Flashback: Old School Projects

First things first; if this is the first time you are reading this blog, this is NOT what I do now! The designs in this posting are old school and college projects that I discovered hiding in my garage over the weekend. I thought it would be fun to share with you my weird style I had back then, so we can either laugh, cringe or cry together!


This design is a halter top, made from silk, machine embroidery, sequins and diamante. It is hard to believe I made this design almost 9 years ago, at college. It feels like it was even further back; almost another lifetime ago- I have learnt so much, and my style has completely changed.


The above design was made for the evening wear category. It is made from silk organza, machine embroidery, cording, beads, and diamante. Unfortunately, the beaded tasselling have completely tangled themselves, but otherwise, I still quite like this style.


The fabric was originally plain white silk organza. I then painted four pieces of this fabric, into four different colours- red, bright pink, purple and orange. I then placed them on top of each other, then satin-stitched the rows to form squares.


After this, I randomly cut out layers of organza to display different colours coming through- so some squares had one layer of organza, others had 2 or 3 or 4.

I then applied the pattern shape, moulded each panel to fit the body, the satin stitched over the top of previous lines. (A similar process to how you attach lace around seams). The above photo shows that there are no seams inside of the top. It is just a continuous, moulded piece of fabric.


I then applied the diamante and beaded tasselling. This design took forever! Not as long as my wedding dress, but still- Forever!





The next design was for my high school end of year project. While I look at it now, and wonder what was I thinking?!, I can appreciate the effort involved at least. This dress was made from plain white silk, which I painted.


I think sometimes it is fun to look back at where you have come from, and compare it to what you can do now. I am proud to say that I think I have come a long way!

If you would like to see my current designs, you can take a look at the Penelope Red website, the Penelope Red etsy shop, or previous postings in the Penelope Red blog.