CREATIVE TALENT: Harbour Master

I am really excited for 3 reasons today! 

1. I am continuing on with the Creative Talent interviews...after a rather long break. 
   
2. I get to show off some of the talent from my home town, Perth!  
3. I feel that this particular creative is an incredibly unique and inspiring individual!

We caught up with Claire from Habour Master whilst home on holidays. It was a real treat, walking amongst the old boats and listening to her story. Her unique style and outlook on fashion is definitely a source of inspiration for me. I particularly love these wise words of hers...... 

'Experiment, make a mess, don't be put off by the fear of doing it wrong because really, who's to say what's right?' 

 - Claire from Harbour Master - 

Photo by Michael Dooney                                         Photo of Claire Mueller

WHERE ARE YOU FROM?

Perth, Western Australia. I recently moved back here after a 5 year stint in Melbourne, and am pretty stoked with the west coast.

WHAT IS YOUR ART/CRAFT & WHERE CAN WE FIND IT?

There are a few aspects to my 'craft', such as it is - one is my personal style, which I document on my blog www.the-harbour-master.com. I mainly do this because it helps me look at my ever-changing attitudes towards fashion more objectively (and I've definitely caught myself out on more than one occasion, preaching on thing but doing another)!

I'm a visual merchandiser by trade, currently designing window displays for a high end boutique called Elle - if you're in Perth you can see my installations if you drive down Stirling Highway.

Though I studied fashion design I'm really not in a clothes making phase, it's all about accessories at the moment! I make earrings under the label CapnMueller which I currently just sell through Etsy, you can see them at www.capnmueller.com.

WHAT ARE THE POSITIVES ABOUT BUYING HANDMADE ITEMS?

I might expand on this slightly and say that I think there are positives in anything that has been consciously designed and manufactured, addressing the values of innovation, quality, longevity, environmental and ethical impact. Handmade items do, more often than not, address all of these values - from a fashion perspective we need to understand that if we don't nurture the immense skill required to make something beautiful by hand we will lose the soul of the industry.

WHERE DO YOU FIND INSPIRATION?

More & more I'm finding inspiration in actions and attitudes rather than physical things - how someone wears something because they are expected to, or despite having a wardrobe full of clothes only wearing the same 3 items - partially because it helps me assess my own style, partially because WHY people dress has always interested me as much as HOW people dress. Saying that, I love art galleries, museums, shipyards, fashion magazines, people watching in hipster cafes and the sea.

WHAT MOTIVATES YOU TO CREATE?

A problem that needs solving, a desire to document & reflect, an ongoing urge to dress in a way that feels 'right' for any particular time. Sometimes I just like to be an enfants terribles and wear things to annoy people with no imagination. Sometimes I literally have a guttural need to make something with my hands.

WHAT ENCOURAGING WORDS/ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO SOMEONE INTERESTED IN SPARKING THEIR CREATIVITY?

Read - research - learn. Be aware of what other people have done and are doing so you can expand, not repeat. Experiment, make a mess, don't be put off by the fear of doing it wrong because really, who's to say what's right?


Below is an image of Claire's squid earrings. Make sure that you check out Claire's website & shop!

Claire's shop: Capnmueller

Website: The Harbour Master

MUSIC: Little Dragon rocks... but GEMA is crap!

Little Dragon from Gothenberg, Sweden 

I wanted to share what I am currently listening to... but it is ssssooooooooo frustrating trying to listen to new music in Germany. GEMA is doing my head in (GEMA is a performance rights organisation in Germany). We can't see/listen to anything!... Ok that is a bit of an exaggeration, but I can't listen to about 50% of what I find. It feels like a miniscule version of what it must be like to live in a country which heavily censors media. 

It is so annoying. I particularly DISLIKE when bands release something as a taste tester... but no we can't listen to it. e.g. the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs clip. They were plugging it for days. My brother sent me a link and of course I couldn't listen to it. And I still haven't seen the clip. AAAAhhhh GEMA is making me angry! 

If you are lucky enough not to be living in Germany you can watch the clip below. Is it good?


