Going out skirt progress

Весела Коледа all. I've finished the panel and now working on a million knife pleats.

Making a folk skirt for my cold legs

Back in the before times—which I guess for most people means before COVID-19, but for me means before chronic illness smashed my world to bits—I used to do a lot of couture-style sewing. I have sewen entire historical ensembles. I sewed my own wedding dress. I thread traced and pad stitched and flat-lined. I was in love with the idea of fashion and wanted to engage with it on a sophisticated level. The problem was I didn't like anything I made.

Not only do I have a hard-to-fit body, but I have an electrolyte disorder that fucks up my hormones and makes my body size fluctuate like wild. When I could get things to fit well, they inevitably didn't fit well a month later. And the things I made were either too costumey for me to wear or too boring for me to enjoy. The sheer amount of money, and effort it took to create a garment I didn't like or could not wear destroyed my interest in sewing. I took a break for many years, though as sick as I was I could not have sewn even if I had wanted to. In the past few years, I have had the opportunity to live in Bulgaria for a few months at a time, here and there, slowly soaking up the culture. There I discovered my passion for Slavic folk attire. I have had the opportunity to view some amazing pieces up close at museums and festivals and to see countless up-close photos on Bulgarian buy/sell websites. Something that slowly wormed its way into my brain as I spent time appreciating these garments is how wonderfully flawed they are. I don't mean that they are not skillfully created. They, of course, vary from roughly made amateur attempts to some of the most amazing textile work I have ever seen. What they lack is the rigid rules of couture. The stuffy conventions that define high fashion are conspicuously and freeingly missing from these garments. They are not fitted but instead tied and belted into shape. Trimmings can be added ad-hoc with little coordination as old ones are replaced or new fancier ones can be obtained. Tunics, vests, skirts, and aprons are mostly stand-alone things and not part of a coordinated ensemble. Each item is beautiful and meaningful but modular. And most of all they tend to be extremely size adjustable. Not custom fit for one single body, but designed for any body that garment might be handed down to. Cue this winter, when I was once again looking with dread at the pants in my closet, knowing the things that fit were not warm enough for winter and dreading another round of buying things. There is a growing online trend for sewing historic-inspired adjustable clothing and I knew what I needed was an adjustable over skirt for going out. It needed to be long, warm, and easy to throw on over whatever I was wearing in the house. I wanted something that visually paid homage to the Slavic folk wear I love but their tie-on construction method wasn't going to work. Traditionally these skits had a long slit from the waistband down and tied shut. The ties let the skirt adjust to your size but the front would gap and was not very modest. This is why many historic European costumes include an apron. When wearing skirts of this type the apron covered this slit and provided complete modestly. Also, you have to either step into or drop these skirts over your head which wasn't what I wanted. While pondering how I wanted to make this I stumbled upon a video from "Sewing Therapy" about reversible hanbok skirt construction. The Hanbok is a traditional garment in Korea and like much traditional clothing, a very simple design made mostly of rectangles. As I understand it, and my understanding is poor, the skirt variant is a relatively modern creation. It has a waistband, two ties, and a large pleated panel. Importantly for me, the hanbok is made on the straight grain and not gored, or cut on the circle, just like Slavic folk skirts. They are very size adjustable and can be layered over any under clothes easily making them the perfect outer layer for winter.

I do not in any way claim that what I made in the end is a traditional hanbok. Pleated skirts with a waistband are a pretty pan-cultural idea and are frequently used in the construction of traditional European skirts as well, but the idea of making a pleated panel into a wrap skirt is something I first saw with this hanbok video and I wanted to make a point to give credit to Sara its creator. I hit up my local thrift store for cotton sheets for this experiment and lucked out on this burgundy and cream pair. The burgundy side I hit up with black fabric spray paint and whip-stitched a burgundy ribbon from my stash. For the cream side, I dip-dyed it with procion dyes. I added a simple pocket bag on one side and then stamped it with my possum skull block from my trash coat project. I made a point just to get this made and not to care about seams matching or thread color. I just wanted to have fun sewing again. And ya know what? It is imperfect and weird and works amazing to keep my legs warm and I LOVE IT. I wear this skirt constantly. I love it so much I have started on my second version, this time with some vintage 90s dino sheets.

Update to the trash coat! All the block printing is finished, and the belt has been toned to match better. Starting the process of replacing all the buttons. Do you know how many buttons are on a trench coat? It's a lot!

Why have a trench coat when you can have a trash coat! Current project status. 1980s Burberry coat I picked up from a thrift store getting new life (death?). It's been ages of stripping the old waterproofing, planning and carving the blocks, laying out the design etc. Glad to be actually stamping now. The design is inspired by a blend of Eastern European (mostly Ukrainian) and North American elements. Skulls are possums. Roses for my beloved Bulgaria.

Why have a trench coat when you can have a trash coat! Current project status. 1980s Burberry coat I picked up from a thrift store getting new life (death?). It's been ages of stripping the old waterproofing, planning and carving the blocks, laying out the design etc. Glad to be actually stamping now. The design is inspired by a blend of Eastern European (mostly Ukrainian) and North American elements. Skulls are possums. Roses for my beloved Bulgaria.

I joined a thing...

Hello fellow artists/illustrators/freaks! I created a discord called Starving Artists Happy House because I needed a place for myself and others to share informations about non-fandom zines and other art opportunities. I will update it with announcements I found myself + welcome you all to join in :) It's also a place to share free (or cheap) resources, get feedback, find collaborators and build a community in general!

Still kicking, still drama free going on 17 years now. 😁

Eta: I saw some people ask if this was "the homophobic horse game". No clue what game that is but as a bisexual polyamorous woman homophobic bullshit has no place in my community. We have a strict no assholes allowed policy.

what the fuck is horse game drama

Monoprint and collage. The bear and fish is by Mark Conway out of the wonderful Prison of the Forsaken Bear God module for DCC.

And here is the test print! Ready to go on the shirt.

Stamp carving for printing on upcycled thrifted shirt

Mother and child in gouache and ink. With sunflowers, olive branch and dove. Peace in Europe now. Слава Україні!

Peony in Posca

Messy desk pic of the sketch book. I am working on a large pumpkin sculpture and want to cover it in these folksy demons and animals and winged all-knowing vulvas. (Like a totally normal human would do.)

Moving from the Midwestern United States to Sofia, Bulgaria is certainly an experience in cultural growth. I have found that tends to bleed into my art. Having a Bulgarian partner, joining his family, learning the language, and experiencing the traditional crafts have changed my aesthetic sensibility.

This greeting card is a combination of soft lino carvings in Bulgarian traditional textile patterns and this black heart design I have been messing with lately. Embellished with posca pens.

Daisy, fearsome mount of Red Death

I've been falling in love with lino and Daisy here from the Venture Bros was begging to be my first two color print.

I swear I am not a bot, so here is a placeholder while I sort my shit out.

(Meow)