The moment of commitment

One of the most intense sensations when designing and sewing, I find in my own practice, is the moment when I must commit to cutting the fabric following the finalization of the pattern. When you are working from a pattern someone else has prepared, you also get this in a milder form - have you selected the right size and traced out all the lines correctly? But when you've worked for days coming up with a pattern that you think serves and must commit to turning the pattern into a garment, this moment is particularly intense. It is true that you can make a muslin shell rather than use the good fabric, but even for that, you are committing to several hours work that may be less than adequate if you need to rethink the design at that point. As long as you are working on paper, you are not "committed" to the design, but after switching to laying out, cutting and sewing, mistakes become more serious and what you do has direct consequences.

It is both a terrifying and an exhilerating experience, even for the most modest garment. I'm sure if you did this professionally, you would learn to manage this moment more routinely, but I'm not sure even then that the intensity of the moment of commitment will every quite disappear!

What I do...

Several people have asked me recently, online, what I do. They may have seen me write that I'm a scientist and they are curious about what kind of scientist I am. Some people are themselves scientists, and want to know what my specialty is, partly out of professional interest. Also, I have stated in several locations that my passion for sewing has begun to intersect with my scientific research, and, of course, that catches people's eye and they want to know more.

It is actually not all that easy to tell you what I do. I can tell you what academic department I work in ("geomatics", sometimes called "surveying" or "surveying engineering"), and what discipline my Ph.D. was in ("astrophysics" - actually "observational cosmology" if you want to be precise). But my current research is very, VERY interdisciplinary - I work at the intersection between "rehabilitation science", "new media and performance art", "geomatics", "cognitive psychology" and "computer science", more specifically "artificial intelligence", and, more recently, "fashion". For example, I am constructing a new media laboratory within a physical rehabilitation hospital that incorporates a range of sensors (cameras, microphones, touch sensitive devices, pressure-sensitive mats, data gloves, physiological sensors, radio frequency identity tags, etc.) and provides a wide set of perceptual experiences (via mono and stereo projections on walls and the floor, loudspeakers located throughout the room space, motorized devices that engage the body, etc.) with the goal of exploring the impact of new types of interaction between the self and the environment, on our ability to adapt to changes in our body or to learn new ways of understanding who we are.

Furthermore, to a large extent, the "science" I do is less about "measuring" and more about "engineering", or "designing" environments (although we do some assessment as well). This is where fashion issues come into play. One of the lines of inquiry we are following involves developing garments that showcase dynamically moving images, and investigating how certain dynamic images may be used to change our postural control, for example. For example, imagine that you are wearing a shirt which displays a horizontal line - no matter how you hold your body, the line is always horizontal with respect to the surrounding environment! Does this absolute horizontal reference affect how you stand or move?

I'm not sure if that is any clearer, though. You'd have to see us in action to really understand what we are doing, and since the lab is presently under construction, it is hard to actually show you concrete results at this point. There isn't much to see, yet...

The Perfect Shirt

I've made four different shirts for myself over the past 18 months now, each using a different design (and incorporating a number of mistakes). Now I'm working on the "perfect shirt" for me (see Figure at right). There may appear to be nothing particularly outstanding about the design shown, but it incorporates a number of features that are important. First of all, it is wide - the design is made to fit my girth, not my waist. Secondly, it uses a dress shirt style hem at the bottom - this ensures there is lots of fabric below the belt so that when the shirt is tucked in, it stays tucked in! The top of the curves at the hem at the bottom are low enough that they also stay out of sight, even when the fabric pulls up (such as when I do stretching exercises). Third, the neck line is much lower than for most commercially-made men's shirts - it is closer to a boat neck in overall form. This allows me to button the shirt up to the top without putting any pressure on the neck - I hate how regular shirts are too tight around the neck, even when they are "loose". I like wearing a shirt I can button up to the top (without a tie - I don't wear ties!) without feeling like I am being strangled! Fourth, the fabric extends several centimeters past the Centre Front line, so that when the shirt it buttoned up, there is no possibility of the shirt gapping open between buttons and showing skin underneath.

