3.3.11

recent developments.

last week, i received an email from the school i recently applied to, my first choice fashion design school. and they accepted me!! i have been accepted into the bachelor program at the International Fashion Academy of Paris. i am overjoyed, completely and totally. there are still a lot of kinks to be smoothed out, a lot of work to be done, and my return to paris is still unsure. but the hard part is over, the only thing that stands in my way is money! and though that is a very big obstacle, the fact that i have even come this far is heartening. at the beginning of the year, i returned to america, armed only with a plan. i was going to learn how to sew extensively to the point of making a portfolio and use that portfolio to apply to a school. and in two months, i accomplished that. i increased my sewing skills a hundredfold, i created a portfolio, and i got accepted. no matter what happens now, i know i can do this. and that knowledge is an amazing comfort.


it is still hard for me to believe how great my life is, and how truly blessed i am. i am a smart, talented, and strong woman who is capable of so many things. and even better, on top of those base characteristics, i have been given so many opportunities, an unbelievable amount of opportunities. more so than the average person, and i am aware, and grateful, of that fact. i am not a religious person, instead, i thank my family, the sacrifices they have made and continue to make, and the decisions they made for me during my childhood.


now i still have to find a job. desperately, i need a job. but i wrote my resume today and will begin to send them out as soon as they are finalized. and i have designed nine pieces for the first collection in my store! i hope to have them up and for sale by april, just in time for spring and summer. but here is a sneak peek of a shirt prototype i have already made!




and i recently found a great site, burdastyle.com. its like ravelry, but for sewing!!

23.2.11

yet another change!

but at least this one is a progression.

this is a very personal blog, one ive had for years. ive discussed friends and family, relationships, and very personal situations. ive grown to have a rapport with you readers, one i dont want to lose.

so this will not be my business/fashion blog. this will remain my 'knitting' blog, i dont want to change anything about the chemistry of this blog, and i dont want it to be made public.

i know what youre thinking, "this isnt public??" but no its not, this blog resides in a tiny little knitting niche of the internet world. its open to people i love and trust: fellow knitters, not customers.

and id like to keep those things separate. im not excluding you, i am extending an open invitation to my new blog, im just not extending those readers an invitation here!

so here it is, the unprepared debut of my new endeavor, Yellow Bird. im still trying to figure everything out, nothing is ready. most of the designs arent even finished (yet they are begun!) but i figure i can share this part of my life with you guys, even if it is a little premature. my aunt told me that i need to create everything under my name now, before someone else does. so though these things wont be up and running for months, maybe even years, they exist and are wholly mine!

my website
my facebook page
my tumblr
my etsy
my email

i think ive decided that i just like all these new technology things, although a website is much harder than i expected. my dad signed me up for a website creation class at our local art center. hopefully that will help!

and still no news from the school, hopefully ill know soon!

18.2.11

my first ever photoshoot.

well, yesterday marks two months in america and i just had my first photoshoot last weekend! technically, its not my first collection; its more of my portfolio. i did use patterns for some of the pieces, and none of them are for sale! im using this to apply for fashion schools in paris, rather than start a business. 


im applying to one school in particular, called IFA. they are my first choice, and yesterday i sent my application in to them. i am unbelievably nervous,  they are the perfect school for me. and i hope so badly they will accept me. i did everything i could think of, i worked so hard on this portfolio and my essay. the decision now rests in their hands.


the making of this portfolio was a wonderful process, one i enjoyed immensely. i had the most trouble with the original drawing of my designs, though i am told that gets easier with practice. my favorite part was actually cutting the fabric and creating the patterns themselves. i had to decide how large to make the pattern pieces, how to construct the garment (there are so many options!) and i spent hours drafting pattern after pattern on newspaper until i eventually graduated to newsprint and had a lot less trouble. 


but although the act of designing and sewing was fun and something i really loved and enjoyed, the most satisfying moment, the moment of true pride, came when i first saw my model in MY clothes. to see a woman wearing my clothes and seeing them actually fit, actually look good, actually look real was an indescribable feeling. regardless what happens with ifa, with my plans to return to paris, i will never forget the moment when i saw my model in my clothes for the first time and realized that i did it. i set out to design clothes, and i did. 


location: the arts district, phoenix az
model: dena nicole brooks
photographer: tressel holloway




ONE: romper





my own original design.  
romper is made from both a lightweight knit material, and a pinstripe crepe material.  
features a bow motif on the front, with matching side pockets. 
halter neckline, with ties.  
elastic casing in the waistband and back.



