A bridal round-up and some residue fever

A fair warning: this is a long post and most definitely not for the faint hearted.

Proceed only if white organza and ivory guipure have the power to set your heart aflutter.

Best avoid if ..

you know what, I take that back

why avoid? 

I too have no intention of getting married any time soon, but love a nice dress and a party as much as the next 'dress and party lover'. 

So here goes.. some words and photos from weddings I was lucky enough to work on in the past year but found little or no time to discuss in full once the dresses left the building .. ah! the joys of retrospective blogging!

Anne-Marie's crisp white and lavender scented December wedding 

credit: valentina lupo photography

This is, I admit, a favourite. This dress is everything I dreamt it would be from top to bottom, bringing together some recurring obsessions and more current design interests such as the spartan and monastic cuts of 1950s Balenciaga married with the detailed floral motifs of vintage Lanvin, Poiret's theatrical peplums and Vionnet's bias flow. I had made dresses for Anne Marie before and we'd come to realise that we did appreciate very similar traits and qualities in dresses (that kind of context and prep is always a plus) but a gown as special as a wedding gown, presents an exciting blank slate and so over the course of one year and following several sketching sessions, the initial idea for a cocktail length puff-ball bridal dress turned into a longer, slender and somewhat sleeker silhouette. At this point, I dreamt up around ten options (yeah I was on a roll, sketching-fever if you will) and lo and behold Anne Marie chose my absolute favourite from the lot. We then shopped for the right shade of crisp white satin and matching organza (fast becoming my favourite material) .. we discussed and sketched every little detail in advance: from the head-dress and veil combo to the size of the floral wreath and the size/shape/colour of the beading. Thankfully we seemed to be on the same style-page from the outset even though the first source of inspiration (ie. Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby which I still hate :p) behind the design-process remained a bone of contention till the very end. In any case, I remain most grateful for the opportunity to create a personal and humble interpretation of a DECO bridal gown just as it appeared in my dreams .. I now know that such opportunities are extremely hard to come by.

some sketches, the organza over-dress sitting patiently on its dummy before
the first fitting and a matching ring-cushion 

one last shot of the bridal veil and beading on the sleeves during the last fitting.

a spray of pearl and glass beads .. looks like lemonade fizz, takes much much longer to pour;
sewing by hand gives you the control to create and adapt as you go along but it is
back-breaking work which truly tests your love for the craft.

Every flower created individually, by hand, with circle upon circle of crisp organza, satin, crepe-satin and chiffon.
The green ones were created for the bridesmaids' dresses, thus bringing the floral leitmotif
full circle (closeups to follow).

... hours and hours ...

... upon hours of careful hand-stitching and beading + several cups of coffee later!

And the decidedly marine-inspired fan head-piece with pearl and crystal spray beading to match the sleeves -
similarly time-consuming work and equally as satisfying a result.

Here are two shots of all the dresses in action ..
can't wait for more detailed snaps from the big day!

Lal's balmy June wedding and a dress re-visited 

Back in June 2012 I replied to a facebook message from a person I had never met before asking me whether I could possibly have a look at a beaded and embroidered 60s wedding dress which needed some tlc before it made it down the aisle the following year. So I said yes (because 'yes' is the only answer to such a propsal) and I drove with driving instructor in tow (didn't have my license back then) to said person's house, walked up a steep hill on a typical August mid-day and finally I made it to the breezy and shady front garden of the house at the top of the hill and the person behind the message turned out to be Caroline or rather 'Lal' - Lal of the two dresses/countries not one, Lal whose circle of friends in Malta overlapped with mine and yet somehow we had never met, Lal who ultimately went for the most precious and sentimentally-charged gown I ever laid eyes on. Because you see, when I entered the room where the said 60s dress (a stunning and absolutely precious dress in its own right) was laid out on a bed, I couldn't help being distracted by the other dress Lal had brought out for me to see. Her mother's wedding dress, a long vintage guipure shift dress with detachable train (satin bows and all) by a local and much revered (yet sadly now defunct) couture house  Mme Manfre. This was to be her wedding dress. Months later, following the unfortunate passing of the bride's mother, the choice of dress started to resonate on so many other levels and the pressure to do the dress justice sky-rocketed. I was to cut open the 3/4 length sleeves and use the individual guipure motifs to lengthen the dress by a couple of inches, create a new neckline with a V-dip at the back, replace the old zippers and permanently attach the stately oval train to the dress. The dress was to then travel across the continent to qualified dry-cleaners and fly back to Malta for it's second wedding ceremony. Some people don't live and travel half as much as this dress has! In conclusion, I admit I have very fond thoughts attached to this dress-saga .. and to this day I consider myself very grateful for being allowed to participate in such a wonderful tale!

credit: Suzey Ingold

As low at the back as one's allowed to go without raising a priest's eyebrow or two

*dreamy (and slightly panic-inducing) label* ... anxiety of influence much?!

