Tunnel Vision

So I feel there is an apology to be made...on my behalf of course....for the neglect that occurred this month. I'M SORRY. Please forgive me? 

I could bore you with all the details, but instead I'll keep it sweet and simple. I was preparing for my uni interview, which when I found out what date it was, left me just over a week to get a portfolio together! Aaaah I was freaking out to say the least. So quite naturally that required my utter most attention, and a week of late nights (and I mean late nights) and early mornings. But the good news is, that it was totally worth it because I GOT IN hallelujah. September can't come quick enough for me, I can't wait to be studying Fashion Design :)

But anyway, with regards to Champagne Kisses, things are slowly getting back in order, I have many many things still on my to do list, but one by one they are getting ticked off. Thank god. And to you all lovely bloggers that are awaiting your goodies in the post, please bear with me, you have not been forgotten!

So this post is a little late in being published (please read above).

You may, or may not, remember me mentioning briefly in the last post about what my darling Daniel had got me for Valentines Day. Well here's what it was.....

A DAY WORKSHOP IN SUBTRACTION CUTTING WITH FASHION DESIGNER JULIAN ROBERTS

Aaaah :D. Out of all the presents I've had in my life, my boyfriend's are always the best.

The day started off with a bit of embarrassment....typical me to be honest. I arrived 5 mins late. The room in which the seminar was being held was pitch black, minus a bit of light coming from the video that was playing, I interrupted him speaking (luckily he was awesome, so he didn't care lol) and I couldn't see anywhere to sit, so I had to stand for the duration of the first video.... in front of everyone. Welcome to my world people :p Thankfully a friend had saved a seat for me, so I didn't have to stand the entire time!

 

So what is subtraction cutting (subcut for short) I hear your little minds wondering? Well it's an innovative form of pattern cutting invented by Mr.Roberts himself, which creates these stunning dresses full of volume and twists! Using the tunnel technique (sewing 2 lengths of fabric and then across the top, leaving the only opening at the bottom, much like a duvet) you then cut holes, sew them all together again, and voila you have a dress :p

Obviously it's not quite that simple, but for today's post I'm not going to go into the details.

During the seminar he did a live demonstration (Julian Roberts finished dress below) the white fabric was originally on the 'back', but after a few holes here and a few holes there, you can see that the white has moved around to the front creating the skirt of the dress. Isn't it wonderfully unusual? :)

I must admit I've got an inspiration crush on this designer. Throughout the seminar he was talking about his career as a fashion designer, how he sold his first label on Ebay for £1, how he cancelled a show he was scheduled for at London Fashion Week, and instead projected his collection on to a building outside, One year he even made his final collection on stage in front of the audience. I mean this guy sounds crazy right? I think he's an utter genius. He talked about having to be fearless, something I guess I'm yet to learn, took me 3 years to gather up enough confidence to even apply for university (sounds pathetic doesn't it lol). So I defiantly came away from this with a whole new way of thinking, or shall I say not thinking? Sometimes it's better to just go for it, experiment, just see what happens, let the imagination run riot. After all, didn't fashion make rules to be broken?

And what's amazing about these subcut dresses is you never fully know how it's going to turn out, which can be really exciting! There's no such thing as a mistake! How great is that? Seeing as during the workshop when it was our turn to make our own subcut dress.....the first thing I did was 'wrong' (I wrote really shit notes during the seminar haha) and accidentally cut this MASSIVE hole which should have been my bodice. Now when traditionally cutting fabric for your garment, if you make a mistake like that, chances are you're going to have to start all over again. But I just stitched that hole back up and instead ended up with this amazing seam to work with, which in my finished results created this beautiful pleating effect. And yes, that lovely blue dress is mine :)

I don't know about you, but I love it. It reminds me of Alice in Wonderland, which in theory fits in quite well when you consider the concept of the design, and the concept of wonderland, it's all a little mad to be honest! I have since then decided, that I want to make another of these dresses entirely out of white fur (faux of course) and fall down my own whimsical rabbit hole.