The upper part of the shirt may or may not be modified into a yoke - I have tried both, and I generally prefer the non-yoked versions of shirts over the yoked versions. I tend to make my shirts without a pocket, also - I've taken to put the things I usually put into my shirt pocket into my back pants pocket instead - I like the uncluttered look of a shirt without its pocket. I've also found that most ready-to-wear shorts have too long a shoulder and I have shortened the shoulder seam (and moved it towards the front slightly for my particular case).

I have experimented with several collars for shirts, including a mandarin style collar and standup collars - I prefer the latter. I've also experimented with wide cuffs (which I like), and wide sleeve openings (which I don't like as much).

I like the sleeve to be fairly wide at the sleeve cap - I narrowed the sleeve on one of my shirts and found the results to be uncomfortable.

I found that offsetting the buttons slightly from where the collar fastens gives a slightly asymmetrical feel to the shirt front which I like, very different from ready-to-wear shirts. This is particularly effective when using high quality fabrics like hammered silk, where the quality of the fabric highlights the design features of the shirt that make it different from a standard shirt.

I'm not sure whether my "perfect shirt" is right for everyone, but for me, after a considerable amount of experimentation, I think I have found a "look" that suits me and that I like, while still remaining dressy and chic.

The Mathematics of Sewing!

I have been thinking about the mathematics of sewing for some time. It seems to me that one could develop a really interesting little memoir on the subject. Here's a mini table of contents for such a text :

1. Introduction
   
2. Metric spaces - from 1D to 2D
   
3. Metric spaces - from 2D to 3D
   
4. Fabric, manifolds and topology
   
5. Tilings and prints
   
6. Draping, gravity and constrained dynamic systems
   
7. Conclusion
   

I'm sure I haven't exhausted the possible topics, either. Here's a few notes about each of these topics.

Metric spaces - from 1D to 2D : The practice of drafting a sloper or block (or pattern) is one familiar to engineers and users of Computer-Aided Design (CAD) software - it consists of using interconnected lines of pre-determined length to lay out a set of two-dimensional shapes. In addition, the process of weaving threads to form two-dimensional sheets is another example of extruding one dimensional objects (threads under simplification) to form two dimension objects (sheets). The process of manipulating patterns (or fabric, for that matter) by cutting and then reattaching cut pieces at different locations exploits particular sets of the metric properties of 2D spaces. The relationship between the metric and its properties on the one hand, and the manipulation of sewing patterns on the other, could be rendered explicit.

Metric spaces - from 2D to 3D : The process of stitching fabric together in complex ways to form 3D objects constitutes a second class of transformations that could be explored.

Fabric, manifolds and topology : During the process of taking pieces of fabric that have been cut and sewing them to form 3D objects, topological properties of the sheets are also exploited. Indeed, whether sheets, tubes (thread) or 3D objects (garments), we are dealing with entities that are mathematically described as 'manifolds'. The topology of the objects concerned affects the fabrication process - for example, turning a jacket inside out is a manifestation of certain topoological properties of the garment.

Tilings and Prints : The procedure by which one generates a print pattern through repetitions of a motif is a form of tiling, for which there is a very interesting mathematics derived of both very old and very new ideas. Hence exploring tilings presents an interesting area of study, inlcuding repetitive tilings but also non repetitive tilings such as Penrose tilings.

Draping, gravity and constrained dynamic systems : Once garments are design, printed and constructed, they are worn. How they are worn depends upon the behavior of dynamic systems under gravity, especially in the presence of particular classes of constraints (e.g. adjacency or connectivity constraints).

A full exposition of these different aspects would make fascinating reading!

Footprints in the sand...

As part of my ongoing work on the fabric wiki, I have been researching so-called "eco-friendly" fabrics and the issues that surround them. This makes fascinating reading (see my wiki article on this for more details). It turns out there is no "perfect" eco-fabric - all of them have issues (even recycled fabrics), despite what some people on the net seem to believe. That said, it is possible to make intelligent choices that can put pressure on the system to change for the better.

