Purple Rain

Last night I started sewing a dress run-through. It's a run-through because I want to get the technical parts right before I use the nice (expensive) fabric.
I chose a dark purple thrifted bedsheet. After cutting the pieces out I realized I needed to line the bodice. I don't have any satin fabric at home so I chose to cut the lining out of a different sheet. So the lining is very colorful and fun. It will be my little secret.
This dress is turning out to be fabulously easy (it only has 4 pattern pieces!). This of course brings on my inner debate. Do I really need to sit through 3 years of reading, writing and arithmatic to get to that fourth year of sewing? Have I ever really believed in the necessity of a college degree? No. But I've been told, and I tell myself, that it's the experience. It's the overall experience that will round me out as an intellectual human and prepare me for this life. That sounds nice. I guess. But all I want to do is sew clothes and look at clothes and feel clothes and admire the skill of other people who sew clothes. Did they go to school for that? To be a fashion designer you must live and breath fashion. You have to know your customer. You have to know the future. You have to know the human form, and how to cover it.
I feel like I am heading in that direction. Sure I make Simplicity clothes right now, but I'm seeing how it all works. I'm seeing the way patterns are shaped in order to fit around arms and necks and waists. They're all pretty much the same. It's not a huge leap to start making patterns based on your own body, or that wealthy-fashionista-who-will-pay-you-$$'s body.
One thing I find humorous is how this part of my life is shadowing the way in which I learned how to make art. I started out drawing faces of models in Seventeen magazine, over and over and over. Sometimes I would draw the torso, if it was included in the photograph. Rarely would I draw a whole form, legs and all, because it was quite difficult, and I really enjoyed the way faces were made more than knees and feet. I have memorized the way to draw a face. Sure I usually draw the same general face whenever I'm doodling, but it's still just as easy to copy a face from a picture, or even from real life. And here's my point: I've started out making dresses, mostly because they're so cute and fun, but they are also very easy. On the other hand, making pants is relatively hard, but I'm excited to meet that challenge. I can draw legs if I want/have to, and the same goes for pants.
In other news, I'm considering actually stimulating the economy with my economic stimulus package. I think it would be very beneficial for me to have a nice digital camera so I can record things like the process of making a dress. This one looks very nice. I'm not sure how much the government will give me to spend though, so I might have to pick a different one.
That's all for now.