Adventures in the Art of Sewing

A New Blog Location

2010-05-09T10:59:00.000-04:00

I have moved my blog. It is now located here:
http://couturearts.wordpress.com/.

There's a fun post waiting there for you. Please update your links and feed readers.

Me Made May

2010-05-01T09:37:00.001-04:00

If you are looking for me-made-may photos, please look on the Flickr group. I won't be posting them here daily, but I'm considering doing a wrap up post with all the photos for the month.

The Flickr group is here

More Summer Layers

2010-04-25T14:13:00.000-04:00

Continuing my pursuit of summer layers, I just loved a look from Oscar de la Renta's spring 10 line with a colorful print dress worn over a white sleeveless shirtdress. I managed to find this nice brocade at Mood with some yellow and blue in it. It's probably rayon.

The first couple of times I saw this look of a longer skirt worn under a shorter one, I could not get my head around it, but now I like it. It feels very now. It was featured in the Celine collection that everyone seems so enamoured with, as well. I like the way it shows up in de la Renta, which is so ornate, and Celine, which is supposed to be so minimalist. I'm a bit ambivalent about minimalism in general. Perhaps I overdosed on it in the 90's.

Here's the dress front without the belt. It's from BWOF 11/07 105, front neckline lowered 1", straps widened, pleats added to skirt

Dress back

Front detail

Embroidery on the back lining

Underdress from BWOF 6/2000 105. I love a deep hem.

Underdress back

Inspiration photo from Style.com

Me-Made-May

2010-04-21T12:42:00.000-04:00

Zoe over at So Zo has started a fun challenge for May. It's called Me Made May and it involves wearing pretty much only clothes you've made for the month of May. I'm joining and will be posting photos to the Flickr group. If you would like to join, as well, click on the link above to go to Zoe's blog.

Spring Tie-Dye

2010-04-11T11:26:00.000-04:00

This dress in influenced by a dress in March Vogue. The designer is Gregory Parkinson, who, oddly, is not listed on Style.com. Anyway, the link above will take you to the Vogue photo, at least for now. It's a sweet little print that is tie-dyed to give it a bit of an edge, and I just love that look. The original is much more ornate than mine.

To get the fabric I'd need, I figured I'd check out Metro Textiles. Metro Textiles has been a bit of an Avalon for me. I've been meaning to go there for at least 5 years, but it's been too shrouded in mists for me to find it. First off, they are only open on weekdays, and I am almost never in the city Monday - Friday. Then, a couple of years ago when I was visiting New York from London, I was all set to go there, only to find that they had moved and I had their old address. Then, a month or so ago, DH was looking after the kids so I could go into the city on my birthday and I was all excited because I could go to Metro Textiles! Then when I got there, they had had some pipes burst overnight, to the place was a total wreck. Kashi and co were pulling out all the bolts and leaving them in piles on the floor according to whether they were wet or not. I was looking for a sort of saccharine sweet cotton print, and this was pretty close to what I had in mind. However, it did not occur to me to ask if it was 100% cotton, and when I got it home I realized that it's a blend. It still dyed OK, though. And I STILL feel like I have not really experienced Metro Textiles.

The pattern is based on Burdastyle 1/07 106. I made the dress in 2 layers, with the gathers on the underlayers. The top layer is kind of like a tunic. I tied off the bottom of the dress, then put it in the dye bath. I used Rit navy, but because of the polyester content, it came out lighter than a true navy. I like the color, and I like the way the yellow in the print shows through the dye a bit. I will probably wear it with a belt.

back view

Front with the top layer pulled back so you can see a bit of how the dress is constructed. The gathers on the underdress are only on the side panels.

Side view

More Spring Coats

2010-04-07T16:49:00.000-04:00

Since becoming a parent, I appear to have developed an obsession with dressing my dd's in matching coats. They make the best photos!

Allow me to join the chorus of sewing bloggers raving about FabricMart. They listed this fabric as "silk twill", which is a great lining fabric. It was also listed as 80" wide, which I was certain was a mistake. When the fabric arrived, it was, indeed, 80" wide. And it is a necktie silk! It's far too thick to use as a lining, but it's just a gorgeous fabric. Both of my dd's jumped on it and demanded that I make something for them with it. The lining is a silk from FabricMart, as well. I washed them in the machine together, and the blue bled onto the yellow, toning down the color a bit.

The pattern I used is from a recent Burdastyle. The pattern includes a regular belt, like in an adult trench coat, but with my kids, that would be just asking for trouble. I put elastic in the back of the coat, and attached the belt at the sides. I slashed-and-spread the back pattern piece from hem to top in several places so the skirt would be a bit fuller.

Larger coat, front

Smaller coat, front. They each picked their own buttons.

Larger coat, back

Smaller coat, back

Larger coat inside. I underlined the blue silk with the yellow silk, and used french seams. I'm on a french seam kick lately.

Smaller coat inside.

The following is a gallery of my greatest matching jacket hits through the years:

Summer Layers

2010-04-05T16:45:00.000-04:00

At the beginning of each season, I find it helpful to define my look for that season. That way, on those days when I wake up in the morning and am tempted to put on a tracksuit because I can't be bothered to put together an outfit, I can think about my predefined look and come up with something presentable within those parameters.

One look that I keep going back to is layers. I just love wearing lots of clothes at the same time. This can present a problem in, say, summertime in the northeastern US, where ANY clothes at all can be too much. For this summer, I've decided to try some lightweight layers as a basis for my summer uniform. To that end, I just made some silk organza sleeveless tops to layer over tank tops or under sundresses. I made a top similar to these years ago, and have worn it so much that it had to be retired.

I started from scratch with the pattern, eliminating side seams and making a sort of bias tube with the seams on the straight grain, but the garment on the bias. That's why the seams appear to be going every which way.

This is the front of the blue top. It is reversible from royal to navy. Technically, they are all reversible, but the white and burgundy ones are the same on both sides.

This is the back of the blue top.

White top, front and back

Burgundy top, back and front

A Lady Pouring Chocolate

2010-03-03T13:19:00.000-05:00

When I go to an art museum, I look at the clothes. When I am confronted with a roomful of nudes, I get all annoyed. Why would anyone want to look at people without clothes? I just don't get it. Above is a painting in London's National Gallery called A Lady Pouring Chocolate by Jean-Etienne Liotard. If you ever get the chance, go and see this painting, and get the audio tour. The explanation of what's going on in the painting is hilarious. But about the dress. I've been wanting to make one like it for a while. When the new Vogue patterns came out, I saw that Vogue 1152 bears some resemblance to the dress in the painting. It is certainly not exactly the same, but it has the deep V and the horizontal detail at the waist. I have no desire to look like I just stepped out of a costume drama (most days, anyway), so that's close enough for me.

Here's my finished dress. The center panels are silk georgette, the side panels and sleeves are a silk-cotton blend. I made a few changes to the pattern, starting with the detail at the front. I tried to use piping, as recommended on the pattern, but it came out all wonky. So I started again using shirred georgette and strips of contrast. It came out much better.

I also changed the neckline finish. The pattern has a facing, which I just hate. Facings never stay in place. Instead of the facing, I cut the 4 of the upper center front pattern piece, and used 2 as a sort of self-lining.

The pattern recommends a side zipper. I basted the side seams together, and realized that I could still get it on over my head without the zipper, so I omitted it.

Here's the back. I cut the size pattern that my measurements would indicate, but there was too much ease at the waist. I did a quick-and-dirty fix by pulling in the elastic a bit to make it tighter at the waist.

French seams

Strawberry embroidered on the inside back yoke

Burdastyle Contest

2010-02-27T08:06:00.000-05:00

If you don't have anything else to do right now, and I assume that you don't, because if you did, you probably would not be wasting time reading my blog, can you please do me a favor? Burdastyle is running a contest that I have entered based on Natalie Chanin's book Alabama Studio Style. Go on over there, check out the entries (a lot of them are really amazing) and consider voting for mine. Here's the link to the album: Burdastyle Alabama Studio Contest

My entry looks like this:

I should never enter contests. I'm just too competitive, and I will be obsessed with my vote count until the contest ends.

If you would like more info on the making of this dress, I did a blog entry about it here:
Reverse Applique Dress

Conversation with Myself

2010-02-17T13:30:00.000-05:00

"I like that Underwear As Outerwear look"
"I'm too old for it."
"It looks great on Susie Bubble"
"She's half my age"
"Hey, look, Vanessa Williams is wearing a corset on Ugly Betty, and she's older than me."
"Vanessa Williams is a Hollywood actress, a former pop singer, and a former Miss America. I am not now, and never have been, a Hollywood actress, a pop singer, or Miss America. I am a forty-something suburban housewife."
"Oh, look, I have this great fabric that looks sooo Marie Antoinette."
"By the time Marie Antoinette was my age, she was dead. And she was Queen of France, something else that I will never be."
"Look, I finished it!"
"It's kind of cute."

Front. I did not have a separating zipper, so I just used an invisible zipper, and extended it below the bottom edge. I put a snap on it, so I can tuck the end under and snap it up. I must remember to get a couple of separating zippers to have around.

back

I embroidered a circus elephant on the back lining

For a pattern, I used the corset included with OOP Vogue 2086. It may not be the end-all-be-all of corset patterns, but if you consider that it was there in my closet waiting for me when I wanted to make a corset, it's pretty sweet. If you have a favorite corset pattern to recommend, please leave a comment. I would like to see if another draft would fit me better.

Unsure What To Sew

2010-02-10T20:14:00.004-05:00

February is a tough month for sewing. I'm sick to death of winter clothes, but spring seems as if it may never arrive, so no sense getting a head start on warm weather wear. I might as well make something completely out there, like this lovely metallic satin cocktail dress that will be perfect for my next stint as maid of honor at an interstellar commitment ceremony. Or perhaps I'll just wear it while swanning around lunching establishments with the other ladies-who-lunch.

This pattern would make a really lovely wedding dress. The skirt is very, very full in the back, and I can easily picture it extending into a train. It comes in a long sleeve version, as well. So, if you're in the market for that kind of thing, you might want to consider this pattern.

The fabric is a home dec polyester that is one of the more interesting fabrics I have come across. It has a really substantial weight, a soft hand, and it looks identical on both sides. Normally I only sew with natural fabrics, but this fabric deserves to be an exception. It is really amazing, but boy, was it hard to photograph.

The pattern is Vogue 1084, a re-issued Vintage Vogue. I'm not normally one for sewing vintage, but this really caught my eye. I like the low back and high front necklines. The skirt, as drafted, is really long. I took off 4" before I cut, then ended up taking another 5" off the front.. I left the back long, for a sort of mermaid effect.

My serger is the devil. I did without it for 2 years in London and did not even miss it. I left it in storage here because of the power issues with 220 power there. Now, it sits next to my sewing machine tempting me with its less-than-couture seam finishes. I caved for this dress, seeing as it may never actually see the light of day anyway.

I determined a while back that there is no point to sewing for the life that I have, which is really boring, but this dress is so out there that I could not even begin to imagine a life where I would need to wear something like it. Occasionally, I like to wear something costume-y to go to museums in the city, so it may be handy for that. Just the kind of thing to sew in February!

Front

Side view. You can see the difference in length between the front and back skirt.

Back

I embroidered a bird on the back facing.

Mixing Patterns

2010-02-02T15:22:00.006-05:00

Mixing fabrics has to be one of my favorite things about sewing. These fabrics were part of a Michael's Fabrics mailer from not too long ago. They are a stripe and a plaid woven on the same scale from the same yarns. They set my mind whirring. This shirt is sort of similar to a Comme Des Garcons menswear shirt that I saw at the Dover Street Market in London maybe a year ago. I used a pattern from Burda 9/09, 105. If you look up the pattern, you will be struck by the lack of resemblance between my blouse and the one in the magazine, but it is the same general shape.

Shirt Back

Cuff

Cuff

Showing off my stripe matching

Sneaker embroidery on the inside of the collar stand. It would look better if I had made the sneaker grey or something and just made the laces red. I wonder if I will ever be able to put that knowledge to use in any way?

This illustrates the changes I made to the front pattern piece. The outline is the Burda piece with a small FBA. The curvy line is the new cutting line. The vertical lines are the stripes on the fabric, which I want to line up.

Here are the front and back pattern pieces after I cut them. I closed the dart in the front because I basically have a princess seam now. I took the yoke shaping in the back and put that shaping in the back princess seam.

My explanations are really bad, but you might be able to see some of my process from the photos.

Trouser Comments

2010-01-30T18:41:00.002-05:00

Nancy K said...
Very nice. People wonder why more men don't sew, well what exactly should they sew if there are so few patterns? I'll have to look for that one. Did you make these with traditional waistband?

Thanks. Actually, I meant to write about the waistband. Thanks for reminding me. They do have a traditional (rectangular) waistband. It is faced with a lighter fabric. The bit I wanted to write about is the interfacing. I used Ban Roll, which I have never used before. I've wanted to use it for a while, but all the trousers and skirts that I make for myself have shaped waistbands, which don't work with Ban Roll. It's really stiff, and you can shape the fabric around it nicely. I'm afraid, though, that the fabric will rub off after several washes, exposing this very plastic-y interfacing.

Lily said...
Hehe you'll look like Posh and Becks if you go around wearing matching pants!

Bernie and I have so much in common with Posh and Becks! They're coming round for tea later in the week. But, alas, I have forbidden him to wear his tweed trousers on the same day that I wear mine.

Trousers for DH

2010-01-29T18:36:00.003-05:00

DH's birthday was, oh, 3 weeks ago now, and on his actual birthday, I got the brilliant idea that I should make him some trousers. So of course I had to finish the project that I was working on first, then start these trousers. He admired the tweed trousers that I made for myself, and I had some of the fabric left, so I used it for a pair of mens' trousers.

For a pattern, I went through my BWOF's, and I got all the way back to 9/2001 before I found mens work trousers! Wow, they really don't have many mens patterns in Burda.

the side-back view

I embroidered a polar bear inside the waistband. I photographed it before putting it in the trousers.

