inside-out/styleanddesign

More Art! All Wearable! (Our second Wearable Art show)

2011-11-16T07:16:00.000-08:00

We are currently gearing up for our second Wearable Art show of the holiday season.

The show is called "pieceWORK" and it's being held on November 25, at the Gladstone Hotel, in Toronto, between six and 10 p.m. at night.

As always, we're offering some unique and one-of-a-kind items for sale.

Our vests, in particular, which feature Maypole Weaving (TM)
are a great way to jazz up an everyday outfit for a night
on the town. They are particularly good way transform
a business suit when you are going out straight from work,
and also offer a great option if you're traveling but don't
have a lot of room in your suitcase for party finery.

Another option we have is a tunic. Again, these feature either Maypole Weaving or applique designs and are the perfect way to transform a sweater and jeans when you are going out.

Volunteer sporting a Glamor Wrap

We are also offering our Glamor Wraps (TM), in a range of colors. Everyone who sees our wraps exclaims: "What a great idea!" because they really do offer an elegant look - combining the drape of a shawl with the practicality of a jacket - when you have a dinner, theater or similar evening out but don't want to take off the comfortable slacks and sweater you have on. (The photo shows one of the volunteers from our last Wearable Art show, sporting a Glamor Wrap in amethyst; boa is her own).

There are several vendors taking part in the show, which coincides with the Hard Twist/Obsession fiber art exhibit on for several weeks at the Gladstone Hotel.

NB: The Opening Reception for the Hard Twist show is the same night as the pieceWORK show. Don't be put off by a crowd in the second floor lobby. The vendors are in rooms along the perimeter of the second floor. Details about the location below.

Gladstone Hotel
1214 Queen St. West
Toronto, ON
(one block east of Dufferin)

Deborah in Autumn Leaves

416/531-4635

Autumn Leaves tunic

If you need to contact me or Harobed Designs directly, links are available via our website as follows:
www.deborahcsawyer.com/dcs_006.htm
Copyright Deborah C. Sawyer

Craft Shows - Two weeks in a row!

2011-11-11T11:21:00.000-08:00

Cooking - it happens to the best of us!

This holiday season, Harobed Designs is taking part in two one-day Craft Shows, which are both on Mondays!

Washable silk, styled from remnants

As both offer daytime as well as evening shopping, we hope to see a lot of people coming out to take a look at what's on offer.

Mama Bear & Papa Bear aprons

For these shows, I am offering a number of aprons and hostess pinnies. Within the apron category, I'm offering several of what I call our "Team Family" aprons, which come in four sizes, Papa bear, Mama bear, and two sizes of Baby bear. These aprons are a great way to let 'little helpers' feel included, and to instill some good work habits.

Within the hostess pinny category, I have several made of various wash and wear fabrics. I even have washable silk.

This year, I'm also offering an environmentally-appropriate option,
in that I have made aprons using remnants from other sewing activities,
notably from the making of jackets.

Normally, these remnants would find their way to landfill at some point, although the fabric is perfectly good; it's just that they are not large enough to make garments with. The aprons have, therefore, been pieced together and are available in stylish black-and-white designs. Check out the photos!

As for the shows themselves, here are the details.

Monday, November 14, 2011.
4 to 8 p.m.
Bialik PTA Boutique Night.

Location: Bialik Hebrew Day School.
2760 Bathurst St.
Toronto, ON
Bialik is on the Bathurst Street bus route, and there is parking available at the school as well as Shaarei Shomayim Synagogue at 470 Glencairn nearby.
On site phone: 416/721-1765

Detail, washable silk

Monday, November 21, 2011.
10 to 9 p.m..
Mistletoe Market 2011.

Location: Royal St. George's College.
120 Howland Ave.
Toronto, ON
Royal St. George's is in the Annex and is easily reached from the subway and various bus routes.
School office: 416/533-9481

Copyright Deborah C. Sawyer

Wearable Art Shows - 2011 events

2011-11-02T13:19:00.000-07:00

Earlier in 2011, I posted a "teaser" on my blog (6/21/11: What's She Up To Now?) in which I showed examples of the appliques I had made and hinted how I'd be using them.

One of the photos I posted back then showed leaves; the first two photos in this current post show how I've used them.

Now that we are on the eve of the holiday arts and crafts fair season, I can take the wraps off my activities as my first Wearable Art Show is this Saturday, November 5.

As the photos show, I'll be offering a variety of tunics, wraps and hostess pinnies which fall within the category of wearable art. All are unqiue, one-of-a-kind pieces made by hand. Many are also environmentally-friendly, as they are made using remnants from my clothing manufacture and smaller pieces of fabric or trim that would otherwise have gone to waste.

I am also introducing a line of clothing items - also one-of-a-kind - made using woven fabric and notions. I refer to this as Maypole Weaving (TM) as it reminds me of the Maypole and the ribbon weaving which resulted, from the maypole dancing we did at school when I was younger.

The November 5 show is at:

Burlington Art Centre
1333 Lakeshore Road
Burlington, ON L7S 1A9

(near Brock Street and Lakeshore Road)

Access from the QEW via North Shore Boulevard.

Phone: 905-632-7796

As this event is a fund-raiser for the BAC, there is a $5 admission fee.

I'll post an update about my next Wearable Art show later in November.

Live from London (well, almost...)

2011-10-24T07:18:00.000-07:00

There is an interesting conundrum present in our modern world: although there is more being written about style and design than ever before - entire sections of the newspaper are devoted to style these days- a quick glance at what people are wearing suggests that individuals are paying less and less attention to style in their personal dress.

I am used to seeing a rather despondent styles of dress in my home city, but wondered what I would find when I traveled overseas, as I did recently to the UK and Europe. This blog post is about what I found in London.

When I was growing up in the UK, no respectable woman went out, not even to do her grocery shopping, without looking reasonably smart. In those days, that meant a suit, hosiery, pumps, gloves, possibly a hat. While we no longer expect people to get that dressed up every day of their lives, it's possible to dress casually and still look smart.

Street scene:more mishmash dressing

Street scene:nondescript dress

Sadly, standards of dress have gone down in London as much as they have in North America. However, there are some bright spots as I found when strolling around the streets of central London.

I'm showing some of the examples I found. Note that if you want to dress in black, it's okay to do that as long as you add some punch of color as a contrast. Red is a great option, and I'm showing women who've done just that. It probably didn't take them long to get dressed; looking "pulled together" rests more on thought than money.

Even if you are not keen on red, the classic pairing of beige or camel with black works just as well to provide some relief from the black plus some style, as I show in another photo I took.

And, while following the young lady in the purple dress into Selfridge's (photo below), I got a bonus when she met up with her friend. Stands to reason that one person with a sense of style would be friends with someone else who can pull together a great look!

Inside wearable art!

2011-09-09T07:44:00.000-07:00

Regular followers of this blog know that I am now spending more time on what's known as wearable art... that's why I decided to post photos here of my entry into the Artful Bras Against Cancer fundraiser being held at the University at Buffalo.

