Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Mod Mini Skirt Project: Blah Fabric





I love pop art. I love space age interior design. Mod clothing is the fashion equivalent. At it's boldest, mod fashion IS pop art. You need only look at the 60's fashions of an Andres Courreges or a Pierre Cardin to see this.

Some of Pierre Cardin's bold space age looks-- there is an exaggeration here that makes them even more wonderful, even if slightly tongue-in-cheek
(ABOVE)

Andres Courreges space age looks
(ABOVE)

So, as I progress with sewing, I hope to create projects that more fully incorporate my love of this aesthetic. I know I've already been doing it to an extent, but I would love to be even bolder with my projects. My hope is to create things you really and truly could never find in a store. As such, I want to incorporate more graphics and words into my projects Why? Because, it's fun, that's why! : - )

This is what I mean by bold graphics: mod as pop art exemplified here
(ABOVE)

And this is what I mean by bold words--
too bad you need three people to pull off this look!
(ABOVE)

And after I made this particular skirt project, I did start experimenting with applique. This has allowed me to venture into the words/graphics arena, and I'm having fun with that. More on that in future posts. A lot more on that in future posts!

With this first pop art inspired project, I took a modern day fabric and made a mod mini skirt. This particular fabric is very "pop art" despite not being created for that purpose at all. Why? Because pop art often incorporated bold graphics and/or words to make a statement. So, with the word "blah" on the fabric, we have a statement. It's how I feel about the times we live in. We are inundated with so much information. Eventually, it all starts sounding like one big "blah." Aren't you sick of all the talking heads out here? Opinions truly are like assholes.


Funny enough, this fabric was created based on the "catchphrase" of a Hallmark Cards character. I remember seeing this character ("Maxine") in their stores, but I never knew she had a catchphrase. Whatever the case, I certainly don't think the character can claim a monopoly on the word "blah", and I doubt many people would associate the fabric with that character. So, I didn't worry about those associations.


Now, I know I said I'd never use 100% cotton quilter's fabric again. I lied.


I just couldn't resist this fabric. And, here's the thing-- I KNEW what I was getting into when I bought it. What ticked me off last time was that I thought I was getting a poly/cotton blend and instead got quilter fabric. So, I guess the lesson is-- I can deal with it, if I know what to expect.

So, more pop art inspired projects to come! And some regular ole mod stuff too.

Happy sewing,
Astrid

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