Labels of a decorative sensibility

The original tags for the jeans that are now, sadly deceased (a moment of silence), 

but preserved in photos in this old blog post here. 

Love the simple graphic stripes with these 

wonderful decorative floral like shapes.

Blue skies, rain and denim

Then orange, then pink, so denim splurge.

John Lewis Edition (unknown)

Marie Claire. January 2011, pp. unknown

Embroidery on denim too is something that really fascinates me at the moment, 

some of my own embroidery below:

Testing out watercolour brush in MS Paint - nice texture, really irritating point/beginning of it though. If it was a gimp moving brush maybe that would be better? Blues abundance. 

John Lewis Edition Spring 2014/2013, pp. unknown

References:

John Lewis Edition. Spring 2013/2014, pp. unknown

Marie Claire. Spring/Summer 2013, pp. unknown

Clothing Labels: Maximalism and Floral

 

Falmer Heritage
Label @ Matalan

 



Lovely floral motifs which I find are rare on clothing label tags. Really pretty in red with the dark green swirls, all finished off with the grunge effect, giving the label an aged appearance.

Matalan's quality and price are an amazing combination, more often or not their clothing items are made from better cloth (and better stitched), with prices that are almost akin to Primark.

 

 

Denim Co.

Label @ Primark

 

Details on this one are simple, Greece like in motif and the colour is modern and indeed the very image of Primark with its ever colourful items of clothing, items that can be used as layers, leggings, bags and hats and so forth. A thin grey ribbon adds a neat finishing touch on top of the thin semi sheer fabric.

Primark's key to success is maximum sales at lower prices and importantly reacting to the fashion world and its trends of the moment.

Denim Special

If you've been there form the start you will know of an entry on denim (Quilted Arcs) in which I touched on the environmental issues of denim itself. I decided that as the last post in September 2011, I'd look more into what can be done with cotton,
how it could be customised, reused or recycled.

Below are photos by Liz, a fellow student artist and friend:

Showing thick cotton stitch above,
of which Liz isn't a fan of - but personally
I think the thick cotton used is quite interesting.
Need to find and buy a roll of it myself to try out on my sewing machine.

Amazing macro skills here.
Liz tells me she ripped the jeans
and then stitched the lace/net onto the reverse side of the jeans.
A round of applause for the fashion guru folks.

Ah nice ragged effects.
Never gets old.

This is a great example of what can be done with old raggedy jeans,
in a way that utilises simple stitch skills (like the running stitch).

The above are the little metal studs that

are used in the corners or borders of pockets on jeans

to reinforce the corner areas, known as copper rivets.

The use of green thread here is quite different,
I've yet to see another pair of jeans using green thread.

Also the idea of tie dye being a way of stopping dye

getting to parts of fabric was also used on this pair of jeans.
Though this process industrially often involves more energy being used up.
It can also be done to jeans at home with bleach (here a link to a tutorial on the process),
however their are precautions you should take,
wearing gloves is just one of them.

Just something I've been working on very slowly,
looking at stitching scraps onto old denim using a brightish cyan like blue.

A better photo of what I'm working on.

Ending on an idea:
why not put words on jeans?

Random - because life can be like that

This is an old wallpaper design that has been painted over at home.

Shame...

I liked those random stains on them; the rings of brown. 

Been busy with other stuff this week but now

I'm onto an idea:
On Friday 30th September I am going to post a special on Denim.
It will be a big spread made up of photographs taken by not only myself, but YOU,
(yes, you heard me I am not joking).
The subject is anything made of denim,
I know its short notice, but I still hope to get at least 10 photos to post on the last day of september.

Rules:
(you can't have civilisation without them)
1: No wearing of the denim in the photo itself
2: No imagery or words that are unsuitable for children on the denim/photo
3: Must be denim that is interesting in its pattern/marks/stitching/surface

Send these photos as attachments to:
patternandsurface@gmail.com

Also you can send more than 1 photo.
I will resize photos that are over 3MB 
(see I'm very helpful when I want to be XD)
Your welcome to put a watermark or intitials on it
I will be putting names next to photos unless people request me not to in the body of the e-mail.

So I'm counting on you,
or you are counting on you. o_0

Denim: Quilted Arcs

These photos are of jeans which were delightfully
detailed on the pockets areas with these quilted arcs.

The inner of the arc a faded blue surrounded by
dark blue stitching and a pale mid blue colouring of the rest of the denim.

I love the little details found on denim, the stressing where
colour is purposefully or accidentally worn away.

Two great blog entries on Denim and its un-environmentally friendly nature:
How Wearing Denim Jeans Hurts the Environment (Part 1)
How to Keep the Denim - But Hurt the Environment Less (Part 2)