Category: Ethical Fashion

22 Aug

Clothes Treasure Paradigm

Amelia Hoskins / Bespoke garments, Ethical Fashion / / 0 Comments

A mixing of fabrics to create a NEW LOOK.

'Guinevere' dress modelled at Cockington Court Crafts show.  [sold].  The name is suggested by the medieval style influence of the sleeves.

Rachel really liked this dress and was a perfect model for me as she was so happy trying it on.  'Guinevere' is a good example of a new way of designing clothes: a dress with contrasting fabric types, all held together by the coordinating of colours.  A 'treasure paradigm'.  

Lace knit - viscose - acrylic wool knit - polyester - wool-cotton.

 

I started with the navy lace as top piece, cutting the V shape, then adding the fabric frills to lower waist-hip position.

The khaki brown fabric frill and narrow beige frill echo the colours in the lower skirt pieces.  Polyester beige and khaki had identical prints, very subtle.

Skirt tartan was soft fine wool texture.  Beige 'V' inset to centre back and centre front to give more flare, as the original material was a small size.

Navy lace was cut from the same fabric as the top, to give a lace hem.

 

Its a bit wild in formulation, being an unusual mix of fabric types, but later sold in a shop.

 

 

The peplum is longer at the back, to give an elegance over the rear and to utilise the pleats which existed in the skirt it was taken from.

The skirt pieces are sewn up under the first beige peplum.

However skirt pieces became available, after cutting away from their original garment, I allow them to hang as they are, 'handkerchief style'.  When insets are needed, to create flare, I add a coordinating hem, in this case lace as the top; which hols the whole structure together.

I prefer craft show sales where I meet the buyer; when it creates a relationship between the maker's effort and the end user.  Its always nice to see the buyer in the garment.

22 May

Design Philosophy

Amelia Hoskins / About, Design Philosophy, Ethical Fashion / / 0 Comments

Harmonisation with Discarded Fabrics

Design inspiration comes from seeing themes evolve between disparate fabric prints and colours, rescued from charity/thrift shops, to be recreated into a new unique garment artwork.

As an artist and textile designer, I have a keen eye for the illustration and patterns in textile prints. I source those which appeal to me, variously of classical floral illustrative, geometric, and astral.  A combination of all these together with coordinating plain colours makes a good patchwork.

Not all prints are of personal favourite by themselves, but depending on their colours, I will see a way they would contrast or blend within a theme.  A dress full of rose bouquets can be cut up to introduce patch areas highlighting the best flowers.  A smaller patchwork piece/area of fabric can become more special than the full repeated print area.

Cotton lace tops (often cotton/acrylic mix) are another good find, as they can be layered over other colours.  Most synthetic lace fabrics also surprisingly take up plant dye to some extent, which removes any stark whiteness, too brilliant for patches amongst colours.

I usually choose a starting point of a print, or a part of a garment. then make a pile with other colours and prints (5 is usually sufficient to start with).  As you do this, one choice may be removed and replaced with another, as the combined effect literally 'shouts' too dark, too light, etc., depending on the theme in mind. The most subtle patchwork is when the overall effect is of fabrics of a similar tone; i.e. nothing too light, nor too dark, on its own.  I often do include black with a strong colour collection, due to its fashion favouritism, but am more careful with lighter tones and darks mixed, when making patch-worked garments using panels larger than traditional patchwork.

Silk Painting Inspirations

Some garments have my hand painted silk panels.  The print designs in each fabric collection may suggest a new design to be developed further, using their elements to create a silk painted panel, or I may simply copy some elements combined with other images of my own.  Colour mixing dyes to match the existing prints is an essential skill.  My silks, Habotai or Ahimsa, are base dyed with natural plants, in pastels and mostly golds.  In 2024 I'm experimenting with clamp dyeing backgrounds and making dye paints from plants and roots to use instead of commercial chemical dyes.

 

Images copyright Amelia Jane Hoskins Please email for use permission.