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wedding randomness part three
this is the wedding of the longstockings who got married on leap day. i went to high school with the bride. we spent years together in french class. her dress is a modified version of my a-line dress (see photo below) with a higher neckline, lower hemline and is decorated with roses.
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wedding randomness part two
this is a reconstruction project i did this past spring/summer. i got a call from a lady who had seen one of my skirts on someone at the grocery store. she brought me her mother’s wedding dress to restyle: it was covered in rust stains, and wasn’t the most flattering fit on her. we decided to take the sleeves off, change the neckline, lower the hem, add triangle gussets to the sides for a slightly fuller skirt and add surface decorations to cover the rust stains. i used a piece of the sleeve cuff for the headpiece (not pictured). we chose some tulle, vintage net, organza and hanah silk ribbon…
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wedding randomness part one
now that it is almost the end of the year, i am going to post all the random custom projects that i have been meaning to put up. there will be a few more in the coming days. this is a wedding project that i did with my friend nancy davis. she did most of the work, but employed me to make the felt appliques that are studded with swarovski crystals. i did the tux jacket and the birds on the skirt of the dress, she made the bride’s dress. this was for a december wedding at a roadside attraction in joshua tree. a little outside of the realm of…
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fixing an old friend
many years ago i discovered quilting. i think that if i could make my living this way, i would be a quilter. it is a secret madness, quilting. the constant eye out and collecting of calico (the printed cotton fabric used for traditional quilting) with every trip to the fabric store, and the hoarding of scraps of fabric in plastic bins. i have several unfinished quilts that i work on every now and then resting in a neatly folded pile at the foot of my bed. about 10 years ago i made the quilt that covers my bed. it is made out of 1930’s reproduction prints in bubblegum colours. a…
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flying iron
earlier this fall, i received a request to make a costume for a performance my friend lisa degrace was working on. i met lisa while making the costumes from last year’s production of cocoon bird. she told me it would involve a giant skirt to be fitted over a metal frame. sounded intriguing. we met up a few days later to talk about it in person. the performance involved her crawling into and buckling herself into this skirt that she was to be trapped in until she had to fall out and get back in. she had been looking into ordering a 30′ parachute to be somehow fitted to this…
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quite possible the best non-cranky bio i have written in awhile
kirsten moore is mostly known for making zillions of flowers out of ribbon, but secretly she is a costume designer. when given the opportunity she dresses people they way they really want to look; maybe how we imagined we looked when we played dress up as children, but in clothes that actually fit. by day she is the proprietor of piper ewan, an independent fashion design company in portland, or.
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fox fur collar
sometimes i get fixated on a particular thing, that i must make or find. for the last while, i have been searching for a vintage fox fur collar. i finally found what i was looking for from an etsy seller in canada, zaama. the box finally arrived over the weekend. it is a very plush creamy colour with chocolate tipped guard hairs. after decorating it with flowers and sewing on a new hook and eye, i have been wearing it ever since. it is what i am designing my fall wardrobe around. worn on the shoulders, it goes with anything; sweaters, blazers, winter coat, camisole, lingerie. i feel a little…
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leaving my ‘pet’ crow
back in the beginning of may i had to stop eating wheat. we had to break up because it just wasn’t working for me anymore. in a fit of housecleaning, i pulled all of my open containers of wheat based products: crackers, granola, pretzels, cookies, cereal and emptied them into a brown paper grocery bag with the intention of dumping it in the compost bin. but then i felt a pang of guilt. while a good portion of this food was completely inedible (stale and old) i felt a pang of guilt about throwing it away. the bag was filled 6 inches deep. i went back and forth with myself…
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putting myself out there
there is more out there in the world than the little bubble i seem to live in. today out of the blue i received an invitation from a lady in paris to join a french social networking site: http://modepass.com/piperewan now i have sworn off of joining any new internet things, except that i get suckered into so many things under the guise of ‘business.’ but then why not? the more things to come up when people who are looking for me who didn’t know that they were looking for me. lately i have gotten at least one inquiry email from random people who have been keeping tabs on me, which…
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written up
my friend, brent pointed out to me that getting written up when you are an independent v. employed are two very different things. my housemates and i, (when i had a job back in my 20’s) would put our write ups for being late (or in my case wearing a too-short skirt) on the refrigerator. these days i have been getting written up, as in publicity, which is welcome and exciting v. the attempts to shut me down and control me that my former employers tried to push on me by shaming me for not conforming. here is the latest: www. the-lingerie-post.com come see me tonight! i almost never have…