Velvet trouser questions

2010-01-14T09:44:00.003-05:00

Cindy said...
I love the fabric that you used. I would love to make something in velvet but stop when I look at the all the types of velvets...poly, cotton, rayon,silk...since I have only looked online, I can't touch them! Would you recommend home dec cotton velvet for jackets and bottomweight? And poly/silk/rayon for dresses? Sorry for hitting you with these questions!

Hmm, velvet would be a very tough fabric to buy online. For starters, I would never buy a home dec fabric online if I were planning on using it for apparel. Lots of home dec fabrics have a scratchy backing that feels like glue or something, which would be unbearable against the skin. I bought the velvet I used at Designer's Guild on King's Road in London, which I'm sure is not helpful at all. I used the same velvet in different colors here and here.

A cotton velveteen would be nice for trousers, but the velvet I used is much plusher and has more sheen than a velveteen. I'm not sure how easy it would be to find a velvet with a cotton backing and rayon pile, which it what I used. The poly/silk/rayon velvets would not be suitable for tailored trousers, but would be great for more flowing trousers. I guess my advice about buying velvet online would be, get a swatch. There are so many different weights and drapes to velvet that it would be impossible to tell from a photo if it would be good for your project.

sharon said...
...ease the back at the inseam" Does that mean that the front inseam is shorter than the back inseam? By how much?

If the pattern is drafted to ease the back inseam, it will say "ease" on the pattern tissue on the back piece at the upper part of the inseam. There will be notches or circles on the pattern tissue, as well, and you can match up the symbols in the front and back and shrink the back to fit. If you fail to do this, you will still be able to wear the trousers, but you really should do it if the pattern is drafted that way.

Clothes to wear right now

2010-01-12T11:23:00.003-05:00

The cold continues, so I'm still in love with the pleated trouser in winter fabric look. For this project, I used the same pattern as my tweed trousers, this time in a home dec velvet. The backing is cotton, but the pile must be rayon, because it has more sheen than you would get from cotton.

I took some photos of the back of the trousers, as well, but you don't need to see them. However, in looking at the photos, I saw that the drag lines in the back of the tweed trousers are not present in these velvet ones. I realized that the pattern is drafted to ease the back piece at the inseam, which I did not do for the tweed trousers. I did it for these, and hey, no drag lines!

I tried them on with heels for the photo, but I'm not sure if they will be everyday wear or special trousers. They are machine washable, and they have a deep hem so I can roll them up to wear with flats.

I embroidered a plaice inside the waistband.

Fox Stole

2010-01-04T16:28:00.003-05:00

When I was a kid, there was this old lady who went to our church who would occasionally wear a fox stole. It was made up of several small foxes with heads, feet and all, and they were arranged in a circle with tails in the mouths of the other foxes. They had glass eyes. It may just be the most fascinating garment that I have ever seen, and it was always a treat to sit behind her in church.

A couple of weeks ago, I came across this etsy seller who is selling knit scarves modeled after the kind of stole that I remember brightening up my childhood churchgoing. If she comes across this blog, I hope she does not mind me taking her idea. I just had to have one, and I thought it would be fun to make my own.

My rendition is made from wool melton on the top, and silk organza on the bottom and inside the mouth. They are held together with hooks in the mouth and eyes on the tail. I embroidered eyes and paws. I drafted the pattern, such as it is, on my own. One tip for drafting a pattern like this one: draw it on a piece of paper in a size that you can handle, then take it to the copy shop to enlarge, if necessary. It's easier to keep the proportions under control that way.

one around the neck

two wrapped around twice

Here they are unhooked from one another. I used a different camera lens, which is why it looks like it is a different color.

hooks in the mouth

Pleated Tweed Trousers

2010-01-03T10:27:00.004-05:00

Boy, is it cold here in New Jersey. It's time for some lined wool trousers

I try not to keep an extensive fabric stash, but this fabric has been in my pile for at least 5 years. Near as I can tell, it is a wool/linen blend. I love it, but I could never come up with quite the right project for it. Enter Sherlock Holmes, the movie, which I saw last weekend. This fabric is very Sherlock Holmes.

For a pattern, I used Burda 11/09 111, lengthened. It is part of their Folklore series. It seems like, a few years ago, I used to laugh at all the Folklore styles. Now I seem to be making quite a few of them. I wonder if they changed or if I did?

Here is the back. I did not notice the drag lines before I looked at this photo. I may adjust for them the next time I make a pair of Burda trousers.

For the zipper, I used the "Cut-On Fly Shield" directions in David Page Coffin's new "Making Trousers" book. It's a really good method, resulting in many fewer layers of fabric than I generally wind up with when inserting a fly zipper.

I underlined the front with China silk, which is a tight weave, and may help prevent the trousers from bagging at the knees. I underlined the back with silk georgette. I chose georgette because it has some give to it, and you need some give in the back of trousers for sitting and bending.

I'm trying to improve my embroidery skills. I bought a couple of books with small embroidery motifs, and I'm going to put a small embroidery in everything I make from now on. This one turned out fairly clumsy, but my skills will improve with practice.

Questions on the Crinkle Dress

2010-01-02T14:16:00.002-05:00

The holidays are almost over, and boy, have they been busy! Fun, but a little crazy. Now, I'm getting to the questions that you have posted in the comments on my blog. I will start with questions about my crinkled silk dress.

Marji said...
That is amazing in the simplicity of execution. Thanks for sharing.  Your work is amazing. And your design aesthetic is your own, and it suits you and I can only think that someone who say something offensive to you is just jealous.  I think of you as having a "funky chic" aesthetic.   Back to the execution - have you thought about setting those crinkles using a shibori technique? Otherwise I'm thinking you're going to have to reset the crinkles everytime you wash the dress.

Thank you for the nice compliment. Yes, I have to re-set the crinkles every time I wash the dress. Not really a big deal. I accordion pleat the dress lengthwise, twist it into a tube, twist the tube in on itself, and tie with a bit of rag. Then I let it dry and toss it into my drawer without un-twisting. I untie it and shake it out before wearing. Definitely easier than ironing.

Katharina said...
Thank you for sharing this technique. I didnt know a dress could be shaped like that. Does it work in any fabric that is likely to wrinkle?
 I love the combination with the leggins and shoes. But tell me... how do you manage to wear those with naked feet in november without freezing to death?

You're welcome. I would only try this with a very lightweight fabric. There are lots of lightweight silks to try. It would probably work with a cotton voile as well. Heavier fabrics would kind of weigh down and not hold the wrinkles well enough. As for naked feet in November, I would only wear this look if I'm not planning on spending much time outside.

Digs said...
What a very interesting garment! Thank you for explaining the construction technique. At the risk of sounding worse than uninformed, does the dress appear bright blue on you because of a top you're wearing under it, or because in the other pics, where it looks blackish, it's inside out? And, do you have to twist it up to dry after every washing? And-and, are the sleeves on the bias as well, or just regular?

The dress appearing different colors is the result of taking some pics in natural light and some at night by artificial light. Or it may be that I have access to DH's extensive array of photography equipment, but I have no idea how any of it really works, so I just take whatever camera and lens is around without considering if it's the right combo for what I'm trying to do.

The sleeves are on the bias as well. For the dress, I used the whole width of the fabric. For the sleeves, I used half the width, so it was 22" wide to start with before I made the bias tube.

Wearing plaid dress

2009-12-12T19:53:00.002-05:00

There were a couple of questions about how I would wear the plaid strapless dress. Here's a pic taken just minutes ago of me on my way to a Christmas party. I'm wearing the same silk organza top underneath, but I ironed it.

Party Dress Season

2009-12-09T13:03:00.009-05:00

It really does not get any better than strapless, bias cut plaid. And I need something to wear to the Christmas parties. To make this dress, I started with a foundation from an OOP Vogue pattern (2806), made with silk taffeta left over from another project, Rigeline boning and some cotton batting to reinforce the cups. Then I drafted a pattern for the dress to go over it. I saw a dress similar to this one in Selvedge magazine that I wanted to copy. I loved the bias at center front, the buckles holding it closed and the fringe at the front opening.

Honestly, I need to either get better at pattern drafting or stop doing it entirely. The pattern I wound up with is OK, but there are many little things that I don't like about it, such as the side seams pitching forward on the skirt. This wouldn't happen on a commercial pattern. Unfortunately I wanted a very specific design. I was totally fixated on having the dress hang on the true bias in the center front and center back, and on the straight grain on the side seams. I also really wanted 3 darts per side, front and back. I probably should have let go of these things and found a commercial pattern to use instead of forging ahead with pattern drafting. There are just too many little things to keep in mind when drafting, and if you don't do it every day, it's too hard to remember them all.

The fabric is from B&J. I was originally looking for an English wool, which is thicker and fuzzier than Italian. Then I saw this Italian wool and the colors were so perfect that I had to buy it.

I could not photograph this dress on my form because I had the form made when I was a bit heavier. Since the dress is so close fitting, it won't fit on the form. Full Disclosure -- the above photo is taken with a wide angle lens, which elongates anything at the periphery. My legs are really not that long.

action shot

Dress with foundation zipped up

Dress fastened

Foundation front and back before I attached it to the dress

Dress back. In a couple of photos, it appears that the hem is uneven. I'll have to check that.

Inside of dress when laid out flat. For the lining, I used the last of a roll of silk that I bought at the silk mill almost a year ago. I will miss this fabric. It has a wonderful hand, similar to a Hermes scarf. If I recall correctly, it was only £2 for a roll. I'm so sorry that it's all gone.

Outside of dress laid out flat.

There are a couple of questions about previous posts that I need to respond to, but I'm finding myself without much energy for blogging lately. Please don't think I'm ignoring you. I'll get back to the questions after the holidays.

Crinkles

2009-11-22T19:50:00.008-05:00

You, dear blog reader, are so unfailingly gracious in your comments! On some level, I am aware that my design aesthetic may differ from yours. On this, a day when I am posting a project that may not be your cup of tea, I would like to thank you for never, ever, telling me that my projects are ugly. I appreciate the restraint that at least some of you show when I go off on my more arty tangents.

My favorite store in the world is Takashimaya in New York. You know, in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" when Holly Golightly is describing Tiffany's and she says something like, "Nothing bad could ever happen there"? Well, that's how I feel in Takashimaya. It's very quiet, there's lots of space around the stuff, and the merchandise is gorgeous. I would move in there if I could. It used to be better, though, because they used to have flowers and gardening supplies in the very front as the first thing you saw when you walked in. Now, it's handbags, which is annoyingly like all the other stores. They have the best shopping bags in New York. I got to go there a couple of weeks ago, and saw this great dress made of crinkled sheer silk with silk plaid trim. I probably should have bought it to help the economy, but I really wanted to make it.

One of the fabrics that I stash is silk organza. I buy it at Paron whenever I go there and just keep it around. It's incredibly useful for all kinds of things. I happened to have several yards of this dark blue, which is nice for the holidays.

The original dress that I saw was sleeveless, but after thinking about it a while, I decided to put sleeves on mine. I get cold easily. The dress is a double layer and the sleeves are a single layer.

For the trim, I used a plaid silk taffeta from Mood. I cut it on bias, and seamed it on the bias as well. I catchstitched the raw edge to the dress using silk thread for a fairly flat seam finish. The trim is on the hem, cuffs, and neckline.

After I constructed the dress, I put it in the washer in a mesh bag. When I took it out, I twisted it tightly while it was wet and left it to dry (still twisted). When it was dry, I un-twisted it and now it has the crinkles that give it shape.

I sewed the seams before I cut the fabric. Vertical seams in bias cut garments can be tricky, so I avoided them in this dress. I took the fabric (45" wide or so) and folded it as above, then stitched the selvedges together to make a bias tube.

After stitching the tube, I cut out the dress as above. I cut 2 so it is self-lined. The part at the bottom of the photo is the front, and the part at the top is the back. The pattern is based on a bias-cut top from bwof 8/99 that I have made several times before.

I stitched the top of the neckline and the shoulder seams. At this point, I could not fail to notice the resemblance between my dress and a hefty bag.

Here's the dress on the form. The reason that I took a photo of myself in the dress at the start of the post is that the form does not show the dress in the best light. This dress needs a body in it.

neckline detail

Meeting New Friends

2009-11-22T13:57:00.003-05:00

Marji from Fiber Arts Afloat was in New York for a class last week, and she arranged for some of us who are part of the online sewing community to meet! It was so much fun. The conversation was interesting and everyone was just as smart and stylish as I expected. Thanks, Marji, for arranging this!

I ran into NancyK at B&J a couple of hours before we were to meet for dinner. She recognised me by my jacket, which had been pictured on my blog. I felt like a bit of a movie star.

From left to right in the photo are: Carolyn, Robin, Marji, Mardel, me, LindsayT and NancyK.

Me wearing my clothes

2009-11-12T08:42:00.003-05:00

There were a couple of comments like this one to my last post:

Karin said...
Very nice skirts. I would love to see the combinations you'd make with your other clothes, by the way. They sound like some cute outfits!

I keep a Flickr album about What I Wore. I was updating it every day for a while, but I'm taking a little break because I've photographed pretty much my entire wardrobe at this point. I did update it today, though.

Here's the link to my album

My Winter Uniform

2009-11-11T13:02:00.004-05:00

Sometimes when I'm feeling a bit adrift, it helps to adopt a uniform so I can feel more like myself. I've decided this winter's uniform will be short skirts, tights, and layers on top. To that end, I just made 3 short skirts from the same pattern. It's really fast to sew identical garments. I stacked-and-whacked the linings, then assembled all the linings out of silk twill first. Then I assembled the blue and black skirts using black thread, then the tan one using tan thread. They came out really nicely, and I have worn 2 out of the 3. Actually, I had to take the blue one off my body to photograph it, which is why it is wrinkled. The fabrics were all from a Michael's bundle.

The pattern I used was from BWOF 7/08. I like it for a couple of reasons. I like the yoke, which is comfortable to wear. The pockets are very handy. The slight pegged shape feels current. Also, the pattern is drafted with a wide hem allowance and the instructions call for several layers of topstitching at the hem. One problem with short skirts worn with tights is that they tend to ride up. I think the wide hem and the topstitching will add some weight at the hem, which, combined with the slippery lining, will prevent this from happening.