CURRENTLY LISTENING TO.......
Little Dragon - Looking glass, from my computer, not youtube

If you are in Germany have a listen to another song on Sound Cloud. I love Sound Cloud

https://soundcloud.com/littledragon/ritual-union

i heart berlin x front row society

Photos: Michael Dooney
Scarf: front row society + i heart berlin



This scarf is the result of a collaboration between 'i Heart Berlin', and 'Front Row Society' - with a twist of shit....  well, the image on the scarf was taken by Frank, the i Heart Berlin creator, at the 'the shit' Bonnie Strange label fashion show. The scarves were presented to us at an Art Connect Berlin meet up in Neuköln before Christmas. I found the image below on the Art Connect website... I assure you that I was actually very impressed with the scarf. The bright colours were what initially sparked my interest and the symmetrical print definitely amplified my intrigue. The purchase may have also stemmed from an unconsious need for brightness and light in an otherwise cold, grey, miserable winter in Berlin. What ever the reason ... 'the shit' follows me everywhere, even back home to Aus. 

The images above were snapped when we were home in Australia on a trip down at Margaret River. A few days of surfing, BBQing and a record breaking wine tasting expedition. My very patient and tolerant brother drove 5 of us babbling, tipsy idiots through 8 different wineries. What a trooper! All in all it was a busy yet relaxing summer full of Aussie fun! Now that the sun in Berlin has popped it's wonderful head out from behind the clouds, I just hope that this will be an awesome, notoriously invigorating Berlin spring and summer too! We certainly need it!  

Photo: Linda Rosa Saal - Art Connect Berlin

A random wintery day

For this long winter (yes I know that it is 'technically' spring, but there is still snow outside!) I am spending my days pattern making, sewing and screen printing! (and of course taking photos in the snow) Maybe the extended winter isn't so bad after all.

Photography Michael Dooney

Currently listening to Violetness. Nice ambient sounds.

Listen here on Bandcamp or Sound Cloud 

the new eco blog 'i give 2 hoots'

Photos: Michael Dooney

Getting older sucks! I have definitely got to a stage where I have realised that I am no longer a really young spring chicken. It is a scary feeling that has accumulated over the years.... I suppose that this is a normal experience for the 20 somethings. My daily ritual of listening to the news, watching documentaries and reading philosophy books has only contributed to this overwhelming feeling of dread. It all gets a little depressing at times, getting older and reflecting on the state of the world. Aaaahhhhhhh it gets me down.  

For me, these photos signify a moment of sadness and weakness ..or perhaps clarity. Just before christmas, I was getting ready to go home to Aus. I had only a short period of time to make a bathing suit. I gave it a go, but it was not fitting well and I didn't have enough time to solve the fit problems. So I went online. I found some nice bathers for a good price as well as this dress (photographed above). So I purchased both. When they arrived on my door step I felt terribly guilty. I never really buy clothes and since getting more into the eco/ethical fashion side of things, I definitely do not make these type of purchases. But I am happy to announce that it prompted me to reflect upon my current 'eco/ethical' practices and confirmed that I am passionate about the whole slow fashion movement.

So, in an effort to inject a little more positivity and optimism  into everyday, I am now starting a blog which focuses on the good things people are doing in relation to the slow fashion movement. This blog is called 'i give 2 hoots'. The slow fashion movement is something which values and celebrates community, human rights, environmental responsibility, artisan skills and crafter skills in fashion. I hope to create a resource which allows others to be inspired by those who are taking part in the slow fashion movement 'in their own way'. This last point is important as I find we tend to critise each other for the things we do (or don't do) rather then celebrating our successes. 

I have devised a number of categories. Have a look at the table below to see if you fit into one of these categories!

 

So if you sew the majority of your clothes, or if you aim to consume less, or you buy mostly second hand/vintage or you fit into any of the categories above, be sure to head on over to 'i give 2 hoots' & show that you give 2 hoots about the slow fashion movement!

www.igive2hoots.blogspot.com

How to create your own lace dress: My manual cut lace project

I recently made this dress as an experiment. As evidenced below, I am happy to report that it was well worth the time and effort. PLUS a heap of people on Fickle Sense & Burdastyle appreciated it, so I thought that I would share my process with you! 

