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June 5, 2020
So this month, I wanted to start something new -- to feature a particular resource in the Resource Library. The feature for this June is the Elements and Principles of Design. And yes, I know this sounds about as exciting as watching grass grow, but these are some valuable tools that can open up some big mysteries in your life.
Most of you probably know my background, which is that by the time I got to college where I couldn't wait to learn how to sew, the Home Ec Departments were being decimated or completed trashed altogether. I was devastated but had to pick a major, so I decided art was the closest thing that I wanted after sewing, BUT it wasn't sewing.
In the long run, it turned out to be a pretty neat thing because I would have had to have these courses in basic art theory and techniques in design school. And I remember sitting in class thinking I wish I was sewing and instead of being presented with things like movement, focus, space, proximity, shapes and thought it was all a bunch of mumbo-jumbo junk. Now how was I going to use Elements of Design when I'm shopping at the grocery store or taking the kids to carpool?
Then I started my company designing for many people who couldn't find anything in the stores for them, and here I was going back to those basic art techniques and guidelines that I learned in college. And thanking those teachers every day that they pounded that information into my noggin!
I was pleasantly surprised by how easy they were to use and how much I had discounted them. Sometimes we think things like this artistic-ness is so complicated and ethereal that there's no way in the world that there could be some guidelines that would be so each to use and work so well, but here we are, and yes, they are that simple, and they are that effective.
A lot of people ask me where to start when they are starting sewing or coming back to it after a long absence. I usually recommend a basic garment - usually a top of some kind, but after that, these guidelines are the next thing that I would recommend. The reason is that they are so basic. But there's something else here, and that is that these are so basic and simple that it doesn't take a lot of brainpower to absorb what these guidelines are trying to
accomplish.
At first blush, these will be a little foreign and may even look a little woo-woo. That is to say; these guidelines may look like this doesn't matter. I want to encourage you to read through this because what happens after you read through it, you won't retain all of it, but you will retain enough to think the next time something looks off, you can think: I need to take this apart and look at this from another perspective to figure out what's haywire.
The result is that often it's something tiny and yet monumental in the whole scheme of the design; a color may be a little off, the spacing may be off, the contrast may not be enough or too much. Finally, you can have a place to ask your question and get a good answer. And it will most likely be a lot simpler than you think. Don't try and overthink your mistake and think that because you can't figure it out instantly, therefore something's horribly wrong
that could take years to figure out and even more years to fix.
Sometimes with my students, I've forgotten what I didn't know and often don't know where to start when teaching sewing. I know so much, not that I'm a know-it-all, but I do know a lot about sewing, that all I need is a question and then I can answer it. But the problem most of my students have is that they don't know the questions to ask cause they don't know what they don't know. It's a vicious circle. And in an effort to subvert,
that here's this basic start with sewing.
So for the whole month, there's a 15% savings on the two resources - one is fairly basic and the other one is all pumped up and full of goodies and free downloads that are elsewhere in the store, but right now, they're all in this suped-up version.
Here's a preview......
here are 2 versions:
The Elements and Principles of Design with Color is located here.
This is the Elements, Principles and Color section on steroids. It has a complete Color section that goes into detail about not only how to look at color a completely different way, but a great guide for how to purchase color at online fabric stores and feel that you know what color you are getting.
The Elements and Principles of Design is located here
This is the basics of the Elements and Principles with a basic Color section. This will give you the basics of design with a brief color section. This includes videos and additional downloads within the document.
Both are 15% off for the month of June as the feature Resource for this month.
June's Feature Resource
Each month, I'd like to feature a Resource from the SewingArtistry Resource Center. Sometimes it will be something new. And this week I wanted to start out with something that you might not necessarily associate with sewing. And while it's a feature Resource for that month, it will be 15% off.
You all know that I think of all of us sewists as artists. Yeah, yeah, I've heard it before - I'm not an artist. I take a pattern that's already made and I cut it out according to the directions and then make it up and that's not an artist.
Oh boy, let me tell you what. There are so many artistic activities in that "not an artist" process that it's amazing. Let's count them real quick:
1.) The Pattern: What do you think happens when you start with a pattern? The first thing is to customize it for your shape, size and style. This is a basic design and artistic technique.
2.) The Fabric: Yes the pattern envelope gives you ideas on fabric but doesn't say exactly what to purchase. You choose the fabric. This is a major - let me say that again a MAJOR design decision.
3.) The Buttons: You choose the buttons for the pattern - another MAJOR design decision (read #2 over again).
4.) The Notions: You choose the notions for the design. The interfacing, thread color, zipper color, length, type (invisible, exposed, lapped, etc.) and these are all again major design decisions in the garment.
But here's the thing; what's the difference between these two dresses?
Why does one of them look right and the other just misses it? You can tell that one is right and the other isn't, but you may not know why? If you don't know why, then how are you going to know how to fix it.
Here's another one:
Yes, we all know that this makes Kate Winslet look very thin and curvy, but why? Exactly what did the designer use to make Ms. Winslet look busty when she's really not that busty?
This one might be a little harder but you certainly know that one looks better than the other.
 They are both neat outfits, and there's nothing wrong with either of them, but one looks a little better. It snaps out while the other one looks plain and rather blah. What happen here that made that snap happen? How can you apply that to your garments?
That's what this resource is all about with specific examples for all the aspects of design. These are known as the Elements (parts) and Principles (Techniques) of Design. They aren't that hard to know and you really don't have to memorize these. But what's empowering here is to know that they exist, so that if something is off with your garment, you can refer to this and take it apart and see what's going on. The more you use these
techniques, the more you will feel comfy using it. At first, it's going to seem very foreign, but having this resource on your computer always available for reference can be a very valuable tool for your creative designs.
There are 2 versions:
The Elements and Principles of Design with Color is located here.
This is the Elements, Principles and Color section on steroids. It has a complete Color section that goes into detail about not only how to look at color a completely different way, but a great guide for how to purchase color at online fabric stores and feel that you know what color you are getting.
The Elements and Principles of Design is located here
This is the basics of the Elements and Principles with a basic Color section. This will give you the basics of design with a brief color section. This includes videos and additional downloads within the document.
Both are 15% off for the month of June as the feature Resource for this month.
PS - I do a lot of posting on Facebook as SewingArtistry - like my page to see more goodies!
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