My particular entry is entitled: BRAin a.k.a cereBRAl hemispheres. Obviously, this is a play on words, as b-r-a shows up in both the word "brain" and in the phrase "cerebral hemispheres". Full details are available on my other blog via the following link.

http://deborahsawyerart.blogspot.com/2011/09/brain-aka-cerebral-hemisphere.html

As I explain there, I researched the look of the cerebral hemispheres in my anatomy and physiology texts, to best approximate the subtle differences in the look of the left brain and the right brain. Obviously, in the bra, the right cup represents the right hemisphere and the left cup represents the left cerebral hemisphere. Onto the straps above each cup, I sewed motifs to represent the function of each hemisphere.

For the right brain, are symbols representing art, music and the ability to recognize people. For the left half of the brain, the symbols represent logic mathematics, language and spatial recognition abilities.

To learn more about the Artful Bra fundraiser and how to bid on a bra, use the link below. Photos of the 2011 entries will be posted shortly.

http://wings.buffalo.edu/org/artfulbra/

The bras can be viewed at the Center for the Arts, Amherst Campus, University at Buffalo, from September 26 through November 4. Hours are: Monday-Saturday 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sundays 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.

UB's ultra-modern Center for the Arts

2011 entries on display

Portion of display, showing my entry

From the streets of Manhattan...

2011-08-26T13:45:00.000-07:00

I just recently returned from a three day weekend in Manhattan. As most of you who have been there know, it's a very exciting city. And there's so much to see and do. The weekend I was there was also stinkingly hot, which meant everyone was struggling to stay cool. While the very nature of New York City makes it hard to tell the tourists from the natives, I think I spotted a few Manhattanites, who were managing to stay cool while looking fashionable.

It was also refreshing to see color on people out about. In the first photo, I snapped visitors to the High Line Park, a must-see if you're ever in town. There are two women who are managing to look"pulled-together" here, in spite of the heat, the older lady on the immediate right and then the young lady in the green dress.

As you'll see in the close-up, she had paired the green dress with gold sandals and a gold purse, and it worked wonderfully well, looked terrific and was perfectly low muss, low fuss for the heat.

I also snapped this young lady who was all in navy, a refreshing change from black. She also was managing to look cool in spite of the high temperatures.

Another option that several young women had chosen was to simply wear a long cool cotton dress with flat sandals and minimal accessories. The length of the dress means there is no worry over whether the top goes with the skirt or slacks. In the summer months, this is a good option and looks very stylish when done correctly.

I also snapped these two young ladies - the angle of the sun and the direction I was walking sometimes meant I could only snap from the back - who were also managing to look sophisticated and cool. One is wearing an apricot colored top, with black leggings and black sandals, paired with a black and gold purse, while the other is in an olive jumpsuit and matching sandals. All in all, some stylish looks, that did not sink to the haphazard look so many people wear when they throw on any old item in an attempt to stay cool.

And, last but not least, there's always red white and blue, which always looks pulled together as you'll see in the final photo in this blog post.!

Copyright Deborah C. Sawyer

Street fashion, 2011-style!

2011-07-22T13:35:00.000-07:00

Another year, another summer... and occasionally I remember to take my camera with me, to see what's going on style-wise on the streets.

Here are the three looks very recently snapped when I was out and about. As it so happens, all were taken either at the bus stop, in the subway or on the bus. Does this mean environmentally-conscious transit users are also more stylish than other people?

What I like about the first look is the sheer simplicity. This lady has on a white linen summer dress and everything else she's wearing is fawn: purse, jacket and shoes. On some people, this combination would look rather blah but, because of her coloring, she's able to pull it off to great effect.

The second young lady I snapped on the bus. Her look is also very effective because she essentially is wearing two colors. She has on a navy blue top and - somewhat faded - navy blue jeans, yellow ballet flats and a very smart yellow satchel-style purse. Her headband is also a light yellow color.

The third lady almost got away from me. But I did manage to get a snap as she raced up the escalator. She was quite tall, so her longer leg helped her move more quickly than some of the rest of us. her outfit was also very simple and very effective. I had a chance to look at her close up in the subway car; her gold necklace matched her gold colored sandals, she had on a chocolate brown dress and carried a bright pink purse.

What's interesting about these looks is that none of the items were particularly expensive and probably most of the items were things the wearer has had for some time.

If I remember to take my camera out and about more often, I'll post more "sightings" on a future blog. in the meantime, keep stylin'!

Copyright Deborah C. Sawyer

What's She Up To Now?

2011-06-21T08:43:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I posted to this blog. I know, in theory, a blogger is supposed to post every day but... in practice,I don't have the time for that! And, I suspect, if I don't have the time to post every day, plenty of people don't have the time to read every day. So, I will continue with my occasional posts...

Earlier in 2011, I made the decision not to show on the runway this year. It takes a lot of effort to mount a runway show and I prefer to focus on quality not quanitty. There is a show I am looking to do in late 2012, assuming it is held next year, so more on that at a later date...

In the meantime, I'm concentrating on what's known as "wearable art" pieces. These are all one-of-a-kind items and I'm gearing up to submit to shows. What I like about wearable art, apart from the creative scope it offers, is that I get to use pieces of fabric left over from my clothing creations and thus I'm recycling materials that would otherwise have to be discarded.

Until I know which shows I'll be taking part in, I'm only offering teaser views of my work but much of my wearable art involves applique and embroidery. Some of it also involves an unusual approach to weaving... but that's a subject for a blog post at a later date!

Photos: Top to bottom
Top: Some appliqued leaves
Middle: Leaves assembled for incorporation into the wearable art piece
Bottom: Shapes yet to be assembled... what will they become?

Copyright Deborah C. Sawyer

Women want any color - as long as it's black!

2011-05-02T07:31:00.000-07:00

Any funerals on your agenda?

Henry Ford, the automotive magnate, sure started a trend all those years ago.

Ford used to tell his customers, in the early days of the automobile: "You can have one in any color - as long as it's black!"

Seems the trend stuck. In spite of the fact color is back for spring and color blocking is the big trend, women today want clothes in any color - as long as it's black.

Golly! A smidgen of color!

Recently, I sauntered around a department store, to see what was on offer. Before entering the department store, I also glanced in the various smaller bourtiques at the mall. In all cases, I found the same story...

Women want any color - as long as it's black!

I can't help thinking how dull this makes everyone look. It's as if they all lay down on the road when the asphalt is being put down and then all got up tarred the exact same way.

Seek and ye shall find - a colored dress!

It also suggests the edicts of a century ago when, as soon as anyone in your family died, custom dictated you wore black -sometimes for years at a stretch - are still in force. Hmmm... perhaps today's ladies aren't very liberated?

In contrast, look at the lovely colors we offered at our recent trunk show. At Harobed Designs, we think everyone looks better in color so we will continue to design in color. (After all, our mandate is to clothe the few not the many.)

Blues..yellows...pinks...reds...greens... and more!

Why not make this the spring you ditch the mourning clothes and sally forth with a splash of color?

Copyright Deborah C. Sawyer

See You Soon! Studio Hours for Trunk Show & Sale Now Posted!

2011-04-10T14:55:00.000-07:00

Just four days to go, so we are posting the hours we will be on site for our trunk show and sale!

April 14-19,2011. Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen St W., Toronto, Studio 201.

