Making a Mess--My Creative Process

I'm not sure of the prospect of snow tonight is making me punchy, but the atmosphere is changing rapidly and it is a wierd day.

People often ask me what is the process I use to create fashion accessories?  Basically my mind is going all the time putting together fabrics, ideas, techniques.  I think having as many interesting and off beat fabrics is essential.
Then I make a mess, on the floor.  All my materials are in boxes,  they are labeled accordingly, such as "French Chantilly Lace" , "Italian Wool Lace" or "Embroidered Velvets".   I pull out what I think I might like to use.

I have one starting point, it can be an object, a fabric, a photo in a book.  I use the colorway of whatever I pick as my basis for combining fabrics and textures.  Most of the time I have no idea of how anything will come out, I just start cutting randomly, nothing is straight, it is very intuitive.   I then start playing with the pieces and laying them out.  Once I've finalized the design, I sew  and sew and sew until I'm happy.  And then it goes through my finishing process that I described in an earlier blog.

I'll work like this until I am bored, then one day it will make it's way back into the organized boxes when I get the urge to experiment.

Here's a few pics from today:

My family is dismayed at the mess I make, there is not one flat surface in the house that I don't cover.  I think they are relieved when I go up to the gallery in Hamilton. 

Design Challenge: What Can You Do with a Flat Piece of Fabric?

This challenge is to take any length of fabric and see what shapes, styles, accessories, garments you can make without stitching.  You can pin, cut, fold,  embellish, but no sewing/gluing or permanent fastening.  You can alter the shape into a circle, trapezoid, rectangle, square, etc.  Narrow goods are also in the competition.
The object is to be able to fashion  anything out of a single piece and have it be reusable later into something else.  Think of it as this:  If you only had 1 piece of fabric to take with you on a deserted island, how would you use it? Or if you were going to be in fashion week, what would you have walking down the runway? 

I'll put together a panel of textile mavens to consider the ideas.. Winners!  Prizes! Someone will receive a very very special gift from my personal stash.

Submit your ideas, photos to jane@alextex.com, or post comments and photos on this blog.
Entries are due March 31, 2010, and Winners will be announced May 1, 2010.