Friday 27 January 2012

Introducing the Hem-isphere Project!!!


I am very excited to present to you a new project I'm involved in this year, which hinted at in my plans for 2012 post before the details were finalised. Well, now they are; Every other month throughout 2012, I will be exchanging packages with lovely sewing blogger Cecile from Sewing and so on. The packages will contain surprise starting points to inspire sewing creations. Cecile lives in sunny La Reunion in the Southern Hemisphere, I live in the soggy UK in the Northern Hemisphere and we are both fans of a good sewing pun, hence we came up with the title 'Hem-isphere project'!

As you can see from these four images, Cecile (pictured above) is an incredibly impressive sewer. Everything she makes is seriously beautiful, fits her extremely well and is thoroughly wearable.

She also has an excellent eye for lovely fabric, kitsch but subtle prints and flawless finishing. Maybe it's something to do with the fact that she's French. And despite the noticeable lack of leopard print and anchors in her creations, I'd be happy to desert the contents of my wardrobe and shack up with the contents of Cecile's instead! Except I don't think all those wonderful light-weight cotton, sleeveless creations would serve me very well in the UK.

Anyways, I'm very thankful that Cecile is a fan of my Clothing & Poetry Project. Once the idea was floated, we both jumped at the chance to work on a project together. Having never seen each other in the flesh, we agreed it would be difficult to create well-fitting garments for each other, so instead we decided to swap things that would act as starting points for our own sewing projects.

Each package will contain two, three or so elements that the recipient can choose to use as they please. For example, a package may contain a piece of fabric, set of buttons and a sewing pattern. It is up to the recipient to decide which item, or combination of items will be used in the project. The first packages that we sent each other earlier this month were an open theme, but the following packages will have a common theme decided upon in advance alternately by Cecile and myself.

Would you like to see the contents of those first packages? Of course you do! You've read this far, after all!

My package to Cecile:

Two sewing patterns. An early 1960s dress with gathered shoulder yoke detail and tie collar (which I used here) and a 1970s smock pattern with pleated front panel and front button fastening (which I used here). I deliberately chose patterns that I'd already made so that I knew the would be likely to give Cecile a good result if she decided to work with either of them.

Check cotton fabric. This fabric length is long enough for Cecile to complete either of the above sewing patterns, if she chooses to. It is also light-weight enough for her to wear during La Reunion's tropical Summer, which being in the Southern Hemisphere, she is experiencing now. I had this fabric sitting in my stash for at least six months gathering. We just don't get enough of a sustained summer for me get much use from a garment made from this lovely light-weight fabric. If I still lived in Barcelona, then it would be a different matter... I can't wait to see what she makes!

Cecile's package to me:

Awesome 1950s blouse pattern, pretty beige lace edging, vintage belt buckle and sequin anchor. I'm really excited about the contents of this package. She's clearly spent quite some time considering my style and preferences, which I really appreciate.

A closer look at the smaller contents. Now, I'm not going to give away how I plan to use these things, but expect an update blog post with completed creation before March!

16 comments:

Vicki Kate said...

What a lovely project! I can't wait to see what you each come up with - the anchor is too cute!

Mezzamay said...

Very exciting! I'll be checking back to see what you've both been up to!

Claire (aka Seemane) said...

Love it!
Brilliant idea - and this is a fab way to spark off the old brain cells, and get the creative juices flowing. In effect you're giving each other a few set parameters to work with - and the rest are up to you. I'm looking forward to seeing the results :)

Unknown said...

Oh wow, what an AMAZING project! I cannot wait to see how this unfolds over the year.

Marie said...

This is such an exciting project, I look forward to following it!

Claire Cooper said...

What a fantastic idea - look forward to seeing what you get up to.

Sue said...

What a neat idea! And, who doesn't love getting packages in the mail? :)

That blouse pattern you received is so adorable.

BlueBetty said...

This is such an interesting and fun project. I can't wait to see what you come up with. The little sequins anchor is adorable.

dizzle said...

what an awesome project!! i can't wait to see the results.

Unknown said...

Ooh very exciting, I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Cecili said...

Awww it has finally started, I'm so happy that we get to collaborate! Thanks a lot for the lovely package you sent me, I'm glad that you enjoyed yours and now let's sew awesome projects :)

sorbetsurprise said...

Great idea and both the packages look fab!

Dalígula said...

This is fantastic! I'll keep an eye on the results [adding Cecili's blog to my reading list now!] :)
Have fun girls!

didyoumakethat said...

And yet again you have come up with an AWESOME title for your project. I look forward to watching it!

Sewing Princess said...

What an exciting project!

theperfectnose said...

I went over to Cecile's blog and couldn't comment because I don't have a blogger login and she doesn't have the name/URL option in commenting. Also OpenID doesn't work for non-blogger IDS either so could you let her know please? She can activate the Name/URL option or just install disqus so that people across all platforms can maintain their identities and comment on stuff.

PS openid doesn't work on your blog either.

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