Thursday, April 14, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Friday, April 15, 12 noon. to 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 16, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday, April 17, 11.30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Monday, April 18, 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday, April 19, 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m..

Please check this blog post before coming to the studio; any changes in our availability will be posted here.

Sea-green washable silk bolero

Now, back to the really important stuff, about all the glorious colors we're going to have on offer. In the last post I said we would describe some of the beautiful blues as well as some of the yellows.

When it comes to blues, we have everything from ice blue through royal blue and sea green to navy and on to turquoise We even have a reversible jacket, navy on one side and red on the other, an absolutely stunning piece to add to your closet and extremely versatile when traveling - four jackets in one! As well as jackets we also have tunics in this color group in WASHABLE silk.

As for the yellows, we have daffodil... sunflower... primrose... buttercream... and gold! Some of these are also reversible, for example, the buttercream reverses to amethyst, another 4-in-1 jacket.

Black & white polka dot jacket -washable!

And then, of course, we have metallics... blacks and whites... it's really too much to try and describe in a blog post, so the best bet is to come down to the studio, April 14 to 19 and see what we have on offer.

Black & white satin tunic

The Gladstone is a fabulous spot to come and browse around, there is usually lots going on in terms of art shows, there are two bars/restaurants on the ground floor, with entertainment in the evening, so round up some friends and make a day or night out of it!

NB: Due to the nature of this event, it will be CASH sales only and all sales are FINAL.

Copyright Deborah C. Sawyer and Harobed Designs

Photo credits: Top -the designer; middle, Dinesh Shettigar; bottom, LEE

One Week To Go! Trunk Show starts April 14...

2011-04-07T07:15:00.000-07:00

Apple green & blue on the runway

Creme-de-menthe wool

The count is now on! Our April Trunk Show and Sale starts April 14, 2011, at the Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen Street West at Dufferin, in Toronto.

We just want everyone to know there will be a huge range of COLORS on offer.

In the greens, we have apple green - a beautiful 'shot' silk as it's known, with blue highlights... a spring weight wool in creme-de-menthe with black accents... a wonderful Viridian green silk with purple(!) trim... a deep emerald green 4-season wool with a shocking pink trim...

As you can tell, our clothes are not for the timid but for
the fashionista who wants something a little out of the ordinary.

Apricot stroller on the runway

Red satin bolero

And within the red/pink spectrum, we have several
wonderful pieces - remember, each is unique and
there is only one of most styles - we have
a stunning peony silk stroller with black trim...
a scarlet satin bolero with petal trim and pewter accents - pewter
is quite a strong trend in this season's accessories -
an apricot and ivory jacket which offers 3 sleeve length
options in the same jacket...
plus coral and cream,
Chinese red with black and white trim,
peach satin,
a ruby and sapphire iridescent bolero...

(Nearly all our boleros are made from WASHABLE fabrics...)

And what about the blues...? Yellows...? Metallics...? And blacks and whites...? Check in for our next blog post, when we'll also be posting the hours we'll be at the Gladstone!

Copyright Deborah C. Sawyer and Harobed Designs.

Photo credits: Creme-de-menthe wool and apricot stroller: Wes Harkness

Photo credits; red satin bolero and apple green silk: LEE

It's Official! Trunk Show and Sale, April 14-19, Gladstone Hotel

2011-04-04T07:00:00.000-07:00

A beautiful primrose stroller (photo credit; Ming Su)

Harobed Designs will be holding a trunk show and sale at the Gladstone Hotel, Toronto, ON (Queen Street West near Dufferin).

This is a fabulous opportunity to acquire a unique piece of clothing for your spring/summer wardrobe. Just about everything we're selling is from our runway shows.

As we've already shown these pieces on the runway, we cannot keep on showing them!

Tell all your friends, especially as there will be a WIDE RANGE OF SIZES! We have many lovely pieces that are size 12 or higher.

Stunning bolero (photo credit LEE)

But nearly all are ONE OF A KIND - see it, try it on, love it? Then buy it, as it's the only item of its kind!

Stay tuned for further posts. We'll be describing some of the colors available, garment features, and prices as we get closer to the date.

We'll also post the days and times we'll be at our studio on the second floor.

More From Inside the Designer's Mind

2011-03-11T11:54:00.000-08:00

Ready for our trunk show!

Lately, I've been surveying all the inventory I have, left over from various runway shows, and have been wondering what to do about it.

For various reasons, I've decided not to present a spring runway collection this year, but instead I'm thinking of having a trunk show with all this inventory. In the first photo, I'm showing just a small part of the various runway pieces and samples I have left over from the last three runway shows I've done for Harobed Designs. I'm also thinking of moving, meaning I need to find some way of dealing with these pieces - what better way than to offer them to people at greatly reduced prices, so that anyone who finds something they love can add a unique piece to their wardrobe at a very reasonable price?

Uncut...but not unloved!

As if having all this inventory wasn't bad enough, I also have a good supply of fabric in cut lengths for which I also have to find storage. (And you thought you had closet problems?!) One whole closet in my home is devoted to pieces of material, which I hang up with skirt hangers, as I find this works well for storing different lengths of cloth.

I also have an abundance of knits and other softer fabrics, such as fleece, stored in wicker baskets and blanket boxes! Even if international shipping dries up, with no more new fabric brought into town, I can go on designing and sewing for quite a while yet with the stash of cloth I have!

Better by the basketful?

Anyone interested in being notified about the trunk shows should use the email link on WWW.harobeddesigns.com , which you'll find under Events on the home page of the website.

Copyright Deborah C. Sawyer

Do we really need to match the season?

2011-02-22T07:19:00.000-08:00

There is a commonly used expression - the winter blahs - which sums up how people feel about winter in the Northern Hemisphere. What's really surprising, at this time of year which lacks color in nature, is the way everyone feels the need to dress in a blah style. It's almost as if we are in camouflage, trying to blend in with our surroundings.

If people claim they feel depressed during the winter, it's not just the lack of sunshine and other factors which are causing this; the way they dress tends to suggest that every day is one long funeral. In the first photo I'm showing, taken at the bus stop, everyone is wearing a black coat. The splashes of red you see are actually someone's backpack or bag.

Not everyone, however, feels the need to dress the winter blahs. On a couple of days out and about, I did manage to catch some people trying to at least liven their look beyond this totality of black. It doesn't take much to achieve this; even if you want to wear black boots, black pants, black gloves, a black hat and carry a black bag, it's surprising how the introduction of colored coat sparks your whole look.

The photos I'm showing are just ordinary people, not fashion models, so you have to take that into consideration. The lady on the bus in the light blue duffel coat also bothered to find mittens with a blue stripe to match her coat. Kudos to her, because in her size range, she probably finds it difficult to find things that are more colorful.

Fear of velvet?

2011-01-24T07:12:00.000-08:00

Royal Purple Velvet

At my company, Harobed Designs, we just sold another of our lovely Poet Jackets (TM) - which made me think about velvet and the sometimes puzzling reaction I hear from women about it.