This is a shot of my after-hours working table - cutting and trimming down of the individual guipure leaves in preparation for the morrow's list of alterations - with time, only the fondest of memories remain.
Somehow thankless tasks like these take on a magical aura of bliss!
#time_is_indeed_a_healer

Following all the alterations executed entirely by hand, we were both crossing fingers that
the maverick chemists/drycleaners would deliver the goods as promised.

credit: Tamsin Valentino and Sophie von Trapp
... on the day!

 

I was also entrusted both the flower girls' dresses - simple, summery and full skirted raw-silk dresses with a bow at the back  and the two bridesmaids' haircombs in matching raw silk, organza and pearls. The zesty and floral colour scheme was just perfect for the season!

And some beautiful shots of the bride seen here in front of a framed photo of her mother in the same dress .. x
credit: Matthew Mirabelli

... with the cutest two ...
 credit: Matthew Mirabelli

... and ultimately, with the chosen one
credit: Matthew Mirabelli

Becky's classy October wedding troupe and party dress

credit: Stephen Lynch photography

I couldn't help wondering, as I sat down to hem all three of these matching bridesmaid dresses in ivory chiffon - how can one village spew forth so much beauty! ;)

This Siggiewi wedding troupe made up of sisters, cousins and the best of childhood friends opted for the right degree of Hollywood glam and decided to keep it classy from beginning to end - I respect that you see, so I couldn't help mentioning it. It would have been dreadful to have to work, for so long, on something that is overdone or god-forbid on the gaudy side of glam - so, yes, I'm basically of the opinion that we should applaud 'good glam' because it'll save humanity a lot of pain in the long run! The young and effervescent (yes, after deliberation, that is the perfect adjective) bride wanted classic one-shoulder and off-shoulder dresses in breezy ivory to match her own wedding dress for her glamorously tanned and polished entourage - no fuss, no excessive bling, just slender and classy. So I took a leaf from Madame Gres' goddess-worthy draping and kept it simple. 

red-carpet material, in my humble humble opinion 

a retrospective sketch
following a wedding it usually takes me a couple of days to get it out of my system and start
creating anew so I sometimes sit down and sketch the dresses afresh.
It gives me something practical to do as well as an excuse for some much-needed introspection.

The bride also wanted a second surprise dress for the wedding reception .. a figure hugging, bias-cut and backless crepe-satin dress in icy white with a beaded trim all around the neckline.
Ever so typical of me, before handing the dresses over to the bride I forgot to take a photo of the finished piece so I guess you'll just have to take my words for it..
it fit her like a glove, attracted the expected level of surprise from the groom, and allowed Becky enough freedom to dance the night away as per plan!

last words: love them or hate them (and secretly still love them) weddings are powerful rituals.. they present the perfect backdrop for happy memories between families and friends, have the power to make or break existing social ties whilst cementing newer and stronger ones .. but overall, taken in one's stride and with the required pinch of salt, even the most stressful of run-ups to the big day will, in time, turn into the fondest of memories. 

That said, I still insist I do not want the experience for myself. Having the ability to sew the dress of my dreams has only turned me into the pest-friend who keeps dropping hints to close friends (and some random and very surprised acquaintances) to get married and throw a damn party .. because love is good and parties are just GREAT!

so here endeth the bridal-saga post
x

Hello 2014 ..

I've promised myself change for the coming year. 

Because change is essential to a well-rounded and varied life, I think.

On the brink of 26, I find myself in a better position than ever before to start taking some much needed and postponed decisions. I don't mind what I've done so far, in fact I'd like to do more of it, but better; and better requires a different setting, format and route.

But for now, I'll only be sharing some pictures of my last biggish project. Because, fuck chronology ..

Areola Treat's Lisa commissioned a snazzy and glittery cape to wear on stage and practically gave me carte-blanche to turn a bag-full of tinsel curtains in gold and hot pink into a NYE-stage-worthy piece. Cue 70s glam rock, Ziggy Stardust costumes in the V&A archives, Liz Taylor's painted and powdered Cleopatra etc etc. I basically wanted to create a cape that would as easily jump the queue at Studio54, make it on to Bowie's nostalgic rail of personal craft favourites as well as into Noel Fielding's wardrobe for the second series of Luxury Comedy.

The collar I moulded out of glued and threaded layers of gold leather strengthened by recycled prints of Mdina watercolours I had lying about the house in gold wooden frames that deserved to frame better things! The first gold tinsel layer was laid on one strand at a time to ensure an even and flat spread that doubles over the shoulder area for volume. 