TWO: gathered shorts





  my own original design. 
  made from a lightweight knit fabric. 
  features a high waist band, with gathers. 
  side pockets on the front and high pocket flaps on the back. 
  one-inch cuffs around the legs.  
  a zipper fly. 
    

THREE: blazer






  modified from an existing pattern.  
  made from a woven houndstooth.  
  added a grey lining, on the inside of the body and the sleeves.  
  added reversible cuffs. 



FOUR: button-up blouse with ruffles

   


modified from an existing pattern.  
made from a cotton blend. 
decreased and rounded the size of the sleeve caps. 
lessened the amount of ruffles.



FIVE: pleated shorts





  my own original design. 
  made from a cotton material.  
  high-waisted shorts with a pleated waistline.  
  side pockets. 
  a button-up fly.




SIX: manu cardigan


 followed the manu pattern almost exactly.  
 knit from an aran wool blend.  
 knit from the bottom up, short-row yoke construction.  
 features gathers on the shoulders, sleeve bands, and pockets.  
 boasts garter-stitch detailing.




SEVEN: horizontal-ribbed cardigan


 my own original design: pattern written by me. sort of blogged about here, but not really.  
 knit from a dk weight merino wool.  
 horizontal ribbing edging; alternate rows of stockinette and reverse stockinette. 
 knit from the top down, raglan yoke construction.


now, i did not sew the two tshirts! those are store-bought!! the light grey is from h&m, and the dark grey shirt came from a flea market in thailand. 

i decided on the name of my eventual line, and i doubt any of you will be surprised. yes, it is "yellow bird". because i have found it! i found my yellow bird, the thing ive been searching for, the thing that defines me and fills my thoughts and drives my day. it's designing clothes, it's making clothes, it's fashion. my blogroll is full of fashion blogs, and my desk is overflowing with international fashion magazines (l'officiel and russh are my favorites) and my facebook newsfeed is overrun with fashion posts from my many recent likes. 

as i start out, id like to be an independent high fashion designer, who makes good custom clothes at more affordable prices. but i plan to eventually get into limited edition pret-a-porter, and have multiple lines. i want of course a mens line and a womens line. but id also like two more lines for mixed genders: a line that fits more than just one body type and isnt screen print tees. and the one im most excited about, an eco-sustainable line. apparently, i plan to be very big.  i dont want to be famous, though. i have no desire for fame. i simply want to make clothes for people.

ive bought my website, just to preserve the domain name! its yellowbirdcollections.com, and once i can figure out this PHP or PTP or whatever its called, ill put the photos up! (any help in this area would be greatly appreciated, im not as tech savvy as id like.)

but my more immediate plans? im hoping to get accepted to this school and move back to paris this summer. while in school, romain thinks i should create an underground independent fashion line for the parisian youth (he means the twenty-something year olds who go clubbing every night). i agree wholeheartedly, except id like to open up a small online shop with some menswear as well. then once ive graduated and after ive interned for a while in one of the big fashion houses, ill have enough of a base to open a real store. and as long as im dreaming, itll be in the marais...

but it doesnt do any harm to dream, right??


8.2.11

name change!

the name of my blog has changed to "yellow bird collections". although, after some difficulty, the url will be remaining the same. you can still reach me at yellowbirdknits.blogspot.com

ill be back with a real update in a couple of weeks!! im busy busy busy.

9.12.10

the beginning of a brand new adventure.

as i mentioned in my last post, i lived in ireland for two months. my lease in paris ran out, right when my french student visa expired. i needed a place to live, and to plan, because i wasnt quite ready to return to the states just yet. my friend aoife was up for the challenge. she had recently moved into a three-story house fifteen minutes outside of dublin. she asked her new flatmates, and they agreed i could stay as i long as i pitched in for garbage collection and propane for the stove. i instantly agreed. so i brought my tiny backpack, packed with warm weather paris clothes and showed up on aoifes dooorstep. it was then that she told me the tiny little hiccups: one, ireland was COLD. two, we didnt have a room yet, we were living in the laundry room. the laundry room had one queen bed, an armoir, a washer plus dryer, and literally nothing else, if you dont count the mold and snails that came in from the broken window above the bed. i couldnt complain, i was living there for almost free. but it was a little depressing after the charm of being called 'daz', a form of laundry detergent, wore off.

but the house, and the people in it, were amazing. the rooms (yes, even the laundry room) were large and run down, exactly how i like them. it reminded me of the place i lived while in brooklyn; an artists squat. grafitti drawings, and mural paintings covered the walls. it was a completely inspiring place to be.

