Studio: Deconstruct/Reconstruct Sustainability Project

For studio class this semester we had to create a sustainable garment out of vintage or second hand garments. The goal was to use 100% of the materials to create an upcycled clothing piece. As I hate the crunchy patchwork style that is commonly associated with reconstructing second-hand clothing I knew I needed to do something that directly spoke to my own aesthetic. This led me to conceptualizing the idea of using unsustainable fabrics to design fetishwear! The fabrics used to create fetishwear are typically quite bad for the environment and the idea of 'sustainability'.

Over 33 million of tons of PVC is produced annually and it emits toxic compounds from manufacture to disposal. The shiny lovely durability it boasts is unfortunately also its downfall-> It is not biodegradable or degradable, which means all the PVC that gets dumped in landfills either just sits there for decades.. Or it is burned and releases toxic fumes like hydrogren chloride gas and dioxin :/ I knew I wanted to use PVC garments for this project for just this reason.

My first order of business was to find some interesting PVC material and I immediately thought of children's raincoats. They had fun patterns and didn't have excessive amounts of material or lining! I picked up three coats and opted for this Mickey Mouse version because it reminded me of my childhood adventures in Disneyland :) From there I also knew I wanted to make a corset so I found a kilt in my closet that I didn't mind parting with that would work for the lining.

It was a huge amount of work but I was very happy with what I produced. I started with 651.5 grams of fabric from my garments which included the weights of all extra embellishments that were needed, such as the boning and eyelets. And *drumroll* I ended up being able to use 100% of the original garments! I even saved the thread from the original constructions.. I swear, there was method to my madness! lol The fruits of my labor are posted below. I constructed an underbust corset, Minnie ears, a pair of spats, a purse, and a little neck tie :)

The construction process was VERY long and painstaking and contains many pictures! For this reason, I'm not posting it directly here. If you'd like to read more about my adventures click below!

Mad Men Competition Entries!

One of my favorite vintage sewing blogs, Sew Retro sewretro.blogspot.com/ had a Mad Men inspired vintage sewing design competition. I was honored enough to be accepted into the group just in time to send in my two entires! I'd actually finished these two dresses a while ago but hadn't had any specific inspiration to use them for. Being as I love Mad Men so much, this was a great opportunity!


This is my submission for a Joan Holloway inspired design. I used a reissued vintage Butterick pattern from 1960! It was actually quite a pain to sew around the existing pattern bustline and needed some modifications to make it more tailored. I used black peau de soi satin.

This is my submission for a Betty Draper inspired outfit. I used a reissued vintage Butterick pattern from 1947. I love the silhouette of this pattern! I actually have plans to make a second dress in a beautiful satin for a more dressy look.

The Long Awaited Epic Blog Post of Jurassic Park on the Silver Stage! Pt. 2 - Dilophosaurus

The Dilophosaurus costume was challenging but much fun as I had decided to additionally interpret the neck ruff that expands when the dinosaur is ready to attack its prey and spit poison in the movie. Instead of spitting poison, our lovely Kim blew bubbles at Dennis Nedry:)

Before sewing everything, I screened the fabric by hand.The dual crests on the top of the head were padded so they were more three dimensional. I pregathered red tulle and contoured it around the eye folds. Again with the back of the hood neck, I added in elastic in order to keep the head more securely positioned.

The elastic harness had a boned collar that I did similar to a neck corset. It was attached to the harness shoulders and could be pulled upright during attacks and left down the rest of the time.

Here are some live shots of the Dilophosaurus in action on the stage:

The Long Awaited Epic Blog Post of Jurassic Park on the Silver Stage! Pt. 1 - Raptors

This year I was privileged enough to be the costume designer for a massive and amazing undertaking during Toronto's 2009 Fringe Week! Alex Woodside, the director (and later christened as Trannysaurus Rex) decided that there could be no better shadow cast than one of JURASSIC PARK! I did something like 25 costumes in a month and a half, it was extremely exhausting but I had the time of my life. Everyone that worked on the show is extremely talented and just good people in general:)

Alex, Brian and I were interviewed on CBC radio Canada Day which was pretty cool. We got a great article in Eye Weekly about the various shows:

http://www.eyeweekly.com/arts/theatre/article/64764

The lovely Jen Houston on She Does the City did a kick ass article on our show:

http://www.shedoesthecity.com/raunchy_jurassic_park_has_makings_of_a_future_cult_classic

Our talented Brian Dunn, who played Dr. Alan Grant, did a video show all about the production and interviewed various cast members:

http://www.bite.ca/video/The-Life-of-Alan-Grant-Jurassic-Park-Bloor-Shadowcast!/

Every night was sold out or over capacity and the audience participation was phenomenal! Tan Pants! And now, on to the costumes:D

Kim and Sam were our sexy VELOCIRAPTORS!

I designed each of them a set of hand screened head, gloves and spats. The heads had an elastic band running through the bottom of the back hood to keep it a little more secure while the girls were doing their tangos and molest-killing various victims on stage!

Along with the bodysuits I designed a dominatrix type elastic harness vest that attached under the bust with suspender clasps!

Here are some live shots of the Raptors, including the lovely Elke who was our sexy burlesque hatching raptor! I made her an 'egg' that was a spandex case that vecroed up the front so she could open it up during her routine! I also made her a pair of undies with the JP logo on the bum:)