What I found particularly interesting, though, is the whole notion of a "footprint". First of all, there seem to be several footprint concepts being used now, including the "ecological footprint", the "carbon footprint", even the "water footprint" or the "energy footprint", with a certain amount of confusion as to what each represents. Although we probably hear more about the carbon footprint, the most general concept is actually the ecological footprint. The ecological footprint is the amount of land that would be needed to produce and/or absorb the materials needed and/or generated by our activities. The reason for the "slashes" in this statement is that land is required to make things, but the pollution or garbage generated by our activities (and the nature of the world means that waste products are ALWAYS generated by activities) also requires land support. This notion of footprint is hence, truly a footprint - it is expressed in surface area that activity generates. The footprint per capita is then multiplied by the total population of the Earth to determine the total surface area needed to support all our current activities. Well, it turns out that we would need, roughly 1,5 planet Earth's to support current activity levels. In other terms, we are using up the planet's resources faster than they can be renewed. This is NOT a GOOD state of affairs for future generations.

Interesting, and perhaps surprisingly to many, our use of fabric is a primary component of our overly large ecological footprint. The textile industry is a heavy polluter as well as an energy gourmand, and the result is a direct contribution of something near 15 to 20% of our ecological footprint, due mainly, of course, to the use of fabrics in the developed world (Europe and North America). It should be noted that the ecological footprint of the developed world rings in at five (5!) planet Earths - we are using resources five times faster than the planet can renew itself. Therefore, the 15% to 20% contributed by the world of fabrics actually represents one whole Earth ON ITS OWN. This is a serious problem, and one that those of us interested in sewing and fashion need to be aware of and doing something about!

This means not just what and how we buy, but also how we talk about and promote fashion, how we engage with the community, and so forth.

MycoAnna and Recycled Fabrics

While in Montrreal for a visit with my brother (who was staying with mutual friends), one of my friends suggested that I go and visit the MycoAnna boutique on St-Laurent. Although she didn't quite remember the name, when I finally found the shop, the name rang a bell, although I couldn't remember from where or when. Well, it turns out this is a company that started in Quebec City, right down the road from where I live (no wonder the name resonated!). I was stunned by the garments showcased on the store in Montreal. This is the first time I've really gotten excited over the aesthetics of using recycled fabrics (no doubt from personal ignorance - I haven't gone out of my way to find out more). Interestingly, MykoAnna has been in business for 15 years, long before the current interest in recycled fabrics developed. It seems that the store hit mainstream only about 8 years ago and has been expanding ever since.

I've always considered working with recycled fabrics to be an interesting but challenging task for a beginner sewer, and one that I would eventually explore but would leave until I mastered better some of the basic techniques. MycoAnna uses a majority of stretch fabrics in their designs, which is another area I have "left for later", although working with stretch fabrics is one of my spring projects this year. I don't understand much about stretch fabrics, but I was as much impressed with the shape as well as the eclectic colors and textures of the MycoAnna designs. Since different fabrics have different stretch properties, sewing these fabrics together higgly-piggly would no doubt leave a garment with odd shaping properties - their garments obviously do not do this. I also noticed that their fabrics are sewn without apparent attention to the grain, even when non-stretch fabrics are used. I'm sure this apparent inattention is an illusion, but it seems to me that doing this kind of sewing well would require a lot of knowledge and know-how about how fabrics work together and drape. One can shape a stretch fabric by changing its flat pattern seam shapes. It would be great to better understand this process.

The saleswoman in the Montreal boutique mentionned that these garments work well for both older women and for bigger women - the color contrasts draw the eye in interesting ways that result in a strong appearance for women across a range of sizes and body shapes. I get it, looking at the garments, even though the models on display on the runways are the classic thin models.

Anyway, MykoAnna turned me on to the possibilities of working with recycled fabrics. And I shall certainly check out the Quebec store. This is a story to watch as it unfolds. See MycoAnna Creations for more on their collections.

Pencil Skirt....and Indian clothes

Took a break over the fall from my sewing, as I had a very busy teaching session since mid summer. In preparation for Christmas, I made a pencil skirt for my niece - it worked out well, although I have already modified the design for the next time - for some reason, I had the button panels open to the front instead of the back, which would have been more discrete and just as effective as a fashion embellishment. The photo shows my niece, Melina, wearing the finished skirt! I am now working on a jacket to go with the pencil skirt, made out of the same fabric. While in Vancouver over Christmas I bought some tartan fabric which will make a great lining.

Also, while in Vancouver, I found a two block section of Scott Road in North Delta with 10 fabric stores for Indian fabrics, saris and other Indian clothes. I bought some fabulous fabric there to begin making my first salwar kameez, another of my projects for the spring. More soon.