11.21.06

Trouble to log in

Posted in Main Page at 12:25 am by Renato

I am having big trouble logging on my own blog site lately. –Not that I have so much to update, but this is outrageous what the local web admin has been doing.—First the hotmail and msn, for several months, then the blog. I am not intended to do anything harmful?!

Today is a day of big struggle. I left in the morning with 2 huge eye pouches. I had to finish sewing the men’s pants so that tomorrow morning when this Italian guy comes I can show it in time. I had cut the fabric earlier, which saved me lots of time, but the pockets on the back were a bitch to sew. It almost took me an entire morning! Also because I am just so dumb when it comes to sewing. In the end the pockets did not look so good, although I was trying the best to be careful….

After the pockets I realized that over half the day had passed, and I stepped on the machine like driving a sports car. The rest was not a big deal, but still, it was already dark when I finish the piece. When I looked at it as a whole, it just looked soooo simple, why the hell did it take me so long?

I fit on the dummy and it looked quite nice. I was a bit worried that the waist goes too low, but Herina said its ok, my rise is ok, the dummy is just too slim. relieved…. I had gone so far I did not want to know that I screwed up again….

My pants look so casual. Sigh. When the Italian man first came he intended for us to make some classic men’s suit. In the end we all went for more casual.

It’s more fun to design, and easier to sew. Honestly I think if one can master sewing a classic suit, he can as well sew anything!

Apart from the two huge eye pouches, I also did not wear any make-up today. I normally go out with very casual clothes, tennis shoes and my post-man bag these days. No point trying to look good any more., cause I discovered that, by the end of the day, my face is so oily , so oily that it is almost water-proof, plus all that dust from the fabric. It’s a real bad way to ruin a nice velvet black dress, for example.

Told Ignacio that I did not wear make-up today, he was like ”u wore them before??”

May” you lips still look red”—sure, I had lots of pepper in my lunch just now.

So I guess it really does not make a big difference.

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11.19.06

Haiyin Fabric market visit

Posted in Main Page at 3:03 pm by Renato

Tammy and her schoolmate Mary visit the Haiyin Fabric Market on Sunday, November 19, to purchase some stuff they need to complete their Fashion Design assignements. Video is available in YouTube at this address: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2ocH4SJ3lo

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11.07.06

The Street

Posted in Main Page at 1:30 pm by Renato

I This is the street I always wait the bus to go home after school.

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New Deco Gordo made for my “Workshop”

Posted in Main Page at 1:21 pm by Renato

I

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In the classroom

Posted in Main Page at 1:14 pm by Renato

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11.05.06

One regular day

Posted in Main Page at 5:12 am by Renato

Saturday was the day that I planned to go get fabric samples for the men’s wear project with Mary and May.

We spent around 2 hours in the fabric market looking for the right material and inspiration, at the same time had to pretend that we are not students. Those suppliers are only interested in wholesales, and they give out swatches hoping for potential volumns.

I was looking for some light pink/light purple with stripes fabric for shirts and couldn’t find the purple one. There were a few pink patterns but not very nice. I took them anyway.

Honestly I have no idea how to work on menswear. Maybe a little bit of casualwear, but definitely not the business executive type.(sigh). In the end  I just grabbed  whatever looked possible or likely to be construed into a suit. Hope it was enough.

After that we went to Update Mall. There is a Mango outlet by the entrance. There was a time that they took up 80% of my closet, but later it was drastically reduced. In the neighborhood there is also Tommy H. Gordo used to “supply” me with  lots of Tommy H clothes, but somehow they looked too “good girl” for me. They have very nice colors and patterns but the style seems not adventurous enough for me. And they are not cheap.

There is Calvin Klein Jeans and esprit on the same side too. We just peeked thru Ck window, never bothered to go in. I bought a couple pants and light jackets once, they are comfortable and they last.

And then one floor under there is this small stores area. We walked thru almost all the alleys but ended up none of us getting anything special. The idea of buying a little rabbit had crossed my mind but I manage to came to my sense before it  solified.

All this whole time I was drinking and nibbling snacks and by the time we came out I was full.

Then we went to the other mall just opposite the street, bought more snacks and drinks and sat on the stairs for a rest. It was a nice autumn day, the only few that one can find in a year at this time. We sat there chatting here and there for a long while until the sun started to go down.

On the last stroll out of the mall I managed to buy myself a set of underwear, which proved to fit well.

A day had gone by, we went home without sketching anything. There is one day left, and how will we come up with 15 sets of suits? I have no idea.

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11.03.06

Workshop Project 1

Posted in Main Page at 2:06 am by Renato

Workshop project 1 is to design one costume for a specific image in a musical show. The background story is about this street sweeper guy who dreamt of himself winning  a lottery of usd 100,000 and all the girls in his life that he’d ever dreamt of (or had fantasy about) came to his bedroom, dancing around him.

By lucky draw I was to design a nanny outfit for his childhood nanny that took care of him from 4yo-10yo in the 70s. He had always had a crush on his nanny.

Well my idea of a hot nanny is a young voluptuous woman of average height, contrary to the tall slim sexy models that we normally see in today’s show.

I wanted to project this image of a body-conscious dress, when she wears it, her boobs are almost screaming to jump out, and her “rear”is so tightly wrapped and nicely shaped.(which if you see my pics is soooooooooo not true but I was just acting as a hanger anyway.)

I remember one guy described to me once that his maid came to tidy –up his apt with a tiny mini and he was so surprised. I thought that gave him the impression and I wanted to make this nanny dress a short one.

Then I thought of a traditional apron—without an apron or a traditional nanny hat it is quite hard to tell the identity. Although an apron is very expected on a nanny’s outfit, I wanted to make some changes—In my design the apron is irregularly shaped, the center is on the right sideseam, hanging half at the front and half at the back.—sort of like a naughty nanny that does not care much about covering herself properly. It is separated from the dress but connected to the waistband which is sewn together with the dress . There is a bow made seprarately and sewn with the waistband like its tied to a knot. I wanted to create the illusion that the apron is detachable, yet looking up close it is not.

Last I thought of using the same type of fabric to make brading to trim the bust area and the under-hip level where the skirt starts. Didn’t want to use too much fancy glittery and shines because as a nanny ,luxury is not appropriate, but a little home-made trimming might be more possible.

On the right side I made a hole (which btw the pic does not show, just to break the monotony and lets face it I do show lots of skin in my designs….))

Ok, after all this bs on the design, lets see what a disaster I’ve created and what mistakes I have done:

From the pic it is clear that the fitting is horrible and one of the biggest mistake is that the dress is toooooooo short. The red strap in front is all-twisted, making the bust out of place.

My brading was soooooo short that I had to connect them, leaving untrimmed connection exposed. The back braiding strap is not even connected at the center back. It is crooked.

Last, my sewing is terrible. There is many visible sewing flaws on top of the garment. If  one dares to probe under, it is a nightmare—different colors of threads can be found everywhere; places without overlocks, or simply overlocked wrong, etc.

In short, If I got to remake this dress, I’d like to correct all this mistakes. Some caused by wrong method of  making, others caused by impatience, and the rest I guess , were caused by what I called the last-stage desperation—, disappointed, just wanted to finish up and leave it the hell behind.

Although the first project turned out a shame, I’d still keep it in record. I’d try to post every of my works here, be it a disaster or a success, after a while if I look back, there is still info to gather, still things to learn from…

I’d try to make the next one presentable, with much more patience.

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