cakeeater

Sunday, October 17, 2010

beautiful objects

The Science of Sleep is a lovely movie. The thing I like best about it is all the random items that feature throughout.

The image of the felt telephone and typewriter impressed themselves upon me the most, and I made one for myself.

It's not an exact replica. I just kind of allowed myself to piece it together without any kind of pattern (since I don't really know a thing about using patterns anyway). I just sewed it together with scraps of felt as needed. Frankenphone it is. Usually it makes me think "cozy Tim Burton-esque", but when Gemini poses with it, I get a distinct Dr. Seuss vibe.

Give me glamour, kitteh!

Shredding

Shredding garments is about the most fun thing you can do if you're both DIY and OCD. So, oh god I love it. This video is the first thing I stumbled upon when looking for instruction on how to get the effect. I don't know why, but I have a total voice crush on this girl. Know what I mean? When someone's voice is just, ooh...nice? I have crippling voice crushes on H Jon Benjamin, and Will Arnett. Their voices just feel like being drunk and slipping into a hot bath made of cashmere and baby skin. Delish. This lady is not quite like that, but there IS something about her voice that makes my eyes close a little. And plus, she shows us how to shred a shirt! Let's watch:

So naturally, I went crazy with these instructions and shredded a bunch of things. The first success I had came after several repurposings. Which is why it ended up as an indeterminate hood thing. But I still end up wearing it an awful lot, despite its very Padmé Amidala overtones.

After awhile, I got the hang of things and I started to apply the shredding technique to existing shirts of mine that I liked, but were too ill-fitting to be among my favorites. Shredding makes things bigger, so regular-fitting tees become more draped. The overall look is elegant and ragged with a sort of apocalyptic flavor -especially if you wear a bunch of shredded pieces together. Here are front and back views of three pieces I've finished:

Saturday, October 16, 2010

The Hansel Funeral Shirt

You know that scene in Zoolander where everyone attends the funeral of Derek's unfortunate roommates, and Hansel walks in with the usual scratch beat and entourage? And the COOLEST SHIRT/JACKET thing ever?? Yes, funeralgoers, stop and pay attention you should! It was amazing; it was a black shirt or jacket of some kind, with crude, white stitching running down the chest. It gives me skeleton/native american vibes, So, yes please.

My brother Stephen loved the shirt too. He kept suggesting we make them ourselves. The difficulty factor seemed minimal, so after like a million years, we finally sat down one weekend, watched a stack of movies, and made them. It got kind of time-intensive when I insisted that we use this shredding process I'd just discovered to make the white parts, but I think it was the best choice. The effect is surprisingly wearable; particularly when the wind blows. SO HOT RIGHT NOW.