How to make a Chanel-inspired brooch. Paris style DIY
„Hurray!!! I made it!” – that’s how happy I was with participating in Leasage workshops in the Saatchi Gallery during the Mademoiselle Privé exhibition. Yes, I’m talking about the exhibition prepared by Chanel fashion house and inaugurated by the master Karl Lagerfeld in person in London. On the opening Lagerfeld’s muses could not be missed. There were Cara Delevingne, Julianne Moore, Lily Rose Depp, Vanessa Paradis, Lily Allen, Lily Collins and Anja Rubik. Impressive names, right? And next to them Magpie Patrycja – Pica Pica’s link with London.
Embroideress from… Chanel
Lasage is a famous embroidery workshop specialized in production of Haute Couture, Ready-to-Wear materials and accessories, existing in Paris since 1924. It revolutionized the design and production in the industry, attracting well-known tailors and designers, among others Madeleine Vionnet. In 1992 Lesage founded the School of Embroidery, one of the few in the world, and in 2002 was bought by Chanel fashion house. Marie and her friend, French embroideresses on behalf of Chanel, which helped workshop participants learn the basic principles of embroidery, graduated from the same school.
Needle, Swarovski crystals, focus and precision
Imagine black tulle spread on looms, tiny transparent bags filled with Swarovski trinkets and openwork base of that brooch that resembles a leaf (you can see it in the photos). And all of this in a gorgeous exhibition hall being at the same time a live exhibition. In the glass cases you could see pieces of materials with various embroideries from Paris-Salzburg, Dubai and Singapore collections. You can imagine I was delighted.
I took a deep breath… and started the most pleasurable work one can ever imagine. But before I took the needle, Marie – our expert from France, gave me some advice:
- Start with placing the largest elements (in this case we had the larger Swarovski crystals, e.g. Oval and Xirius). Divide the brooch into zones and work on them in certain order. This way you will use the thread slower, it won’t tangle and you won’t have to call for help too often.
- With the smaller beads like Beads and Bicone, sewn in in various configurations, fill in the parts of the brooch so that they create a piece in a total Baroque style. Be precise and carefully pull the thread so that the embroidery is compact and strong.
- Symmetry or asymmetry? Of course, the choice is yours! Think which idea brings the WOW effect. Only your imagination limits you. Baroque style brooch has to be richly decorated!
Time was running very fast, as always when you are doing something creative. Most of the Magpies tried to reproduce the design shown to us by Chanel employees, only a few decided to improvise. My heart beat faster when Marie said I was doing great…
The workshop’s over. I’m running to the exhibition holding a “Chanel bag” with the most precious treasure – my own handmade brooch. The workshop participants got priority entrance, so I don’t have to wait in a mile-long queue circling Saatchi a couple of times.
I’ll tell you that the meeting with the world of Chanel and Haute Couture embroidery showed me how laborious and precise fashion can be, and how you can think of jewelry in a completely different way. It’s a real craft, manual work of many people. Interesting fact: on the collection of Paris-Salzburg over 40 embroidery machines worked for many days, and the Lesage archive has more than 75 000 different embroidery patterns.
Have you, dear Magpie, ever tried to do your own trinket? Do not be ashamed, boast!
