FASHION PROJECT - "From Muslin" to "It's something!"

When I was thinking of a good project to show my fashion design students a lesson in creativity – I was thinking of using a material that will not cost them an arm and leg. Neither do I don’t want to use an existing garment because it is not a fashion “make-over” project. Then, I thought why not make use of the fabric that all fashion design students and sewing enthusiasts used often – the good ol’ muslin.

So using muslin as a starting point, I dyed it in purple and hand painted a silver paint in uneven pattern for accent. Now, I have a transformed my fabric from its natural, unbleached state to a more fashionable silver glittered purple-dyed cotton fabric.

I also want to show how to use details that is not commonly used in prêt-a-porter apparel. So I picked yoyo. In the world of sewing, yoyo is not the toy but a circle of fabric gathered in the middle to give a puff look. It is also called Suffolk puffs. It is used in a garment as an embellishment or as an accent, mostly for DIY projects and not much for RTW because of the obvious production concern.

To make a yoyo – simply cut circle of fabrics. The circles must be cut twice the desired finished size. Using a durable thread, make a running stitch line around the edge of the fabric, pull and gather and you have your yoyo ready. Yoyo is popular among crafters, it is used in patchwork quilt, in pillows, used as rosettes and in other knick-knacks. Clover USA also offers yoyo maker in different sizes.

So okay, I decided to use yoyo as my major detail and element of design for this project. Yoyos are normally made more interesting by what you put in the middle of the gathered part. Most craft work use decorative buttons to cover the hole part but it would be an overkill for my design, so I decided to paint it in silver as well. To avoid the hole, I did not fold the edge of the fabric circle when I made the running stitch and allowed a little thread unraveling for a little edgy finished. I decided to paint it over with the silver glitter as well.

Now, I wanna make sure that yoyo will be the major detail without really making them as one single focal point in the design.  To do it I used them all over the bodice and the result is this:

So my dear, here it is … from “Just Muslin” to “It is Something” fashion.