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The past week was a bit of a struggle. I wanted to work with one of the beautiful fabrics I recently purchased. I fell in love with this wonderful sheer silk georgette. The print is one typical for the 1930's and I thought that would be a good accomplishment for my shop. What vintage lover wouldn't fall in love with this?
I wanted to make a simple 1930's blouse and I knew this fabric would bring some problems. What makes it so nice to look at, makes it a nightmare to work with. It is sheer, and brittle, so no room for mistakes. So I made a muslin first. I used a polyester chiffon to see if what I wanted to make, is even possible in this kind of fabric. It was difficult, but as I was working along I had a few ideas. One of them came overnight as a EUREKA!! It was to line the facing with black organza to give a little stiffness. And that did the trick. it gave me enough to work with to create a collar, and to give structure for the buttonholes and buttons. Another issue I encountered was the look of it. I had to make some changes to make it look more modern. If you take a vintage pattern, you could simply make that pattern as it was intended 80 years ago. the funny thing is if you do that, it looks 80 years old to. Like something your grandmother would wear. And vintage is all lovely, but we do not want to look as grannies do we? Therefore I had to make some slight alterations. Give it some more waist, and lower the neckline. I tweaked it a bit to fit our vintage love with a modern sense. So.... drum roll... I am proud to present, 1930's blouse 'Marguarite'
This whole process made me think, and doubt. Was this ever good enough?? And can I ever make it worthwhile?? On that track, I have to be very careful not to go overboard in my critical concoctions! There is a danger I start to doubt everything I am doing. That feeling grew yesterday when I was scrolling on internet to look at retro clothing. Of course there is a lot on offer, plenty to choose from. So where do I fit in? And, more important, where do I make a difference? I think I should keep going, and search for the uniqueness in my designs. And these very exclusive and expensive fabrics could well be one of the answers. Make something these other shops do not sell, make a unique product and be good at it! When in doubt, go ahead and do it! This morning, as I finished the last seam on my blouse, I had to play this... Loudly... And sing along too!
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The start of 2015 is the start of something new and I jumped in with both feet without looking. This first blog I will use to introduce myself, what I do and why. I grew up in a family of artists. My father is a glass artist, and together with my mother they run a successful studio. So after I finished my studies as a scenographer it was the natural course of life I started to use glass as my material. In the fall of 2013 I was doing pretty good as a independent glass artist. I had my own studio at my house, so I could combine my work with being a mum and wife. I walked with my dog every day, fed the chickens, worked and every month or so we packed the van with big heavy pieces of art, and go somewhere to exhibit. October the 14th we were packed to go to Strasbourg for the international glass biennial.
The day before that, I went to gym and for a swim afterwards. Unfortunately I slipped and fell on my hand. That night I was bothered with so much pain in my right wrist I couldn't ignore it, and we went to hospital. There they took pictures but couldn't find anything, then put a cast around it anyway and send me home. I thought I got away easy. The pain was pretty bad though and in the back of my mind I knew this wasn't good at all. We put up the exhibition, with lots of help from my husband and my son. That was the beginning of a whole year in and out of hospitals, they took scans, MRI's, and still couldn't find what was wrong. In April I had surgery and started to recover. All that time I couldn't work, I had no use of my right hand. Basically, my whole life had stopped. Couldn't play saxophone, couldn't walk my dog or drive my car, couldn't go to the gym for workout, or swim. I was feeling really bad. So, I entertained myself with watching old movies, listen to music and because I can not sit still, I found a way to use my sewing machine with my left hand, cut fabrics and draw patterns. When it was really bad, like when I was in a cast for the second time after surgery, I watched DVD's with instructional video's about tailoring and read books about vintage fashion and techniques. I spend my days and learned, and enjoyed it. Then it started to grow on me. After all, I studied costume design, it is not a really big step towards vintage clothing. The strength in my hand wasn't going to come back easily, if ever, and I don't want to spend the rest of my life mourning about what could have been. So I made a decision. I had to change my profession, out with the glass kiln, and in with the sewing machine! Not something that is easily done, but it was now or never. I am still young enough to do this, so better take the chance when misfortune forces you to do so. Was it a misfortune? Or an event that helped me to be bold enough to take the step? I think the latter.. So my studio had to be transformed, and cleaned. A big spring clean followed. Out with the old, throw away old stuff and old thoughts. Clean my studio and my head. Away with all the spiderwebs! I am very proud to present to the world: My little peace of heaven on earth, my studio:
There it is.. My big change. It's a new dawn It's a new day It's a new life for me And I'm feelin' good |
Sunny van Zijst
I am maker of vintage inspired couture. I was trained as a designer for theater costumes. Now I enjoy making vintage inspired clothing for men and women. Archives
July 2023
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