The collar I cut  out of leather scraps using tiny scissors and whatever was left of my waning eyesight after the second double layer of hot pink tinsel went on - again, one strand at a time, whilst listening to some inspiring music to urge the process on. Tip 1: dancing and gluing can be hazardous to eyes/hair/cat. Tip 2: place cats in a safe place before trimming tinsel to size - cats love tinsel-rain too much for their own good.

... and now we wait for photos of the cape as worn on stage for last nights NYE concert celebrations.

Some last words: welcome 2014 and bring on more fancy capes, travel opportunities to far-away lands, more time consuming projects, time for reading more books about great people's work, welcome all that and more. 2013 lessons were enough to last me a couple of years so I feel absolutely good to go. But first, some more rest and much needed detox.

Later on in the week I'll hopefully be posting more detailed posts about the sewing projects that have shaped my second half of 2013. Time permitting I'll even share some photos from my last holiday - the first holiday to teach me what relaxation is all about. In the meantime I'll be off to tackle the rest of my festive reading material ie. Balenciaga: The Couturier's Couturier, Pattern Magic, King of Fashion: The Autobiography of Paul Poiret and some more texts along those lines.

For the moment, I'll just dream some more until it really hits me that it's already the 1st of January. 

Dia de los Muertos cocktail cup trio

And so it all started when Carla (a friend and fellow appreciator of beautiful things) and I decided we wanted  to host an imaginary radio show called 'TIKI BAR'.
Ok, rewind a bit.
I was sewing away as per usual and going through every episode of 'NO RESERVATIONS' I could find on Youtube. When you work from home, you pick up such wonderful habits!
I came across an episode in which Anthony Bourdain discovers the Das Racist crew in his fridge (fun times!) and so I felt duty bound to forward said episode to Carla.
Later on in the episode, the wonderful/surreal/all-encompassing experience that is 'spending an afternoon in a Tiki Bar' was revealed to us for the first time. We felt like TIKI virgins, parched, in awe, jealous of all of those within walking distance of such a plastic-flower-and-fairy-light-bedecked temple of joy. Every hour is cocktail hour at the 'TIKI BAR' .. we wanted our bar, we wanted a hammock (come to think of it, 2 hammocks would have been more convenient) .. we wanted a cocktail-hour Radio show.

we basically wanted to escape the terrifying run up to 'teaching-practice' and 'meeting a wedding-commission deadline'.

Instead I decided to tackle this little dream in, perhaps, the smallest but, at least, realistically achievable way.
I decided to make some tiki-inspired cocktail cups in the shape of Day of the Dead skulls because (1.) I can, (2.) I am allowed some cross-referencing artistic license, (3.) end of October/beginning of November was coming up and I just love all Halloween-related activities.

So here's the Rita C. Colomba cup ...

... round and bulbous ...

... and fit for the best new teacher on the block!
Carla now teaches rowdy acne/hormone-ridden boys going through their problematic early teens
so  it is no wonder she's left craving some liquid gold (and a cocktail umbrella) after a hard day at it.

Don't you just love a cold and sweaty cup.. I say, spice up your concoction with some chilli, ditch the coasters, sit back in your favourite chair and YOLO-it all the way to the weekend/mid-term holidays!

three cheers for Miss Carla tal-INGLIXX! *hip hip

Second one up .. allow me to introduce to you: Florinda
the entirely fictitious spirit of a miserly grandmother ...
no longer flesh
morphed into clay
re-visiting her estranged grandsons in the shape of a vision at the bottom of their
drink come the 1st of November 

This, on the other hand is the Rancho de la Luna cup
inspired especially by:
 Josh Homme's Dessert Sessions
my persistent 'road-trip through the desert' dream
cravings for tequila based cocktails
and
the resilient and master-of-disguise cicada living in my barren excuse for a yard

This mustachioed cup has a large white cross and cactus for ears,
a blue cow skull tattooed on the back of its head and a hell of a lot of hearts in between

Ok, so here goes.. it worked once.. let's hope we're twice lucky!

Some months back I posted a short blog post and accompanying photos of a hat I made in honour of the ever so lovely, impeccably dressed Tziporah Salamon. To cut a long story really really short, Tziporah got in touch, and the hat somehow made it to New York. Seeing as I'm a sucker for romantic endings (sometimes, when I feel like it ..) and love knowing that what I make ends up in its rightful place; I want to dedicate this cup to Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme.
Some, (and by 'some' I mean my friend Carla who finds this notion amusing to say the least .. bzutt Carla)..
so, where was I.. oh yes.. Some might say I'm pushing my luck here, but come on, is it so unusual to want to give out gifts to people whose work and purpose/role in life you admire. I'll be watching the band live for the first time in Birmingham this November (I'm travelling, I need the break .. and it's not like we Maltese actually have a choice.. in order to see our favourite bands live we have no option but) and I'm really excited about the whole prospect. Will be travelling with just a small carrier bag and crossing my fingers that airport security won't deem this cup 'too hazardous a container for air transport' (pah!).
This cup will keep spinning in its newspaper and bubble-wrap nest until it gets to its rightful owner so all I can do is try. No use waxing lyrical about how much I love Homme's contribution to music here... but if I could (and if I wasn't off my face on left-over wine) I definitely would, because I've listened to very little else for the best part of the past year(s). I'm really quite tipsy at this point.. so I beg of you, please excuse the hyperbole.