First, though, the velvet we use for our Poet Jackets is not the old almost-impossible-to-work-with velvet, which frayed as soon as it saw a pair of scissors and left tufts of itself all over the place while you were working with it. No, the velvet we use for our Poet Jackets is the lovely modern stretch velvet, with gorgeous properties, not just the colors, but the way it cuts cleanly and doesn't fray... the way it holds its shape... the way it can be machine washed if you so desire... Velvet that has come a long way since the Middle Ages.

Which leads me to... why is it people, in the modern era, when we are all supposed to be equal, seem to be so afraid of velvet? Women will admire my Poet Jacket when I wear it and then say: "Oh, but that's too luxurious for me!" or "I could never wear anything as gorgeous as that...".

Dusk Blue velvet

This concerns me because in the Middle Ages, there were what's known as sumptuary laws, and velvet was a forbidden fabric. That's right, if you weren't a member the nobility, you weren't supposed to wear it. Does this mean that some programming went into our DNA long ago, triggering a present-day obedience to these long-defunct laws?

Perhaps it's time to take another look at all fabrics -silk, velvet, brocade, satin and more - nowadays, all come in easy-to-wear, easy-care versions. If nothing else, you'll be striking a blow for equality, since most, in antiquity, were restricted to those with a title. Something to think about, next time you are shopping for clothing...

Periwinkle velvet

Pink Blush velvet

Look Smarter...BE smarter!

2011-01-10T11:17:00.000-08:00

Photo One

First, in case I haven't said it before: Happy New Year 2011! In this blog, I'm holding true to its name by going inside the designer's head, namely, looking at how your thinking, when you are deciding what to wear, can have a bearing on how your day goes.

We all know the workplace has become more casual in recent years and more relaxed styles of dressing are now the norm. Sadly, for many women, "casual" has more correctly become "haphazard", meaning they do not look smart. Last year, I was taking a course where many of the women - most of whom were my age-mates - would frequently tell me: "You always look so pulled together!". I suspect, from the way they said this, they thought it took vast amounts of time and effort to make this happen.

The fact is, it just takes a bit of common sense when you shop for things and a wee bit of effort when you get dressed. The two photos I am showing with this post are a case in point. Because I work from home, most days I like to dress comfortably and only put on a formal jacket if I am going out and about. However, if I gave in to just putting on cords and a sweater (photo one), I would not look very smart.

Photo Two

Contrast photo 1 with the same cords and sweater but now paired with a matching belt and a necklace (photo 2). Not only do I look more "pulled together" than in the first photo, I actually feel better. And feeling better about how you look can have a huge bearing on the kind of day you have, whether you work from home or go out to an office. It doesn't mean you have to dress up over and above what is expected at the office - unless you want to - but a bit of thought can go a long way.

One of the reasons most women end up with a bitty and "pulled apart" kind of look is that their closets or wardrobes are bitty; they purchase without a plan and don't stick to colors they really love! If you're still casting around for a New Year's resolution, why not make one that this year, you will take the time and effort to look more pulled together, so that you will not only LOOK smarter, you'll probably also BE smarter i- and will reap the results you want!

Copyright Deborah C. Sawyer

Read the label - avoid the cheap C---ese!

2010-12-13T13:32:00.000-08:00

Examples of our home decor and gift items

One topic we haven't touched on yet on the inside-out blog is the whole issue of labeling.

Most people have lost the art of reading the label but it's really important, especially if you are trying to live an environmentally-conscious lifestyle. That's because all the seemingly inexpensive merchandise sold in our stores tends to originate in one country, where working conditions and pay rates are scandalous by Western standards. (Keep reading... blog continues below...)

Velvet & marabou pullover

My company, Harobed Designs, recently took part in a craft show.
With the holiday season on the horizon and seasonal gift-giving in focus,
we took the opportunity to make a range of items, using up leftover
pieces of the lovely velvets, washable silks, and brocades that we have
left over from making clothes, but which are too small to make the jackets
and other items we usually make. As a result, we made items such as
tea cozies... shoe bags... and aprons. Examples of our merchandise are
shown in 1 of the photos uploaded with this blog. (Our final craft show
of the season takes place on Sunday, December 19, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
at the Gladstone Hotel, Queen Street West, just east of Dufferin,
in Toronto, Canada.)

And one other thing we did was add a special label to each of these items. I'm showing this label in the third photo with this blog - and need say no more about it!

We wish everyone the best of the holiday season and all the best in the new year ahead and encourage everyone to make 2011 the year they shop local for at least 70% of the things they buy!

Copyright Deborah C. Sawyer

Sticking with something unique...

2010-11-29T06:50:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year when many of us start scrambling to buy seasonal gifts for friends and family.

The store-bought pincushion

And, as you hustle off to the shops, keep in mind the many artisans who have made lovely and unique items which make much better gifts than store-bought, mass-produced merchandise.

The importance of the lovingly crafted item was brought home to me when I recently tidied my sewing desk. For some time, I had been using a pincushion that came from the store. Like so many other things, it was "Made in China". But it was getting rather ratty and I decided to replace it.

And what better to choose than the lovely pincushion made by my godmother, Aunt Mary? Carefully crafted from colorful scraps of material and filled with lavender she grew in her garden, I had been using it as a "reserve" pincushion but decided to use it as my primary one. For one thing, the workmanship in Aunt Mary's is superior to a store-bought item, for another it connects me to the labor of a fellow human being. I can imagine her sitting and painstakingly stitching her pincushion.

The hand-made pincushion

That's why it's important, at this time of year, to seek out the many craft shows and artisan displays to find one-of-a-kind treasures. You won't find these things at the mall or in the glitzy shops. More likely in community halls and church basements. But the effort will be worth it: not only will you be able to give unusual and unique gifts, you will also be honoring the tradition of "Buy Local", as most of these items will be made close to where you live.

Happy Holidays.

P.S. Harobed Designs will be taking part in two craft shows, on December 11 and December 19 in Toronto, The first is at the Ralph Thornton Community Center, 765 Queen Street East and the second is at The Gladstone Hotel at 1214 Queen Street West. Both are on the 2nd floor and both run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Copyright Deborah C. Sawyer

Unbuttoned...but not undone!

2010-11-04T07:32:00.000-07:00

(PHOTOS AT BOTTOM/BLOGGER WON'T LET ME EDIT THEM!)

According to the experts, a blog should be updated daily. However, some of us believe quality is more important than quantity, hence the reason I only post when I think something needs to be said.

This is the time of year when those of us in the North Hemisphere have to start wearing our heavier coats or buy a new one. I recently decided to retire the lined raincoat which I'd been wearing since 1983. (My European roots dictate that I make my clothing last!)

So, I went to a leading department store in my city, and bought what they used to refer to as a "famous maker" raincoat.(Photo #5) According to the hang tag, "Since 1927, X has maintained a heritage of unparalleled dedication to quality, workmanship and timeless style that is evident in everything we make".

In truth, the body of the garment is well made. I particularly like the strap buttoned to the inside of the belt, which passes through a belt loop and ensures the belt cannot fall off and get lost.(Photo #4)

Too bad the same care wasn't taken with the buttons. Just about each and every one was not finished off properly. The threads of the shank, which has to be made with thread, if the shank isn't part of the button, were all loose. (Photo #3) Even worse, the button on the inside of code, which helps hold a double-breasted style evenly, came completely off - this was just two weeks after I bought the coat! (Photo # 2)

I had to over-sew each and very button. (Photo #1)

This leads to two tips: obviously, if you buy a coat - or, for any that matter, any garment - double check the buttons and over-sew them when necessary. A second tip is: always buy a spool of thread the same year you buy the garment. Thread colors are like fashion colors and, five years down the road, you may not be able to get a matching thread.

