This blog will be a distinct change of pace from Leola's Immaterial Musings. It will be much more serious in fact.
The purpose of this particular blog will be to show how projects and concepts are handled here at Pennington Trading House. Nothing is just thrown together, contrary to popular belief. All that we do here is a process, I will be using the latest concept that hit me in the face the other day as the demonstration.
How you are inspired is unique to everyone. One person might look at a blade of grass and simply brush it from their sleeve, while another might see the cure for cancer in it's falling trajectory; or perhaps something nearly as awesome.
This particular piece was a concept born of a strange dream, Vanitas by Dir en Grey and a two year old Vanity Fair picture of Drew Barrymore.
So, as you can see, there is no need for an exact thing to be pinpointed for something to inspire you, so do not ever limit yourself to say that "This is what I base everything I do around." Because when you let that one thing, be it animal, vegetable, or mineral, be the only thing you use for inspiration; your brain gets all of its creative juices wrung dry. Then there you are trying to get something out the proverbial used up toothpaste tube.
So, here we are to rule number one, Inspiration. You have to be inspired to do something. No exceptions.
Now, I'm not talking about an earth shattering brain aneurism, however, those do happen and they mostly turn out as brilliant as you envision them. It could be as simple as "I like that skirt, but I think it would look better this way." There, you have your inspiration.
If you don't have any of those moments, then I suggest you clear your brain and go do something random and chaotic. Most people love logical order, however it stifles creativity. If you ignore this advice and force yourself to plow ahead, then don't blame me for the frustration headache and the ugly piece of crap you will be holding at the end. I told you to go take a walk or something.
There in lies the second rule of creating! Patience.
Which is why it takes so long for me to finish a project. I have none. Now, you would think the opposite would be true, but no. The less patience you have, the longer it takes to complete something. The reason is that you get frustrated more easily and then this leads to more seam ripping because you lost sight of the seam allowance, and then you throw the *&%^#^#$&#& piece across the room, and scream that it now costs $5000.
Patience. It helps.
The best way I have found is to go into your own little world. Put headphones on, not just listen to music, but put on the headphones and drown out everything that is trying to get your attention. Of course you have to designate a certain amount of time for this, but it helps immensely.
The next step, after you perfect everything is to make sure that you have been writing/drawing/ carving into stone, everything you have been thinking. If you get an idea, or re-envision something on a piece, stop what you are doing and WRITE IT DOWN! Otherwise, it's gone forever. I don't care how good of a memory you think you have; if you don't record a flash of brilliance in some way, it will be gone forever in two minutes.
I am not kidding, two minutes tops; sometimes less if you are a goldfish like me.
Now that all of your ideas are safely recorded, edited, and finalized into an exact concept, it's time to get your patterns and measuring devices out! Make sure that you are either adept at making your own patterns (I will be describing how to do a portion of this in the next blog, and how to fully do it in a later blog.) Or very wiley at putting patterns together to get what you want. If you are just beginning the whole adventure into sewing, then I suggest sticking to patterns religiously until you are comfortable enough with your skills to say "Eff that ugly bow, I want a bustle!" and then go for it.
I will be acquiring the material soon, so stick with me to see how to modify a pattern and measure the exact yardage you will need for concept pieces such as this!
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Leola
Links:
Dir en Grey- Vanitas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5PCRZYvZFY
Pics of Drew!