Reversible Coats

2009-11-04T16:58:00.005-05:00

The Christmas card photo. It's enough to strike fear in the heart of every suburban mom. So, of course, I have to make my kids matching clothes so they will look properly coordinated for the annual Christmas card photo competition. Thankfully, my kids like nothing better than dressing alike. I wonder how many more years that will last?

The pattern for this coat came from the latest Ottobre. The recommend that you use a reversible fleece, but I made it a bit more challenging for myself and used 2 home dec fabrics. The pink is, I believe, a cotton-rayon blend. The purple is a very plush purple velvet. I bought both fabrics in London and have been waiting for the right pattern to come along.

It was actually fairly complicated to make the coat reversible. I put together the body of the coat first, then attached the 2 sides together, then put the sleeves on. Perhaps there's an easier way. I did the whole thing by machine, because machine stitching is more durable and I actually want these coats to get worn.

button detail

Digital Photo Question

2009-10-31T18:39:00.002-04:00

katherine h said...
. I wanted to ask a question on an older post of yours, where you showed the negative of your black denim jacket. Do you take your photos digitally? If so, can you tell us how you get a "negative" of a digital photograph. Many thanks, Katherine

I think I am quite clever for doing this, so I'm happy to share my methods. I use Photoshop, because I got accustomed to it many years ago when I worked, and the once you go through the steep learning curve with Photoshop, it's hard to think about learning another image editing program. I'm sure you can do this with other, less expensive, software, as well.

Open the photo
Choose Image - Mode - Greyscale
Choose Image - Adjustments - Invert

OK, now that I look at the steps involved, I realize that I'm not really all that clever for figuring this out, but there you have it.

Flower Headdress

2009-10-30T18:58:00.003-04:00

I love making Halloween costumes! DD wanted to be a flower this year, so I found some fuchsia cotton and some pink silk to surround her head with petals. I put buckram in the petals for interfacing, and zigzagged florist wire into the seam allowances to hold the petals up. Still, they could stay up a bit better. I think if I do something like this again, I'll make sure to use very lightweight materials. The petals are just too heavy. DD likes it, though, which is the important thing. The headdress buttons onto the hood of the sweatshirt.

Breaking the Rules

2009-10-19T10:14:00.004-04:00

A while back, I saw a photo of someone in the news wearing a skirt that was similar to this one. My first reaction was utter horror that anyone would wear something so obviously off-grain. Then, on closer inspection, I realised that it was meant to be that way. Then it began to haunt me. I wish I could remember where I saw the photo so I could show you the inspiration for this skirt.

The fabric is a home dec silk that I bought as a remnant. If you are looking for a fabric with a wide pattern repeat, home dec is the way to go. I purposely placed the single red stripe near the hem to catch the eye. This fabric is gorgeous. It's a jacquard weave, with the stripes woven in a satin weave and the background woven in a flat weave. When I become tremendously wealthy, all of my curtains will be silk.

The pattern I used was an A-line skirt from September Burda. I cut the skirt in one piece, replacing the right side seam with a dart. That way, I would not need to worry about matching the stripes on two side seams. I used an invisible zipper and added some belt carriers.

Back

Side Seam

Cape for Winter

2009-10-13T10:51:00.009-04:00

Every year, I tell myself that the coat closet has filled to overflowing, so no more freaking coats. And every year, I have to make another one. We are currently planning some rather major home renovations, so I'm angling for a larger coat closet to accommodate my coat making habit.

Here is this year's addition to the coat stable. When I saw this cape in the September Burda, I was powerless to resist. I've wanted a cape for ages. I made it with camel melton from B&J. I actually bought the last 3 yards of camel melton in the whole store. I really wanted melton because it's warm and has a nice soft nap for a warm fuzzy effect. I did not take into account that melton weighs an absolute ton. Wearing this cape around town will resemble walking around with exercise weights.

cape back. I did not underline it with a canvas, so you can see my stitches a bit.

I lined the cape portion in a fairly boring cotton canvas

Bound Buttonholes

I lined the vest portion in a red necktie silk. The vest on this pattern has no shaping whatsoever. All the shape comes from the belt. This may be good, since it allows for a bulky sweater to be worn underneath to keep the arms warm.

More Pics and Responses

2009-09-27T12:32:00.004-04:00

Many people asked me for more pics of my white linen ensemble, so here they are. I actually took quite a few, but did not initially post them because I don't like them much. I feel like I learned something from trying to take the photos, so it was not a waste of time, but they did not come out the way I envisioned them. I'm planning on spending more time with the camera and with photoshop to learn how to take better photos.

Carolyn asked:
I have a question, though, are you sewing more now that you're home?!
It's hard to tell. I always sew as much as I possible can. I keep thinking that things will settle down and I'll have more time to sew, but that does not seem to be happening. Maybe things are as settled down as they will ever be. Since my house is bigger here, I now have a sewing room that is big enough to unfold out my entire cutting table, which is nice! However, since my house is bigger here, housework is more time consuming, leaving less time for sewing.

McVal said:
I've tagged you with an award on my blog!
Thank you! I appreciate it.

Where I'm going with this

2009-09-24T13:28:00.003-04:00

No, I'm not looking to get married again. Actually, the past 3 garments I've made have been part of the same project. I saw a photo in Selvedge magazine several months ago and was really taken with it. I loved the black and white color scheme, the pintucked cuffs showing under a 3/4 sleeved jacket, the long full skirt, everything really. And I was looking for a project because there was so little going on in my life last summer, other than moving my family from London to New Jersey.

Looking back at my blog posts, it may have been still July when I started the jacket. That means this project took me 6 or 7 weeks. It feels fairly luxurious to be able to devote that much time to such a ephemeral pursuit.

Anyway, here are the photos:

the original photo from Selvedge magazine

My interpretation

White Linen Overload

2009-09-22T13:01:00.003-04:00

My original plan was to take this white silk/linen fabric and make a dress. Then the September Burda arrived and they had a skirt/blouse combo that I thought would work better, so I ended up making a 2-piece dress. I have not tried the pieces on together yet, but they turned out very well separately.

I added some tucks near the hem to echo the pin tucks in the blouse cuffs. The skirt pattern as drafted is very, very long. Almost floor length. Mine is about 2" shorter than the pattern, and it is ankle length on me.

back view

Frilly Blouse

2009-09-17T16:53:00.002-04:00

This blouse is based on a pattern from September Burda. I'm feeling quite a la mode finishing a project in the same month that the magazine is from. Actually, I'd been thinking about making pretty much this very blouse when the magazine arrived, providing me with the pattern. The only changes that I recall making are an FBA and pintucks on the cuffs. I managed to get into the city last weekend, so I bought buttons at M&J. They have such a nice selection there!

This pattern was in the "Folklore" section of the Burda mag. Normally, my eyes glaze over when I see the word folklore in Burda, so it was strange to see something that I wanted to make there.

Blouse back. The sleeves look a little odd near the armpit area. Hmm, I wonder if they will look strange on?

Cuff detail. You can see the pintucks. Also, rather then doing 7 buttonholes on each cuff, I used a narrow bias tube.

Front detail. You can see my nice buttons. It's a small button with some depth to it, which is just what I wanted.

In other news, I started a What I Wore Flickr album. I've been updating it every day, but if I wear an identical outfit again, I won't photograph it. Here it is: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29164709@N02/sets/72157622051224517/

I had a dream

2009-09-11T17:23:00.002-04:00

You know those dreams where you are walking around your house and you find a whole new room that does not exist in real life? I had a dream last night that my sewing machine had a buttonhole attachment. Actually, it was a really strange looking plate sort of thing, but in my dream I recognized it as a buttonholer.

Pleating at Home

2009-09-08T17:52:00.003-04:00

My current project is a blouse with a pleated frill from September Burda. Burda tells you that you should use a synthetic fabric and send it to a professional pleating place to get the pleating done, which is not a bad idea at all. But for various reasons, I chose a silk-linen blend for this project, and I'm putting the pleats in myself. In order to keep these pleats, I will have to do a lot of ironing. I imagine that after I finish making this blouse and wash it, my pleats will end up looking more like ruffles.

This is my Perfect Pleater. I bought it from Clotilde. It is a little expensive for what it is, but I've had it for years and it's pretty handy to have around.

I took a strip of fabric, folded it up once and hemmed it with a zigzag stitch.

I used a ruler to push the fabric into the pleater

I sprayed it with water and pressed it in place

I stitched the pleats down on the part of the pleat that extends below the pleater.

Take the fabric off the pleater. Spray with water and press again

Stitch on the hemmed side, leaving the last pleat un-stitched

Fit the last pleat into the pleater, and continue pleating further along.

Black Denim Jacket

2009-09-04T10:45:00.009-04:00

This is another project that was dictated by the fabric. This black fabric was in a Michael's bundle. The selvedges are white! I thought they would look just great at trim on a tailored jacket. I think the fabric may be denim, although it is rather lightweight. It is definitely twill. Does anyone know how to identify which twills are actually denim?

The pattern is a Marfy pattern from 2001. I like the kimono sleeve. I seem to have misplaced the pattern when I was tidying up after this project, so I don't have the pattern number. One thing I really like about Marfy patterns is that they tend to have an appropriate amount of ease. This jacket is very fitted, just like the pattern drawing. I did an LBA because otherwise it would have been too tight across the chest.

To get the selvedge to line up with the pattern piece for the lapel, I wet it under the tap, shaped it like the lapel, then pressed it dry. If I were doing this with a wool, I would spray it with a spray bottle instead of wetting it with the tap.

I Hong-Kong finished all the seams, then topstitched them in place. I ran out of thread in the middle of the project, and most of my sewing room stuff was still en route from London. I live in the burbs here, so there's nowhere to buy thread that's convenient. I ended up doing some of the stitching in navy blue. I'm hoping no one will notice.

closeup of the collar. You can see the blue topstitching.

I do my buttonholes by hand.

Jacket inside. You can see the hong kong finish.

Jacket back

This is a negative of the jacket front photo. It's hard to photograph black, but the negative picks up the details differently. I got this idea from the book "Fashion in Colors".

Things to like about New York

2009-08-25T12:16:00.003-04:00

I was out for dinner in the city last night with DH, and TWO strangers on the street told me that they love my dress. One was an old white woman and the other was a young black woman. It crosses demographics! This happens all the time in New York, but it only happened ONCE in the two years I was in London. At first, I thought that no one in London likes my clothes, but then I figured it's just because the Brits are so reserved.

My life has been chaos lately, but is starting to settle down. I'll have a new project to post at some point.

Ruffled Knit

2009-07-31T10:40:00.003-04:00

It seems that I'm doing a lot of ruffles this summer. This dress is a knockoff of one that I saw at Topshop a while back. It was such a cool dress that I almost bought it, but it was so poorly made that I knew I would never wear it. The Topshop dress only had ruffles on the front, and the back was plain. Eeew. So I found similar fabric online and made my own. It will be a good dress to knock around in this summer.

Another reason for this project was to get me re-acquainted with my serger, which also just came out of storage. This was actually not the easiest fabric to work with. If you stretch it the wrong way, it can run like pantyhose do. I bought the fabric from MarcyTilton.com.

I lined the dress with Power Dry in a tan color. The ruffled fabric is rather sheer, so I wanted an opaque layer underneath. My life would probably be easier if I became the kind of person who wears a slip. Then I would not have to line everything.

I used KwikSew 3652. KwikSew has great patterns for knits. The pattern has a CB seam, which makes the dress more shapely, but I took out that seam because I wanted as few seams as possible with this fabric.

This was a great quick project and now I have a nice everyday dress for summer.

There were a couple of questions about the lampshade skirt. I finished the one seam with a Hong Kong finish in the same silk organza that I used for the hem. I draped the fabric on my form to come up with the pattern. Honestly, I think it would have been just as well to cut a rectangle and sew the seam in it. If I had all of my sewing doodads here, I would have probably put in an elastic waist instead of a zipper. It would look just as nice with elastic. I think it would look nice in a longer length, as well, but if it were longer it should be a tad less full so it would look more proportional.

dress back

Lampshade Skirt

2009-07-28T11:49:00.003-04:00

The fabric completely dictated this skirt design. I ordered a fabric bundle from Michael's Fabrics, and washed all the fabrics as soon as I opened the box. This fabric forms pleats in the washer! My first reaction was to mangle it into submission so it would lay flat as fabric should. Then I thought about it, and realized that pleats might be rather nice. This was also an easy project to work on to get re-acquainted with my equipment that was in storage. I have an industrial machine that my dad fished out of the trash for me a few years ago. It's a fantastic piece of equipment, but it takes some getting used to after using a portable machine when I was in London.

For the hem, I did a bias border of silk organza. I'm hoping that when I wash the skirt, the silk organza will allow the pleats to continue to the hem.

I put a zipper in the skirt pocket. There is no fastener because my fastener collection is currently in a storage container in the Atlantic Ocean. I'll use a safety pin until all my furniture arrives. The green bit that you can see in the photo is the pocket lining.

Here's my industrial, a Singer 107W1. It does zig-zag, which is very unusual for an industrial machine. It goes really fast, and I can't entirely control it yet.

My mangle, which I missed when I was in London. I lived in a small flat there, and there was no room for things like a mangle and an industrial machine. Now, I have a big house in the suburbs, so there's lots of room for everything.

And the Winner Is...

2009-07-21T17:06:00.003-04:00

Lisa with "a nursing gown for a baby elephant!"

No sewing happening here yet. I have arrived in New Jersey with the family, and am beyond overwhelmed with all of the large and small tasks that need to be performed.

I got all my stuff out of storage, so I have my mangle and my industrial sewing machine, both of which I missed greatly. There will be more sewing happening soon, I hope.

Oh someone asked about Pattern Magic. It is a Japanese book. I bought it from Yesasia.com. I'm not all that happy with the yesasia.com service, but I don't know that Amazon.jp would be any better. The book does not include patterns. It has diagrams about how to modify an existing pattern to include the aspects they feature, like a big bow. I'm a very experienced seamstress and have some understanding of pattern making, so I did not have any problem following the diagrams. If you don't have much sewing or patternmaking experience, this may not be the book for you. But then again, there are worse things to spend your money on.