Copyright Deborah C. Sawyer

2. Dangling threads from lost button

3. Shank unraveling

4. Belt-retaining loop

5. The coat itself

1.Over-sewn button

More observations from the runway

2010-10-12T07:59:00.000-07:00

Our "Serene" design on the runway

One of the challenges I face, as a designer, is the disconnect between the sizes of clothing I make and the sizes of the runway models.

Although it's well-known that most women in North America take a size 12 or higher, runway models tend to be size 6 or size 8. The problem here is the time that has to be spent making styles in smaller sizes when our styles are generally not worn by women in their teens or 20s, but by mature women, decidedly on the plus size of 30 years of age.

Serene on a Size 10

One of the comments I get is that some of my garments, on the runway, don't seem to have a shape, such as a waist line. In fact, nearly all my jackets have shape, in the form of the cut of the side seam or darts used in the body of the garment, but this just does not show up when the model is so decidedly small compared to the garment. While there are modeling agencies, which offer what are known as "real women" for modeling purposes, the fashion industry is only now coming around to the idea that women take larger sizes.

It's become quite talked about that, for the first time in living memory, some of the larger New York City stores, such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman, are actually ordering in clothing in size 12 and up. Historically, the largest size they would order was a size 10.

Our design "Svelte" on the runway

My company, Harobed Designs, has always made clothing in larger sizes. We regularly have sizes 16 and 18. Our emphasis is on providing great style and unique options for women in all sizes. However, it's an uphill battle, and we always appreciate anything our customers or blog followers can do, to get the word out.

So, if you know people who take larger sizes, send them a copy of this post and let them know about our company.

Svelte on a size 10

In the meantime, the photos I am showing show some of our clothes on the runway, on the models who are size 6 to 8, and then on someone who is more appropriately sized around size 10 or 12. As you can see, the clothes hang better on the person with the larger size.

Our design "Influence" on the runway

Influence on a size 10

Backstage pass - fall 2010 runway show

2010-09-30T11:37:00.000-07:00

Clothes on racks, ready to go!

Most runway shows, especially when featuring a single designer, don't last very long but the outward appearance is deceptive. What shows up on the runway is really the 'tip of the iceberg' compared to what goes on backstage prior to the event.

Obviously, the first step is the design and manufacture of the garments, which may take several months, culminating in the designer working18 hour days - or longer - leading up to the show.

Six of my models in pre-show chat mode

As for the area backstage, preparation starts up hours before the actual show. The garments have to be dropped off, the show has to be organized, the models have to be prepped in makeup and hair styling, and everything has to work with precision. As the Head Stylist remarked at the show I participated in, the last week in September, it's really amazing how a group of people, who have possibly never worked together before, can come together, put on a show and have it go smoothly.

In the photos with this blogpost, I'm once again taking you behind the scenes, showing where the clothes were prepared for the various segments (this was a multi-designer show) and also the models who wore my particular designs, waiting to go out on the runway.

Five minutes to showtime!

In my next blog post, I'll take you out into the audience and show more photos from that perspective.

One minute to showtime

In the meantime, if you'd like to view all the designs I showed, use this link: http://canadawears.ca/2010/the-clothing-show-fall-2010/photoset-482.php

Not so supportive - the inside scoop about interfacings!

2010-09-23T12:22:00.000-07:00

Puckering from interfacing

People tend to forget that, inside every great garment is something known as interfacing. Interfacings are the unsung heroes of garment construction; without them, most jackets, coats and the like, would not hold their shape; at the same time, if you buy ready-made outfits, you really have no idea interfacing has been used at all, as it is not something you see.

That is, until you've had the garment while. And, if it's washable, once you have tossed it in the machine a few times, you'll often begin to see the presence of the interfacing. And it's not a pretty sight. Bubbles and puckers start to appear on the surface of your garment. This is because nowadays, most interfacing is what they call "fusible" - that is, the interfacing is ironed on.

Bubbling at side seam

Once upon a time, there was only what is known as woven interfacing, which had to be stitched into the garment. A great leap forward - supposedly - was the introduction of the non-wovens or fusible interfacings as they are known. These are just applied with a hot iron. Problem is, such fusible interfacings often have their own ideas about how long they will do their job, sight unseen. And once they start acting up - or perhaps I should say bubbling up to the surface - you may find an item of clothing you really love becomes unseemly and you have to stop wearing it.

Fabric after ironing

In the photos I'm showing, puckering is what's happened to a white summer vest that I've had for some time. For most of the time I've owned this, there haven't been any problems. But, after the last washing, the interfacing began to act up. As the vest has decorative trim, interfacing has been used extensively to give the vest shape.

Luckily for me, this problem can be corrected with an iron, but it's not always possible to do that; it depends on the fabric and the heat that the fabric will tolerate.

This suggests that when you're buying a piece of clothing, especially if it's a major investment, you need to investigate how the garment is made to determine how well it will stand up to standard care. As they say, better to be safe than sorry!

Unravelling unseen

2010-09-10T06:32:00.000-07:00

Those of us who live in the northern hemisphere are preparing for the fall. It's after Labor Day and the weather is starting to cool down. Time to get out our sweaters - or woollies, if you prefer - and prepare them for the winter.

Usually, during the summer, I wash all my sweaters that are washable, turn them inside out and stash them away, ready for the cooler weather. This is how I happen to know that one of my sweaters is slowly coming apart.

Usually, when you make a sweater - or any knit garment - from two or more colors, as one color of wool is phased out and the second color is added, the end of the first wool is supposed to be 'knitted out' and the second 'knitted in', so the wool doesn't unravel, ever.

Due to the way garments are now made in factories, this finishing off process doesn't happen. In the sweater I'm showing, knots were tied instead, where the white changes to black and vice versa. The only problem is, when the sweater went through the washing machine cycle, the agitation started to loosen these knots, because they weren't very tightly tied.

Had I not spotted this, my sweater would have started to unravel beyond the point of repair or possibly left me with some embarrassing moments, out in public, as gaps started to appear in the body or sleeves of the sweater.

I purchased this sweater at a very high profile, high-end women's wear chain, which has stores throughout North America. I won't embarrass them by naming them, but caution anyone else buying sweaters that have more than one color of wool in them, to check the inside frequently, so that your lovely turtleneck or cardigan doesn't unravel on you.

You may also want to consider looking for sweaters made by an artisan, by hand, so that the workmanship should stand the test of time!

Needless to say, in any garment made by my company, Harobed Designs, we strive to make sure that these sorts of accidents don't happen.

Smart and cool

2010-08-30T08:08:00.000-07:00

As summer starts to draw to a close in the Northern Hemisphere, I'll take one last look at the whole issue of casual dressing. If you consult a dictionary, there are many definitions of the word 'casual', but when it comes to clothing, the applicable one is "designed for informal use".