More photos of this dress by my man (Michael) before post

I was initially inspired by laser cut lace clothing. The laser cut technology has enabled many designers to create their own style of lace... so I thought I would give this a try minus the technology. 

 Some other inspirations here 

WHAT DO YOU NEED FOR THIS 'MANUAL CUT LACE' PROJECT?

• TEXTILE PATTERN DESIGN - You need an idea of the textile pattern that you want to create. I chose a jacquard style 
• THIN & THICK TRACING PAPER OR CARBON TRANSFER PAPER - I use water proof tracing paper for all of my stencils. You don't need it to be water proof, but I use stencils for printing and this paper is thick enough to use it as a stencil. If you can find a large piece of carbon tracing paper or use a few smaller pieces, you could draw your design straight onto the fabric without needing to use a scalpel or cut out the thick piece of tracing paper. This is probably much easier, but I wanted to make a stencil. 
• SCALPEL  - If you want to create a stencil make sure you have a SHARP scalpel
•  A SLIP DRESS PATTERN - I chose this pattern as it is simple and has minimal shape & darts. I utilised the pattern from Burdastyle- Jamie Shift Dress. 
• FABRIC - 2 x metres of course tulle; 2 x metres of a finely woven fabric which does not fray much. 
• SCISSORS -Some sharp scissors which allow precision cutting. 
• FABRIC MARKER 

1.Design your lace pattern. Perhaps take inspiration from textile patterns. 
e.g. 

 












2. Sketch out your design. If you want a symmetrical design draw only half of the design lengthways. 

3. Cut out your Shift Dress pattern pieces and make sure that the front piece is traced onto tracing paper (put this tracing paper front piece aside). Now cut your Tulle. When cutting the back omit the zipper and cut the dress on the fold so that the back looks like the image below. Sew the darts for the front piece. 
 

 

4.When you are happy with your textile design, have a look at where the darts lie. (please refer to image number 8 below to see where I placed the darts, I have marked them in yellow). Make sure that when you draw out your design on the tracing paper, draw the textile pattern to work WITH your dress pattern. 

Now transfer the 'half' design onto thin tracing paper. Once the entire design is transferred, fold the paper and draw the other half. This ensures that it is all symmetrical.

5. If you are using a stencil, transfer the final design onto the thick tracing paper and scalpel away!

 

6. Now that you have cut out the stencil, draw the pattern onto your cut out fabric.

7. Lift away the stencil and get those scissors out! Now start CAREFULLY cutting. If you want the inverted version for the back.... you need all pieces to stay intact! So be careful

8. ALIGN CUT OUT LACE PIECE TO TULLE. 
Now that you have your entire lace cut out. Pin and sew darts. Next you need to match up the tulle front pattern and the cut out lace darts. By matching these darts, you are able to align the garments together. Now pin, pin, pin!

9. Now carefully, starting from the middle top section, start sewing the black fabric onto the tulle. Sew close to the edge to prevent the fabric flapping away from the tulle. Sew from the middle out to the edges. Then move down the bottom section in the middle outwards. This hopefully ensures that your black fabric lies as 'bubble free' as possible.  This does take a while and feels a little tedious, BUT remember it is worth it in the end! You can hand sew some of the small pieces

 10. BACK SECTION
Now for the back section. Place your textile design next to the back section of the tulle and place the cut out pieces correctly on the tulle.

11. Pin and sew the back section. 
Once the whole back and front textiles are complete, match and sew the front section to the back. 
Now roll the edges of the neckline and sew it down. Cut the back of the neckline tulle piece so that it matches the front section. Cut the many threads. And you are finished! FINALLY!
 

12. Don't forget to make a slip. I used the same shift dress pattern, just made it smaller along the sides so that it clung to me more.

FERTIG!

my cut out lace challenge

I made this dress as an experiment. I was inspired by the laser cut lace dresses which have been around for the past year or so. So I designed the print, drew it to fit the pattern pieces. Transfered the print to black fabric. Carefully cut out the design. Sewed it to a tulle pattern piece, then .... well I will post a tutorial for the dress within the next few days! 

