This week on Project Runway, the theme was inspiration… The designers took pictures of random things around New York and had to design based on their favorite picture. At some point during the episode, I started randomly sketching what I would have designed had I been them. It’s probably a good thing that I’m not, but I liked the sketches enough to share (and quite frankly, I don’t often share pages from my sketch book so LUCKY YALL!!)

I did essentially all of this during the last half of the episode – it really began because I didn’t like Kara’s explanation of her dress, which was inspired by a caution sign. She was so literal about the caution tape… but if I’d been the one thinking about caution and blocking things away from a person, I think there would have been something boxier in the design. Thus, the drawing on the top left…

Top right, I have a dress inspired by Santino’s graffiti picture. His dress was really too cotton candy (and Austin Scarlett, for that matter!) for both the edgyness of the picture and of his own personality. To me, graffiti is organized chaos – a new way of saying something traditional. So my dress is slightly more chaotic while still staying shapely. Or, at least that was what I was going for.

Bottom right, I drew a dress inspired by Chloe‘s picture of an office building. Neither she nor I really succeded. The more I disliked mine, the more I added to it, and I didnt really capture the angular look I was going for. In my mind, the dress is covered with big honeycomb stiches, like the smocking on a little girl’s dress, only HUGE. The drawing doesnt really communicate that, and I really doubt it would translate in real life, either.

Last, bottom left, a drawing inspired by Daniel V’s picture of orchids. I cant even begin to compare mine to his. His was divine. He may in fact be my new Secret Best Friend. I mean, how on earth does one make a top that looks like a giant creampuff, but at the same time doesnt make the model in it look hefty or top heavy? I envisioned pleats that sort of came to a point in the front of mine… I would love to see someone do something like this in real life, so I can see if it would look like it does in my mind’s eye.

At this point, its just about dreaming that one day my sewing skills will be as good as what i dream up… but since I cant even always accomplish it on paper, we’ll see if it ever happens with fabric. (speaking of sewing, hopefully soon i’ll put the zipper in that skirt and show y’all pictures…)