This was always the real meaning of casual wear, that it was not the same as formal wear - suits, gowns, tuxedos, etc. - but nowhere in the definition of casual do the words 'sloppy' or 'haphazard' appear.

So I'm showing three more shots of how you can be smart and cool and still casual. One is of my friend Judy, when we went out to dinner. Judy has chosen a simple color palette, she has a very neat T-shirt in Cordovan Brown, which matches her sandals, and then beige-toned capris and sweater, along with a brown purse.

Her companion - in this case me - has similarly chosen a simple color palette: pair of black jeans, black sandals, black wrap (one of my own Harobed Designs wraps in Tencel, which are extremely light in weight, but add warmth when the air-conditioning is too strong) and a black bag, paired with a strawberry shirt and matching strawberry earrings. (Another observation: dressing well is not necessarily about having everything purchased in the current year; the earrings are some I bought years ago while the shirt I purchased about two years ago).

Both of us managed to say stay cool and comfortable, in spite of setting off in sunny, hot weather.

These outfits look a lot smarter than some I see on the street, which include pairings of scruffy jeans, T-shirts that are so faded you cannot read the words on them, sandals or shoes, purses and jewelry, in a complete mishmash of colors.

But, to show there is hope for the future, I'm showing this photo of a little girl is about eight years old. Whether it's the case that her pink Crocs were selected to match her dress - or her dress was chosen to match her Crocs - doesn't matter, she looks pulled together! A lot of people much older than eight would do well to follow her example.

You can BE cool - and LOOK cool too!

2010-08-16T16:53:00.000-07:00

One of the more unfortunate "fashion" trends of recent years has been the tendency, in a warm climates, to equate staying cool in steamy weather with sloppy outfits.

Just because the temperature rises, doesn't mean you have to forsake your sense of style. It's perfectly possible to be cool while looking cool too!

As well as looking for people with zero sense of style, I often go out with my camera and try to snap people who have pulled off a great look with ease. Here are just three examples: the lady on the bus is very simply dressed, but her outfit works very well. She's paired a white short sleeved top, with a white skirt patterned in silver, a silver bangle, black high heeled mules and a black bag. This is a case where being well dressed, doesn't mean loading yourself down with lots of garments and accessories, it just means thinking a bit about how you're going to look in what you've put on.

The same is true of two ladies I met when I went to the theater the other Saturday. Both were able to stay very comfortable in spite of the high humidity. What's even more interesting is that one of the outfits (photo in the middle) shows how you can pair two seemingly different colors - like red and peach - in a single outfit. Even the sandals combine these two colors. What makes it work is that the skirt, as well as having red and peach, has a black background and splashes of other colors. She was still able to stay comfortable because the top is a camisole and the bottom is a skirt.

The other lady, on the left in the lower photo, is wearing black leggings, black sandals, and a multicolored top. Her purse color picks out the green color in the top. It's cool, it's comfortable but, above all, she looks pulled together. (The lady in the white long-sleeve T-shirt, black jeans, hot pink sandals and accessories, is me!)

There is no need when summer arrives to slip into a haphazard look. True style starts in the brain with how you think about your clothes, and how you put them together. In fact, looking stylish is probably more of a no-brainer than a brain-teaser.

Is gray the law now?

2010-08-03T06:27:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, there were laws known as sumptuary laws. Depending on where you lived and what you did in life, you were forbidden to wear certain fabrics - such as velvet being forbidden for the middle class - and otherwise forced to dress not just according to your means, but also to your station in life.

Supposedly, in the Western democracies, we have moved well beyond this stage and now allow everyone total freedom of expression. Trouble is, you'd be hard pressed to know this if you look around.

Just a couple of weeks ago, in what are known as the 'society pages' in my local newspaper, there was a write-up about an event that is described as an "80s themed pre-show gala".

Since I didn't attend, I'm not sure if the guests were perhaps forbidden from wearing anything but gray or perhaps they were told to dress in a way so they wouldn't conflict with the 80s themed decor. (Hello? As someone said, weren't the 80s all about spandex, color and big hair?)

What is most ironic is that one of the guests in the photos here (which I've cropped to protect the guilty as well as the innocent), is the president of a large department store, who is always going on the radio and urging shoppers to go in and buy the colorful patio furniture her company has on offer.

This makes me wonder: is it now okay for the patio to be colorful but not humans?

In the spirit of doing something about color, we've recently re-launched the Harobed Designs website, and already have quite a list of colors: apricot, primrose, teal, sunflower, scarlet and ivory, to name a few. We also have quite a few more waiting in the wings: deep coral, ultra royal, emerald, cerise...

We encourage everyone to go beyond the gray and sashay forth in color. Not only will you brighten up the world, you'll feel more energized!

Too much inside out?

2010-07-23T07:41:00.000-07:00

I know we live in times where we are supposed to have an "anything goes" attitude but there are some things that should, themselves, go. A few months ago, I was at the movies and a group of people came in to sit in front of me. The young lady who sat in the seat immediately in front of mine was wearing a very stunning top with a plunging back.

It would've looked lovely except for... the grubby beige bra strap displayed across her back. Perhaps she thought in the movies no one would see? If that's the case, she should've arrived after the movie began and the theater was dark.

This is a problem you see everywhere, young women seem to think it's "okay" to parade around town with parts of their underwear showing and frequently, this underwear is not that clean. Nowadays, there are so many options in brassieres that it really doesn't make sense to do this. Nor do you have to have an extensive wardrobe of bras to deal with all your different clothing designs. There are convertible bras with straps you can wear many different ways: crisscross, halter-style around your neck, one strap over one shoulder, etc., etc. In other words, you only need two or three such bras to cover off all your dress situations.

The young lady in the photo at top had obviously put a lot of thought into her outfit, because her hair colors actually matched the colors of her dress. But then she blew her look in having that ugly black strap stretched across her back. As for the young lady sitting on the bus here, with a variety of straps crisscrossing, why she thought not only a bra showing but also support pads on the bra straps completed her look, is beyond me.

It was thought tacky to dress like this 50 years ago, and it still is.

People need to remember that the way you dress is not so much about yourself as it is about consideration for others. I hope this is one fashion trend that will die a very quick death.

Not what they call 'buttoned up'!

2010-07-12T17:53:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had the experience of going to put on a blouse or other garment you really love only to find that one of the buttons is missing? Or, even worse, have you been out and about when the button and snap fastener on what you're wearing pops off?

Given the way modern clothing is made, it's not surprising that we quickly end up far from 'buttoned up'! In industry, buttons are only rarely sewn on by hand, and the same is true for other types of fastening, such as snap fasteners. Instead, these items are added by machine, often with very rapid 'punch stitching' that is not fastened on or fastened off properly.

When you buy clothing made by an individual, there is a good chance the buttons or other fasteners will have been sewn on by hand and the person will have the first anchored the thread before attaching the button plus will then 'finish off' properly. So there's far less risk of the buttons coming off.

In the photos, I'm showing the problem that occurs. In the black-and-white striped shirt, the button was 'punch stitched' on and through successive washings, the thread has started to unravel because it was never finished off. If I hadn't caught this in time, the button would've likely come off - perhaps in the washing machine - or otherwise been lost. In the photos of the strawberry blouse, the fasteners are all transparent plastic snap fasteners. Apart from the fact these are less durable than metal snap fasteners, they have been put on by very rapid methods and are slowly but surely coming undone, one by one.

