Hola! I've been sewing like mad and blogging not at all - until now. This past weekend, Prof. R. and I attended a fabulous exhibit at the Met: Manus x Machina. If you're in NYC and haven't been yet, I strongly encourage you to make the trip to view it. It's just incredible!!!
In short, Manus x Machina explores the intersection of manual or "by hand" (manus in Latin) techniques with techniques more technologically related ("machine" or Machina in Latin) within couture. The exhibit is arranged by the various Metier (trades) within the French couture world, e.g. Lace, Feathers and Flowers, Leather, etc.
Think laser cut leather strips manually connected with jump rings...
or a machine sewn dress with beading and sequins applied by hand.
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| The sequin detail is blown up and projected on the wall behind the dress. Clever and cool! |
Other beautiful creations included 3D printed collars or belts applied to hand sewn garments and beautiful lace and feather gowns. There were also garments that featured good old fashioned embroidery, but lots of it. Very yummy!!!
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| Examples of pleating - from the videos at the exhibition, it's a fairly manual process! |
The showpiece of the exhibition is a Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel wedding dress with a 20' train.
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| The design of the gold pattern was drawn by Karl Lagerfeld! |
The dress is Renaissance in style but is made of scuba knit, which is so au courant. The train features a gold lace like pattern with hand beading - YES, hand beading. The pattern is projected on the ceiling so one can make out the beautiful detail.
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| Close up of the 20' train |
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| Ceiling projection of the gold train pattern |
For this outing on a really warm day, I wore my unblogged Sewaholic Cambie.
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| On the very crowded and windy rooftop deck of the Met! |
I completed my Cambie last year towards the end of summer and was ambivalent about it. What made me hesitant was the back. The skirt is gathered with the back piece being almost twice the size of the front. I thought it might make me have a bustle butt, but now I'm good with it. What do you think?
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| Bustle butt in the foreground, Manhattan in the background |
One of the things I love about this pattern is the top. It fits almost perfectly right from the envelope!
I also really like the fabric I've chosen. Yay parasoles!!! It's Kanvas Cabana Umbrella Stripe Red from Fabric.com. It's a nice weight cotton designed by Maria Kalinowski but is no longer available. Sorry :( I lined the top in red cotton batiste which makes it nice and cool for the warm summer days we've having. And best of all, it has pockets!!!
Overall, I'm really glad I finally jumped on the Cambie train and made one of these. I think of other colors and fabrics I'd like to use for future versions, but now I'm madly trying to squeeze in some last summer projects before beginning my fall/winter sewing. Are you still sewing for summer or have you moved on to fall projects?
Hasta pronto!
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