A wedding dress design drawing dating from 1937 was discovered in a woman's attic, and we will use it to base her own upcoming wedding design upon :-) Beautiful, drapey, silk satin / georgette / lace will be the fabrics, and a real 30's vibe - no huge petticoats here!
Woven stripe silk taffeta
ALSO: I'm thinking of doing a workshop about fabrics, as it's been suggested to me more than once...
I’ve realised that a lot of people just don’t know what’s out there in terms of fabric, and what they might like for making any kind of garment, let alone what they might choose for a wedding dress.
‘Fings ain’t wot they used to be’, regarding your Mum being at home and making clothes, as times have changed, and most women work now, like it or not. When you’re a kid, you pick things up without even realising it, and I didn’t realise how much I learned just being around my Mum who was making clothes for me and herself, and going into the fabric shop with her.
I, and several of my students for pattern cutting and sewing agree that it’s the fabric that makes a thing, and of course that pleases me a lot!
So……I thought I could pass on a bit of what I know and maybe encourage creativity, enthusiasm and successful making as a result. Personally, it’s always the fabric that tells me what and how to design and make. If you know what the fabric can do, you can design and make accordingly. :-)
I’m going to put together a workshop where we can look at:
- Sample swatches, types, varieties within a type, what's suitable for what use, properties of different fabrics, how to tell what a fabric is if it's not labelled, (you might need to know for washing / ironing / dry cleaning / dyeing etc), and, very important:
- How to know what you are getting if you buy online.
- Technical stuff - thread count / strength and resilience / types of prints / names of weaves / construction ...
- Histories and background of fabric production in different areas of the UK, and the world.
Did you know for instance that Banbury (my nearest town), used to be the centre of the production of a fabric known as ‘Plush’ ?!
There will be loads of beautiful fabrics for you to look at in the studio, for inspiration and information.
Please email me here if you’d like to be included on my updates. Just put ‘Fabric workshop’ in to subject line, and I’ll let you know dates. First or second week of Feb looks promising, but please email me if you have any preferred days / times. There's no obligation, of course, just would like to let you know :-)
It'll be here in my spacious studio on the edge of Cropredy on the second floor of Prescote Manor. Cost will be around £25, and you will go away with a list of fabric shops,and suppliers including Harris tweed suppliers direct from the Scottish Islands, silk tweed from the suppliers who Coco Chanel first used for her jackets (yes, it was British!), Yorkshire tweed suppliers, luxurious ex designer fabric suppliers, tech and sports fabrics AND some small swatches of some of your favourites.
Any other comments always VERY welcome - I love to know what you think :-D Email me on atelier@bobbiesroom.co.uk
Bobbie