it was there that i met lynn macpherson, of salty philip. during my brief time in ireland, i worked under her. i learned a lot working under her and was inspired to finally pursue a career path that i had recently begun mulling about in my head. lynn was a scottish designer, living in ireland, fresh from berlin where she had owned her own shop. lynn made eco-sustainable designs only, something i would eventually like to incorporate. on top of that, lynn was only twenty-four. she had owned two shops, and had a studio i was in awe of. these are some pictures from her photoshoot from her most recent collection. the professional ones can be found on her website, linked above. lynn is the one with an umbrella.










ireland is full of artists doing what they love. granted most of them are on the dole, an irish form of welfare, it is nonetheless inspiring. being around lynn and seeing her working, not only showed me it was possible but got me excited to start my own career in fashion.

being with this girl helped too. in case you dont recognize her, thats kulka from ravelry, her blog here. after blogging back and forth for years, i finally met her last year my first time to ireland. then when i returned, there was no question we would become great friends. she would like to start designing her own knitting patterns and we talked drunkenly for ages of opening an etsy shop. she recently started art school at 25, and is giving me the courage to pursue fashion design school at such a late age.

so that was ireland, two months full of inspiration. that coupled with the inspiration given by spending the last several months with an amateur fashion photographer in paris, has given me the drive needed to pursue fashion school.

i used to think that speaking about something made it less likely to happen, a form of jinxing if you will. but over the past year ive learned that not speaking about things doesnt make your dreams happen or problems go away. in fact, not speaking does just the opposite: that simple act of ommission can make everything worse. it is through facing your problems, asking for help or advice, or even just talking until your head is clear, that accomplishes anything and everything. donc, i am appealing to you, blogging world, to offer me advice, even more inspiration, or to simply be a sounding board for me bounce ideas off of. 

in less than a week, i am moving back to arizona. i need/i want/i have to finish my last semester of university. however, rather than returning to flagstaff, i will be (eep, those dreaded words ever college student dreads to say) living at home and attending the nau phoenix campus.

i have my reasons, more than i would have thought. the least selfish is i really need to be closer to my parents, my sister, and my nephew. i have spent the last eighteen months away from them, and am planning on spending the next three years away as well, while pursuing my next degree.

the more selfish one is that i will save money. i need to save up thousands of dollars before i can move back to europe. granted, my income will be more in europe, but i will have tuition, rent, AND student loans from nau to pay off. living at home while in america allows me to work, and actually save money.

now for my favorite reason, the one i am most looking forward to. my mother is a seamstress who used to have dreams of designing herself before she became a hippie fighting against the vietnam war. and she has agreed to devote the next six months to teaching me everything she knows about sewing, and helping me create my portfolio/application. 

the average fashion school in paris requires a sort of portfolio. they dont look at transcripts of high school or other colleges, they simply look at your work, your innate talent. this works in my favor, as my grades arent exactly shining. (the first time i even encountered the grading system, i was fourteen. after leaving the montessori school i had attended since four years old, i arrived at a public high school and received my first failed math quiz. i havent ever quite adjusted.)

anyways, the portfolio. the portfolio changes from institute to institute, but the most common version is simple. five drawings of original garments, and five photos of those finished garments.

something so simple decides my future. so you bet i am going to work as hard as possible to overcome my slight 'handicaps' and say loud and clear 'i deserve this!' most people who attend fashion school are fresh out of high school and been already making clothes for years. i am certainly not fresh out of high school (going on five years now!), and, if my knitting is not counted, my experience with making clothes through sewing, though existing, is novice at best. (the next few months will fix that!)
  
now, for those of you that are starting to worry, dont. this is NOT becoming a fashion blog. you will not see me posting daily updates of my outift, or anything like that. although, that works for some people and i find it interesting to read, thats not what im interested in doing. i have no desire to be a model, i want to be the one that dresses the model, that designs the clothes, the one in control. speaking of which, i will eventually need a model for my portfolio, if any of you are in phoenix!

so, if any of you have any tips and advice or even funny stories, please let me know! i am going to be upset, disappointed, overworked, and frustrated the next several months. i just know that this is going to be very difficult, returning to america from a year in paris. returning to school after six months break. and knowing now that my future rests solely upon my shoulders.


but honestly, even more than all of that, this is going to be so much fun. i am starting a new adventure, just as this one closes. and i am more than happy to still have you to share it with.


all photo credits: aoife mcgarry

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