Saturday, 16 June 2012

WEATHER WOES – WHAT THE HECK’S GOING ON?

This changing weather here in the UK is giving me some serious grief. One minute I’m lounging in the garden wearing my sunnies and shorts and the next I’m wrapping up in extra layers, making British Gas happy, and waiting for the next downpour.

So there was me in March, heading into the horrible itchy scratchy fibreglass-filled hole that is my attic, to retrieve my summer stuff ( much earlier than usual) ,only for the cold wintery weather to return just a couple of weeks later. Several weeks of constant rain followed and then wham bam, here’s the sunshine again, smiling sarcastically at us like it had never abandoned us in the first place before the smile was wiped quickly off its round yellow face once more.
I usually have a fantastic crop of tomatoes coming out this time of year – you – weather, have ensured that only three of my seeds actually sprouted this year! You’ve drowned my strawberries, killed off my lettuce, and probably turned my tatties into mush too. And, damn you, you’ve made the dandelions in my lawn grow at a rate of knots at a time when I can’t even venture outside to mow the lawn for fear of electrocuting myself!

As for my creativity level - well, you've washed it down the drain. Grey skies just make me want to hibernate under my quilt where it's nice and cosy.

Rain, I’m bored of you. We’re all bored of you. Please sun, can you come back soon? And this time, will you at least stay a few months? I have work to do...

Friday, 15 June 2012

FABRIC FIASCOS - MY PET HATES

If you happen to be in the vicinity of my studio and you hear some serious cursing going on, you can pretty much guess that I have: a) stabbed myself with a pin, b) cut myself on a rotary cutter, or c) am being harassed by a piece of fabric.

Pins and sharp objects are obvious workplace dangers when you are a fashion designer (I’ll never forget my fashion tutor’s famous words “never walk around with pins in your mouth” while walking round with pins in her mouth; come on, we all do it!), but fabric is what gives me more headaches than anything.
I have my personal pet hates and the biggest culprit is stretch velvet. As soon as you cut it, it starts to curl up at the edges then, after you have carefully pinned your pieces together and start sewing, the fibres rub against each other and start “walking” so by the time you get to the end one piece is several inches longer than the other! I confess to have had several tantrums over this. Duck! Flying velvet heading your way!

I remember once making a black furry gilet with a fabulous fabric that looked like poodle fur. The finished result was fantastic, but I was hoovering up the fibres created when cutting out the pieces for months. It was like they’d managed to float around the house. They were everywhere. Atchooooooo!
Then there are delicate fabrics like silk and chiffon. Seriously, you only need to throw them a passing glance before a snag mysteriously appears. Chiffon is so fine, it’s an art form in itself trying to sew it before it falls apart. I avoid it like the plague.
Polyester lining fabrics are awful to work with too, because the mere sniff of an iron makes them shrink so by the time you attempt to attach it to your main fabric, it’s several sizes smaller. And if you aren’t in the know, you could end up with the type that causes electric shocks from static build up. Ouch!
I love working with denim and cotton drill because they don’t fray, don’t curl, don’t snag, but even they are not without their issues. On a side seam of a pair of jeans for example, there could be 12 layers of fabric folded over each other and sewing machines can struggle to go through them. You need a pretty durable sewing machine to cope with this or you end up with skipped stiches or the machine simply refuses to go over it.
And have you ever considered the amount of work that goes into matching up patterned fabric pieces? This takes considerable patience and planning and often leaves you with lots of wasted material.

So, we fashion designers have to employ all sorts of tactics to counter these problems. Fabrics, wherever possible, need to be pre-shrunk, either by washing, ironing or both, before cutting begins. Tedious? Oh yes. We creatives like to get stuck into the task in hand, and all this prepping is a pain!

Depending on the fabric we are using, the style we are creating, we have to select the right kind of thread, the right type of sewing machine needle, the correct stitch type and length (and sometimes also width). We have to consider the best way of holding fabric pieces together when sewing to prevent ‘walking’, stretching, and other issues. When pins can’t be used because they could leave holes in the fabric, other techniques need to be used – mini bulldog clips, stabilising fabrics and tape are just a few possibilities.
Fortunately, I own a couple of useful books that give an insight into pretty much all types of fabrics, detailing their qualities and quirks with recommendations on how to work with them to avoid all their respective pitfalls. They even give tips on how to wash/care for each type of fabric. So if you need a fabric bible, I’d suggest you take a look at either Fabric Savvy or More Fabric Savvy by Sandra Betzina.

Thursday, 14 June 2012

TARQ BOWEN TAKES MOSQUITO HEAD UK TO NEW YORK

Folk musician Tarq Bowen jetted off to new York earlier this month to shoot a video for his new track Percival Brown, armed with his amazing resonator guitar, harmonica and a specially made outfit by Mosquito Head UK suitably topped off by his iconic bowler hat.

Here he is strumming away in a park, doing a rendition of one of  his earlier songs, Man Like Me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRO1XaCujRo

Watch out for the official Percival Brown video which I’ll post as soon as it’s available. Oooh, exciting stuff!

Wednesday, 13 June 2012

ROCK CHICK FASHION

Check out a video showing selected designs from my Looks That Kill collection featuring garments made from bright leatherette combined with bold jersey tops and leggings. The video was filmed and produced by Mista SmiffTV with models Emoke Stokes and Elena Luzaic. Filmed in Birmingham UK. All items in the video plus more garments from the collection are available to purchase from Mosquito Head UK's shop at www.fashionkillerz.com.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hp-Esg6ZYhA&feature=youtu.be