Cochenille News
Published Monthly or
thereabouts... by
Cochenille Design
Studio,
P.O. Box 234276,
Encinitas, CA
92023-4276
www.cochenille.com
[email protected]
858.259.1698
.. for fashion, creativity and fun
No. 2 May 2002
Current Web Specials
♦ The Grammar of
Ornament: Graphic Art
CD Collection
♦ Symbol Charts
New Product!
Welcome...
Welcome to the second issue of the Cochenille News. Late winter
and early spring were busy months for us, as we designed and
developed a new Style Set for Garment Designer. Please see page
11 for information.
This issue contains color and trend reports for Fall/Winter 2002/
2003. Felted fabrics are predicted to be one of the key fabrics of
next winter so we’ve included some basics on creating your own
felted fabrics and a sample project showing you a garment we
made. We love working with fabric that won’t fray!
♦ Style Set 2 for
Garment Designer
Garment Designer
Demo is now available!
"Success is not the key to
happiness. Happiness is
the key to success. If you
love what you are doing, you
will be successful."
Dr. Albert Schweitzer
(1875-1965)
What’s Inside.....
Style Trends ......................
Color Trends ......................
Interesting Web Sites .....
The How-To Section...........
Culture Corner ...................
Opportunities, New
and Upcoming ..................
More Pattern Templates
with Designer ......
Fun Products ......................
Creative Project .................
New Products .....................
A free Newsletter for Crafts and Textile Artists
interested in Fashion and Computer Design
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Our computer technique this issue explains how to set up a Hotmail
or Yahoo email account. It is handy to have this type of account if
you are travelling. All you need is Internet access (available through
many hotel business offices and Internet cafes) and you can communicate with loved ones. We reviewed two website this issue; an
Italian sewing pattern company and a machine knit manufacturer’s
site. In addition we have reviewed two books, and a music CD.
On page 8, one of our customers, Gabrielle Stanley (from the UK),
explains how to use a template she developed for 2-piece collars.
We have reviewed the Grammar of Ornament CD collection of
graphic art this issue and it is on special on our web site through
mid June. We have also released a demo of Garment Designer (also
available from our site).
Feel free to tell a friend about our
newsletter and send them to our
site to retrieve it and sign up
for our mail list. Enjoy your
reading, and happy spring!
Susan, Tracy
and the Cochenille staff
Tracy (left) and Susan (right)
Page 1
Style Trends: Winter 2002/2003
General Theme
I
t is felt that one of the main clothing trends for Winter 02/03 will be ‘common sense’ and
practicality. Designers are being forced to find a greater purpose for their creations. Adorn
ment by itself is not enough. As a result, expect to see a focus on quality of fabric.
Styling As It Relates To Fabric
Archaic – The focus will be on handwoven and irregular slub yarn looks.
Burnt-out looks will also be part of this group. The silhouette and styles
that accompany the archaic look are voluminous and in some cases,
wrapped showing containment.
felted
open knit
Compact and Felted –
This look complements
the archaic look above.
Felted wools and compact
structures such as doubleknits all belong in this
fashion statement. Surfaces can be plain or hairy.
The silhouette will vary but
tends to be rather straight
due to the thickness and/or
stiffness of the fabric.
the archaic look
Bulky Knits – Knits may be bulky, but they are generally
lightweight due to the loftiness of the new yarns. Expect
to see relief surfaces (texture stitches) and lots of accessory knit items such as scarfs and collars.
Traditional Stripes and Tweeds - With the move to practicality, you can expect to see lots of pin stripes, worsted
wools and tweed looks. The tweeds will move the styling to
a sporty look or a city/country look.
Decorative - Not all can be serious, so designers will bring
their decoration into fashion through the use of layers and
ruffles. Expect to see the use of ribbons, lace and tulle.
The ruffled blouses of this coming summer will continue
with ultra-feminine styles in the fall. Lace will broaden in
its definition to now include suede lace, embroidered tulle,
and printed laces.
Page 2
slightly felted tweed
Color Trends: Winter 2002/2003
These are 3 of the colorways predicted for Winter
2002/2003. The formulas for color mixing on your
computer are listed below. If you like, download the
two color files on Cochenille’s website. There is a
palette for Photoshop and for Stitch Painter, plus
there is a Pict and Bmp file with colors mixed. Go to
www.cochenille.com/news2.html for the files.