Hyperbole apart,
I'm a big fan and I would like to somehow have this cup reach him in one piece as a sign of appreciation from a far away land.

#QOTSA

PS and disclaimer: every skull cup is totally handmade; hand painted in one-off designs and largely improvised brushwork. Should you be interested in anything similar I'd be (time-permitting) very happy to oblige. However I stand by my own word when I insist on never repeating a design (at all costs and in every thing I do, sewing and hat-making included). Repetition bores me no end and I just noticed the first frown line on my forehead..
I guess, what I really mean to say is that I can't help feeling that time is running out really quickly and repeating the same thing quickens said pace further. Creating exclusive items comes easy to a restless mind and I intend to keep that up for as long as I can.

These are a few of my favourite October things ...

Why bother starting every blog post with a 'sorry, it's been long since..'

I'm not going to excuse myself, I've been busy.

'Busy' is my favourite mode.. perhaps, masochistically so, even 'a little bit stressed' is good.

I like having a full day, when the mind just has no option but to stop wandering and focus FOCUS.. if I relax I do not create.

When I relax, I drink cocktails and eat, a lot, go out, a lot .. there is no way in hell I'm going to be in a right mind to create if I'm relaxed. So, fuck relax.

This is possibly the best looking thing I've done in a long while. Don't get me wrong I love almost all of my commissioned work; I love sketching and making every piece. I'm lucky  because, to a certain extent, in my line of work I can be selective as to what commissions I accept. However, rarely do I get to meet someone with such similar taste and the best figure to carry off the dresses I constantly dream about. I hadn't experimented with simple flat Japanese cutting in a long time so this dress came as a most welcome distraction from other (only slightly) less palatable work. I was so excited about the prospect that the fact that I had to make it out of such delicate silk didn't even worry me one bit.

Just for the record - this is very much the direction I'd want my ready-wear collection to take..
and I hope I'm not giving away too much when I say that.

*thanks dad for taking over the 'throwing' duties since I'm still struggling with that* meh

 And whist my sewing room at home was inundated with scraps of ivory chiffon (more about that later) .. back at my parents' I was getting my hands dirty once more for a wedding gift commission. A rushed order that made me hold my breath and cross fingers several times throughout the process. Making it just in time didn't even come as a relief.. I'm still high on the adrenaline of last week. Proof of that - insomnia made worse by late night teleshopping channel browsing!

I insist .. everyone needs Marilu' (or equivalent) for a friend.. a very very thoughtful friend who commissions the most wonderful (if I may say so myself) personalized gifts. This hand painted 50s themed breakfast set intended for newly-wed couple Mr. and Mrs. Fifty (we'll call them that because from what I can understand, almost everyone else does as well) has a (also hand-painted) dedication at the bottom of each item. Emblazoned with their nicknames and polka dotted all over, let's just say I would have really liked to hold on to this set and *hiss* at whoever touches it! 

Out of the kiln .. we made it just in time!

and whilst I was at it (in Maltese we have the most useful saying ‘kif kont fiz-zifna’ .. I really like this saying by the way) I made a mug I had promised my friend Rachel ages ago. She needed one for work.. one that said ‘ Hey, this is Rachel’s mug and I’m really not into sharing bacteria’. I opted for a teenage-angst-fuelled dripping-graffiti font to ward off anyone who dares disturb Rachel's sacred first-tea-in-the-morning ritual!

Rachel loves squirrels - Rachel does not love sharing mugs

This is one of several sketches I made late one night in a bid to compensate for the fact that, after all, I never became an Egyptologist. When I was younger I had promised absolutely everyone, including granparents, teachers, tea-sets and stuffed bears, that I'll become 'an explorer'. At 25 I'm finally coming to terms with the fact that this, along with many other things I had thought possible in one lifetime, is in fact pretty much impossible/improbable. It's ok .. at least I can sketch these things out to exorcize them. Wouldn't want to wake up in my 40s with my dreams of being an Egyptologist all bottled up and hallucinating about scarabs in my cereal bowl.

So I'll be off for now. Will leave you with a few snapshots of what's going on in my sewing-room at the moment. Of special importance is my recent breakthrough with scallop edging, crafty experiments with some novel materials and just a hint of what Halloween 2013 has up its roomy black sleeve.