The Great Cashmere Revival

Tuesday, October 20th, 2009

Written by Carol Shu, Production.

A few months ago, the Museum of Ventura County contacted us to see if we
wanted to participate in a fashion show focused on recycled, renewed, and
regenerated clothing. Always up for a creative challenge, we said, “yes!”
and set out to give new life to a pile of unused, unwearable cashmere sweater
prototypes.

While sorting through the pieces we mixed texture and colors,
making sure we incorporated unique details such as button cuffs and ribbed
hems into our outfit. The final result was a luxurious and chic patchwork
wrap dress, pieced together with scraps of knit cashmere but not
Frankenstein-esque in the least bit, inside-out arm warmers, and a braided
cashmere necklace with a shell button closure. Before performing surgery on the sweaters, we laid the pattern pieces out to plan the color and texture variations.

Once we had figured out the dress layout, it was time to pin all the
pieces together.

Barbara O’Grady, our wonderful sample sewer, made sure each piece was in
its proper place.

Next, she cover-stitched the pieces together so we could have
overlapping seams, which added more depth and visual interest to the
garment.

Edges were merrowed to prevent fraying and to give each piece a wavy,
lettuced edge.

Trying the dress on our intern, Sarah Dietz, was an easy process – it fit her perfectly! Sarah was not just our fit model, she also agreed to walk the runway for Stewart Brown, a job which included hair and makeup at the Couture Salon in Oxnard.

After Sarah’s hair was finished, we only had about half an hour left
before we were supposed to be at the venue and Sarah had only just started
on makeup

Dramatic eyes and pinned up curls completed Sarah’s look. We finished
with just enough time to rush over to the building and get her into her
outfit.

Like a pro, Sarah strutted down the runway at the Transformation show.

It was Sarah’s first time on the runway but she walked with confidence
and skill.

One final pause in front of the audience to show off the dress and its
many different pieces.

Barbara, Sarah and I (Carol Shu) at the end of a very successful and fun show.