Primitive
R G
86 67
36 22
66 22
39 34
78 52
58 15
B
43
11
8
19
10
22
Beige
Partridge
Mango
Mermaid
Bright Gold
Holly Berry
Romantic
R G B
91 80 60
75 59 62
21 31 33
83 53 46
61 66 61
14 15 18
Whitecap Gray
Fair Orchid
Aegean Blue
Bridal Rose
Sterling Blue
Mood Indigo
Fantasy
R G
59 55
18 17
26 14
30 28
56 5
27 14
B
47
13
19
26
12
13
Silver
Jet Black
Hortensia
Smoked Pearl
Pompeian Red
Deep Red Brow
Page 3
Interesting Web Sites
T
his issue, the web site focus is on ‘inspirational sites for
garment design’. Both sites offer an international view of
fashion. Marfy is an Italian company that publishes sewing
patterns. Shimaseiki is a Japanese manufacturer of industrial
knitting machines. Whether you sew or knit, you will be inspired by
both sites.
marfy.it
At this site you will find sewing patterns published
by an Italian company called Marfy. This company
has been publishing pattern catalogues and selling
patterns mail-order for over thirty years. They
publish 2 collections per year, and if you live in
Europe you can find the catalogue on newsstands.
Marfy patterns are ready to use because they are
cut by hand for single sizes, with notes and instructions in four languages; Italian, English,
French and Spanish. There are 2 American importers of the Marfy catalogue and patterns. Their information is on the
website.
shimaseiki.co.jp
Shimaseiki is a Japanese manufacturer of
industrial knitting machines used by many
large knitwear companies. Their web site
features many images of wonderful knit
garments. Shima is known for their ability
to knit a sweater or knit garment in one
piece on their machine. It is pretty amazing
to see the machine in action. Enjoy their
collection of fashion knits.
Page 4
Tip: To avoid receiving spam and
junk email, choose NOT to be
included in the Yahoo or Hotmail
Directory.
The How-to Section
How to Setup up a
Personal Yahoo or
Hotmail Email
Account
D
o you travel and want
to access your email
while you are gone? Or
do you have a friend who does
not have an email address
because they don’t have a
computer at home? Maybe
they’d like to get access to
the web, or better still, maybe
they would like to receive this
free newsletter!
Even if you already have a
service provider and an email
address at home, opening a
Yahoo or Hotmail account
lets you access the Internet
from anywhere in the world as
long as you can get on-line
and surf the web. When we
travel, some of our email
accounts are not portable,
and thus we can’t access
them directly. So, we learned
how to create an email account, and now, we can check
our mail from any computer.
We can even set up Yahoo to
access all our other email
accounts. The steps here
detail how to open a Hotmail
account.
Steps to Setting up an
Account
1 Go to www.hotmail.com.
2 Click on the Sign Up for a Free Email account button.
3 Complete the form that is presented to you. You will need
to choose a Sign-In name and a password that has at least
8 letters. You will be asked
to type the password twice
to ensure that you have
typed it correctly.
4 You will have to input a
‘secret question’ and an
answer to that question
just in case you forget your
password, so think carefully
when you pick the clue and
make sure that it will help
you remember your password. Better still, record
the password somewhere.
Click on the Submit button.
5 A Congratulations screen
will appear. Click the ‘continue at Hotmail’ button.
6 You will be asked to read several forms, and accept the
terms, plus choose which if any services you want.
You will need to check your email once before the account is fully
established. Don’t worry, Hotmail sends you an email right
away. From this point forward, you will be able to log
onto Hotmail (or Yahoo.com if
you set up your account with
them), and check your email.
You simply click on Check
email.
Have fun!
Page 5
Culture Corner
by Cochenille Staff
T
his section of the newsletter exists to share a few of the
finer things in life... good books, CD’s, and other fun things.
Russell Watson: the voice
So.... what does Susan listen to
when she works on developing and
coding the styles for Style Set 2?
Generally she finds she needs
highly inspirational music, and
this round the CD of choice was
Russell Watson’s ‘the voice’.
CD
Susan first heard Russell Watson
(on the CD featured last issue)
singing Nella Fantasia (the main
theme song from the movie The Mission). He has an opera voice
and in Susan’s opinion, it is clearer and better than Pavarotti or
Bocelli. So, she wanted to find out more about who this new
name was. It turns out, he is English, in his late 20’s, and the
son of a factory worker in northern England. The CD is a compilation of opera, rock and classical songs. You don’t need to be an
opera buff to appreciate what he has to offer. In fact, this CD
may move you in the classical direction even if you thought you
would never be inclined. The cost was approximately $15.00.