What can we do to deal with this? One tactic, any time you buy a piece of clothing, is to over-sew the buttons or fasteners yourself, finishing off well so that they do not unravel. This way, they won't fall off. An additional tactic is to always look for clothing that offers you spare buttons which match those on the garment. These can be kept in a safe place; if they're not actually sewn into the garment but, instead, come in a small plastic Ziploc bag, you can run a thread through the Ziploc and hang this on the hanger where you keep the garment. Or, put a safety pin through the top of the Ziploc bag and have a place where you keep these bags. I have a number of spare buttons in small Ziploc bags attached to the wire baskets where I keep my sweaters and other folded garments.

One final note of irony: both the garments shown above are sold by an extremely high profile women's-wear catalog company; as I am being 'brand-discreet' in this blog, I won't name the firm!

An invisible sense of style? Or hidden from view?

2010-06-28T17:50:00.000-07:00

There are many reasons we choose to dress the
way we do, but I often wonder if many of today's
younger women realize that their style of dress
makes them barely visible? Think about it this
way; you're young, carefree, it's a nice sunny day,
and you're planning to go sit on a patio to have lunch
and... you dress in the most non-descript colors
possible, as if you were trying to blend into the
brickwork or the concrete, or some other aspect
of your surroundings.

I sometimes refer to this style of dress as "urban drab"
because it does seem to be a form of camouflage,
representing a desire to fade into the background.
In the photographs I've taken - at a very trendy patio
restaurant in a super-trendy boutique hotel in the city
where I live - the young women having lunch on this
particular day seemed to have zero sense of presence in terms of their clothes.

Even worse, what it reminds me of is the way so many women are forced to dress, whether they like it or not, in many parts of the Middle East. In countries where the women are forced to wear a solid black niqab, when you walk along the street it's almost as if the women are invisible, faceless, formless, devoid of personality. They have no individuality, no presence and, as we know, no voice.

Are young western women dressing to show solidarity with women who live in restrictive countries? I doubt this is their objective; perhaps it's time for women here to realize that one of the freedoms we do have, is to not only dress in an "urban drab" style but also to dress with color, style, panache. There's nothing wrong with wearing beige, as one of the young women in my pictures does, but beige can be smartened up, enlivened, with mango or burnt orange shoes and belt. The same holds true for gray, why stick to just gray? It can be livened up with turquoise or teal sandals and jewelery.

I'm hoping all young western women, next time
they're planning to go out and sit on a patio for
lunch or a drink, will think of women in countries
who have zero choice about the way they dress in public and "up their game" a bit, to make sure they can be noticed and counted and are not fading into the background.

Is this what they mean by 'really stretched'?

2010-06-21T13:40:00.000-07:00

Perhaps it's just a coincidence but, ever since I started writing a blog about clothing manufacture, it seems the Clothing Gods have been having some fun with me; just about every other day it seems I find one of my garments is in a melt down. But my experiences can help guide you to making better clothing purchases, as you'll know how to examine what's on offer, to see if it's well-made or not.

With factory made clothing, there's a lot of things they can do on the machinery, to put a garment together quickly. One of those things is stretching the fabric to fit, such as putting a sleeve in a dress or jacket, or attaching a yoke to the body of the dress. Trouble is, if you or I purchase such a dress and start wearing it, the fact the fabric was artificially manipulated to fit together quickly becomes evident.

I just ran into this problem with a summer dress, the kind of dress you like to have for a hot day, so you can just pop it on and go out, without a lot of fuss. The photo at top shows the dress I'm talking about today. It was made by a well-known company and, on the whole, is neatly made - razor-thin seams, of course.

While it might be hard to see, if you look in the next photo at right, within the white circle, you can see that there is a certain strain where they attached the yoke and sleeve to the body of the dress.

As a result, once I had worn the dress just a few times, the strain became too much and, with ordinary movement of my arm and body, the fabric ripped (see the lower photo at right).

When you are buying clothing, examine it closely to see if there are signs of strain in how the garment was put together. If there is, re-consider what you are purchasing.
That way, you won't find you cannot wear something you really love and, if you are buying the garment on sale, it will prove to be a good investment.

Inside the designer's mind - take two

2010-06-13T13:59:00.000-07:00

One of the things designers try to do is "think outside the box" when it comes to colors and color combinations. Case in point is the outfit I wore to a performance at the school where I was working part time. (I'll come back to this later in this post).

Often, in summer, with the emphasis on comfort as the weather heats up, it's easy to overlook ways to give your outfit some pizzazz while still remaining comfortable. On this particular day, I chose to wear a combed cotton sleeveless dress that I have, plus a matching cardigan sweater. This is actually an outfit I bought well over 10 years ago and it's one of those staples in my closet that I keep because it's so useful.

In the past, I tended to wear it very conservatively with white shoes and white and gold beads. Nothing wrong with that, it's a logical choice to go with the pale ice blue color. Another possibility is, of course, navy blue. These might be termed predictable color choices.

However, on this particular day, I decided to pair this dress with hot pink and wore it with a hot pink belt and hot pink shoes. Much more lively, much more stylish. (I've also paired this ice blue color with an aubergine belt and purple suede shoes.)

It's always important to look for such color combinations in your closet that you might not otherwise try but which work together very successfully. I may even put the ice blue and hot pink combination together in jacket for Harobed Designs (TM) at some point in the future. (And if any other designer makes the same choice, remember, you can read it here first).

The performance at the school was very well executed, and for 10-year-olds, the performers were all very polished. It was material they had written themselves, with the help of their teacher, entitled "Environmental Adventures". The show was based on the various issues they had covered in their social studies class and looked at how our way of life is eroding the health of the planet. One topic they raised is: Why does all our clothing have to come from China?

I think this is a question we all need to ask ourselves. Whatever you're looking for, even if it's just a sweatshirt or T-shirt, chances are, there's an artisan in your area who will be offering something for purchase, equal to or better than anything that is being shipped and trucked in from the Orient. Just imagine the boost to your home country's economy if everyone decided that "Buying local" isn't just for vegetables...

Really hemmed in!

2010-06-05T14:09:00.000-07:00

Seams aren't the only part of a garment you need to check before you buy. Just as contentious is the hem. If a hem isn't well sewn, it can easily unravel, just when you need it least.

Many years ago, back in the days when women were encouraged to purchase "power suits" for the office, I had made such a buy at my city's top ladies wear store. Nothing fancy, just a navy blazer and white skirt, this being for summer.

I took my "power suit" with me on a business trip and got up the morning of my meeting, got dressed and was ready to go down to breakfast when, low and behold, my skirt hem caught on something and completely unraveled. So there I was, looking at my watch, wondering how I would find time for breakfast and to fix my hem. Obviously, I was a long way from the store so storming in there to complain about their shoddy merchandise wasn't an option. It quickly became clear that I would have to order breakfast up from room service and sit in my room to mend my skirt - luckily I had a sewing kit with me.

This initiated two trends in my life: one, I never ever purchased clothing from that supposedly top-notch store again and two, I began a lifelong addiction to room service!

