Tag Archives: Wool

Ultramarine Blue Motion Jumpsuit

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Ultramarine Blue Motion Jumpsuit 1

Hei from Helsinki! For my vacation, I created a few travel outfits for my Scandinavian summer adventure. Working with some core JLD silhouettes, I updated my wardrobe, including the addition of a new Motion Jumpsuit design. I love designing with textured solids and selected this ultramarine blue linen, wool, and silk blend from Italy.

The bodice features relaxed short kimono sleeves and a center back zipper. This easy-to-wear pleated jumpsuit also incorporates deep hip yoke pockets, perfect for travel. The fabric blend is drapey and soft, and the subtle sheen adds textured interest to the movement of the silhouette.

Ultramarine Blue Motion Jumpsuit 2

Ultramarine Blue Motion Jumpsuit 3

For contrast, I styled the look with semi-sheer polka dot socks and wore the jumpsuit in Helsinki during my visit to the Iittala & Arabia Design Centre.

Ultramarine Blue Motion Jumpsuit 4

I am very inspired by color and offer my core silhouettes to customers in a variety of colors and prints. I love finding design inspiration while traveling. On this trip, I learned about Iittala’s color development process. Iittala is one of Finland’s most celebrated design and lifestyle brands. With over 100 active production colors, each color recipe is cast to a “stair model” to see how the material thickness affects the color. Iittala has over 10,000 different color recipes in the archives!

Ultramarine Blue Motion Jumpsuit 5

Follow me on Instagram for more scenes from this trip. If you are interested in placing an order for this jumpsuit in this fabric or another cotton option, email us at jamielaudesigns [at] gmail [dot] com. For those of you in San Francisco who would like to shop in person, I will be vending at the Renegade Craft Fair at Fort Mason the weekend of July 15-16, 2017. The event is free and open to the public.

Ultramarine Blue Motion Jumpsuit 6

This new design is also featured on the Britex Fabrics blog.

Aubergine Scalloped Wool A-line Dress x Britex Fabrics Guest Blogging

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Jamie Lau Designs Aubergine Scalloped Wool A-line Dress

Catching an unusually sunny day in Brooklyn this time of year

With winter approaching and temperatures dropping, I wanted to create a wool dress to keep warm for the season as an alternative to just wearing sweaters. I was partially inspired by the geometric cuts and stark tunic shapes of 1960s Pierre Cardin.

Jamie Lau Designs Pierre Cardin Inspiration 1

The Cosmocorps collection in double-face wool jersey, 1967. Photo by Yoshi Takata.

As Cardin once said, he “wanted to give women […] a chance to work, to sit, to take the car and drive in [his] dresses.” As a person constantly on the go and working long hours, I appreciate that sentiment and always aim for comfort and functionality in my designs.

For this design, I chose an aubergine wool blend with embroidered scallops. I wanted a looser fit with some sleeve coverage, so I decided on an A-line dress silhouette with a boat neckline and set-in sleeves.

Jamie Lau Designs Aubergine Scalloped Wool A-line Dress 2

Embroidered scallop detail

Visit the Britex blog for my full article and get inspired!

Pleated Wool Dress x Britex Fabrics Guest Blogging

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Jamie Lau Designs Pleated Wool Dress 1

The subtle blue and green coloration of teal is perfect for fall

With fall upon us, I thought that a dress in a midweight wool with some sleeve coverage would be a good transition piece. The teal color has a warm, vintage feel to it and the skirt features inverted box pleats for a little bit of fullness.

Jamie Lau Designs Pleated Wool Dress 2

This designer wool fabric has a nice drape to it and works great for a fuller skirt

Jamie Lau Designs Pleated Wool Dress 3

A great transition piece for fall

Jamie Lau Designs Pleated Tombo Dress Photo Shoot

A sneak peek from our latest photo shoot featuring our Pleated Tombo Dress with cap sleeves in a Japanese fabric – follow us on Instagram for more behind the scenes footage

Visit the Britex blog for my full article, featuring this pleated wool dress, which includes tips on working with wool!

Windowpane Pleated Top and Wool Shorts Duo x Britex Fabrics Guest Blogging

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Jamie Lau Designs Windowpane Pleated Duo 1

I selected a cream windowpane check black and carmine wool crepe for my checked ensemble

For my first Britex Fabrics guest blogger post of the new year, I decided to branch out from dresses and into the world of separates. I designed a pair of pleated shorts in one of my prints a few months ago (coming to the web shop soon!) and wanted to make the same cut, but in a nice, pebbly wool crepe.

For the overall look, I was partially inspired by the geometric designs of André Courrèges and the playful, mod aesthetic of Foale and Tuffin and decided to make a windowpane pleated top and wool shorts combo.

60s Inspiration

(Left) Dress by André Courrèges, 1968; (Right) Marion Foale at the sewing machine, 1963

For the top, I designed and sewed an easy-to-wear pleated neckline top with relaxed short kimono sleeves, similar to my Pleated Tunic Dress, styled here with my A.P.C. cat brooch that I picked up in Belgium back in 2007 at their Antwerp store.

Jamie Lau Designs Windowpane Pleated Top 1

Front neckline pleating detail

Jamie Lau Designs Windowpane Pleated Top 2

Fully lined and easy to slip on without the hassle of a zipper

And for the shorts, I added front pleating and hip yoke pockets.

Jamie Lau Designs Windowpane Pleated Duo Details

The devil’s in the details – checks meticulously aligned

We shot this look with photographer Liz Clayman the same weekend as the photo shoot for my new textile designs. Check out my Instagram for more behind the scenes glimpses of other looks from this shoot, including new Jamie Lau Designs prints which are coming to the web shop at the end of this week!

Jamie Lau Designs Windowpane Pleated Duo Behind the Scenes

Thanks to my model Ming for the behind the scenes snapshot!

Visit the Britex blog for my full article which includes a tutorial with tips on sewing shorts (and naturally, can be applied to sewing pants as well)!

Metallic A-line Tent Dress x Britex Fabrics Guest Blogging

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Jamie Lau Designs Metallic A-line Tent Dress

Venturing into a new color palette of shimmering jewel tones

In my latest Britex Fabrics guest blogger post, I chose to work in a luxurious French metallic/wool novelty blend. I was mostly drawn to the metallic characteristics of this fabric (as you know, I particularly love working with metallic brocades for my dress designs).

Jamie Lau Designs Turquoise Floral Metallic Brocade Party Dress

Classic Jamie Lau Designs dress silhouette in a turquoise metallic brocade with floral specks of peach, rose, gold, violet, and lush greens

Jamie Lau Designs Copper Metallic Brocade Sweetheart Dress

Another fun party dress I made in a copper metallic brocade with an abstract floral motif and sweetheart neckline

For this dress design, I wanted to create something modern, wearable, and layerable. I didn’t want to go too “evening” or fitted, so I decided to make an A-line tent dress with a yoke and vertical seaming (I ended up not having to add a zipper). I added a subtle petal hem and used Bemberg rayon “Ambiance” made in Japan for lining.

Jamie Lau Designs Metallic A-line Tent Dress

Subtle brilliant blue, emerald green, and purple jewel tones set against dark midnight blue background

Jamie Lau Designs Metallic A-line Tent Dress

A fun silhouette that can be worn with colorful tights or metallic accessory accents

It was definitely a challenging fabric to work with, but well worth the effort! Check out my full article for sewing tips and a tutorial on how to sew a dress with attached lining.

Jamie Lau Designs Metallic A-line Tent Dress

Thanks for the beautiful shimmering fabric, Britex!