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The inspiration and the skills to create fabulous, personalized clothing.
Any woman can transform and customize the clothes already in her closet, making them new, hip and utterly de rigueur. Drawing on technical skills and extensive experience designing for top fashion houses, Jayne Emerson offers inspiration to women who prefer personality in their fashion. Using bargain buys or closet orphans, women of any age can create updated designs by, for example, adding braid, over-dyeing a shirt or converting a sweater into a bolero.
In addition to the specific 30 projects described in detail, the author reviews the necessary sewing fundamentals and provides expert guidance for:
Throughout the book there are "Before You Start" sidebars, inspirational photographs, illustrated instructions and an eminently practical techniques section. When vintage has become too expensive and secondhand looks outdated, a new wardrobe can be created using New from Old.
Suppliers and useful addresses Index Acknowledgments
Fashion is constantly changing, and keeping up with the latest trends can be difficult, especially if they don't always suit you. Finding your own style is key when arranging your wardrobe, and well-fitting clothes in colors and styles that suit you are always going to look good. This book is not a project book, although instructions are given at the back for the more complex but still easy projects. It is a sourcebook to whet your appetite, inspire you, and get the creative juices flowing. In these days when fashion has become such a throwaway commodity, it is important to get some individuality back into your wardrobe.
You might be able to go to the mall and get fantastically embellished clothes, but they will not be unique unless you pay a fortune for them. Also, you are unlikely to find the perfect garment in the right color, fabric, and length, and with exactly the right amount of decoration. The joy of creating your own clothes and accessories is that you can tailor them to what you want and what suits you.
This book also helps you widen your search when shopping, and gives you ideas for what to do with things you were going to throw away. You might have, or find, a skirt in a fabric you love but not the shape. You might have a silk blouse that is the wrong color or a jumper that is just plain boring. This book can give you inspiration to rescue the good qualities in an item and make something wonderful from it that is entirely yours.
I always gain a real sense of pride and satisifaction from completing a new piece of clothing, and when done properly, it looks like a designer special. The secret when customizing your clothes is notto overdo it -- a few well-placed stitches or a dip in the right color can be all it takes to breathe new life into the fabric. Of course, there is always scope to go mad and do something eccentric. Just go with what suits you and your personality. If you keep an eye on the trends in the glossy magazines you will never be short of ideas.
Anonymous
Posted May 14, 2007
In her fourth book, freelance textile designer Jayne Emerson explains the different ways that crafters can spice up their wardrobe using a variety of techniques: dyes, decoration and alteration. She encourages her readers to go to both thrift and retail locations and works with various materials such as wool, leather, and cotton. The book is divided into several sections going into detail on how various looks can be achieved with different techniques. The book consists of with a large amount of photographs and drawings including illustrations of clothing ¿before¿ and ¿after.¿ Emerson also covers sewing, dying and embroidery basics for readers that may need a refresher course or who are new to the art of customizing their clothing. Projects include transforming lingerie by changing its color, dip dying a scarf, embroidering a jacket, adding silk flowers to a cardigan, making a jacket from a sweater, embellishing shoes, transforming an old leather skirt into a tote bag, and making a tablecloth into a skirt. Best of all, Emerson also encourages the reader to come up with their own ideas, using the projects presented as a jumping off point. Although the dyeing and embellishing projects should be relatively easy for anyone with basic crafting skills, several of the sewing projects use a sewing machine and require beginning to intermediate sewing knowledge. Difficulty Level: Beginner to Intermediate
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Overview
The inspiration and the skills to create fabulous, personalized clothing.
Any woman can transform and customize the clothes already in her closet, making them new, hip and utterly de rigueur. Drawing on technical skills and extensive experience designing for top fashion houses, Jayne Emerson offers inspiration to women who prefer personality in their fashion. Using bargain buys or closet orphans, women of any age can create updated designs by, ...