Thursday, October 25, 2012

Lace (swoon) and My Kimono Project

File this one under new vices, right next to silk and cashmere.

On Tuesday night I attended a seminar at Mood on lace, lead by Susan Khalje. The hour-long talk covered the different types of lace, how to use them, best techniques for working with each, and tips for buying. Best of all, Susan brought lots of sample garments - many of which were recognizable from Threads - to illustrate her points. What's clear to me is that prior to Tuesday, I didn't even realize how much I didn't know about working with lace. Every few minutes, there was some new revelation.


A "white shirt"

That is not to say that the class was overwhelming in the least. It was not. At one point, Susan made a Cinderella reference (to the Disney birds that help with the sewing) and from that moment on I could not help but think of her as every sewist's fairy godmother. She has such an encouraging and calm manner, that with a little "bibbidi-bobbidi-boo", I feel like I could make something spectacular out of lace.


Would you just look at that corset!

Anyway, I thought  it was just the right intro to lace and definitely got my juices flowing for my upcoming kimono robe project.


Burdastyle 07/2011-124 - Kimono robe


Speaking of which, after hearing about luxe guipure, delicate chantilly and gorgeous alencons, I'm somewhat  bashful to confess that I'm going lowbrow with my fabric choice for the kimono. I need a project with fabric that I'm not worried about ruining. So, I'll be using a very fun and inexpensive animal print lace that I bought on a whim at Chic Fabrics a year or so ago.

I'm trying to decide what color silk to use for the lining. I tried a bunch of fabric from my stash just to test the color (none are actually fabric that I'd use for this).
 


 At first I thought about a pretty rose color, but I think it just looks too 80's retro and, well, tacky.




I tried a light blue, also. Oddly in this photo it made the lace look brownish. It's black.




And then I tried an oyster color. It's the best of the three, but I would love some input. At this point I'm leaning toward a metallic or neutral-ish color - silver, oyster, champagne... Given my general mental state in the morning (ie: murky until after coffee), I think a robe that is too bright will hurt my brain. Any thoughts for a color or color family to pair with this black animal print that I haven't thought of?

Thanks for the input!

16 comments:

LinB said...

Have you tried a bright olive green? Or a darker version of the oyster -- that weird, no-name color that is not brown, not grey, not green -- might surprise you.

Clio said...

Thanks, Lin! Both good suggestions!

Karin said...

I agree that the redish pink is too much. I also like the neutral oyster background.

Carolyn Norman said...

You know I had those same thoughts as I watched Susan...*sigh*

T. Sedai said...

I concur that the oyster is the best of these three... though I feel like maybe it is a bit cold? I am thinking that maybe a slightly warmer tone would be good (like your champaign idea). Though I think I might have to agree with LinB - an earthy green might look nice, but a pale earthy green, not a deep color.

HouseOFpinheiro said...

she is the incarnation of a sewer godmother.. how dreamy to have this opportunity!

Clio said...

Right!?!? She's just wonderful. BTW - great to see you there!

Clio said...

My thoughts exactly. I want it to be warmer.

AllisonC said...

Wow look at you, going from leather to lace - very impressive. I like the oyster colour best too, although probably anything neutralish and not too shiny would look good - I think take a sample with you to a store and experiment.

Neeno - Sew Me Love said...

Holy! That lace corset! WOW.

Ginger said...

Wow, how fun! I love the animal print lace-- so cool! Looking forward to seeing your progress!

Tia Dia said...

Have you tried the champagne colour? I like the light blue, too. I agree with you about the fuschia and the oyster. I'd certainly get a headache before coffee with the one, and the other is a bit cool for my taste. But I can see where the oyster would be just beautiful on.

Clio said...

Right?!?! It makes me want to drop all my other sewing plans and make one!

Clio said...

Yeah, I liked the light blue too, but again it was cool. My worry is that I don't really look great in neutrals. I'm going to take a swatch shopping with me.

Mimi Jackson said...

Silver/grey, in my opinion, or the very lightest of any pink to flesh shades would work best, in my opinion. If you wanna go wilder with it, I'd try subtle black/white polka-dots. Seriously.

Meg the Grand said...

I'm definitely leaning towards the oyster - love that lace!