bits and bobbins

machine & alice mc call: the homespun touch

clothing with 60s/70s-esque hand-needlework elements are what i’m grooving on hard at the moment. okay…well, to be honest, i’ve always been into clothes with those elements! i’m old, so that’s a long time! what elements, ye may ask? well, things like applique, embroidery, patchwork piecing, quilting, and the like. yum yum.

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these pieces are by a mysterious maker called machine, who inexplicably only seems to use myspace (yuk!) as her primary interface with the world. i was tipped off to the existence of machine by jennine of the coveted (thanks!). i love how everything has a very sexy 70s feel (down to the colors), and her crafty use of what appear to be recycled elements in the design of her garments. check out the details utilized: braided straps, lacy crochet, directional piecing…it all just really works together in a lovely way.

(photos via machine)

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aussie designer alice mc call has some handspun elements in certain pieces within her s/s 2006/2007 collection, conjointly entitled welcome to the dollhouse:

(photos via alice mc call)

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good stuff than makes me yearn for more of the same!

August 22 2007 | Posted in fashion musing, this inspires me!

1. August 22 2007 at 5:50 pm

   Casey

   Ooh! I love those same elements. Perhaps its because growing up our public library had mostly handcraft books from the 1970s in the system, so the aesthetic appeal of that very “handmade” look has appealed to me from an early age. Or maybe its just because I love the sense of carrying on traditional crafts via new applications?! Who knows. Thanks for sharing those–tons of inspiration!!!!!

   
   

2. August 23 2007 at 8:51 pm

   mai

   Oh, I saw that Machine is showing at an “off fashion week” fashion show. I think it is at Space Gallery on Saturday.

   
   

3. August 23 2007 at 8:57 pm

   tricia

   mai: thanks for the heads up! i suspected she was from SF. too bad i have something going on that evening…it would be neat to check her stuff out in the flesh, so to speak. and bonus, it’s “off-fashion week”! do you think you’ll go?

   
   

4. August 27 2007 at 6:21 am

   Kate

   I love the Machine pieces, I think it’s the handcrafted feel that makes them appeal so much

   
   

5. August 27 2007 at 12:52 pm

   diana

   very cute!

   
   

6. August 30 2007 at 4:15 pm

   jennifer

   you can get these at painted bird in the mission… my friend has the burnt orangey one and it looks amazing on her!