Wednesday, September 9, 2015

More use of advanced illustration class skills

George and I are working on a graphic for the Puyallup 2016 Sewing Expo.  It's possible I may be a speaker (yeah!) and I need to send in a graphic for the catalog
 in case I get in.  


Update 17Nov15, I'm in!  I'll be teaching and have a booth. Look for the final image in the Expo catalog to find my class.

Ann Sagawa, my contact, suggested a combination of Paganoonoo pattern, starting shirts and finished garments.  Great idea!
George, with his extraordinary photography skills
captured all the elements.

However when the graphic is shrunk to the catalog size 
(smaller than this) the shirts get a bit lost.


So I decided to try an outline around the shirts and blouse.
which helps some... but still seems to blend in a bit too much.
So I thought a background from the opposite side of the color wheel might help.  It does, but is a bit too light.

So I darkened the background just to get the feel
of how it would look.  I also darkened the line around the pattern. I like it.  
Here is the whole progression.  The background probably would not have occurred to me without the training I received in Advanced Illustration last semester.

And yes, this is almost as much fun as coloring!




Here is the final version.  I printed all the elements out at the highest resolution possible.  I then cut out each item on the outside line.  Those images were positioned on a piece of blue wallpaper from FABMO (in addition to fabric they have wallpaper and tile samples). It was then scanned, turned into a jpeg, and then cropped.  

Hopefully Paganoonoo will be at Puyallup and I will meet you there in 2016!




2 comments:

  1. I have to say, this photo was suggested to me on pinterest because I've pinned wardrobe refashion stuff in the past, and I clicked through immediately instead of pinning it, and followed your blog with feedly. I love that you posted the progression of what made it an attractive image!
    I love refashioning things for several reasons: 1) money. 2) I like to be creative 3) I'm plus size, and why do the makers of plus size clothing assume a)We don't like trendy prints until 5 years after the skinny people and b) we are the same shape as skinny girls, only taller?
    But I feel like I don't know enough about form and fitting to make things to fit me. :-( And many refashion blogs are done by people who actually fit the item they're refashioning, they just want it more stylish. I'd love to know more: How do I take 2-3 garments and make them into one bigger garment? That isn't a tent? :-)
    I know that's a lot for one comment... Sorry! :-) Have a good day.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Brianna,

      So sorry for the delayed reply. I like recycling for the same reasons you do, creativity, cost and being a plus sized middle-aged woman I want stylish beautiful clothes. Almost all of my patterns combine 2-3 garments to make a new one, always with more hip room than the original.

      I focus on using a decent fitting garment in the shoulder/arm area and building in extra room elsewhere as it's not easy to modify shoulders / arm holes. It is possible to add in panels, darts and/or pleating to enlarge the bust area and easy to enlarge the hip area. Using a semi-fitted torso avoids the "tent" look.

      Several of my patterns (Ashlee, Peggy) feature an empire waist which flattering on almost all of us.

      My favorite other trick for larger figures is to use color blocking to create vertical division in the garment, tricking the eye into seeing the smaller sections rather then the whole. The Peggy Blouse is designed with three way color blocking.

      The Patti blouse has an added vertical stripe which draws the eye to similar effect.

      Happy upcycling!

      Michelle




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