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My summer has been pretty hectic (although thoroughly enjoyable), so this is the first time we have been able to go and do a photo shoot for the last project that I made for school. This is a cotton twill shirt dress that I designed, patterned, and created for a final project for one of my college classes this year. After going to Victoria for the Future Oceans Fashion Show a few weeks ago (post about that here) I had a week back at home to get used to the idea of not having any important sewing projects for the rest of the summer before driving out to Kelowna, BC with my mom and sister. Kelowna is a beautiful city and we spent a few lovely days there, and I got tons of inspiration for a few new projects. After getting back, I've had a few more days to rest and tidy (my sewing room has been looking a little crazy). Today was kind of my last chance to do a photo shoot for a while since I have lazer eye surgery at the end of the week, and after recovering from that I will be driving out to Manitoba to see family. Anyway, some information about this dress: I was inspired by military styles as I so often am, but after making it I realized that it also looked a bit like a Safari dress. To go with that theme, we got photos at the zoo. I love animals, so this was a great place to do a quick photo shoot. As I mentioned earlier, it is made out of cotton twill with a tiny bit of stretch to it. It's a pretty simple design with short sleeves, slight gathering at the front shoulder for shaping, and an otherwise straight silhouette. The extra details are what I spent most of my time on when designing it. The dress has cuffs, a two piece collar, button placket, and breast pockets with flaps, box pleats, and top stitching. I'm really pleased with how this dress turned out and you should be able to find it on my Etsy shop pretty soon. Thanks for reading!
~K
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The day has finally come that I can talk about the Future Oceans fashion show and the pieces I made for it! I have been waiting as patiently as possible to show what I've been working on, and I am so excited to show the pictures that I have from this weekend. There were some incredible photographers at the event as well that I will be showing photos from as soon as I am able to. Before I talk about my designs at the time that I spent in Victoria, I want to talk about the reason for this show. Future Oceans partnered with the Victoria International Marina (where the show was held), Natural Talent Alliance, and the Ocean Legacy Foundation. The point of the show was to give a platform to ocean conservation in the fashion industry. The fashion industry is the second largest polluter, and by bringing attention to it and giving people an alternative we are taking the first step to turning the Fashion Industry into something that is more earth friendly and thoughtful. Learning about how terrible the fashion industry is on the environment was making me lose my faith in something that I really love. Being a part of this helped me get excited about it again. I hope that this show will help in getting people and brands to think twice before choosing certain fabrics The event started on Canada Day with the ribbon cutting for the Victoria International Marina. There was live music, performances by the Nanaimo Contemporary Ballet, and the fashion show. We had so many incredible people working together to make this a reality! I created 6 Eco Couture pieces inspired by different eras and 1 Art Dress. The Art Dress was created from garbage that was fished from the ocean. The Eco Couture pieces are all created from eco friendly fabrics from KenDor Textiles, a Canadian company that specializes in environmentally and socially responsible fabrics. I will wait to talk about the design process of each of my pieces for when the photos come back and you can actually see them in detail (all of these photos are just from my phone), but for now, here are some travel pics! I was in Victoria for 3 crazy, hectic days that were filled with fittings and photo shoots. The first day I spent almost entirely at the Marina (which is a stunning building) getting ready for the show. We had an amazing lunch at Spinnakers (Canada's first microbrewery), and spent the rest of the day planning and prepping. We were housed in the most amazing Bed and Breakfast called Abbeymoore Manor. It's an old house with beautiful rooms, the best breakfast I've ever had, and really friendly staff. The next day that I was there was Canada Day, meaning the day of the fashion show! I've been working on this for 6 months, so it was like a dream to be there. Luckily enough, the designers weren't needed until noon so I had all morning to myself. I ended up going for a walk to the Craigdarroch Castle, which was a 5 minute walk away. The castle was built in 1890 by Robert Dunsmuir, who passed away before it was finished. His wife, Joan, lived there until her death in 1908. During WW1 it was used as a military hospital, and after that it was used as a College, Conservatory, School Board, and now a museum. We were able to use a beautiful yacht, the Ascente, as our backstage. They were extremely generous with us and the space was the nicest backstage that I have ever worked in. This was definitely a trip of a lifetime. The last day that I was there was photo shoot day! And boy, did we have some really incredible places to take pictures in. While a group of people went to get photos at the ocean, I went with another group to the Government House. I can not wait to get all of the photos back from the 2nd because not only are the photographers fantastic, but the locations were some of the prettiest places I've been to since Germany. The last location of the day was Hatley Castle, which some of you may recognize from movies such as X Men and Deadpool. Everyone here was also so accommodating for us and we were able to go everywhere on the extensive grounds to get photos. If you aren't from Canada, you might not understand how exciting it is to find 2 castles, but in Canada it is very rare to have such old and beautiful architecture. I can't wait to show you my pieces in better detail, but in the meantime I hope you enjoyed a bit of a behind the scenes of my time for the Future Oceans Fashion Show! ~K
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