When hems are sewn by a machine at lightning speed and not by hand, there is always the risk that the threads aren't finished off properly and that the hem will unravel at an unfortunate moment. Better quality clothing usually has hand-sewn hems. Certainly, my company, Harobed Designs, always hems by hand. We also never use the dreaded clear plastic thread, as this rarely gives a firm finish. (See the photo of the red jacket hem at top, which is hemmed in clear thread.)

Another aspect of hems that can be maddening is if you are slightly taller than average but not tall enough for the clothing category known as 'Tall". If only the manufacturers allowed slightly more generous hems - 2 inches being a reasonable amount - it would be easier for all above-average height people to let down their hems slightly if they wanted to. Usually, what happens, is that people have to buy clothing that is bigger than they need and have the hem taken up to where they want it rather than letting down a garment of the right size. This is one of the nuisances that has come into clothing with the advent of total factory production.

That's another thing we always do with Harobed Designs clothing; we always allow generous enough hems for both the outer jacket or "shell" and the inner lining, plus we include a generous amount of trim, so if someone wants to lengthen one of our jackets slightly, they can. The center photograph of the apple green jacket - actually, it's what is known as 'shot silk', meaning it has a blueish cast in certain lights - shows the depth of the outer hem as well as the depth of the lining hem and the amount of trim available. The final photo shows this jacket on the runway.

Inside the designer's mind -take one

2010-05-28T13:07:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered how designers come up with the colors they use and their various combinations of fabrics, trims, buttons, etc.?

Here's a quick look inside the mind of this designer, as I take you along with how I chose the colors for a bolero or shrug I recently showed on the runway.

I wanted to work with magenta and black for my base colors, and happened to have the silk available for that. Now, traditionally, the accent color you would put with magenta and black would probably be gold. I had gold thread, and I thought about using gold. But, I also had a bronze metallic thread to hand and so I thought: Why not use bronze? Although bronze would not be the traditional accompaniment to a color like magenta, both are reddish colors and have a warm glow to them. I decided, if done right, this pairing would actually work quite well.

The first photo (at top) shows the raw materials, before I actually started work, and the second picture shows a section of the finished garment. Another decision I made, rather than doing a full applique stitch, where all the stitches would be close together, was to instead use a zigzag stitch and make the finish a bit more edgy, since 'edginess' is something much sought after in fashion these days.

Another objective for my design was to create a piece that could be worn winter or summer. In the third photo, you'll see the bolero paired with black in a more wintry look. And, then, in the fourth photo, you'll see the bolero paired with a strapless magenta dress. The necklace also features beads that are magenta and black.

Of course, there's no such thing as something entirely new in fashion and I'm sure the pairing of magenta, black and bronze has been done before.

Sometimes, though, the person who comes up with a new idea isn't the one who necessarily gets the credit. I was amused to read in the Summer 2010 H&M Magazine that "neon colors are back on the catwalk". And, on page 12, the article elaborates: "Marc Jacobs is using splashes of shocking pink to give his ladylike tweeds a street feel..." As it so happens, I paired hot pink trim and buttons with a gray menswear tweed in 2009 and showed a jacket on the fall runway with this pairing. You'll see my take on this color combination in the fifth photo! Now, who's copying whom?!!

Behind the scenes - Spring 2010 Clothing Show

2010-05-21T12:11:00.000-07:00

Watching a runway show from the audience and seeing the models come down the catwalk, makes it easy to assume that putting such a show together is a piece of cake. The girls, the clothes, the lights, the music... all come together in a polished and professional display.

In reality, behind the scenes can be quite hectic, if not chaotic.

I recently presented eight pieces from my collection on the runway at the Spring 2010 Clothing Show in Toronto, Canada. Among the many designers, Harobed Designs was featured three times over two days. The shows were well attended and I was very gratified, sitting in the audience for the final show on Saturday, May 15, by the enthusiastic applause from the audience as the models in my garments did their final turn on the runway.

In keeping with the theme of this blog, which is to look on the inside and underneath, and at what's behind fashion, I'm posting some "behind the scenes" photos from the runway show. In the top picture, you can see the models when they're standing ready to go out on the catwalk. The second picture is taking from the wings, showing one of the models - wearing our red satin bolero with petal trim - on her way backstage.

If you'd like to look at the designs from the audience perspective, you can find them on http://canadawears.ca; look for the link to The Clothing Show Spring 2010 where you can click on Harobed Designs in the 1 p.m. time slot. There, you'll find a link for raymond's photoset, with about 18 different shots from the runway.

And if you'd like to know when our next runway show will be, please send us an e-mail at info@harobeddesigns.com. We'll be happy to put you on our list to let you know about runway shows or when we have new product in stores.

Now that's seamless!

2010-05-16T13:18:00.000-07:00

One of the problems with a lot of factory-made clothing is that everything revolves around costs and keeping them down. As a result, manufacturers find the fastest and cheapest way to put the garment together. If you're lucky, this will never cause you any embarrassing moments. But if you're not lucky, you could end up in a situation that is truly seamless, in the worst possible way!

The photos posted show some of these problems. In manufactured clothing, the seams are edged by a process known as serging, to stop the fabric from fraying and the seam is usually sewn at the same time. Trouble is, this work is often not properly finished off. When you sew by hand or on a hand-operated machine, it's possible to finish off by back stitching or some similar method to secure the seam. This way, there are no dangling threads which can get caught...

In the picture of the white garment, the serged edge is starting to fray. This happened while the garment was in the washing machine; the threads caught in some way and started to come undone. Too bad if this process happens while you're actually wearing the garment...

In the red garment, an even worse problem exists because the seams are sewn with clear plastic thread. Manufacturers like this thread because, obviously, when it's clear, it can be used with garments of any color. Problem is, such seams are rarely stable and very easily unravel. The same is true when hems are sewn in this fashion, but that will be the topic of a future post...

The skinny on seams

2010-05-10T07:00:00.000-07:00

Photo showing 3/4" seam
Photo showing seams of 3/4"
Third photo shows how easily factory-made seams unravel
Bottom photo shows razor-thin 1/4" seam

Your clothes may look great on the outside but if you don't pay attention to how they look on the inside, you'll frequently find yourself having to pitch out a favorite garment because you can't let it out. Changes in weight are as common as changes in fashion; but it's only in the last few years that consumers have come to it accept clothing with razor thin seams inside that allow no possibility of alteration.

It wasn't always this way. In fact, before the Industrial Revolution, just about everyone wore custom-made clothing - and shoes for that matter. When factory-made clothing came into existence, it was viewed as being inferior and the manufacturers had to do a selling job to get everyone to buy it. Even as recently as the 1950s, the factory-made garment did not confer status the way a custom-made suit did. Obviously, manufacturers have put effort, by way of branding, into changing people's views, so that many people now view clothing from a factory as superior. But is it?

If you look inside most manufactured clothes, it's easy to see that, if you even put on a couple of ounces, you'll have to get rid of the garment. However, if you buy clothing that has been made by craftsmen or artisans, you're more likely to get a generous seam allowance, meaning that a weight gain will not leave you scrambling to put together a new wardrobe.