... all tied up?!

toile 5 was finished last night in the small hours of the morning, all ready for my fitting today! how very exciting!! its been quite an adventure, but seeing the complete toile 5 on my model today was just a wonderful feeling!

and here she is... 

(many thanks to the wonderful Colette for modelling)

i'm not really sure why these images are so mis-aligned. 

Today was all about checking the fit of everything. a few bits and pieces have been tweaked... still a few to be finalised in the morning. Then its all about cutting, and the actual final coat!! i'm so excited! its slightly surreal.

I'm going on a mission to London on Thursday, getting the megabus over night, running round like a magpie collecting gems, and then back on the bus. it'll make for interesting thoughts...

All in all, coat is going well so far, and there is an extension on the deadline, 1 extra week to make! working in my favour to get a photoshoot before hand in. My first real photoshoot, but i have some wonderful ideas, and some amazing friends to help out. 

really need to get some batteries for this camera though!

positive energy today.

sweet dreams

x

... home is where the heart is

I'm home for a few days! Delightful drive home in the sunshine. Just picture it, quiet roads, sun beaming, window rolled down, music turned up and singing to the limits of my vocal chords! BLISS!!! lucky only my car was their to hear.
In lovely old York town. Went for a wander today and it reminds me how much i love this little city. its full of wonderful things! there was a man painting on the pavement outside the minster, very beautiful.

I nearly bought a bike on ebay, pretty sure the novelty would wear when the weather gets colder... so instead i have the enthusiasm to dig into the deep deep depths of my garage tomorrow and rescue the lonely cycles. might also venture into the wonderful Yorkshire countryside if the weather stays as nice as it was today!

Have lots of enthusiasm for some side projects! Organising my life, raising funds for my graduate show... I'm excited today. very refreshed!
apparently there are parcels awaiting my return in Newcastle! i think i might actually burst with curiosty!

love x

Rainey Day Projects...

I'd like to introduce to you the book that started off all the Rainspiration!

a little book of mine now full to the brim with ideas about coats and other such things! I mentioned in a previous blog how i got the name, and here is the original book (above).

The 'rain' theme started from a project set by my course, to design and make a beautiful coat, specifically a Rain Coat. anyway, this project has been going on for a few months now but I'd like to write about my coat so far. It is a little bit epic, and i have days where i go through loving and hating it. None the less, I am very excited! I couldn't put all my thoughts into this coat, its the most refined i could make it and my tutor still leaves me emails to tell me to avoid anymore tangents (until my graduate show anyway).

i'd like to share more of my design ideas, but there is to much for one blog. I'm considering starting another more image based site, deviant art has been recommended, i'll look into this and keep you updated.

It was only recently now that the coat has grown and grown, that i needed to get my head in line. and what a task that ended up being!!! apparently my room just isn't big enough. I started drawing on my walls, which is very uplifting! i recommend it to everyone who is lost in ideas. there is something about drawing on the wall that is so satisfying. Maybe because i was told off so many times when i was younger, at least now i've learnt to put paper up! so the image above is the starting point of my thoughts collecting. its now full of notes and lists and timetables. joy! but it must be done!

i even had a burst of energy the other morning to move all the furniture in the sitting room and now its a studio! i hope my house mates don't mind, half of them are home for Easter break. a nice surprise for their return?!

So i finally have my space to work, and I'm onto to toile 5, which should hopefully be complete and ready for a fitting session next Monday. fingers crossed!

and the coat looks like this:

nearly finished design ideas, there are 2 drawings because the concept is all about cogs, the idea of machinery turning and then turning other pieces... ideally this is a concept i'd like to continue into next year.

For now, its a coat of coats, a coat that can be worn, tied up, retied, let loose... full of beautiful contours and magic and stories. Fairytales and folklore. The concept started as an adventure, a road trip around Northumberland and that lead me to stories, cogs, maps and mystery... an incoherent bunch...

Just one Beautiful Coat, "a symphony of exquisite details" UK VOGUE

this is toile 4. a lot of changes marked. I've updated my patterns. i'll keep you posted on the sewing! toile 5 to be revealed soon!

I'm really hoping to have everything ready with enough time before my deadline to get a photoshoot organised. I have a lot of ideas for how i want the shoot to be, hopefully to gather some beautiful imagery for my folio.

I'm hopefully escaping to London for the day later this week, to collect shiny things (like the magpie i am) and bits and bobs for the coat. I'm very excited! also with the chance of meeting up with a wonderful friend while I'm there. Need to pick up some things for some side projects I'm starting for summer. Starting to save up for my Graduate Show so I'm hoping to design, make and sell some quirky accessories and clothing. More info on that as Rainey Days grows. Definitely heading down the road to York tomorrow, where my dearest sister might be helping me sort out my background images etc... the blog is still a working progress. much like my coat and Rainey Days. we'll grow together.

enjoy the journey.

x

stage one

Everything is moving forward, slowly but things are improving non the less! I'm working on backgrounds etc. etc. computers are a bit to intense for me, i'd quite happily revert back to pigeon mail but sadly pigeons seems less than adequate to deliver messages... smoke signals are lost in smog, plastic cups and string just will not reach everyone, I love real post but a blog of real post wouldn't have the same impact. isn't the internet marvelous!?

so for now, my little blog space will grow bit by bit.

This is my first actual blog! I'll admit I got the inspiration to start writing from some wonderful friends. I don't want to get lost blogging all my activities because then I'll be lost in writing and not venturing!

The name Rainey Days came from a project I'm working on. It started off as a book, I love new sketchbooks, i find them really exciting! So anyway, a good few months ago now, I got my brief from Uni to be working on a Rain Coat. Maybe the most uninspiring brief, but hey hum... its there to play with. 

anyway, back to the point, I made a book, a rainy day book, like rainy day games,  playing inside, its a book of thoughts, and a record of images, ideas and then the concept grew! and now Rainey Days is storming ahead!! It has become a little theme for myself for some side projects to be discussed as they grow.

I feel like this has been a lot of chat, but then we do need some introductions. 

A new Rainey Day book is going to be started today, stage two of this Rainey Day Coat project. Must stop writing stories for now anyway and get on with the actual Coat, I'll add some photos of the coat so far another time. Its a whole different story!

until then, keep your toes dry!

love x

...//: clear off the cobwebs

Todays the day! started a blog. I'll freely admit that this is a rusty start and I'm not the most coherent of writers. Non the less! Here I am!

The layout is going to stay this way for a few days until I get some time to make a new face. I'm off to earn some pennies to refill my cracked piggy bank. (i counted it this morning and have a grand total of £24.76p woop!) 

Some tales of adventures and discoveries to be shared soon. 

until then...

love x