Couture a la mode asked how much fabric she would need. I cut it on the cross grain because I wanted the stripes to go that way, and I estimate that I used about 3 or maybe even 3.5 yards of fabric. Which is really a lot for a sleeveless dress. Maybe if you cut it on the straight grain, it might be a little more economical.

A Big Bow

2009-07-13T08:19:00.004-04:00

“If you’re going to do a bow, I think it should be a BIG bow.” -- Michelle Obama

This dress was a ton of fun to make. The instructions came from Pattern Magic, which I have had for a while. I followed the directions, and it came out just like they said it would, which I believe is nothing short of miraculous. I don't normally do muslins, but I did this time because it seemed so unlikely that it would work out the way they said. Usually when I sew, I do the whole process in my head several times before I even cut it out, but I totally could not get my head around this dress until I had the cut fabric in hand and was in the process of sewing it.

The pattern layout of this dress was horrifying wasteful. What with matching the stripes and accommodating the strangely shaped front piece, it used way too much fabric.

The fabric is a home dec rayon stripe. I loved working with this fabric because it has a great texture, along with enough body that the bow does not flap around. I chose a stripe because I just finished reading the book "The Devil's Cloth: A History of Stripes and Striped Fabric " by M Pastoreau. If you're into scholarly treatises on sartorial topics (and who isn't?), it's a really fun read. One thing he points out is that whether you think horizontal or vertical stripes are more slimming is actually cultural. I have often wondered about that.

The trim is a red silk taffeta, and the lining is the trim fabric. This was a possibly foolish choice on my part, because red dyes are notoriously unstable, but I did machine wash a sample of the 2 fabrics sewn together, and the red did not bleed. I'm hoping it will remain stable.

side view

back view

Muslin. I did not know if it would annoy me to have a big bow in my front, so I wore the muslin to make dinner and put the kids to bed. It did not annoy me at all.

Here is is untied, which looks frankly hilarious. If you can think of an amusing caption for this photo, please write it in the comments.

The Devil's Cloth book

The dress from Pattern Magic

Topstitching

2009-06-30T12:04:00.006-04:00

A couple of people asked me about my topstitching. My topstitching is far from perfect. I sometimes wish for those topstitching feet that make all topstitching come out even, but they continually fail to materialize in my sewing room. So I just sort of wing it, and it is good enough.

As for topstitching over multiple layers without breaking a needle, a size 18 needle is very helpful, but even more helpful is a very powerful sewing machine. Any machine that's made entirely of metal and produced before 1950 or so will do. They can generally be acquired cheaply. I use a White Rotary that I bought at an American thrift shop for $20. It did not work when I purchased it, but these machines are super simple. I found the manual online and fixed it pretty quickly. It only does a straight stitch, but it will stitch through anything. Old Singer machines are fantastic, as well, but IMO the fashionable featherweights are overpriced. They only do straight stitches, but really that's all you need. < snob >You should be doing your buttonholes by hand anyway< /snob >.

< trashy >The inseams are not flat felled, they are only topstitched in place. The side seams are topstitched for a couple of inches at the top, but otherwise completely unfinished. I tend to do cotton trousers this way. Perhaps if I had a serger, I would serge the seam allowances.< /trashy >

Jeans? Trousers?

2009-06-28T08:16:00.003-04:00

Grey and lavender jeans have been cropping up in my neighborhood lately, so I figured I'd jump on the bandwagon. Since I can't stand stretch fabrics, the only option for me is to make them myself. I used bwof 6/07, #104 for the pattern, same as these trousers. I put back pockets on for a more jeans-like effect. People around here are wearing their pockets low, so I set mine low, as well. I lowered the waist a bit by cutting 1/2" off the top of the waistband/yoke piece.

There's not that much to say about these, really. Here are some more photos:

I've noticed that I have some new commenters lately. Welcome! I'm pleased to have you here. To my new and old readers, please bear with me for the next month or 2. I'm moving house and may not be able to accomplish as much sewing as I would like. Or perhaps I'll have so much nervous energy to burn that I will end up sewing everything in sight.

Chrisse left a comment asking me how I find time to sew with my kids around. My kids are 3 and 5 years old. Here in England, kids start full day school at age 4, so my older daughter has been in school a whole year now. My younger daughter goes to school half days. During that half day, I do some sewing, but I also try to take care of things like the grocery shopping, which is much harder when she's around. I do most of my sewing when they are home, in 5 to 10 minute increments. I've been making all of my clothes since I was a child, so garment construction takes little or no concentration. I can put something down at any point in the process, then pick it up an hour or a day later and start working on it again without having to ask myself, "Where was I?" I do have a sewing room, and everyone in the house knows they are NOT TO TOUCH anything in it, so whatever I put down is always in the same state when I pick it back up.

When my kids were around 2.5, they started being able to hang out in my sewing room while I'm sewing. They know what they are allowed to touch and play with (zippers, spools of thread) and what they are not (pins, scissors). When they were babies, I had very little time to sew, and I was so tired all the time that when I could sew, my concentration was always off.

Attire for Uncertain Times

2009-06-15T05:46:00.006-04:00

I am totally feeling this dress. The excessive length. The cloudy non-color. The loose fit. The square neckline. The humble weave of the fabric. It makes me feel secure.

Above is a photo with the belt I'm planning to wear it with. I bought the belt a while ago, when I lived in the US, and now it's much too big for me. It took me an inordinately long time to realize that I can just take some of the links out and it will be smaller! Hopefully, when I move back to America and drift back to my American weight, I'll be able to find the links so I can still wear this belt.

Yes, I am moving back to America in next month. I'm a little sad about leaving London, and am experiencing all the normal feelings of upset that accompany any move. We still have our house in New Jersey, so at least I know where we'll be moving to.

Anyway, back to the dress. The dress fabric is silk, woven in almost a burlap weave. I think I bought it at Paron Annex last summer. I added some embroidery at the neckline and near the hem, using a set of embroidery silk that I bought at a sewing expo last fall.

front unbelted

back

I lined it with some silk taffeta left over from another project. Silk is so useful.

I hand-embroidered chevrons on the bodice and skirt.

This is the pattern I used, from a Japanese book, ISBN4-309-28062-5.

This is the embroidery thread I used. It came beautifully packaged, and like most things that are beautifully presented, it cost a small fortune. It's nice to have someone else match my colors for me, though.

Me wearing the waistcoat

2009-06-07T12:48:00.002-04:00

DH, who reads my blog, noticed that people occasionally comment that they would like to see me wearing my creations, so he took this photo when we were out with the kids today. I was not aware of what he was doing, so it's a photo of me looking back to see why he is lagging behind. It's kind of cool, though, because you can see my face and the back of the vest. I'm wearing it with a knit LBD that I bought at Target ages ago.

Pleat skirt

2009-05-30T12:12:00.003-04:00

Have you ever had the experience of really needing something, and it just falls in your lap? Once, I was in Florence. I had spent my last 10,000 lira on a T-Shirt (this was in pre-Euro days), and I was taking a train in an hour or so. I really wanted a cappuccino, but I did not want to exchange more money because I was leaving Italy. Then, out of nowhere, this guy pops up in front of me and says, "I am Antonio! You have a cappuccino with me!" So I got my cappuccino.

Well, I was thinking about this skirt. I picked the pattern and a heavyweight microfiber twill. But I was really concerned about the darts in the front. If I put darts in the front and on the front facing, that would be a lot of bulk. Then I read this post on Summerset's blog about the directions on a vintage Vogue pattern. If you have not read it, you really should. One of the details she points out is how they tell you to cut out the middle of the dart on the underlining and put seam tape over to reduce bulk. What a great idea! Presented to me just when I needed it!

facing dart (wrong side)

facing dart (right side)

skirt front

skirt back

Vogue 8518

Ruffled Waistcoat

2009-05-25T08:38:00.005-04:00

This project combines 2 things that I have been mulling over for a while, namely ticking and waistcoats, and one thing that's new, namely a back ruffle insert. I've been meaning to make a waistcoat ever since that photo of Kate Moss looking fabulous as always, muddy and wearing a waistcoat at Glastonbury last year.

The fabric for this waistcoat is from the Cloth House on Berwick Street. There are 2 Cloth Houses; the fabric came from the one closer to Oxford Street. The decor there is sort of faux old fashioned. Normally, I'm scornful of any attempt at decor in a fabric shop, but this one is really well-done. Anyway, they have an entire shelf of ticking. Before entering this shop, I had never given any thought whatever to ticking, but obviously they sell a lot of it, if they devote so much space to it. I still don't know what other people do with ticking, but I made a waistcoat. One nice thing about ticking is that the color palette that the weavers use for it is very limited, so I could pull 3 bolts of natural-and-black off the shelf and they all go together nicely.

The idea for the ruffled back came from the current Mrs Stylebook. I don't actually own this magazine, but I have purchased it and it is en route. Elizabeth (ejvc to some) has a copy and she let me have a look. I was really taken with a red sleeveless top with a ruffled insert. Cidell put it in one of her posts as well. The photo in the magazine indicates the the insert is floating a bit under the outer fabric, but I could not think of a good way to achieve this effect that would not cause all kinds of problems. I put an underlining in the back of the waistcoat and was thinking of attaching the ruffles to that, but it seems like the outer fabric would go all floppy and fold outward if I did that. I ended up topstitching the ruffle in place.

All the outer edges are topstitched and unfinished. It will be fun to see what they look like after a couple of washes.

I took more photos of the construction that usual, so I hope they are not too much for you.

front view

The pattern came from this book, ISBN4-309-28062-5

It's the top bit of this dress.

I came up with the shape of the ruffle by pinning tissue to the back and re-shaping it until I got a shape that I like.

Ruffles in progress

Undercollar

This may be a bit avant-garde for some, but I think it will fit nicely into my wardrobe. It may even become my signature piece for this summer.

Seam Finish for Shirtdress

2009-05-21T15:01:00.003-04:00

Here is a photo of the seam finish on the shirtwaist dress. I did a 5/8" seam allowance, then turned the edges under and edge-stitched.

Floral Shirtwaist

2009-05-20T11:23:00.005-04:00

The May Burda totally lit a fire under my butt to make a pretty dress! This dress is #125. It's a Liberty print, and this marks my first experience making a Liberty print for myself. I have used them for my kids' clothes, but usually I'm not that into florals on me. I like this one, though, and I think I'll wear it a lot. The belt is from the previous blog entry.

dress back

dress without belt

back without belt

Liberty fabrics are very thin. That would be fine for a more full-skirted dress, but this one needed a little more body. I underlined the dress with a lightweight silk.

a closeup of the fabric

I made it to wear with this jacket, but I'm not sure about the combo now. The shop where I bought the fabric had fluorescent lighting, and it looked like the colors matched when I was there.

Obi belt

2009-05-19T12:30:00.004-04:00

Here's an obi-style belt that I made to go with a new dress that I'm working on. It uses a nice interfacing technique.

First, cut a stiff interfacing the exact dimensions that you want the belt to be. I used 2 layers of hair canvas glued together with fusible web. It makes a nice stiff surface that's easy to sew on. Cut the outside fabric (I used necktie silk) slightly larger than your interfacing. Catchstich the seam allowances to the interfacing on the wrong side, as follows:

After the interfacing is catch-stitched, add ties to the ends. Put backing fabric on the wrong side, turn the edges under and invisibly hand-stitch to the seam allowances of the outside fabric.

This is a good way to deal with a stiff interfacing that is too bulky to catch in the seam allowances. It leaves the right side untouched, which is a nice effect when working with fine fabrics. When I finish the dress, I will photograph the belt on it.

Cheerful dress for Spring

2009-05-07T11:22:00.005-04:00

This dress turned out so much better than I thought possible! 3-year-old dd picked out the fabric and the pattern. The fabric, at least, is not something I would have ever chosen. She liked it for the bunnies. I also used some striped fabric that I bought ages ago on the remnant table at B&J, back when B&J had a remnant table, cut on the bias between the tiers on the skirt. The striped fabric is rather heavy, so there's a bit of a hoop skirt effect. All in all, very cheerful and spring-y.

Here's a quote for the day from my 5-year-old: "I can be whatever I want. I can be Tim Gunn, or I can be Spiderman."

The pattern came from this book, "Simple Plus One".

This is the pattern I used

Dress Back

Here's the girl herself, on the way to a birthday party.

Mystery Fabric Dress and Jacket Buttons

2009-05-04T12:24:00.003-04:00

When we were in Barcelona, we took the kids to a fabric shop and told them they could pick out fabric and I would make dresses for them. It turned into a bit of a Project Runway challenge. Make an attractive garment out of fabric chosen by a 5-year-old. Pascale picked 2 fabrics. The first is a red with holes in it which is a mystery to me. It's definitely a synthetic, maybe it's a knit. The second is a poly crepe with multicolored circles on a red background. I layered the lacey fabric over the poly crepe, then I treated the fabrics as one. The poly crepe ends above the knee, so there's some sheerness near the hem. She's wearing trousers under the dress in the pic, which is not the way I would recommend wearing this dress.

Here's the back.

The pattern I used is from "Classic and Elegant". It's Japanese.

This is the pattern

Here's a closeup of the button. It was kind of hard to get a good photo and I did not really succeed. The back looks like a regular shank button (with a plastic shank). The raw edges are tucked between the shank bit and the top, so you don't see them. They look very professional.

As for buttonholes, I do them by hand now. I only have a straight stitch machine. I'm not wild about the look of buttonholes made on a home machine. They look homemade, and not in a good way. I'm thinking that if I have this guy do my buttonholes, they will look very professional.

Plaid Jacket Completed

2009-05-02T07:24:00.003-04:00

My plaid jacket is completed. It will be a lot of fun to wear this spring/summer. It's made from a linen plaid in a summery purple/green/orange mix, and some necktie silk in navy with white dots. I had a nice time making it. Matching plaid is always a fun challenge.

