A New Treasure

 

This is the fantastic, but somewhat temperamental, fabric printer.

When Carter is working not every piece of silk he dyes becomes clothing.  Before Carter designed clothing he was a textile artist.  His work used to be in the media of wall hangings.  Now, every once in a while, he creates something of such high quality that he feels that it can not be improved upon by using it in clothing.  Carter refers to these beautiful museum quality pieces as treasure pieces.  These pieces are never used in garments, and have been gathered and stored over the years.  

This summer Carter purchased a fabric printer so that he could try a new media and expand his work even further.  Carter has taken Photos of treasure pieces and either used them in their original form, or used Photoshop to make them even more powerful before printing them on to silk.  After lots of work this project finally got off the ground last week.  Here are a few early pieces of what is sure to be an amazing new process.

 

 

This kimono is made from a printed repeat of a beautiful mandalah that Carter dyed.

 

A close up of this beautiful piece.

 

A selection of a treasure piece was photographed and tiled to create this beautiful fabric.

Arresting Vests

To say that these are the vests of Carter Smith Designs would be a vast misrepresentation, there are enough beautiful vests in the studio to make your head spin.  That being said, here are just a few basics to enjoy.  Tomorrow there will be a follow up post with a few more shapes and styling ideas.

 

A basic over the hip length vest.

 

A full length reversible vest.

A full length straight vest.

 

Any vest can be worn as a scarf as well by sliding the ends through the arm holes.

A Different Kind of Day

A pile of shibori pieces waiting to be made into clothing for Shirley Allen.

I have had so much fun the last two days!  Carter has had some wonderful friends in town, whose presence, has changed our workplace flow in fun and exciting ways.  Carter has been hosting Shirley and George, of ShirleyAllen.  

Carter offered them the unique opportunity of coming to the studio to pick pieces for their shop.  Now, all of the shops that we work with get ultimate say over what kinds of pieces they get, and we work very hard to keep them all wowed, but visiting the studio is a whole different experience.  Shirley described the experience of sifting through Carter's studio as one of sensory overload.  There is certainly enough to look at to keep you busy for weeks. 

Shirley, who has been selling Carter's work for years, layers and matched different shibori patterns in a way that is amazing to watch.  This simple concept is one that I never would have dreamed of and the outcome is awesome!  She, Carter, and George put their energies together in our sewing studio to pick fabrics and choose designs for some custom pieces.  Enjoy a little taste of what they came up with.

 

A Mary T Top With beautiful cut velvet picked by Shirley.

Fiber Art Now

We had the honor of having a team from Fiber Art Now Magazine out at our studio today.  This beautiful new quarterly publication was started by Marcia Young, previously of valleyfiberlife.com.  With her eye for color, and extensive social media background this is sure to be one to watch.  Check out the website for a sneak preview of the first issue.  They are featuring Carter in the January issue.  After meeting Marcia and the lovely Deanna Dimarzio, photographer for Fiber Art Now, we can't wait! 

A Very Unique Dress

With Carter doing one of a kind work, I am always coming across beautiful pieces that I've never seen before.  This dress has three different kinds of fabric.  Cut velvet in plain black, cut velvet in red with black and solid velvet with a red and black paisley pattern.  All of the cut velvet is sheer so when it is worn with a sleeveless slip you can see a hint of the arms from the elbow down.  If you choose to wear a shorter slip than the one shown here you would also be able to see a hint of legs through the cut velvet.

Cold Weather Warm Colors

Chiffon, the lightest silk used at Carter Smith designs this material is sheer and can be picked up by the slightest breeze.  It flows beautifully.

I am going off to meet the owner of a beautiful gallery today.  On these kinds of trips I try to do my best to bring something that the person I am meeting with will connect strongly with.  Every person is keyed into different thing visually, and some are just much more visually aware than others.  When asking the lovely woman I will be meeting with today what colors really work for her she replied that she likes warm colors, reds, oranges, yellows.  I can't fully express how happy this made me.  It's that whole grass is greener thing.  I can't wear any of those colors, god knows I try anyway because I love them.  Getting to pick out some beautiful warm colored pieces makes my day.  


In sharing work today I thought it might be fun to show warm colored pieces with an emphasis on the fabric.  Carter only works with silk but he works with many different kinds of silks.  Here are examples of the materials he works with dyed in some fun warm colorways. 

Cut Satin (also know as burned out satin) the elegance of this fabric can be partially attributed to the contrast between the sheer and opaque.   With it's high sheen it can be quite showy with bold colors but quickly appears more elegant and demure in black.

 Embroidered silk, is an upholstry weight fabric.  The heaviest silk used at Carter Smith designs, this is the hardest to dye and the most expensive.  We feel that the outcome is completely worth the investment.

Satin, Carter's shibori is incredible.  Having it on satin is like always walking around with the perfect lighting following you.  This fabric catches light in a beautiful, delicate way.

 

 Four ply silk is the second heaviest weight silk that is used in our studio.  Imagine this as "winter weight"  it is thick and warm without loosing the luxury factor.  This is a take it or leave it fabric some people love it some not so much.  I think it's beautiful and I love the extra structure that it gives pieces constructed with it.

Cut velvet (also know as burned out velvet) is a tactile delight.  Silky smooth on the inside, with a beautiful tactile pattern on the outside.  Watch out if you wear this people may just want to pet you.  The weight of the velvet pulls the silk in all of the right directions. Every piece made in this material feel like wearing a hug.

 Double Georgette Silk is our stand by here.  Nothing cuts a more flattering shape.  The weight and flexibility of this fabric flows over womanly curves floating in some places and hanging in others.  It shows the things we want and hides some of those other things rather splendidly.