Floral Backdrop Ideas
Monday, 14 January 2013
After seeing these beautiful photos I became a bit obsessed with ideas for backdrops for upcoming product shoots. I'm not a massive fan of totally white infinity backdrops, but I also wouldn't want anything that distracted too much from the clothing. It was sunny today, so I took advantage of the natural light & I had a play around with some lovely vintage fabric I got from an antique shop on Friday. I love the idea of making a dress & backdrop match like this just for the fun of it.
I hope everyone's been having a lovely weekend. We spent Friday night drinking, eating, & chatting with old friends til the early hours of the morning, & yesterday I had a full PJ day which are always nice. Today I have been sewing & this evening we went to see Les Miserables, has anyone else seen it? I really thought it wouldn't be my bag, but I loooooved it & sobbed the whole way through. Oh dear, how is it almost 3am! I must to bed, I don't like Mondays...
I hope everyone's been having a lovely weekend. We spent Friday night drinking, eating, & chatting with old friends til the early hours of the morning, & yesterday I had a full PJ day which are always nice. Today I have been sewing & this evening we went to see Les Miserables, has anyone else seen it? I really thought it wouldn't be my bag, but I loooooved it & sobbed the whole way through. Oh dear, how is it almost 3am! I must to bed, I don't like Mondays...
i n s p i r e d : SS13 Mood Board
Tuesday, 8 January 2013
Hello friends! Well, my mind is buzzing with all the plans for my Spring Summer collection. It's been in the pipe line (my head) for a few months now, but it is now the time to knuckle down, finalise ideas, source fabric, make samples & plan photo shoots. Oh gosh, not enough hours in the day! I decided after a lot of computer based mood boards & lists & emails that it was time to get my head away from the screen & look at things from a distance. I printed out a bunch of pictures I'd been collecting & stuck them up in my studio. Something about the physical act of cutting out the images & sticking them on my wall was very therapeutic. It helped me un-jumble ideas & unlock certain aspects of designs I've been pondering.
I have a few dresses that I am absolutely certain on - but you never know until you start playing around with materials & designing the pattern if they will end up how you thought in your mind. Also, I've been having real difficulty this season with fabrics: sourcing the ones I want, getting something that will match my design & theme, still using ethical materials, golly what a headache! You need to account for any number of things not going to plan when creating a collection, & as always I don't seem to have been the best at the whole time management thing. Oh well, life without a bit of stress would be boring... right?
What is your favourite thing to wear during the summer months? I will be showing you a few of my initial designs soon for some feedback, it's so important to create garments that are wearable as well as interesting.
Happy New Year
Wednesday, 2 January 2013
Happy New Year one & all! I was planning on doing a little new year post yesterday with thoughts of the year gone by & plans for the future, but what was meant to be a quiet new year at home ended up being a dancing til your knees hurt, drinking sloe gin from the bottle sort of night, so yesterday involved a lot of sleeping & watching Princess & The Frog (which is actually really good).
Today I am finishing off some sewing & tomorrow morning we are off to Paris! This Christmas has been absolutely amazing, so much fun playing games & drinking & eating with family & seeing old friends too who are back for the holidays. I found it very strange taking an 'official' holiday as it is hard to shake the feeling of guilt when you work from home it just feels funny not having to feel guilty about not doing work. Does anyone else have this problem? I am looking forward to some time away from home to gather inspiration for the year ahead & make some concrete plans about what needs to be done, changed & what lessons I have learned in my first year of business.
Without getting to gushy (which is hard at this time of year as everyone seems to be all gooey) but I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported me in the last year whilst starting up my little business, that means thank you! I can't quite believe that people read this blog or wear dresses that I have designed & made, it's a little hard to come to terms with but it means the world to me.
I hope you all have had a magnificent holidays & are looking forward to 2013, may it be filled with happiness & laughter & silliness (& hard work) & all the things that make life good.
Betty
Saturday, 29 December 2012
I am so pleased to share this with you. My Poppy dress been featured in Betty magazine
& it is so beautiful! I received a copy in the post
last week & it is just splendid it feels all soft & smells
divine like paper & ink. The piece I'm featured in is all about film
& it's themed around Moonrise Kingdom with beautiful props made by Hattie Newman & it's right up my street.
You can get a copy here :)
The rest of the mag is jam packed with interesting articles & pictures. Thank you Betty team for involving me in this lovely magazine. Love it.
Pastel Party Dresses
Sunday, 16 December 2012
As I said a few weeks back, I spent a week flat out making some party dresses but then the order feel through :( So I had to do a rather last minute photo shoot so I could market them in my own shop. Well they are now up in shop, YAY! (If I don't sell them I am going to be very tempted to keep them myself)
My original designs:
A little make-shift party atmosphere for the last minute shoot in the bedroom - all photos taken on my conventional SLR from the 70s.
I actually quite like the naff vibe they put out, I know some are blurred or out of focus but I rather enjoy that aspect of using film. It was an lovely if not very rushed little photo taking session & I was lucky enough to have my two big sisters on hand to dress up! I have actually already sold the yellow one (huzzah!) but if you are interested in the others please take a gander in my Etsy shop - blue, pink & spotty. If you don't have Etsy drop me an email on mail{at}isabelknowles{dot}com
Well, I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend, I think I will be pulling an all nighter finishing off Christmas orders, oh what a silly person I am! & we haven't even got a Christmas tree yet. Oh the shame!
Seasons Greetings
Thursday, 13 December 2012
The season I am talking about is not Christmas time though. In work - & life - you often need to clear out the old to make way for the new. So, I have reduced all my SS12 collection by 15% as I need the space - both physically & mentally - to get on with my next years SS13 collection. Check out the collection here & all the photos here.
I only have enough Chevron fabric for 1 skirt or dress, or 2 pairs of bloomers. I have enough Mixed Apples for 2 dresses & I have 1 dip dye tee, so don't dilly dally if you want something!
Studio Sunday: Feature On Chickiedee
Sunday, 9 December 2012
Today I've been featured on the lovely RobbieLee's blog Chickiedee in her own Studio Sunday series. Take a peak into my studio & read a little interview here.
Thanks to RobbieLee for the feature! It was really interesting to think through my studio space & take pictures of the little details that I forget from them being there every day.
Hope everyone has had a nice weekend. I've been up in London this weekend & it has been such a lovely break in this busy time of year, back to the machine tomorrow! (well actually I have a few to finish tonight). Is everyone getting into the Christmas spirit? I'm going to get a Baileys...
Studio Update
Monday, 3 December 2012
This last week I've been working on some pastel party dresses. They were for a custom order but things fell through, so they will be available in my shop this week. These dresses are totally one of a kind, a lot of love has gone into making them, here are some photos I took on my film camera whilst I was working:
It is sad when an order falls through, I always throw my heart into it a little too much probably. But, it is all experience, & I love letting my imagination run away no matter the outcome. The dresses are all a UK size 8/10 & will be between £200/300, it may seem a lot, but some of them have taken me days to complete, I really enjoy doing the little hand sewn details that make a garment feel truly unique. If you ever have any ideas for a totally unique dress of your own, don't hesitate to contact me. You can see my inspiration for these dresses here.
It is sad when an order falls through, I always throw my heart into it a little too much probably. But, it is all experience, & I love letting my imagination run away no matter the outcome. The dresses are all a UK size 8/10 & will be between £200/300, it may seem a lot, but some of them have taken me days to complete, I really enjoy doing the little hand sewn details that make a garment feel truly unique. If you ever have any ideas for a totally unique dress of your own, don't hesitate to contact me. You can see my inspiration for these dresses here.
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