Karen Lukacs: The Alchemy of Remaking with Secondhand Materials
The workshop demystifies Karen’s creative process in transforming pre-loved garments and notions into couture-quality, one-of-a-kind works of art. It is an interactive zoom session where participants are encouraged to bring their questions and ideas on Reimagined Couture.
You will go through the process of transforming a simple denim jacket into your own signature statement garment – your modern heirloom. Karen shares design inspiration and technical tips from her experimentations in deconstructing denim and attaching layers. She demystifies the pattern process and easy ways to skillfully attach your embellishments.
By workshop’s end, you’ll know how to finish and care for your one-of-a-kind, transformed jacket.
MATERIALS LIST:
- Unlined trucker jacket or similar garment from your wardrobe
- Light weight 2-sided fusible web.
Recommended: Pellon #EZ2L212 EZ Steam II Lite Two-Sided Fusible Web.
- Scissors both fabric and paper
- Seam ripper
- Pattern paper: any lightweight paper that you can lay onto the jacket and draw your
pattern. Waxed freezer paper works well.
- Pencil/pen
- Fabric glue
- Pins substantial enough to go through the layers of fabric
- Textile embellishments: this is an important part of the experience. Bring what catches
your fancy, what speaks to you and of you. Remnants, tee shirt graphics, trims,
stitchwork, beading, garments for lining…endless possibilities. Considering employing
your own handwork samples. Options are endless, but resources here are key.
- Size #16 or denim needle and thread.
ABOUT KAREN LUKACS
Transforming reclaimed garments into limited edition collections of Artisanal Fashion
Karen Lukacs is a weaver, sewist, textile designer/maker with over 25 years of upcycling mastery. She elevates repurposing design to an art form, often using denim. Inspired by the processes of fabric disassembly and reconstruction, Karen’s artisanal fashion brings cast-off textiles back to life. From her studio in the Sonoran Desert, she advocates for design as a solution to the negative excesses of the ever-growing fast fashion model.
Driven by a hierarchical, zero-waste ethos, Karen begins her Denim Collection with one-of-a-kind jackets created from discarded denim jeans. Construction remnants are then collaged and transformed into bags and pillows using technical skills in tandem with artistry. Sweaters and upholstery remnants become sturdy totes. She sees her work as a transformation of the old to the making of modern heirlooms with new stories yet to unfold. An award-winning textile artist, Karen’s work has been published and exhibited in galleries. She shares her experience and inventiveness through workshops, lectures, and her studio production.
An virtual workshop via Zoom (will be recorded)
$65/$45 members
$65.00Add to cart