  

Oh and the dress was an experiment for my sisters (kaye of course) bridesmaids dress. Yes I am about to say the 'E' word. I am engaged so this will be a year of experimenting with semi formal/formal wear! Hopefully I will finish the year of 2013 with some labour intensive dresses... aka my ultimate (or ultimate for the time being) dresses.

 

 

 

Photos: Michael Dooney

 

These photos were taken on two separate mornings. Luckily on the second morning the snow looked wonderful on the trees.

 

And I entered the dress into the Burdastyle competetion as the pattern is from the new Burdastyle sewing vintage modern book. It got into the top 20 looks which is nice. People are voting for it here. Perhaps I will review the book on my blog.

 

Watch this space for the tutorial for the dress!

TUTORIAL! Snood. Bring on the snood-ilicous-ness!

It is no secret that I find it difficult to sit still. I get overly excited about all of my passions. It often gets to the point where I just need to sit and rest... but still I need something to do. Knitting & crocheting are my ultimate productively relaxing past times. My grandma taught me how to knit when I was a child and my Australian football DOCKERS scarf was my first project. Go the Dockers! Of late I have spent most of my knitting and crocheting time making toys for presents for friends and family. I also started making clothing the other year when I knitted shorts for my sis kaye(you can find them here.... and I am knitting the shorts again so that I can write out the exact pattern for a tutorial. I want to spread the knitted shorts cheer! ... but it is STILL on my to do list). 

So here is the pattern for a SNOOD! I think that everyone should knit a snood. It is relaxing and once you get started you don't need to think too much. PLUS it is an awesome piece of clothing!

EQUIPMENT FOR SNOODILICOUSNESS

* Size 10 mm circular knitting needles/or double pointed needles/or regular needles (where you sew the snood together after)

* 3 x 50 g yarn

* (optional) Knitting marker of some sort. (e.g. safety pin/bought knitting marker/different coloured yarn)

This is the yarn that I chose to use
  Austermann Merino Softy - 3 schwarz here

Zusammensetzung  98% Merino Schurwolle, 2% Polyamid

Lauflänge  ca. 53m / 50g

Nadelstärke  10.0 - 12,0mm

Verbrauch  Damen Langarmpulli Gr. 38/40 M ~ 550g

Maschenprobe  8 Maschen, 12 Reihen = 10x10cm

1. Cast on 66 stitches 

2. Now that you have cast your stitches on you need to join your round. If your cable is too long you just need to pinch the cable through the stitches. Find the half way mark between your stitches, then pinch and pull the cable, which brings the stitches to a close. If this sounds all a bit confusing there is a 'magic loop youtube link here' which kind of gets at what I am trying to explain.

3. When joining the round make sure that you do not twist your knitting, otherwise you will get a twisted snood. Not  a good look.... I have made this mistake before. Just undo it and start again.

4. Once you are certain that everything is going well, keep knitting in the round, up until you reach your starting point. If you want you can place a marker here so that you clearly know where your starting point is. Now knit a round of pearl stitch. This pattern continues,

Knit a round
Pearl  a round
Knit a round
Pearl  a round

.. .until you get the width that you want. I knitted until I finished the 3 balls of yarn, which was about 58 rows. You can see in this below image that I have to constantly pull the cable through as I am knitting around.

5. Make sure that you finish off at your marker point. Cast off.

And there you have it! A cosy snood for the winter and a relaxing 'I don't have to think' project!

In love with my knitted snood:)

Winter seems to have mellowed out since the Christmas markets invaded Berlin during the Christmas cheer period, so my newly knitted snood has not been required of late. 

I knitted this snood just in time for the winter and I thoroughly recommend everyone knitting one! It was just so handy, plus I love the word 'snood'. When ever I think of the word snood it makes me smile as it reminds me of Dr. Seuss. It is such a Seussy sounding word:)

Regarding these images, Michael and I spent the night drinking Glüwein (mulled wine), eating currywurst and taking photos with our usual little medium format camera in black & white. Though I am glad that the Christmas markets last for only a few weeks. You get over them pretty fast!    

SNOOD TUTORIAL COMING SOON..............

I love my snood so much that I want to spread the snoody love by posting a TUTORIAL for this particular snood. I will post it in the coming days so keep an eye out.  

 

Photos by Michael Dooney & mahaila