The pattern is drafted such that you need rather large shoulder pads. Initially, I put smaller ones in, but it just did not hang right. With the larger pads, it hangs much better. I chose the pattern because I like the darts at the neckline and wanted to see how they would work out. I'm actually not crazy about the dart placement on me. It feels odd to release the fullness at the upper chest.

One thing that I'll change when I make a jacket with pockets on the chest is to lower them by an inch or maybe 2 inches. They are too high.

I went back to see my centenarian button guy on Thursday, and the buttons are fabulous. They are just perfect on the jacket. Before I walked into the button shop, I looked through the window on the door and he was there, sound asleep in his chair. I rang the bell, which is set at approximately the volume of a police siren, and he jolted awake and told me to come in. As we were completing the transaction, I thought about how it's nice that he still has employment. If he were sleeping in a nursing home, I would never go to see him there. He is not even all that hampered by his deafness, since everyone who comes in wants to talk about buttons. It's easy for him to figure out what they want. He does buttonholes, too. Maybe I'll go there the next time I need some.

Here's the pattern that I used. I finally found it. It's Vogue 7753, purchased maybe 6 years ago and probably oop by now.

Here's a closeup of my famous buttons.

Cuffs. I shortened the sleeve considerably. Does anyone else find Vogue patterns to be drafted for people with freakishly long arms?

Jacket Back.

Covered Buttons

2009-04-28T08:28:00.003-04:00

For my new jacket, I initially purchased some purple shell buttons, which are quite lovely. Then I brought the unfinished jacket to my London Sewing and Craft meetup. There's one meetup member who is a retired bespoke tailor and I just love it when he shows up because he has the best advice! The first thing he said when he saw my jacket was, "you'll be getting covered buttons, obviously." I immediately saw that my jacket absolutely needs covered buttons.

He told me to go to D.M. Buttons to get the buttons made. This place is on a teeny mews in Soho. Soho is certainly not the den of iniquity that it used to be, but I was still a little leery about going down this very shady-looking street. I found the place, walked to the basement and through the door. I was in a fairly large room with many different buttonhole machines and one guy who is about 90 years old. And deaf. Or maybe he could not understand my accent. Anyway, I managed to pantomime what I wanted. He told me it would take a couple of hours, which I did not have because I had to pick up dd at school, so I'll be going back there on Thursday. The guy is so old that I wonder if he will still be alive to sell me my buttons on Thursday.

It was such an adventure and it made me realize that I'm finally getting to know London rag trade shops in the way that I know those in New York.

LIttle Black Dress

2009-04-23T11:38:00.004-04:00

It dawned on me a couple of months ago that no one has thrown up on me in ages, so I can start wearing wool again! When I saw this pattern, it seemed to me to be the perfect pattern for an LBD. It's Vogue 1025. The waist on the dress is higher than it looks on the pattern envelope, and I'm not accustomed to wearing high-waisted dresses. I think it may take some getting used to.

The darts on the back were a little strange. It seemed to me that they were not long enough. The released in the small of my back, leaving a lot of extra fabric there, which felt weird. I made the darts a couple of inches longer, and it feels better.

The dress has a waistline seam, which is supposed to be covered with a belt. I'm not sure a belt would work with this dress because the seam is actually a couple of inches above the waist. The belt would keep wanting to slip down. I took some grosgrain and stitched it to the waist, which I think should work OK.

The fabric is a lightweight textured wool crepe. I bought it at a remnant sale at a nice dress shop.

The end product looks very Michelle Obama, IMO.

back view

Peter Pan Collar

2009-04-21T11:02:00.004-04:00

First off, it may appear as if I'm ignoring Carolyn's question about what pattern I'm using. I'm really not. I traced off the pattern, put the tissue back in the envelope, and the whole pattern vanished. It's tempting to blame my kids, but they have never shown the slightest interest in patterns before. It will probably turn up when I tidy my sewing room after I finish the project, if not before. It's a Vogue pattern, and it's probably OOP. It has a Mandarin collar, so I had to draft the peter pan collar myself.

This is the original collar pattern. I used it to draft the collar stand.

This is the collar pattern that I draped.

I cut 2 collars out of the blue silk, sewed them together, trim/grade/flip/press.

Cutting the plaid. I'm very careful to match the center back to the center back on the jacket. It's usually a good idea to cut plaid in a single layer. I cut it the size of the collar without Seam allowances.

Baste the plaid to the top collar

Mark the collar 5/8" from the edge. The plaid should just cover these markings.

Turn the edge of the plaid under, pin.

Stitch the plaid to the silk by hand on the right side.

Plaid stitched on

Add collar stand.

I Want Candy

2009-04-20T11:57:00.003-04:00

More Japanese sewing books! I was looking on my bookshelf a couple of months ago, and could not find Pattern Magic 2. It just was not there next to Pattern Magic 1. Then it occurred to me that I could not recall purchasing PM2. Hmmm. So I went to Yesasia and bought it, and some other books flew into my cart as well. These books are SO MUCH FUN.

But allow me to gripe a bit about Yesasia.com. Initially, they sent me Pattern Magic 1 by mistake! I would think that any normal web site would just tell me to keep the book they sent and send me the one I had ordered. It was their mistake, after all. But no. I had to send back the wrong book, they credited my yesasia account for the cost of postage, then they sent me the right one. It was totally worth it, though, because PM2 is everything I hoped it would be. I have to make something from these books sometime soon.

I realized from reading the comments on my last post that I need to explain a bit. The pocket flaps were cut from the blue silk, stitched to the facing, then I appliqued the plaid over top of the silk (hand stitching) then hand stitched the flap into the pocket opening. This is the only way I could think of to keep the bulk down and keep the plaid from moving and no longer matching. I'm working on the collar now, and I'm actually photographing the process so you can see how it's done.

Plaid Jacket -- Pocket Flaps

2009-04-14T09:36:00.005-04:00

My new project is a plaid jacket with contrast collar and pocket flaps. The fabric is a fantastic linen plaid with nice spring colors: purple, orange and green. The contrast is a blue necktie silk with white dots. I bought the linen at Joel and Sons, which is a very posh fabric shop. This is the first time I have bought anything there. I figured, I can afford it, and it's hard to tell how much longer I'll be able to afford it, so I'd better buy it while I can.

The inspiration for this jacket came from the above photo in March American Vogue. It's Comme des Garçons Comme des Garçons, which is their more moderately priced and wearably designed line. I cannot find a photo of this jacket anywhere on the Internet. I even went to the Dover Street Market, where they sell CDG, and they did not seem to have it there, either. So I'm winging it.

So far, I've done the pockets in the front and they are turning out pretty much like I envisioned them. I LOVE working with plaid. It's a fun challenge to see how well I can make the patterns match up.

Here's a closeup of the pocket.

Tulip Skirt

2009-03-31T11:56:00.003-04:00

I'm continuing my quest to update my skirt wardrobe for this spring. This skirt is from BWOF March 09, style 104. I like the high waist, yoke, and pockets. I used a printed canvas home dec fabric, lined with silk twill.

back. I added belt carriers to the back in case I ever get around to purchasing a skinny black belt.

This is the silk twill that I used for the lining. It's some sort of test fabric that I bought at the mill. It's lovely thick silk, and it was £2 for a whole roll!

Bee Dresses

2009-03-27T15:17:00.004-04:00

Here's my annual outfits-for-the-girls project! The fabric for the dresses is a silk jacquard from the silk mill in Sudbury. The right side is blue with pink bees; the wrong side is the opposite. But you have to look pretty closely to tell that the pink is the wrong side, so I decided to ignore right and wrong side. The fabric for the capes is a cotton velveteen home dec fabric. The velvet is extremely cushy; it's almost a faux fur.

I have about 1.5 yds of the bee fabric left. I'm thinking about a ball skirt for me. I've always wanted a ball skirt.

Josephine's dress (the smaller one) is from BWOF 3/2009. The pattern is for a shirt, but I just made it a bit longer and added pockets to make a dress. Pascale's dress is from Girly Style Wardrobe. She currently measures exactly 110 cm, so I decided to make the dress in size 120. I'm not sure that was the right decision. It's rather large on her. The capes are from Ottobre fall 08.

Girly Style, the book that the larger dress pattern came from

The Girly Style pattern that I chose

Pascale modeling the ensemble.

Josephine's dress. She was cranky and did not want to pose.

Josephine's cape

The front of Pascale's dress

The back of Pascale's dress

Pascale's dress on the hanger.

Katherina asked this question on my bias trim post:
But i still do not know what the advantage of adding two layers of trim extra and using wider stripes might be. Can you tell me, why you are using this method?
It's a good question. My gut reaction is, "That's how I was taught." This is not a bad answer, as I studied couture at FIT. But not a good answer either. It's hard to explain why I think this is the right way, even though you wind up with 2 extra layers. I think the main reason is, if you are using the 4-layer method, you have to press the bias to get the fold to stay while you're hand-stitching. It's almost impossible to press bias without stretching it, and once it's stretched, you'll never get it to mold around the curves properly. With my method, there's no pressing involved, so it's easy to mold the bias by hand around the curves while you're stitching. If you do your bias binding as I've described, it's pretty hard to mess it up, even if you're really not paying attention.

Crafting Story

2009-03-27T06:35:00.002-04:00

There's a cute crafting article in the New York Times. Here's my favorite paragraph:

Of course, this was easy for Stephanie to say. She’s my competent friend, the one who has all kinds of practical skills. She knows how to make pies and how to cut fabric on the bias. She even knows what a “bias” is. What does she have to worry about? If a giant meteor hit the earth and debris from the impact blocked the sun, she’d survive just fine in some homespun coat she made out of super-warm wool. And the coat would be cute, too.

I imagine this description would apply to a lot of you out there reading this.

Bias silk trims

2009-03-21T13:43:00.004-04:00

Bias-cut silk is a great fabric to make trims with. Silk in a flat, tight weave works best. Silk taffeta is probably the easiest to use for trim. Silk organza works well. Silk satin works well, too. A spongy or unstable weave like silk crepe or charmeuse will be a little harder to work with. Don't attempt to make trims with stretch silk. Here are some photos of trims that I've made in the past:

This dress has a belt detail of bias cut silk crepe and bias cut tweed.

This jacket has trim made from brown bias cut silk satin, black bias cut silk taffeta, and fashion fabric.

The medallion is made from a bias tube of silk organza.

I'm putting a bias binding on the capes that I'm making for my dd's. Here are some highlights of the process:
I cut a 3" bias strip of silk jacquard. It was not quite long enough, so I had to piece it together. When piecing bias, it's important to piece it along the grainline.

When pressing the seam open, be careful not to stretch the bias. The edges look frayed because that's how the selvedge is on this fabric.

Fold the strip in half (wrong sides together) and pin it to the right side of the edge of the garment.

If you need to join the piece, cut the end on the grain line, press it under, and overlap the pressed piece.

after machine stitching using a 1/2" seam allowance, flip the folded bias under to the wrong side of the garment and hand-stitch in place.

Spring jackets for little girls

2009-03-14T18:20:00.003-04:00

My next project will be matching spring jackets for my daughters. I made them spring jackets in the previous 2 years, and have gotten flagship photos of them wearing said jackets. I'm hoping for a great photo of them wearing this year's jackets as well. I love photos of them dressed alike. Here are the previous photos:

2008 jackets -- taken at a hotel while on holiday in Ireland

2007 jackets -- Photo taken at the Reeves-Reed Arboritum in Summit NJ

Painted Coat

2009-03-10T05:56:00.006-04:00

TaDaa! Here is my new coat! It was so much fun to make. I got to try out fabric painting, which I have been wanting to try for ages, and I got to tackle the engineering issues involved in cartridge-pleated sleeves. I think I even like the coat. Well, actually, I love it, but am unsure as to whether I like it or not. It may be a bit costume-y for everyday wear. I was hoping the very humble fabric (cotton canvas) would tone down the overall fabulousness, but it does not seem to.

back view

Here is some detail of the painting. I painted the motifs to cross the seam lines, which is very couture. My painting is far from perfect, as you can see, but the skirt is full enough that it sort of falls in folds and will keep people from looking too closely at the individual motifs. I decided not to shade the motifs because I liked them too much the way they are and if I tried to shade them and messed up I might never forgive myself. I used actual fabric paint (rather than poster paints from the kids' art sets), and it seems to change the hand of the fabric not at all.

I'm planning on wearing it with this belt. I'm not a huge fan of self belts, so I did not bother making one. It seems to be a huge trend to wear a trench coat as above -- unbuttoned with a slight gap in the center front, tightly belted. I noticed that everyone on King's Road wears their coats this way, then I started seeing it in ads and magazines. It's even in the March BWOF. I'm always intrigued as to how these trends get started. Does anyone know where this look came from? Please post in the comments if you know. I am interested.

MaryPat asked in the comments about applying the sleeves. It's kind of hard to explain, and I don't have photos of the process because I was too interested in what I was doing to pick up the camera. But here goes. I started by sewing the sleeve to the coat at the underarm, from the part where the cartridge pleating starts. Then I brought the interfaced sleeve cap over the jacket shoulder and sewed the sleeve cap onto the jacket at the shoulder seam, perpendicular to the way you would normally sew a sleeve seam. Then I worked toward the front, dividing the ease in half, stitching, then dividing it in half again and stitching again, until the pleats formed. If you were here I'd be able to explain it with visual aids, but it's a difficult concept to express in text.

Cartridge-Pleated Sleeves

2009-03-04T11:33:00.005-05:00

My sleeves came out pretty well! A while back, I was shopping at a very posh shop, and I saw a McQueen coat with cartridge-pleated sleeves. Then I decided that I need that sort of sleeve in my life, so I put them on my new coat that I'm working on. The results are satisfactory, though not perfect. The photos of the finished product are all of the right sleeve, because I have not put the shoulder pad on the left side yet. I have come to the conclusion that a tutorial on How to Make a Cartridge Pleated Sleeve is beyond the scope of this blog. I did take some photos during the process, but the process was fairly complicated, and my explanation is far from complete.

The pattern has a set-in sleeve, so I slashed and spread the pattern to widen the sleeve cap.

This is what the pattern piece looked like.

I interfaced the sleeve cap with buckram. The kind you would use for curtains.