Books
Each issue, Susan and Tracy will give you their reading ‘pick’.
Tracy seems to be on a ‘food theme’ so expect to see reviews of
books related to food and reading. Susan hops all over the place
with her reading, so one never knows what will be next.
A Literary Feast: An Anthology
Tracy’s Pick
edited by Lilly Golden
“One of the delights of life is eating with friends;
second to that is talking about eating. And, for an
unsurpassed double whammy, there is talking about
eating while you are eating with friends.”
From Home Cooking; A Writer in the Kitchen by Laurie Colwin
A Literary Feast doe not pretend to be a definitive
anthology of food writing, though some of the finest
writers of food appear in this book. Each of the
twenty-seven stories, essays and excerpts from
Page 6
novels was chosen for its
narrative excellence as well as
for its culinary subject. This
particular book does not contain recipes, but you’ll read of
characters ordering meals,
conversing over well-laden
tables, and in a few cases
preparing food, but mostly
simply eating it. A splendid
meal can be a multicourse
extravaganza, or as simple as a
peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Ingredients alone do not
make a meal memorable, much
more is involved: care and
forethought, atmosphere,
company, and of course, appetite. The same is true of good
food story.
Here are just a few authors and
brief descriptions in the book:
Scenes of meals in the French
countryside as told by “MFK
Fischer an Peter Mayle. Tobias
Wolff’s “Smorgasbord” depicts
the perpetual physical, existential, and sexual hunger suffered
by teenage boys. There are two
stories that intertwine spiritual
and physical hunger, one being
“Babette’s Feast”, my personal
favorite, as well as, “Short
Friday” by Isaac Singer. There is
even a story in which the meal
itself is never actually described
in “Mrs. Fay Dines on Zebra”.
Other authors include
Hemmingway,
Jorge Luis Borges,
and Virginia Wolf.
These stories will
delight the imagination and satisfy a hearty
appetite for good
literature as well
as good food.
The Red Tent
Susan’s Pick
by Anita Diamant
This book is about the story of
Dinah, the daughter of Jacob.
The book is
not particularly
religious,
but does
cover the
lives of
women
during
ancient
times.
Most of us
familiar with biblical stories will
agree that very little is revealed
about the women of the time.
Anita Diamant combines rich
story-telling with history and
reveals to us a view of what
women’s lives must have been
like at this time in history. The
‘red tent’ is where the women
would go once a month, as their
feminine cycle dictated, and it
surprised me to learn that
women who share their lives
also share their cycle. In the
tent, the women would talk,
teach each other and reveal to
the reader a view of their lives.
Dinah had several mothers and
they all gave her gifts to take
with her on her life journey; her
youth, a calling to midwifery and
travel to Egypt.
I found The Red Tent completely
involved me. I could not put it
down and spent many late
nights reading. The blend of
history, women’s roles and the
striking of familiar chords with
the religious training of my
youth was a perfect blend.
Diamant writes extremely well,
you will feel you are sharing in
the tent with the women.
Opportunities, New and Upcoming
Garment Designer Educators
We have received a lot of interest in our Educator program.
Soon we will have a list of people interested in sharing their
knowledge of Garment Designer and/or Stitch Painter. Please
contact us if you would like to know if there is an educator in
your area, or if you are interested in becoming an Educator.
([email protected].) Susan is planning some
training sessions for Educators. Tentative dates are:
Dallas TX
June 22nd (approx.)
San Diego, CA
June 29 - 30th
Seattle, WA
Late July/Early August
Chicago, IL
Late August (tentative)
The Cochenille Gallery
Want to contribute to the Cochenille Gallery? This is a
collection of images of garments and projects created
through the use of our software. We have an area for items
designed and created by our staff, a section for professionals who either publish or sell
their goods, and a section for
the dabbling textile artist/
hobbyist/just for fun people.
Please feel free to check out
the area, and please consider
sending us a photo or digital
image of something you have
made. Check the gallery out at www.cochenille.com. Click on
the Gallery tab.
Seeking Dealers
If you are interested in becoming a dealer for Cochenille
products, please send an email to [email protected] and
we will send you a dealer’s packet, either by email or by snail
mail.
