Digging in

The weeks seem to fly by, but then again it is Spring.  It is a time to get out and get it done.  I can't say that I really like a lot of yard work but I can do it before the weather gets too warm here in Florida.  I have committed myself to making a new planted garden area.  The irrigation system has never worked well in this area and seems to be a tangled mess.  The only way to correct is all is to dig it up and start fresh.

As I was digging I noticed a view of our lake.  It occurred to me that maybe this space might be better suited for a hot tub.  After all a view of the lake from your hot tub???  How about tropical plants around the hot tub???  This project that was to be quite simple is expanding with each shovel of dirt.  I have a few days to think about this project as I await someone to correct the irrigation system issues. It is fun dreaming and scheming!

I have not forgotten my feltmaking and patternmaking thoughts.  Actually as I work in the yard I think things through.  I ponder the 'what if' of garments made with felt.  You see handmade felt is an unusual textile.  It does not always act or react the way of woven yardage.  Seamless garments also have fitting issues as well.  Digging in dirt is a good time to think things through and one can easily forget how difficult the task of shoveling earth.

In March I became reacquainted with some garment and fashion information in a book called "The Body Shape Bible" by Trinny and Susannah.   Many people do not know what silhouette is appropriate for their body.  This book details the many many shapes of the human body and what fashion silhouette creates the most flattering look.  

I will be incorporating more body shape information into the next eBook on seamless felted garments.  I have seen so many felt garments that simply do not flatter a person's body. Huge open collars that flap across most of the person's chest is not flattering to anyone.  A lovely shaped jacket that gaps in the front is not flattering, it speaks poor fit.  We see gorgeous clothing made for the very slender and shapely model, but does that translate to the average person?  How about a wool wrap vest over bare shoulders because the maker did not know how to fit the garment?  I don't know about you, but if I am wearing wool as an outwear item, bare skin makes me shiver!

I will be working on additional and sensible seamless felt garment designs this summer.  They will  be published into another eBook.  I am also contemplating single pattern instruction for a particular design.  For example a pattern drafted off of your template to make a swing jacket, or  a cape with hood.  I have a lot of thoughts on what I will do next, but maybe I need to go dig some dirt!

Don't forget if you are interested in learning how to makes custom seamless sleeveless felted garments, visit my website at https://www.kathyhaysdesigns.com  

Why make a template?

Would you build a house without engineering drawings? Making a template for a seamless felted garment is very much like the engineered drawings of a house.  Both are the foundation, both will have a personal influence, and both are simple.

Why do felt makers accept their hand felted garments to have a poor fit?  They have great felting skills. They invest an enormous amount of money. They take expensive workshops hoping for the perfect garment. They spend many hours and physical energy making the felt.  They use beautiful fabrics and fiber.  They have great vision for a beautiful finished garment.  Yet in the end the final product does not fit.  It is often too big or very tight, big floppy collars, or does not close in the front.  Why is this acceptable?

This brings me back to template making.  The template is simply a road map of an individuals body.  Every person has unique measurements therefore the resulting template is for that person.  If I am going to use my time, effort and materials to make a felted garment I want it to fit.  I want to show off my feltmaking skills and design ideas with a nicely finished garment.  I want to wear it proudly.  I want those who see this garment as something other than what not to wear!  The custom template is the foundation from which all future design begins.

I wrote the two eBooks called "Seamless Felted Garment" book 1 and 2 simply to help those feltmakers who seek garments that fit!  I have used the principals of flat pattern making and applied them to feltmaking. The time invested is well worth the effort!

https://www.kathyhaysdesigns.com

Seamless Felted Clothing eBooks are ready for purchase

What a long journey to produce these two eBooks.  What started out to be a quick, simple and easy eBook turned out to be a much bigger task than I could imagined.  I had 22 pages of text and several photos, but that was not enough.  It dawned on me that feltmakers were not necessarily garment makers!  This is why the eBooks became two. The book grew and grew and grew until I had to divide it into two books.

I started with the idea to write an eBook to explain how to make a template, pattern and resist for a felt garment.  I had seem many skilled feltmakers struggle.  They had great surface design ideas and feltmaking skills, but the end product was not the best fitting of garment.  So were very big and baggie, others too long, while others were very tight.  Some placed embellishment over areas that  were less than flattering.

I learned many many years ago how to make custom garments using a flat pattern making method.  I had been making felt for 15 years.  I started applying the knowledge of flat pattern making to felt garment making.  While felt is a different textile than most it has many advantages.  Finished edges are a breeze in hand crafted felt.  Steaming to help shrink and shape a garment is unmatched.

Making seamless and sleeveless garments do present a few technical considerations.  The greatest being shrinkage.  For the most part feltmakers do not know their shrinkage they simply guess.  Changing the surface embellishments, techniques and wool fibers affect shrinkage.

In the two eBooks I detail how to measure a human body and how to translate those into a template.  I discuss shrinkage as related to surface design.  I show (with photography) how to create a seamless garment.  The details are clear and concise.  Included are instructions for nuno felting with silk chiffon or silk paj.  I have included very detailed instructions about how to make the correct calculation and enter into a worksheet.  Between these two eBooks it is like attending a personal workshop in your home studio.

In the end I think I have produced two very detailed books that not only include feltmaking information, I have explained a lot of dressmaking skills.

While the two books are really the basics, many designs can be made.  I do plan to write advance design in the coming months, but I want to take the time and work on some projects for myself.  I will keep you updated with those projects here!

https://www.KathyHaysDesigns.com