I faced the sleeve cap with silk organza.

side view

back view. This is the thing I am least pleased about. The pleats should be further down the back.

Asian Embroideries

2009-02-27T09:07:00.004-05:00

I went to the Victoria and Albert Museum yesterday to see the hats exhibit, and while I was there, I figured I'm look at the textile library. I have not been there in a few months. I was walking around near there and found a treasure trove that I have never seen before. It must have been closed until recently. There are several rooms of Chinese and Japanese textiles, including a library of fantastic embroideries! All of the embroideries are marked with their origin, if known. One was from a throne cushion. They were absolutely fantastic, and if you are in London, you should check them out. I went back today with the camera to take some photos, but they are difficult to photograph.

the embroideries are in these frames. You can pull them out and bring them to a table for study.

They are in room 98

This is an embroidered collar

The embroidery is amazingly detailed. I wish I had better photos.

The ribbon around the border of the collar was steamed and molded to match the shape of the collar.

You totally can't see anything on this photo, but this is an amazing detail. The feathers are made with 2 colors of thread twisted together. On the left side of the feather spine, the twist turns to the left, on the right side, the twist goes to the right. It's a gorgeous and subtle effect. I guess that's what makes it a museum piece.

A Stand Collar

2009-02-24T15:41:00.004-05:00

Following are directions for attaching a stand collar. This method can be used on a shirt collar as well as a coat collar.

First, sew the collar and collar facing together along 3 edges. Turn and press. Do not turn the raw edges under. The top photo above is the collar, the bottom photo is the collar facing, cut from tie silk.

Pin the collar to the neck opening at the center back and work toward the center front. Continue pinning past the front opening, so you pin the collar facing to the jacket facing for almost the entire length of the jacket facing. Begin stitching on the facing, stitch the collar to the jacket edge, and end with the opposite facing.

Press the seam open on the facing bit and through a couple of inches on the collar. Press the remainder of the seam toward the collar.

If you are lining, you can catchstitch the raw edges down. If not, fold the raw edges up and handsew in place.

This is what it looks like on the outside. It looks much cleaner than the method they tell you to use in the pattern instructions.

Here's how I kept the topstitching thread from jumping off my tension thingy. I added some extra tension by sticking some fabric inside the spool before putting the spool on the machine. It worked.

Collar Question

2009-02-23T06:10:00.002-05:00

Joann asked this question:
Claudine I have a question also. I have studied your stunning Chanel jacket and have accessed the article on fringing. I too love a good fringe! My question is regarding the shawl collar which I think you merged with the Claire Shaeffer jacket that does not have a collar. What did you use for the collar? What would you recommend?

Since I'm a sewing geek, I have to point out that it is not a shawl collar, but rather a notched collar. Now on to the question. I drafted the lapel and collar myself. If you have a favorite tailoring book, it should have directions on how to do this. If you don't have a favorite tailoring book, allow me to recommend Classic Tailoring Techniques: A Construction Guide for Women's Wear by Roberto Cabrera. I was looking through it last night after I read this question and realized that the collar would have come out better if I had had this book open while I was drafting it. I can't recommend this book highly enough if you are interested in traditional tailoring.

Questions

2009-02-21T03:50:00.003-05:00

Bunny left this comment:
Love the thread idea. Will it add bulk to the denier of the thread? I am curious as to how it goes thru the machine. It's a wonderful idea.

This thread was a big nightmare in the machine. I think it would probably have been awful even if I had not painted it. The width of the thread did not seem to change with the painting, but it was rather bulky to begin with. The bulk combined with the slipperiness of silk made the thread slip out of my tension knob, and I had to put the spool on the spindle with some fabric stuffed on the inside to add tension. I'll post a photo when I do the topstitching on the front.

Cindy had this question about my fringed cuffs:
This is a crazy question but...how did you fringe your Chanel jacket? Up close, I realize that it isn't attached. Did you just fringe the ends?

There's a short article by Kenneth King in Threads 137 about an extremely clever method of fringing tailored garments without bulk or sacrificing the under layers. If you're reading this blog, you probably have this issue of Threads. He says to stitch the underlinings to the edge that you want to fringe, then press them back and add the next layer of fabric. Topstitch in place and fringe. If you don't have that issue of Threads, perhaps you could get it from your library.

Here's the full post about the jacket: http://couturedetails.blogspot.com/2008/09/extreme-fringe.html

Painting Progress

2009-02-20T03:45:00.003-05:00

My fabric painting is coming along nicely. I'm more or less doing a border print, along the hem and up along the centre front. It's easier to paint on a 2-dimensional piece, before the seams are constructed. I'm placing the motifs on each piece, being careful to avoid the hem and seam allowances, then painting over the placement. I'm using lead pencil on the wrong side of the fabric to mark the motifs. After the seams are sewn, I will add more motifs that will cross the seamlines. The above photo is the coat back and side back pieces.

I'm making the coat with Vogue 8550.

I was going to do a post about choosing topstitching thread, but I went through about half a dozen possibilities for topstitching, and I was so caught up in what I was doing that I could not stop to take photos. I wanted topstitching thread that matched the paint, so I ended up taking some white silk topstitching thread and painting it with the fabric paint. In the above photo, the painted thread is on the left and the original thread is on the right.

To paint the thread, I took a paintbrush, wet it with paint, and pulled the strand of thread under the paintbrush, between the brush and a plastic bag. Then I pressed the thread to heat-set it.

Fabric Painting

2009-02-16T06:42:00.010-05:00

My new project involves fabric paint, which I have never used before. I want to paint a design near the hem and on the front opening of a trench coat. Since I have no experience with fabric paint, I figured I should do some testing first.

Here are some of the designs I'm using. I drew small, medium, and large S curves on cardboard.

I cut them out like so.

I traced them onto the fabric using lead pencil. Here are the brushes I used and the fabric paint I bought. It's called Deka silk paint, but it can be used bor cotton as well. The color is silver grey.

DD took this pic while I was painting

These are all the stencils that I will use. The larger ones will be near the hem, the smaller ones higher up.

Here's the result. The heat setting is done, but I still need to wash it to see how it comes out. The one on the bottom right was done on wet fabric (way too washed out). The one on the bottom left is the last one I did, which turned out the best because I needed to learn how to use the paint and brushes.

Cuff buttons

2009-02-15T05:26:00.002-05:00

There's an article in the New York Times about a new exclusive brand of men's suits that they are starting to sell at Sak's. This is what they have to say about cuff buttons:

"Small, costly details of tailoring mark the brand. Unlike many suit jackets, Kiton’s have “surgeon’s cuffs,” or buttons that open at the wrist. Some customers keep a couple of them undone as a subtle status symbol. But Mr. Collins, who owns a Kiton jacket, described that as a gauche habit.

“It’s a really ostentatious thing to do,” he said. “The tasteful thing to do is to have them and never open them.”"

Following is part of a post that I did in the fall. I had no idea that my cuff button habits could be considered ostentatious:

I may wear it like this, with the bottom button undone. I often see men wear their suits this way, to show off that their jacket is not a normal off-the-peg jacket.

Here's a link to the Times article if you are interested in reading the whole thing.

Fabric Sources

2009-02-15T03:13:00.002-05:00

This comment made me laugh:

I live in London anywhere to get good quality fabrics please kindly blog unless you are keeping your sources secret.

I have no intention of keeping my fabric sources secret, and apologize if it seems that way from my wording. The home dec fabrics in the previous post came from Designers Guild on King's Road. The do not normally sell fabric remnants, but on just this one day, they had thousands of fabric remnants on tables. It was a Sunday in January. I'm not sure how one finds out about this sale. I was just walking by and saw it.

I also bought some lovely remnants several months ago from a posh dress shop on Gees Ct, right off Oxford St. I can't recall the name of the shop, but Gees Ct is a tiny street. There was a sign in the window of the shop saying they had some dress fabrics for sale. Again, I don't think they normally sell fabrics.

BUT, yesterday I went with my shockingly resourceful friend Elizabeth to a mill shop attached to a silk mill in Sudbury. She found out about it while trolling the internet. It's a total fabric Shangra-La. Here's their site. Even at full price, the fabrics they sell are very reasonable for the quality ( £15- £20/metre), but they had SALE fabrics. Many silk twills meant for ties for an incredible £2 a metre. Silk jacquards on sale for £7 a metre. Silk to use for linings for £2 A ROLL. Mostly, they sell home dec fabrics, but many of them could be dual-use. It's no small feat to get to this place from London, but it was totally worth it. Once you actually take the train there, you can walk from the station.

My mother used to take me to mill shops in Pennsylvania when I was a teenager, and I did not think they existed any more. The first thing I noticed when I walked in was the smell. It's a chemical smell that might be described as unpleasant by those who don't shop for fabric. Does anyone know what that fabric smell is? Please post in comments if you know.

So anyway, that's my list of fabric sources in London. As it expands, I'll post other sources.

Metallic top and skirt

2009-02-10T11:17:00.006-05:00

Perhaps it's time to officially change my opinion of fabric shopping in London. Twice now, I've been walking by high-end shops while they are having fabric remnant sales. One was a dress shop that was selling dress fabrics, and one was a home-dec shop selling home dec remnants. At the home dec one, I got 5 pieces between 1 and 2 metres long for £25! The dress one was a while ago, but I recall the deals were pretty good. Shopping for fabric here is a bit more serendipitous than in New York.

This outfit is made from 2 pieces of home dec fabric. The top is from a shiny polyester. Normally I'm a natural fibre snob, but this fabric has a fantastic hand AND, the right and wrong sides are virtually identical. I can't figure out how they did that, and I love it. The skirt is canvas, probably mostly cotton. I pre-washed both pieces and they came out fine. The home-dec shop where I bought these remnants is right in my neighborhood. I live in fear that I will wear this outfit to a friend's house and match the sofa and curtains.

The top is from BWOF 8/99 106. I shortened it a bit. It's a funnel neck top, and the whole thing is cut on the bias, which makes a nice drape. I've made this pattern before, and immediately thought of it when I saw the gold fabric.

I've been thinking that my skirt wardrobe needs updating, and when I saw the skirts in January BWOF, I knew I had to have some. I just love this skirt pattern! It's BWOF 1/09 105. It feels completely current. The fabric is a print with some metallic. I added a pocket, as shown in the previous post, and moved the zip to the side. Center front zips on skirts annoy me. I also did a petersham facing. Click on the photo above to get a larger view of the print.

I had to model this outfit myself because my dress form does not have collapsible shoulders, and I could not get the top on it. Almost-5-year-old DD took these pics!!

Cathy Horyn of the New York Times recently described the purpose of couture this way: "to make exquisite, one-of-a-kind clothes using all the various needle crafts." That's the best explanation of the word couture that I've ever encountered.

This is the petersham I used for the facing. It's from Daytona Trimmings in New York. They also sell it at VV Rouleaux in London. Petersham is different from regular grosgrain because the edge of petersham is wavy.

To make the facing, wet the petersham under the tap, mold it into the shape you need for the facing, and press dry.

The pressed facing

Applied facing (and cherry-red lining)

I'm going to try to do more how-to in this blog. We'll see how that works out.

Less bulky pockets

2009-02-08T14:45:00.004-05:00

Here's a photo of a skirt that I'm working on now. I did an on-seam pocket, but to reduce bulk, I cut the pocket in one with the pattern piece. This tends to result in a less efficient cutting layout, so you need a little extra fabric to try it. It's a good idea to sew some twill tape just inside the foldline so the pocket keeps its shape. I used a fusible twill tape, but stitched it just inside the fold line anyway because I don't trust fusibles to stay put. Click on the photo to see a larger one.

Quilted dress--more explanation

2009-02-04T11:59:00.002-05:00

Apologies for my poor explanations of the construction of this dress. I'm a pretty awful explainer.

Here's a better photo of the quilting. This is the front of the dress. I quilted the fabric first, then shrunk it for a bit of a rouched effect, then I cut out the dress bodice. I am fanatical about pattern matching, which is why it may appear that the quilting lines cross the seam lines in places. In reality, they don't.

The skirt underlining is silk. The green silk is not substantial enough for the skirt, so I underlined it with silk charmeuse.

Lastly, there is nothing wrong with the hem. I prefer not to press my hem flat because it tends to move better not pressed flat. After I wash the dress, I'll have no choice but to press it flat, but for now I like it the way it is. You can disagree with me if you want.

Quilted Dress

2009-02-04T05:37:00.004-05:00

There are those out there in sewing cyberspace who have low opinions of quilted, wearable-art type garments. They have inspired me to try to make one of my own, and here it is. The thing that strikes me the most about this dress is how understated it is. I felt like I was really going out on a limb with this project, and I was expecting it to turn into something remarkably beautiful or remarkably awful. I don't think it's either one. It actually looks sort of like a lot of the things I make.

The fashion fabric is a silk crepe that was a strange apricot color until I dyed it green. I hand-quilted it to some wool fabric as batting and another layer of silk for the backing. Then I washed it in hot in my machine so the wool would shrink, causing the surface of the silk to pucker. Before quilting, I tested all the wools in my stash for shrinkage, and chose one that I thought would shrink about the right amount.

My favorite sewing teacher hates green. He would forbid his students to use it because it does not photograph well. He is so right. These photos are awful.

The pattern I used was BWOF 11/99 #101. I remember buying this magazine at the newsstand expressly for this pattern. Apparently, it had to age a while before I could make it. The pattern is more of a shift. I changed the skirt a bit.

This project took me a long time because
a. hand quilting is really really time consuming
b. I'm working on my new years resolution project, which is to organize all the photos we have from my older daughter's birth until now into photo albums. I have completed 2004 and most of 2005, after spending a billion hours going through and organizing photos.

EDIT -- Only the bodice is quilted. The skirt is underlined, but not quilted.

dress back

dress front

Quilted fabric. You can see the 3 layers: fashion fabric on top, wool in the middle, silk lining on the bottom.

Kreativ Blogger Award

2009-01-24T07:15:00.003-05:00

Birgitte at Bubblegum for Breakfast has chosen me for the Kreativ Blogger Award. I am honored, especially since Birgitte's blog is one of my favorites.

