today in the studio ... Utaupia

in progress: Utaupia — military-surplus-meets-Lynn-Yaeger shell

I have had this striped taupe and ivory fabric kicking around for a while. It's linen with a fairly high lycra content, so it's a bit rustly and bustly and needed a design that matched it's feel and weight. While digging through my collection of old belts I realized it was a nice match - it pushed the whole thing into the realm of the parachute or other faux emergency preparedness-wear. So I made this: Utaupia. It's a military-surplus-meets-Lynn-Yeager-inmydreams shell that has billows, tucks, a belt for one strap, a crustaceany side panel and lower along the other side, a drawstring for scrunching things up (not in place at photo time).

I finished it. I stared at it. I had a bit of stripey material left. I thought: okay, now this needs the WORLD'S MOST GIGANTIC MATCHING TOTE BAG to go with it. So I made one. It's bulbous. It's gargantuan. I'm kind of smitten with it. More pictures soon. -helen

helen's mini-all-star drape and coffee revue on a cold saturday morning

Yohji Yamamoto Cotton Muslin Wedding Dress 2000

It's finally cold enough outside that I realize "Oh, I had forgotten what real cold feels like." I'm sipping hot coffee and staring at Pinterest before I return to processing and listing what now feels eight million linen cuffs. Plus I'm baking some kale chips — 1/3 to eat them and 2/3 to warm up the house a bit.

But mostly I'm staring at this Yohji Yamamoto dress. Everything about it makes me happy. Some days I wish I was Yohji Yamamoto. Sans the cigarettes.

I've also been staring at this Rick Owens jacket:

Rick Owens, 2006

What is so alluring about drape? I guess for me, as a maker, it's that creative draping is the playground between what we're really shaped like and the form of a piece of clothing. It's the place where our ego meets our dress. If there's one thing I've learned from years of making things with asymmetric oversized hips and protrusions: some people are willing to experiment with that and some aren't. When someone tries a piece like that on and tugs at a flap and fusses with it and says "I don't know if I can ..." what am I to do? I'm trying to train myself to stop responding with "Well, no one thinks you're shaped like that" since it hasn't helped once. I admit I'm still tempted though. But if you aren't there I can't move you there. It's kind of a big thing, deciding to play with your place in the world like that and risk being misunderstood.

If you want to join me and stare at more creative draping, here's my Pinterest board "Drape."

mystery package

“Smokey, this is not ‘Nam. This is bowling. There are rules.” — Walter, in The Big Lebowski

I told facebook that Secret Lentil is a bowling alley and now I can't change it.
Oops.
Maybe I'll start renting shoes.

oh etsy. etsy.

They actually said "Hiring Folks Empowers Your Creative Genius" — yes that's a real quote. I have no words.

SALE on Petalista Skirts

I don't always pay attention to seasonal colors, but these tan / natural Petalista skirts are looking at me funny, like they want to get out of the Superette before the snow flies.  They're on sale for $48 while they last. Here here here.

today in the studio: a healthy mess

I surprised my studio today by taking its picture without advance warning - no cleaning, no props — this is an average day. But it's also the five year anniversary of moving into my studio so I thought a document was in order. It's a nice place to make a mess in, then clean up that mess and start again. As it should be!

"It's the plumber, I've come to make some art."

"The second person to put a urinal into a museum ... was merely a plumber." — Seth Godin