Announcing our New Canadian Distributor
We are pleased to announce that Louet Sales is our new
distributor in Canada. They will serve the knitting and weaving audience (which is their dealer base) and until such time
that we find a sewing distributor, Louet Sales is happy to
serve this audience as well. You can contact them at:
Louet Sales
R.R. 4, Prescott Ontario, K0E 1T0
613 925-4502 tel. 613-925-1405 fax
www.louet.com
[email protected]
Page 7
Cochenille Corner
Two New Pattern Templates with Garment
Designer.. from Gabrielle Stanley, UK
G
abrielle Stanley, an avid Garment Designer user was
kind enough to share 2 of her pattern templates with
us. We are including her 2-piece collar and her in-seam
pocket in our collection. Instructions for her 2-piece collar
appear below. To facilitate your access to Garment Designer
templates, we have created an installer and placed this on our
web site. Simply download the installer (choose Mac or Windows) and double-click on it. It will install all the current template files in a GDTemplates folder within your Garment Designer
folder.
Download this from our ‘Shared File’ area of our website:
band until the point where the
curve ‘takes off’.
5. Now adjust the collar itself
(the skirt back) to fit on the
stand correctly. Just grab the
outer edge of the collar and
move it using the left or right
arrow keys until the bottom
seam equals the measurement you made on the collar
stand.
•
To change the collar width,
grab the bottom seam and
move it using the up or down
arrow keys.
•
To change the collar shape
move the collar point, and you
can change it to a curved
point by adjusting the curve
control points of the front
edge of the collar (this is a
curved seam that I made
straight on my pattern).
www.cochenille.com/sharing.html
Two-Piece Collar
I made this two-piece collar design using the A line skirt. First, a
warning. If you display just the left or right sides, _don’t_ move
•
the centre seam, as that may result in a gap or overlap in the
complete pattern that will throw the measurements off.
1. Measure the neckline seam of the jewel neckline you want this
collar to fit. Don’t forget to add complete neckline edge less
any seam allowances.
2. On the collar stand (skirt front on the pattern) the bottom
seam needs to be the neckline length, as this is the edge you
attach to the neckline. To adjust it, select the outer curved
edge and move it – best done using the left or right arrow
keys.
I use the instructions in David
Coffin’s book ‘Shirtmaking’ to
attach the collar. I have now
used it on a rugby shirt for my
DH, and am pleased with the
result.
I hope this makes sense.
Gabrielle
In-Seam Pocket
3. If you want to make the collar stand taller or shorter, I
recommend selecting the bottom seam and moving it using
the up or down arrow keys.
4. Now measure the top seam not including the outer curved
edge (you need to select 2 seams here, then GD will show the
total seam length). The point where the outer curved edge
meets the top seam is where the collar itself will reach, so
you may want to move this point if you have a wider or
narrower overlap. Just keep the width the same along the
Page 8
Note: The next feature to be
added to Garment Designer is
built-in pockets, collars and
cuffs. Yea!
Fun Products
Grammar of Ornament : CD ROM Collection
of Clip Art for Mac and Windows
M
any of you may be familiar with a large coffee table book
called The Grammar of Ornament by Owen Jones. First
published in 1856, the Grammar was the first text book
on ornamental design and design theory. It is a marvelous
collection of designs that cover a vast range of cultures and
history, from the Egyptians through modern
time. The original Folio edition has over 2,300
designs on 100 color plates. It was printed
using Chromolithography.
Direct Imagination (Pasadena, CA) has taken
the book and reproduced it on CD ROM for use
with computer graphics. They have used
Adobe’s Acrobat software to create a ‘click and
choose’ format for the user, and Adobe’s Acrobat Reader is included on the CD ROM. There
are two versions of the CD ROM collection; a Compact version
($99.00) and a Professional version ($199.00). In both versions,
you have access to 2100 copyright-free images and you can use
a ‘click and choose’ approach to locate, view and read about the
images.
When you first enter the ‘grammar’
part of the book, you can choose to
view the ‘Index’ where thumbnails of
each of the eras of history covered in
the collection are presented to you.
You can move to the era of history of
your choice by clicking on the appropriate thumbnail. Once there, you may
copy the image to the clipboard (in the
Compact edition), or click on the link to
Photoshop or Illustrator and automatically move the image to your paint or illustration software
(Professional version). The Professional version includes additional files (160) which are in vector .EPS format. for Illustrator
or Freehand. These will give professionals output that is non-jaggy. In
addition, the Professional version
includes greyscale, black/white and
line art versions of all the vector
files.
Susan explored
the Egyptian
collection and
utilized 2
motifs to design a pin cushion top that she stitched in
wool yarns. She used Stitch
Painter and the Full Color
Import module to reduce the
number of colors. Then, she
translated the colors to
symbols, printed a key and
went off to the store to
purchase yarn. All that is
left is final blocking and the
stitching of a few beads onto
the surface. Then, she will
sew the pin cushion using a
funky fabric for the backing.
