THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE

The judges, Savile Row tailor Patrick Grant and WI teacher May Martin

Great British Sewing Bee is a new interesting reality series on BBC2, where amateur sewers take on challenges as they compete to be named Britain´s best home sewer.
The first four-part series saw eight sewing hopefuls compete in various challenges from hand stitching to customisation.

Luckily the series turned out to be a succes, so a follow-up of 6 new episodes is to be launched next year.

In case you haven´t noticed! - DIY, short for Do It Yourself or homemade as some may call it, is getting more and more popular these days.
Maybe because of the economical crises. . .or just because people are tired of buying off the rack and want to stand out. But of course there is also a great satisfaction in creating something yourself.

Would you like to learn how to sew your own clothes, I offer individual classes. Read more about it under Services.

LIGHT TEXTURES

Like feathers, can be very effectful too, but is a very time consuming to do. Here is a few outstanding examples. 

The first two ones are by Hubert de Givenchy. His muse Audrey Hepburn, here seen at the CFDA in 1989 with Richard Avedon in a red embellished dress with feathers and Boa. Right under a black dress of velvet and satin with dyed feathers.

Number 3 and 5 are silk with feathers by Balenciaga Fall/Winter 1965-66, from The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. 

In between an evening dress of silk and feathers from 1928, by Louise Boulanger (1878 - 1950), also from The Met.

Photocredit: Wire Image

FASHION TEXTURES - PAST AND PRESENT

Adding textures when you design can make a big difference. Here is  a few examples from past masters, like McQueen, Givenchy and Balenciaga, that i find very inspiring. . .

Can you tell who is who?

MUSES OF INSPIRATION

I would like to find a new muse/model for fittings and photo shoots. Is it you or someone you know ?

Muses were the goddesses of Inspiration for literature, science and the Arts in Greek Mythology.

Today as back then, artists and designers often gets inspiration from living "muses", like friends, models, Style Icons, actresses etc. I have a few good friends that have been an inspiration like that. . .

Muses: Trine and Lisbeth

Photos: John Frantsen

It has to be a Muse who can inspire, collaborate and challenge me. 

Requirements are difficult to describe. . . it´s not only beauty I am looking for, but radiation, confidence and personality. Your age is probably around 30-45 and your size 38-40.

There is no salery involved, but of course there will be certain benefits, like clothes. If you feel like, don´t hesitate to contact me. We will have to meet, to find out if there is a foundation for an inspiring collaboration.

A FASHION FLASHBACK

Long time no see! -due to our project, a commisions and other distractions. . .

In the mean time a little story about my past, that I would like to share with you readers. Recently I went through my archive of old projects and stumbled over this assignment.

Before my formal education, I attended a computer-course at INDesign in Copenhagen, as mentioned in this post.

 

 

 

Design and photos: John Frantsen

Model: Rikke

Actually this small romantic collection was the result of our last assignment at the computer-course. The collection contains five pieces, that can be combined in different ways. It´s made of a transparent cotton and a more structured polyester We had to use all the technics and programs we went through for a Presentation.

INDesign still exist today, if you need to learn or be upgraded about computer programs used in the fashion industry. But only as online-courses.