Art Under The Microscope

The University of Michigan Health System and Fiber Artists@Loose Ends have partnered to show artistic interpretations of scientific images. Online they’ve teamed up with Cell.com to show a selection from the traveling exhibit Art Under the Microscope.

“The exhibition Art Under the Microscope presents impressive scientific imagery interpreted through textile arts, a perfect blending of art and science.… Read the rest

Free Spirit Look Books

Since the beginning of this year the fabric manufacturer Free Spirit publishes look books every quarter. These look books feature their new fabric lines, but also offer a lot of inspiration and quite a few free patterns. Flip throug the look books and free patterns they’ve published so far. This is a pretty long blog, so take a seat :).… Read the rest

International FreeForm Fiberarts Guild 2013 Challenge

The International FreeForm Fiberarts Guild is hosting an online challenge every year. This year the theme was Mother Earth.

Click here to see all the entries. You can click each picture to read about the artist’s idea and to leave a comment.

You can also check the galleries from the previous annual challenges;

iffg

 

Read the rest

Studio Faro

POCKETdetail_1smJami sent me a link to the Studio Faro blog. Anita from Studio Faro is active in the fashion industry as a designer, pattern maker, educator and trend forecaster, and has over 30 years experience in these fields. Based in the Inner West of Sydney, Studio Faro is a design and pattern-making studio that offers Design and Technical Services to the Fashion Industry and a Professional Development Program of pattern and design workshops.… Read the rest

Using Photoshop or Gimp to visualize fabric and patterns

Markita sent me this cool tutorial on how to use Photoshop or Gimp (free alternative to Photoshop) to visualize fabric and patterns. It involves a bit of technology but it gives you a good idea of what your outfit will look like. You can even use your personal croquis to really dress yourself virtually!… Read the rest

Dressing down a culture for refusing to dress up

Markita sent me this article by Nancy Giles about the dressing down culture. Make sure to watch the video as well!

(CBS News) Dressing elegantly for the most routine matters is a tradition from a distant past — and our Nancy Giles thinks that’s a shame (see the orginal CBS article here)

“There’s got to be a happy medium between wearing a burka and running around half-naked,” said Przybyszewski.Read the rest

Great British Sewing Bee

gbsb

In April of this year BBC2 aired the show Great British Sewing Bee. This show features eight amateur sewers who are tested on their sewing and dressmaking skills as they compete to be crowned Britain’s best home sewer.

The judges, May Martin from the Women’s Institute and Savile Row’s Patrick Grant, scrutinise every stitch as they look out for puckering seam lines and perfect top stitching.… Read the rest

V&A Museum Patchwork Pattern Maker

patchworkmaker1Try the Victoria & Albert Museum online Patchwork Pattern Maker to convert personal images into quilt patterns. The tool lets you choose how many colors you’d like your pattern to have (up to 20) and the level of difficulty. After choosing between all options, you can download the complete pattern.

Check the gallery to see what other people have made.… Read the rest

Child’s Own Studio

A few years back Wendy Tsao began her business in making softies based on children’s drawings: Child’s Own Studio. Since then, she has custom made around 400 soft toys based on children’s drawings, each one as unique as the child who drew it.

Below are some images of her work, but her own website and Flickr Photostream are truly inspirational and worth looking at.… Read the rest

Indie Pattern Designers

Looking for a different pattern than one from ‘the Big Four’? Here’s a good list of smaller pattern designers.

Here’s part of the list:

  • Colette – There’s little that I could say about Colette that hasn’t already been said – vintage inspired designs with excellent community support.
  • Sewaholic – From Vancouver, Tasia designs for pear shaped women but these classic patterns would look good on many shapes and sizes.
Read the rest