Figure8Textiles

Figure8Textiles One of a kind, one at a time...
Once a dress designer, now a mom and a textile design student finding time in my crazy life to create beautiful things.

One designer, that's me (so far - hoping to find a collective soon enough). Graduated from The Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA in Apparel Design. Worked for 16 years in the NYC fashion industry with a few side stops in costume and dance along the way. The inside joke is that I'm no perfectionist. Far from it, in fact. At RISD we used to joke about "the wing it school of sewing" and "the w

ing it school of pattern making". I try new things. I make it up as I go. I haven't used instructions to sew anything (beside a complicated pocket) in decades. Some things work, some things don't. I wish I was a better pattern maker but it's easier making dresses for little girls, (especially my own). Not so many curves to worry about, for now. My main focus is print and surface design. I love colour and pattern. I have been obsessed with printing on silk for the past year. My studies at RMIT have allowed me to explore this and my final student project includes a collection of scarves and pocket squares. I love yarn, especially all the amazing hand dyes that are available on the market now. I've been known to just hang out in the yarn section of a shop and touch everything. I love washing fabric to see what happens. Especially silks and velvets. I have a much neglected loom and when I finally finish my textile design studies at RMIT I'll be able to focus a bit more on designing plaids and tweeds. I've had some amazing influences throughout my life and sometimes I'm tempted to jump on a bandwagon or two, but that's just not me. When I'm inspired by something, I'll say what it is. I won't ever outright copy. I know how that game works and it's not who I want to be.

26/05/2026

“Clothes are for real live women . . . They are made to be worn, to be lived in.” - Claire McCardell

Claire McCardell is a central figure in modern American sportswear. When Time magazine featured McCardell on the cover (May 2, 1955), she was described as “the person who understands best how American women want to look.” Her clothing had a casual ease.

McCardell followed many of the basic lines of the postwar New Look, but stripped them of their rigidity and formality. A great many of her designs emphasize the waist—by means of a belt, however, not a girdle—and many have full skirts (yet do not require a petticoat). By employing deceptively simple construction techniques, McCardell pushed the aesthetic limits of mass-production while redefining the look of modern dressing.

was born in 1905. Happy Heavenly Birthday!

[Image: Claire McCardell (1905 - 1958), two-piece dress, red wool jersey, c. 1950, USA, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Adrian McCardell]

24/05/2026
13/03/2025
10/07/2024

Featuring thousands of crystals and costing close to $3,000 apiece, the uniforms are bold statements on a runway that athletes hope ends in gold.

One of my absolute favourites…
01/07/2024

One of my absolute favourites…

01/06/2024
Vale Leo Narducci…
25/11/2023

Vale Leo Narducci…

Leo Narducci is an American fashion designer and recipient of the Coty American Fashion Critics' Award in 1965. He was acclaimed as one of the top five desi...

03/11/2023
https://ausfashioncouncil.com/program/seamless/
01/11/2023

https://ausfashioncouncil.com/program/seamless/

A plan to transform how clothing is made, used, reused, and recycled in Australia to create clothing circularity by 2030, and significantly reduce the 200,000 tonnes of clothing that currently goes to Australian landfill each year.

Address

Yarraville, VIC
3012

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Figure8Textiles posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Figure8Textiles:

Shortcuts

Share

Category