Rules:
1. Copy the award to your site.
2. Link to the person from whom you received the award.
3. Nominate 7 other bloggers.
4. Link to those on your blog.
5. Leave a message on the blogs you nominate.

Here are some blogs the I like to read:

Icewerks -- Icicle is a wonderful crafter and photographer with a penchant for Japanese craft books.

Two Sicilian Chicks -- Musings about food and crafts with lovely photographs.

KBenco makes lovely clothing for herself and her kids.

Peacock Chic Monique does gorgeous and varied craft projects and she is a gracious commenter on my blog.

Red de Rouge The world's most elegant crochet.

Lined Black Trousers

2009-01-03T03:53:00.003-05:00

It's chilly here at this time of year, and I spend a lot of time outside. I'm one of those moms who drags my kids to the playground when there's frost on the ground. As I sat at the playground a couple of weeks ago, it occurred to me that perhaps it would be nice to have a warmer pair of trousers to wear there.

These are made with some nice heavy cotton twill from a Michael's bundle, lined with china silk in the front and stretch charmeuse in the back. I mistakenly bought this stretch charmeuse a couple of years ago. It's been sitting in my stash ever since. I HATE stretch fabrics, but they are useful for some limited applications, like lining the back of trousers where you might need some give.

I used bwof 6/07, #104 for the pattern. The waist is higher than I expected, but I think I can get used to it. I thought about belt carriers, and I may still add them.

I realize I have not posted in a while, and you were probably thinking I'd be working on something amazing that's taking all this time, but, alas, no. The holidays have been busy, and we were away skiing for a week. I do, however, have some photos of myself wearing my new dresses while on holiday. They can be found on my other blog . You'll have to scroll down a bit to get to the photos of me.

back view

Black Strapless

2008-12-03T07:43:00.002-05:00

The fabric for this dress is another Paris souvenir from Tissues Reine. It's a spongy wool with embroidery on the border. I fell in love with the embroidery and thought it would make a great strapless for winter to wear with turtlenecks. The strapless-with-turtleneck look has to be my favorite look of the season.

I used this pattern (Vogue 2086, which I'm sure is oop). I've had it for many years. I think I first purchased it for the jacket, but I was looking for a strapless dress pattern, and this sort of jumped out at me. When I opened the pattern, I saw that it includes a full foundation! I've been meaning to learn how to make a proper foundation, so it was a very pleasant surprise to find one in there. Usually, I just draft my own from the shell pattern, but this was so much better. It feels really secure when it's on. I should have taken a photo of the foundation before I attached it to the dress, because I really can't take a photo now without the dress getting in the way. I think I'll make this again, though, so I'll make sure to photograph the foundation. I made the foundation out of a lightweight black cotton twill.

The pattern shows a dress with a slit, which is a bit sexier than the look I'm going for. With no slit, it is a little harder to walk in, but it's not all that bad.

back

Lace Dress

2008-11-19T15:17:00.005-05:00

Firstly, I would like to thank the Prada corporation for bringing lace to my attention this season. I had such a great time making this dress! The fabric is from some amazing guipure lace that I bought at B&J when I was in New York last summer. This is a wonderful fabric to work with. Actually, it may not technically be a fabric, as it does not seem to be woven. It's more like macramé'd. It has an amazing weight to it, and it does not fray when you cut around the motifs. No seam finishes necessary.

I sewed all seams as applique seams, by hand. This sounds sort of extreme, but there really are not that many seams in the dress. Plus, both of my kids were sick last week, so I sat around watching TV with them and hand-sewing my dress. The pattern I used is WOF 10/08, #106. I like the high neck and the cap sleeves.

For the collar, I threaded an elastic thread through so it would hug the neck without choking me.

As a slip, I bought a knit dress at American Apparel. It's this dress. I stitched the straps down at the back so I won't have to fiddle with them. I like it because it's skin-tight, rather than a slip, which will generally hang a little away from the body.

Front

Back

Zipper closed
zipper open

sleeve seam

I put some beading at the neckline. I used glass seed beads and crystal flower-shaped beads. Right at the top of the neckline, there's some elastic thread to help shape it a bit.

the back dart

the side seam. I fudged a bit to get the bottom motifs to match up at the sides.

Angels

2008-11-11T03:49:00.004-05:00

Pascale is going to be an angel in her school play, so I had to provide a costume. They gave plenty of notice, so I figured I'd make one. The pattern is from one of my Japanese pattern books, which are really growing on me. The patterns are very basic, and it's nice to know where to look when I'm looking for a basic pattern.

The fabric is from Tissues Reine, in Paris. They have all kinds of fabric there, from cheap home dec to couture. The cheap home dec is located outside on the sidewalk. As I was walking in, I turned up my nose as I walked by these low-quality fabrics, since, after all, I'm a SERIOUS SEWIST. Then I remembered about the angel costume and doubled back quickly. They had the perfect thing. It's a poly organza with sparkly stars, and the body is underlined with some cheap poly lining. Perfect! I ordered the wings online, but they have not arrived yet.

of course, I had to make 2 angel costumes

The pattern is from this book, ISBN 978-4-579-11054-4. It is all girls' clothes.

This is the pattern I used.

Shirtdress

2008-11-03T16:01:00.005-05:00

This dress may indeed become a TNT pattern. It feels great on, and even makes me look slightly curvy. It's a combination of a couple of different patterns. I'd been intending to make a dress with Vogue V1044, which is a really lovely Vintage Vogue pattern. I fell in love with the neckline and the sleeves. However, the more I looked at it, the more I realized that it has way too much skirt for me. Wearing it would be a trial (it would always be getting caught in things) and ironing it would be out of the question. Then I was looking through a Japanese pattern book, Simple Chic by Machiko Kayaki, and fell in love with dress #4, the linen one-piece. The 12 darts really sang to me, but the problem with it is that it's sleeveless! Even with global warming, we only get maybe 3 days a year here in London where you can comfortably go sleeveless for more than an hour or 2 in the middle of the day. So, not so good for my lifestyle. Combining the two patterns made it into something that I think will fit in well with my wardrobe. Dressy, but not too much so.

The patterns combined pretty easily. It appears as if the slopers they used were very similar. I used the middle size (I think it was an 11) on the Japanese pattern and size 12 on the Vogue.

The fabric is a silk taffeta that I bought at Paron Annex in New York. I bought a lot, so I could self-line. I love self-lining and I do it every time I have enough fabric. This fabric wrinkled unbelievably when I washed it, but it scorches something fierce, so I had to use a cool iron, which is not so great at removing wrinkles! I have a mangle, which is in storage in New Jersey. I really miss it when I'm ironing yardage. This dress will just have to have the wrinkled look, which I must say has grown on me. The fabric is sort of thin and crisp. It's a bit like wearing tissue paper, but without the tearing.

The buttons are a souvenir from my Paris trip. I got them at La Droguerie, which was a fabulous shop. It's knitting shop, but they also have all kinds of wonderful findings, like ribbons, beads, buttons, and jewelry making supplies. Everything is beautifully arranged in these cool big jars on shelves on the walls. The staff was helpful, but oh, la, la, the queue was unbelievable. And, of course, since they are French, they would not be rushed. It was still worth it. In addition to these buttons, I bought some lovely fabric flowers and some juvenile buttons for when I make something for my kids.

the back view

Buttons from Paris

Vogue 1044

Simple Chic by Machiko Kayaki, purchased from Yesasia.com. They ship free all over the world.

The Simple Chic dress with the 12 darts.

Wearing my new suit in Paris

2008-10-27T11:52:00.002-04:00

Here I am wearing my new suit and living a glamourous life in Paris:

Lace -- Long and Black

2008-10-20T10:10:00.005-04:00

This dress is (almost) my first experience sewing with lace. And, sort of amazingly, it's my first bias-cut skirt. My niece is studying at the Royal College of Music. For one of her performances, she needs a black, floor-length dress. I thought it would be fun to make her one, and indeed it was. She picked these 2 patterns from Burda WOF:
this one for the skirt
this one for the bodice

The skirt is sort of interesting. The pattern directions tell you to sew the lace on top of the charmeuse, then cut the fabric away under the lace. Yuck. I sandwiched the lace between 2 layers of charmeuse, raw edges even, stitched a 1/2" seam and flipped the charmeuse away from the lace. It worked out really well, and the self-lining gives the skirt some much-needed body. The skirt has some odd vertical waves. Maybe they have something to do with the bias mixed with the non-bias lace. If anyone has any ideas about where those came from and how to prevent them, please post in comments. I think the dress looks nice anyway, but it's sort of bugging me.

Purchasing the fabric involved my very first trip to Goldhawk Road, which is sort of London's garment district. The charmeuse was easy to find, and was not all that much more expensive than it would be in New York. The lace was a little harder to find, but there are 20 or more shops in a couple of blocks, so it was easy to go to lots of different establishments looking for it. I bought lace yardage and cut it into strips.

Here's my niece wearing it

Here's some detail. I put lace on the midriff piece and on the straps.

Here's the back

EDIT -- She's not planning on wearing it with that slip. She's going to get a long flesh-toned half slip to wear with it, but she does not have it yet, so she just borrowed a slip of mine for the photo.

The dress makes a suit

2008-10-01T11:08:00.007-04:00

To go with my nice new jacket, I wanted to make a dress. I was thinking about what style I wanted, and I decided that it should resemble a high-waisted skirt and blouse. Sleeveless. High neck. I was turning the design over in my head, wondering if I would have to draft the pattern myself, when The Slapdash Sewist posted this dress. It was the pattern of my dreams, and it was right there on my shelf of WOF! It was so handy. It's from WOF 11/07.

The top is a 4-ply silk crepe. I love that fabric. The top lining is a matching silk organza. I underlined the skirt with the same silk crepe that I used to line the jacket. I added a belt-like embellishment because I hate wearing an actual belt. It always gets caught in things. I eliminated the ruffles at the armhole and neckline and added a band to finish the neckline. I think I may have shortened it a bit as well.

I'm planning on going to Paris for a long weekend at the end of the month. I may bring this suit with me to wear.

Apologies for the poor lighting in the photos. It's raining today, so the light is not good in my living room. For a change of pace, I decided to try doing photos in the hallway. I'm not crazy about the way they came out, but waiting for a sunny day would mean an unacceptable delay in blog posting.

dress front

dress back

The suit together

Me wearing dress

Since all the cool people are posting photos of their wedding dresses on their sewing blogs, I figured I'd follow suit. Obviously, it's a photo of a photo, with all the problems that entails, but here's the wedding dress I made for myself in 1997.

Extreme Fringe

2008-09-23T10:54:00.005-04:00

I like fringe. When I was a kid, I fringed my school uniform. My mother was horrified. I can't recall the reaction of the school administrators, but I imagine it was less than positive. Fast-forward 30 years or so, and there's a short article by Kenneth King in Threads 137 about an extremely clever method of fringing tailored garments without bulk or sacrificing the under layers. Since I have grappled with this very problem in the past, I had to try it out. I took that method and went a little crazy.

This jacket is based on Vogue 8259, the Claire Schaffer Chanel jacket pattern. Mostly I was curious about the 3-piece sleeve. I made a few changes to the pattern so it would look more Fall 2008. First, I lengthened the jacket and took it in at the waist for more of an hourglass shape. Then I raised the armhole by 1/2" front and back, with a corresponding narrowing of the sleeve. I also moved the sleeve placket to the back sleeve seam. I made this change after looking in the window of the Chanel store and seeing that the jackets there don't have buttons on the top sleeve seam, as in the pattern, but at the back sleeve seam. Then I added enough fringe for the jacket to resemble a large furry animal. In a good way.

I bought a new camera lens when I was in the US in August. I think it really makes a difference in my photos. I also bought PILES of new fabric, including that featured here. I went a little crazy since everything is so cheap there.

Jacket Back

Jacket Lining. The pattern directions tell you to put the chain weight on the jacket back only if you are using heavy buttons.

Another change I made from the pattern instructions is in the application of the sleeve lining. The directions tell you to make real buttonholes in the sleeve, then apply the lining in such a way that you can't actually unbutton the sleeves. I could not really see the point of having real buttonholes and making them impossible to use, so I attached the sleeve lining such that I could unbutton the sleeve.

I may wear it like this, with the bottom button undone. I often see men wear their suits this way, to show off that their jacket is not a normal off-the-peg jacket.

Here is the pattern alteration for the raised armhole. I cut out along the green lines, then raised the cutout by 1/2".

This is the undercollar. I applied a padstitched melton undercollar as described in Cabrera's Ladies Tailoring book, then put the fringed piece on top.

Front Detail

Pocket detail

Pattern info from previous projects

2008-09-20T08:38:00.003-04:00

There are a few comments asking which patterns I've used for some of my projects. Katrin asked about This jacket . It is from Burda WOF April 07, pattern 109. It's the same pattern as This blouse . For the sleeves, I pleated the fabric, then laid the pattern over the pleated fabric to cut out the sleeve. If you have a TNT pattern, you can easily adapt the sleeve to resemble the sleeve on my jacket.

Anastasia asked about these jackets for my girls . They are from Burda WOF 10/07, pattern 131. I added a lining.

My current project is almost finished. I can probably post about it this week. It's Vogue 8259, the Claire Schaeffer Chanel jacket pattern.

Lace

2008-08-17T17:41:00.004-04:00

This is a really interesting article on the town where they make the lace that Prada uses in its fall collection.

lace article

Reverse Applique

2008-07-31T08:19:00.005-04:00

It's another strapless dress! I like the simplicity of the strapless shift as a canvas for embellishment. The idea for reverse applique came from The Alabama Stitch Book by Natalie Chanin. She works almost entirely in jersey, but I could use her ideas even though I don't sew with knits. Oddly, when I first read the book, it did not influence me heavily. Then I found my new favorite magazine, Selvedge. It seems like they mention Chanin in every issue, so I finally started thinking seriously about reverse applique. I'm a bit worried about fraying. I may have to do a buttonhole stitch around the applique if it starts to fray badly.

