz Bultman, and Gypsy Rose Lee!

James didn’t just sketch up a gown and expect others to produce it. He worked in the true couture tradition (some say the only American designer who did). He draped fabric in complex ways to get what he was after. Often he created specialized support systems under his gowns, to enhance and extend their third dimensions . Charles James also used fabric in studied ways working with color, light and reflectivity in addition to the hang or drape of the material. He also focused on developing seaming techniques that molded the fabric into directions he wanted it to move.

I’ll be blogging more about Charles James garments I saw at this exhibit over time . You’ll find those in the podcast show notes and at my regular blog, MeEncantaCoser.blogspot.com. So if you find Charles James as appealing as I do, subscribe to the podcast show notes or Me Encanta Coser to be notified about new James postings.


Show at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco http://legionofhonor.famsf.org/legion/announcements/collecting-fashion-20th-century-couture-costume-and-textile-arts-collection?utm_source=Fine+Arts+Museums+of+San+Francisco+E-Mail+List&utm_campaign=e68929bce3-15_3_4_e_news_general&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9757c5111b-e68929bce3-85610377

Other SF show links
https://legionofhonor.famsf.org/highstyle

https://legionofhonor.famsf.org/highstyle/about

~ ~ ~

The Entire (over 400 items) Charles James Collection is Freely Available and Searchable Online at the Metropolitan Museum - Brooklyn Costume Collection. This collection includes not only beautiful garments, but muslins and design sketches James created along the way.

http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search?&ft=charles+james&what=Costume&pg=1

A few Example Links in the above collection - Use this link to do your own searching

Muslin for the Ribbon Gown  http://www.metmuseum.org/search-results?ft=charles+james+muslin+ribbon

Charles James Fashion Sketches

 http://www.metmuseum.org/search-results?ft=charles+james+sketch&x=0&y=0

Clover leaf Ball Gown Sketches

http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/156716

http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/156717

Entire online collection at the Met.Wow!
http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online

Articles about Charles James

http://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a1451/charles-james-couture-profile-0214/

http://agnautacouture.com/2013/12/15/charles-james-the-first-american-couturier-was-an-egomaniac/

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/24/fashion/charles-james-and-me.html?_r=0

Ench By Sew-31: Historical Bathing Beauties

The April Enchanted By Sewing, Episode 31 Audio Show is Up !

Option I) Listen to the Audio right on the web by clicking on this link - No need to download 

~ OR ~

Option II)  Click on this link to iTunes  to download this and other Enchanted by Sewing shows to your mobile device (iPhone, Android, etc.) free from iTunes

Bathing and swim wear has certainly changed from the cover-em-up days!

 Have you ever sewn your own swim or bathing suit? I created a couple of bikinis way, way back in high school, but since then, frankly, I’ve been happier to buy my suits. I do however often stop off at various sewing blogs to sample bathing fashion creations that other sewists have created, and daydream a little at trying my hand at another suit one day.

I also get a kick out of hearing and reading about how bathing suits have changed over time, and thinking about what a shock people must have had to suddenly start seeing others, especially women, revealing so much of their flesh on beaches! The big changes in swim suit styling around the 1920’s seem to have been about the time when the  sport changed from ‘bathing’ to ‘swimming’ in the English speaking world. It wasn’t enough just to immerse ourselves in water outside, as we did indoors anymore. Now more people wanted to get some exercise when they went into a pool, river or ocean.

This month I’m sharing a walk around an historical bathing suit exhibit I saw at the Vancouver Maritime Museum in the fall of 2014. Won’t you let me know if this show gets you in the mood to sew your own modern day or historically inspired bathing or swimming suit, by posting below?

Babes & Bathers: History of the Swimsuit
http://vancouvermaritimemuseum.com/press/babes-bathers-exhibit-opens-maritime-museum.

Here is the promotion for the exhibit, from the web link at the museum. Please note that the show is no longer running.
‘
"In a city surrounded by water, swimsuits have always been an essential part of our wardrobe as Vancouverites. From swimming costumes to bikinis, bathing suit styles have fluctuated from the modest to the more revealing, all in a desire to make us fashionable by the water’s edge. Drawing on the private collections of celebrated fashion historian Ivan Sayers, you can now see the modest suits, revealing bikinis, and sometimes outrageous costumes that have been spotted on Vancouver beaches since the 1890s. "  http://www.vancouvermaritimemuseum.com/