Sure, I can sew. A straight line. In fact, I am pleased to announce that I made curtains for my bathroom last week. Actually, it was not exactly an “emergency” per se, but needed. We had guests coming to stay with us and no covering for the bathroom window. The previous blinds had been broken years ago.

For the longest time it really didn’t matter as the house across the street had caught on fire a few years back, so no one could look inside our house at that level. But someone moved in to the rehabbed house, and we had guests who might enjoy their privacy. Of course, I waited until the day before the first guest arrived (maybe it was THE day, actually). I had an old curtain that we weren’t using any more. Chop, chop, iron, hem. Good as gold an hour later.

How does this pertain to photography, you may wonder? Because you can make amazing outfits with little  no sewing skill. Have you seen those photos where dresses flow about in all directions and think you could never afford to buy or rent one? Chances are that it was done post production in Photoshop.

Brian DeMint of Eyeworks Photography has been published many times while using props from Hobby Lobby and outfits created from old dresses or even cardboard. Duct tape and cellophane often come in to play as well as twigs, branches and broken objects. Brooke Shaden’s  creativity allows her to create awe-inspiring dresses and unusual photos using yarn, sticks, garbage dumpster finds and thrift store dresses. Sometimes, it’s just a few yards of fabric. She’ll wrap it around the model and composite the rest of the flowing “gown” in later.

In this photo here, I have a few yards of fabric (unhemmed an raveling a bit) wrapped around Thérèse, knotted at the shoulder with a hair rubber band. The facial artwork is some stickers I picked up for a dollar or two somewhere. Several of my sisters asked me a few years ago how I could have lived for so long without a glue gun. What? I need a glue gun? I did rush out and get one. 3 or 4 years later, it still sits in the package gathering dust. My point is, don’t let lack of skills or funds be the “reason” you can’t create.

You can make many “sets” or outfits, limited only by your imagination.