Yelena Dressmaking & Accessories

  This shearing coat was made in the 1990s, which makes it vintage today, out of materials that were vintage at that time. I had two children’s fur coats from Russia. One- given by a family friend since they no longer wanted to keep it and before the moths got to it. The other coat originally was bought for my father, then passed onto me. I still remember the super heavy weight and longish cumbersome shape that was considered high quality by Soviet standards, but not what an active 5-8 year old child should wear during a cold time of the year.  The shearling was still in perfect condition on both coats, so I disassembled them, got rid of old lining, connected some pieces (minding the direction of the pile) and reassembled everything as a bigger jacket - all by hand! It’s lined in a beautiful paisley satin with extra batting in between layers. The closures are fur hooks hidden by the pom-poms.  It was one of my Art School projects. Though, my professor didn’t like it as mu...

The ArtsHerndon curator and I were talking yarn bomb and she gave me the dimensions. I tried to crochet it as if different people with distinctly varying crochet styles were participating, so I used different sizes of hooks and I crocheted in different places: in my studio, on my deck, in a passenger sit of a car, while watching a movie on tv, while having a face time with family… I gave it a name “What Will You Remember”- you can find some references to American classic songs, Eastern European ornamentals, and nature in my original design.  The colors were chosen with regards to fading by sunlight: the white acrylic yellows when exposed to sun, while yellow yarn fades into whiter shades. So, if hang outside, this crochet panel will look more universally off-white. Colors that don’t fade nicely are all shades of blue and purple- so I used very little of these colors for the project that I hope will be hanging outside for a long time.  The photos show the artwork in progress, a...

Scroll to the bottom of the page to learn about my puzzling mystery search for this publication.  https://www.threadsmagazine.com/assets/pdf-download/THREADS_SewSmartBetterFast_Member.pdf My tip below was published in the issue of  Threads above.  Unfortunately, Threads did not digitalize their archives last time I checked, so I had to add a photo of the magazine where my “know how” was published. Additionally, there was a book of tips. The book was digitized, but partially, leaving me wondering where did my contribution go if my name is listed in the credits. So, I had to buy the book —a rare find even on Amazon, since not too many survived since the time of publishing —and page through it until I found my tip! Photos from the book are at the top of the page, above the link to the partially uploaded book that I found through Threads website. 

 This blog was built by Michael (Misha) Barth   Photography by Jacob (Yasha) Barth, John Barth and Yelena Y. Barth

 This blog was created to showcase the works and creative ideas of Yelena Yantovskaya Barth, the sole proprietor of Yelena Dressmaking & Accessories. Our main focus is to explore practical responsible ways of working with fabric, thread and yarn for artistic expression as well as in functional projects that could lead to improved wardrobe building. Yelena Dressmaking & Accessories has been proudly serving clients in the state of Virginia since 1998. The items pictured here are not for sale unless specified otherwise. Your comments will be checked weekly.

https://americanhistory.si.edu/stories-of-2020/story/trying-new-form-art-while-fighting-pandemic-waste