The outside fabric is a silk dupioni in a deep red color. I underlined it with a cream silk suiting, which shows through where the outside fabric is cut away. I love this color combo, but I'm a bit concerned because the silk bleeds color like mad. I'm hoping dry cleaning will keep the cream color intact. If not, I guess it will be a red and pink dress.

The design for the applique came mostly from The Cabinet of Natural Curiosities. This book is a wonderful design resource. I have the jumbo edition, which is worth every penny of the rather steep cover price. Actually, it's such a great book that I think it's actually a bargain. It's full of beautiful pictures of sometimes malevolent specimens. I took the tree thing from the front cover, and 2 birds from inside the book.

Here's the back view of the completed dress.

This is a closeup of the applique on the back. I used the flash so you can see detail, but the color on this photo is really off. It's really more of a wine color, as in the initial photo above.

A closeup of the applique on the front.

This is the original photo that I traced for the bird on the back

I took the tree and the bird and poked and prodded them in Photoshop until they gave me what I considered a pleasing outline.

Alabama Stitch Book, giving advice and inspiration for reverse applique

Albertus Seba's Cabinet of Natural Curiosities book

I used this pattern from Burda WOF 5/2002. I turned the skirt from a slit to a slight A-line. I like pencil skirts, but I can't wear them because as the mother of 2 toddlers, I spend a disproportionate amount of time sitting on the floor.

OK, are you ready to be green with envy? The Crochet Coral Reef is in London! I'm going to see it this weekend!! I'm so excited. Check it out here: http://www.theiff.org/reef/index.html.

Victor and Rolf Exhibit

2008-07-30T15:30:00.002-04:00

The Barbacon Museum in London is hosting an exhibit of Victor and Rolf designs, so I went last week. It was really fabulous. The clothes were flawless and well-presented. There was a giant dollhouse with dolls wearing all the designs in the middle, then full-size clothes off in the wings. It was a little kooky and arty, but definitely in a good way. It's the first clothing exhibit I've seen in London that I'm really excited about. The clothes were technically very difficult to pull off and very beautiful. The dress made to look like a duvet with a pillow attached was a tour de force. It just looks weird in a photo, but in person, it's gorgeous. I want to make one just to see if I can pull it off.

Anyway, if you're in London and interested enough in fashion to be reading this blog, you really must see this exhibit.

Strapless Dress

2008-07-19T04:52:00.002-04:00

I've been meaning to make a strapless dress for ages, and now that summer is half over, I have finally gotten around to it! I used some fabric from a Michael's bundle. I think it's a linen. The warp threads are red, and the weft are white, giving it a sort of pink effect.

There's a shop that recently opened near me called Few and Far (http://www.fewandfar.net/). If you are ever in London, you have to stop by. They have a nice selection of clothes that are obviously handmade and sort of in the wearable art vein, but in a good way. For some reason, the clothes there made me think of using this fabric for a strapless dress. It's a very humble fabric, possibly meant for dishtowels or a tablecloth. I like the contrast between the strapless style and the casual fabric.

The bodice came from a strapless shift from WOF. I cut off the pattern below the waist. I drafted a semicircle skirt and cut the skirt in at the bottom a bit so there's sort of a bell effect. I put horsehair in the hem to keep it stiff. This is the first time I've used horsehair. I'm interested to see what it will be like to wear.

I used Rigelene boning to keep it up. I really like it. I stitched it directly to the bodice lining. Previously I have always used the spiral steel boning, which is kind of a pain because you have to make a casing for it. I'm starting to think that I prefer Rigeline.

For my previous project, I Hong Kong finished the seams using silk organza. I made a whole bunch of silk organza bias binding, and I wound up with enough to finish the seams to this dress, too! It felt really luxurious to have a big bag of bias binding all made up and ready to go.

I wore it to take dd to a West End production of The Sound of Music. She liked it, but it was a bit long for her. She's only 4.

Here's the back view

Here's the inside out view. I underlined the whole thing with red silk organza and bound the seams with gold silk organza.

This is a closeup of the fabric.

The Indecisive Jacket

2008-07-10T11:00:00.008-04:00

This project took me pretty much forever because I could not decide exactly how I wanted it to look. My original vision was a lightweight coat with full sleeves and a gathered skirt. But the fabric, which has a great texture, it kind of a challenging color. The more I looked at it, the more I thought maybe a coat would be just too much greyish-tan. So I deleted the skirt idea, but it was still just too prison-matronly. I looked around my sewing room and found a scrap of black silk taffeta and another scrap of brown silk satin. I cut them on the bias and made a ribbon-like trim to put at the neckline and cuffs. This is just what the jacket needed, and it has turned into something that I will actually wear.

The fabric came from a Michael's bundle. I'm running very low on my fabric stash, so even the fabrics that I did not initially like have kind of grown on me. This is a lovely fabric, apart from the color. I think it's a cotton or mostly cotton, probably meant for lightweight outerwear. I will be going back to the US in August, and I'm planning on doing some serious fabric shopping.

Closeup of the trim on the back

I do like how the sleeves turned out. I pleated the fabric before I cut out the sleeve.

4 yo dd took this picture! The sleeve is actually pretty full.

Back view

cuff

Front View

I underlined it with a sparkly cotton border print

Jackets for the Girls

2008-06-08T04:33:00.003-04:00

My latest project is some lightweight jackets for my girls to wear. The weather here can be a little chilly even in summer, so I think they will get some wear out of these jackets. We have 2 weddings to go to this summer, so they can wear them over pretty dresses for the weddings. This brocade fabric has been in my stash for a while, and I did originally buy it with jackets for the girls in mind. I bought some Liberty prints to use for lining, and bound the edges with bias binding. I let the girls pick out their own buttons. I really need to enhance my button stash with some buttons that little girls would like.

I was intrigued by this pattern from Burda WOF for a Chinese style jacket. The jacket front, back, and sleeves are cut as one piece. You just need to cut out a front opening and a neck opening. It's really easy to match the motifs at the center front with this pattern. I've always wondered about the authentic pattern for a Chinese jacket, and something tells me that this is it.

this is the larger jacket

This is the smaller jacket

Here's a closeup of the pocket. I'm showing off my pattern matching skills here. It is important for kids to have pockets, so I had to add them to the jackets. They need a place to put their rocks.

Swishy Trousers

2008-05-23T05:48:00.003-04:00

Vogue 1052 has certainly made its way into my imagination. I can't remember the last time I made TWO items from the same pattern. Initially, I was not terribly excited about these trousers, but the more I looked at them, the more interesting they seemed to me. I used a 4-ply silk that I've had in my stash for a while, lined with a silk charmeuse. They feel great on. I was worried that the sash might annoy me, but I've worn them once and it was fine.

I added pockets to the side seams, which are completely useless. The sash covers most of the pocket opening so I can't really access them.

In more colorful news, here I am wearing my flower dress at the Chelsea Flower Show. I blend right into the Great Wall of Fuchsia.

Tie-Dye Jacket

2008-05-06T14:57:00.007-04:00

Some magazine that I've read recently had a spread on tie-dye. The text included a warning not to try this at home, which I took as a challenge. At the same time, there was a sale on the new Vogue patterns from their Web site AND my brother-in-law was about to visit from the States! So I bought some patterns, sent them to his house and he brought them to me.

Most of you will recognize this jacket as Vogue 1052, the famous New Miyake pattern. I fell in love with the big collar. There's nothing like it for showing off embellishments.

I actually read the directions on this pattern because it's rather complicated. I had to laugh when they recommended finishing the collar edge by folding over once, zig zag stitching close to the edge and trimming. Honestly, if your sewing is at a level where you would even attempt this pattern, you're probably not after the made-by-loving-hands-at-home look. No one in their right mind would want a zig zag stitch front and center. And even if I lost my mind and decided to follow these directions, my machine does not do zigzag, so I tried a few hand finishes that I did not like, and ended up facing the collar pieces with silk organza.

While I'm on the topic of pattern instructions, they actually tell you to underline the jacket with a fusible. I guess I should let this one go because other people seem to like fusibles, but I have tried many, many different ones, and they pretty much never behave predictably. It makes sense to use fusibles if you're a big manufacturer who's producing thousands of garments; then the time that's required to test the fusibles will be more than made up in time saved in manufacturing. If, like me, you're just making one garment, it's just so much easier to underline with a lightweight cotton, which is what I did.

I had a terrible time finding buttonhole thread in the proper color for this jacket. Note to self -- next time I dye fabric for a garment, throw some buttonhole silk in the dye bath so I'll have matching buttonhole thread.

I started with a plaid fabric from a Michael's bundle, pictured above. The fabric feels lovely, but the color was all wrong. It's a linen or mostly linen. I tried to dye it a deep red color, but it came out much darker than expected. I used 2 packs of dye, because the last time I dyed something, I only used one pack and got a sort of marbled effect. Well, no marbling here, but just much darker than I wanted. I think next time I'll use 2 packs of dye, but I will run the fabric through the dye bath twice, with one pack of dye each time. That way, the color may not be too dark but the marbling will be under control. I LOVE the way the plaid looks in the parts that did not take the dye, and the black cherry color that the jacket became has grown on me.

If you are interested in tie-dying, this is a good book for inspiration and how-to. The method I used is actually called Shibori. I think it may be a Japanese tie-dying method, which I would know if I read the text in the book, but I have not. Every time I open it I'm so distracted by the pictures that I can't be bothered to read the words. It's called Shibori for Textile Artists by Janice Gunner.

Here's the jacket buttoned up a bit differently.

A close up of the collar

Jacket back

Aren't these buttons great? I just got them at the local Peter Jones store. The fabric selection there is really mundane, but they have some great buttons.

Sleeves

In other news, I appliqued a cat onto a purchased pinafore for dd.

Crochet Embellishments

2008-04-14T07:42:00.004-04:00

I've had houseguests lately, so my sewing room spent some time as the guest room and I had to find something to do with myself that did not involve a sewing machine. Rather than wandering the streets aimlessly in my copious free time, I learned how to crochet from YouTube. I've been seeing lots of crochet in store windows this season, so I figured I should learn how to do it myself. It's rather addictive to keep turning out crochet flowers. I produced many, many more than I actually ended up needing.

The fabric for this dress is a fuschia cotton from a Michaels bundle that I got last summer. Actually, it may not be all cotton, because it changes color rather drastically when I'm ironing it. I was going for the chartreuse-fuschia color combo like in March American Vogue, page 646. My search for chartreuse yarn turned out to be futile since my shopping opportunities are limited, and this yellow was the best I could get from the local Peter Jones store. The purple and the green yarns were just what I was looking for, though.

The dress itself is a fairly basic shift with a french dart from Burda WOF 8/99. I like the high collar. It took me ages to place the flowers. If I had more design training, I'm sure I would be able to come up with an aesthetically pleasing configuration more easily. I found myself yearning for my old sewing teacher in New York, who could have put me on the right track instantly. Eventually I did manage to get them arranged in a way that I like.

I'm planning on wearing the dress to the Chelsea Flower Show, where I'm sure it will fit right in.

flower detail
collar detail

The back view

The pattern from Burda

Me wearing dress

Liberty dresses for my girls

2008-03-20T15:41:00.003-04:00

This is another childrens wear project. I went shopping at Liberty a while back during the January sales, and they had this lovely twill on the sale table that I thought would make nice dresses for the girls. It was marked £18 for a 2 meter cut. When I took it to the register, it rung up as only £11, which was a very pleasant surprise. Then I got it home and measured, and it was actually more like 3 meters! That is probably the best bargain I've gotten since I've been in London.

I added a little embellishment to each dress by beading one of the motifs. The shoulder straps are velvet ribbon, and I lined them with a blue twill that I had lying around. I like the pinafore style for little girls because they can wear it summer on its own or winter with a long-sleeve blouse under, and, since there are no sleeves, they don't outgrow it very fast. I made a matching dress for each girl's favorite stuffed animal, which they loved. It was really easy and definitely worth the effort. The photos below were taken after the dresses had been worn, so try to focus on the workmanship, not the stains.

Thank you everyone for the nice comments on my black dress. It's heartwarming to know that people are noticing and appreciating my work. Here's a photo of me wearing it. DH took it at the end of the evening. The dress stood up well for 100% linen; it really does not look that wrinkled at all. I'd had several drinks at that point, so I'm more relaxed in front of the camera than I normally am.

Shawl-Collar Dress

2008-03-07T05:34:00.004-05:00

Here's my latest creation. It's a black linen dress with a big shawl collar. I'm taking an embroidery class and this is my first class project. The class is very informal. There's an instructor there, and you can work on whatever you like. She answers questions and offers suggestions on how to improve your work. This is a great format for me, because I always have zillions of projects in mind. This one has been percolating for I don't know how long, and the embroidery class was a good excuse for finally making it. The embroidery came out so much better because of the teacher giving me some guidance.

The embroidery is a braid that sort of comes unravelled at the front. I used mostly regular embroidery floss, mixing strands of several colors and metallics for the right effect. I will never work with metallic thread again. It was really awful.

I initially made the dress in a just-above-the-ankle length, but when I tried it on, it was just too much black. I shortened it to just below the knee, and I may shorten it again. 20 years or so ago, I wore head-to-toe black every day and never even gave it any thought, but my look has certainly changed since then.

Here's the back. Notice how the bodice back dips down a bit to reduce bulk at the waist.

I'm planning on wearing it with this belt.

This is the pattern that I used. It's a blouse pattern. I've made it before, but never wear the one I made originally because it ends right at the natural waist, which is far too short for a blouse, IMO. But I've always loved the collar, so I thought I'd give it another try. I eliminated the sash and made it a mock wrap because I really can't stand wrap skirts. They just never stay where they're supposed to. I added a side zipper, which works fine because the neckline is so wide that I can pull it up over my hips. I lined it to keep the wrinkles down and added an extra back dart because I've lost weight since I bought this pattern and it was too big at the waist.

Detail of the back collar

Detail of the front collar. I was going for something resembling the braid and all the threads that make it up all coming unravelled.

Here's some more detail of the embroidery.

Some readers have commented that I should post photos of myself wearing the clothes. Unfortunately, I just hate pictures of myself. I have no patience for posing, so every picture of me ends up with me looking more or less annoyed. I should work on that.