We are running a special on
the Grammar of Ornament
from now through mid June
(perfect for Mother’s Day).
Please go to the Cochenille
web site: www.cochenille.com/
spec.html and check out the
specials.
Page 9
Creative Project
Felted Deconstructed Vest
T
he trends for next Fall/Winter are predicting the
use of felted material. The project discussed here utilizes
fabric that was felted in the washing machine - wool jersey.
Commercial wool jersey was purchased and purposely felted so
that it could be cut without worry of fraying or ravelling. If you
knit (hand or machine), you
could knit a loose knit
and felt it to use as
fabric. Or, you could knit
a sweater larger than
desired, and felt/shrink it
to desired size. Some
testing is necessary if
you choose to go this route, as
yarns behave differently.
Illustrated here is a quick vest
made with felted wool jersey
using Garment Designer for the
pattern. A wavy blade was used in the rotary cutter and all
seams were sewn to the outside (including the dart). A floral
‘rondelle’ was created to mount the button on.
Quick Felted Fabric
To create felt, one generally needs a wool-like fiber and three
elements: moisture, heat and agitation. The scales on the wool
fiber shrink and interlock during the felt process and this is what
created the matted structure. We can create felt easily using
our washers and dryers at home. Moisture is created through
the use of water. Heat is created through the washing and
drying process and agitation is create through the gyrations of
the washing machine as well as the tumbling of the dryer.
A quick method for felting is to purchase commercially made wool
jersey from your local fabric store. Since you need more than the
amount required to make your garment, watch for sales. Purchase 2-3 times the yardage needed for your garment. The extra
quantity depends on how dense you want your felt yardage to
become.
Steps
1 Baste the selvages of your fabric together using hand
stitches or your sewing machine. This essentially creates a
tube and will prevent the fabric from getting distorting too
Page 10
much during the felting
process.
2 Place the fabric in your
washing machine and run
it through a hot wash and
a cold rinse. The shock of
temperature changes
contributes to the success of the felting process. Let your washer
spin dry the yardage at
the end of its cycle.
3 Place the fabric in the
dryer and use a hot
temperature to dry the
fabric.
4 Repeat the process 2-3
times more, as necessary
to achieve the hand of
fabric you want.
The result will be a fabric that
does not ravel when cut. This
opens the door for many a
creative process.
New Products
Style Set 2 Releases!
S
tyle Set 2 for Garment Designer released in April. This
collection features 50+ styles (necklines, armholes, body
styles, etc.) that mix and match with all the previous styles of
Garment Designer and Style Set 1. You now have millions of combinations possible.
Style Set 2 was created partially in response to the fashion trends
and partially in response to user requests. Always feel free to send
Susan a ‘wish list’ item. She does keep a folder of them and goes
through the list every time she readies to build more styles.
This time, we built a booklet for your use and pleasure. The booklet is in the form of a PDF file
and it illustrates each style in the set. A flat drawing shows you where the new points of the
style are positioned, and a fashion illustration shows you a sample combination of styles using
the given style as one of its elements. There are also hints and tips about the given style.
You will be pleased to see the
inclusion of shawl collars in
this set. A new top group,
Neck Group: Round
Body-Neck combo was added
Neck Style: Keyhole2
and here you will find Japanese style wrap coats (as
illustrated above). Underwear and capri pants are
found in the new Generic
Pants template group.
Scalloped hems add a little
Combination:
spice with two options
Category: Top
(rounded and angled). There
Top Group: Contoured
are bell sleeves and a puffed
Top Style: Peplum (SS1)
sleeve, so highly popular for
Shoulder: Sloped
summer fashions and the
Neck Group: Round
Neck Style: Keyhole 2
peasant look. A group of 8Darts: None
gore skirts are new as well.
Sleeve Group: Separate
Sleeve Style: Standard
Combo: None
Armhole: Standard
Sleeve Shape: Tapered
Sleeve Length: Medium
Comments:
♦ This style does not display in joined mode.
♦
You can still cut
on the fold and use a rectangle to face the opening.
Knitters may begin their separate neck side shaping at the
beginning of the keyhole.
All in all, you should really
enjoy the fashions that
Style Set 2 offers to Garment Designer owners.
Price: $25.00
see the PDF’s on our website
in the ‘New’ section’.
www.cochenille.com/new.html
Page 11