Claire Kennedy Design

The neatest people sew

It's not a secret to any sewist who's been at it a while.  Sewists are a group of the loveliest people I've ever known.  Generous, caring, inquisitive, artistic, adventurous, and most of all friendly.  I hardly can think of - much less count - the ones who are not.  Maybe it's cause we are always creating and problem-solving our latest endeavors - who knows?  But it's true that most are a amiable set!

And now it seems that either our secret is out, or it's just getting to be cool again, cause the famous are taking up our skills as well.

On her tour to publicize her new movie, she explains that she's taking up sewing and taking sewing lessons.  Actually it's pretty well known that on a film set, it's work, then boring waiting, work, then boring waiting, and sewing is a wonderful way to fill in the time while you're waiting for the other scene to be set up, shot, or just otherwise waiting.

And even though it's a long shot....what would it be like to have a sewist in the White House....

Although it looks as if she's probably sewn for a while with all those kids and that huge family.

And of course there's the famous dame from the Brits:

 

I love Issac (he's so natural - what you see is what you get, and generous which is the dead giveaway of a very creative and inherently artistic person), and he either makes people feel so comfortable with his natural way or else this is just a lovely match and he and Helen sew a sleeve head on - yes, which is hard, but we sewist know that already!!!

It's fun to know the rich and famous are jumping onto the band wagon of sewing.  They are discovering our love of stitching and the joy of wearing and enjoying the labors of our artistic endeavors!

White and such things

Now that summer is in full swing, white is all the rage again.  (Don't you just love it how fashion discovers white all over again every summer!!!!  But it's good no matter what time of year!)

Anyway, there are some things that go along with white that a sewist must remember.  White is transparent.  More than any other color in the spectrum or in your fabric stash.  I had to learn that certain colors on my watercolor palette are transparent - greens, blues, but my reds, yellows and oranges were all opaque - why cause the cadmium in the warmer colors was opaque....why?....I dunno. 

Why is white fabric transparent?....it just is, don't ask - just accept it as law!

Here's why!!!

No matter how well you sew or how great your fabric is (or how thick your white fabric is), the pockets, fly, seam allowances and anything else underneath will show.  And although they are spectacular for summer, white pants must be lined.

Actually, I'm not really a fan of white pants, and only on certain occasions will I wear them - when I do it's usually with a jacket, tunic or other longer top garment over my bum (as the Brits would say!)

Well, this is a big much, but makes my point.

  
Lining your white pants completely solves this problem of seams and "other things" showing through.  If you can't stand lining, but are obsessed with wearing white pants, you can half line the pants - to the knee, after this, the pants are usually loose enough not to show the lining hem.

And in case you are still not persuaded, then view the following - of course at your own risk, and please remove the children from view of the computer screen.  I won't be responsible for blindness or severe emotional damage.

My point made - enough said!

Lots of Fashion Exhibits

There are lots of fashion exhibits opening and going on right now, so if you are out and about doing some summer traveling you can pick these up.

There's the McQueen extravaganza at the Met....
.....and yes it's crowded.....
............and yes it's worth it......
(Get a Met membership to cut the line wait down - and it's worth the $70 - 'sides you support art too!)

There's Dior at Pushkin (In Moscow).....
.....and if Moscow isn't on your summer travels, there's a great site here to peruse - worth the effort.

Jean Paul Gaultier in Montreal.....
......they all have great sites, here's this one.....
..........but this one is traveling - click here for the schedule.....

Then a real master...Balenciaga and Spain at San Francisco.....
.....even though it's closed, you can still get the catalog - this is a gem of a show.....
      ......here's the site for this great show.....

 

All of these shows are worth the effort, and if you can't make it, the catalog is almost as good -  I will tell you nothing beats going to the show, but not all of us (including me) can make it to Russia, so alas we have to settle, and the next best thing is the catalog.

If no catalog is available (I didn't see one for Dior), the site is the next best thing, and the site on the Pushkin Museum (it's sorta hard to find, but here's the link), it's worth the time to go through.

I really find all these exhibits fascinating, as Dior, Balenciaga, McQueen and even Gaultier to an extent, all favored the upcoming trend of femininity.

There must be something fun in the air!!!

 

 

American Flags on this Fourth of July

I'm a fan of history - possibly because my state is so new that any history is so fabulous that I enjoy it.  It wasn't that long ago that my grandparents settled here.

And it's even more fun when you know your vocation or hobby has a history as well.

So many sewed so many flags of our country that they are fun to explore, especially those around the civil war.  Why? because there were no hard a fast rules other than red and white stripes and a blue concord and white stars.  The rest was left to the imagination of the sewist.

Most of these are from jeffbridgman.com a collector of antique flags and the history about them.

 

 

 

After Kansas was made a state (in 1861 before the Civil War), were the most prolifically creative.  The stars were in all different shapes and sizes and designs.

 

 

After 1912, the flag was standardized after Arizona became a state, and then again in 1959 when Alaska and Hawaii were made states.

So while you're sewing this holiday weekend, remember all the creative sewists that went before us and their patriotic expression!

Happy Fourth!