The Six Napoleon Dress Challenge part 2
I decided to have a go at Marianna’s “6Nap” dress challenge. I hope a few more join in as it is a fun project with lots of learning. Also opportunities for customisation.
I am on holiday at the moment, thinking about it.
Before I went away I made a sketch of front and back – as I imagine it – as no-one has shared a photograph of the back yet. The style lines on the bodice are just evident if you inspect the photograph closely on your monitor. I am reassured that my drawing looks a bit like Marianna’s own. The key design feature on the front is that the two “classic” princess lines go over the fullest part of the bust – one starting high up the armhole on the model’s left and the other starts lower down.
The pattern
I am planning to do the bodice as a flat pattern and will probably drape the skirt. The bodice is an asymmetric princess line pattern. There are five panels in the front with a point at the left hip dart position. I have suggested a back with three panels, with either a back zip to one side or dividing the centre panel or a side zip. The “instructions” below are what I did to create the bodice. It is not the only way to do this, but it is what I did.
- Trace off my basic close fitting dress block to the hip line, back and front.
- Use the Contour Guide Pattern to determine where and how to reduce the ease above and below the bust. I used the above the bust alteration and the empire line alteration and this has resulted in wider darts.
- Trace off dropped shoulder block so that I have a bit more “overhang” at the shoulder. I could have just used a simple cap sleeve pattern but I like the dropped shoulder look.
- Redraw armhole 1cm lower than on the block
- Take shoulder line 1.7cm into the dropped shoulder
- Measure back from new armhole line 6cms back and front to create the right width of shoulder seam
- Create an attractive neckline. Drop the neckline 2cms at CF and 3.7cm at CB and create an attractive curve to the inside of the shoulder
- Cut out the paper pattern, place on folded pattern paper and trace off to create a full (double) pattern in order to create an asymmetric pattern
I am now ready with the full pattern draw in the princess lines and the asymmetric hem.
The fabric
The skirt is made with 8m of good quality silk organza and is lined with a further 6m of lining. All the fullness is coming from large quantities of fabric with a certain amount of bulk, while also being translucent and ethereal. However I am not sure I want to wear so much cloth (have you ever worn a sari?), and then there is the cost. Most of my dresses use around 1.2m. Satin organza from MAcCulloch and Wallis is £25m plus VAT. I am thinking of using cotton instead – say a cotton sateen for the bodice and maybe cotton muslin for the skirt. I have ordered some low cost muslin from eBay to have a go with. At the moment I am planning to make the dress in white fabric, but if it looks too weddingy I may have to dye or paint it.
The challenge
If you want to read more about this challenge Sew2Pro, Demented Fairy and Jay are already writing up their findings. Very helpful. And quite exciting.
The pointy tips problem
Do you ever find that your bust darts are a bit too, well, pointed and obvious? Darts that stick out and draw attention in an inappropriate way?
Of course body shapes change and so do the silhouettes that underpin them. The position and ideal dimension of the bust has moved around over the years and size, position, outline and proximity to other body parts plays out in many aspects of fashion. And many of my older readers will know from personal experience how bra styles change to help achieve the desired bodice shape.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s women could buy pointed bras that emphasised the “bullet” shape of the bust. By the 1970s bras were closer to the natural shape, achieved by using much lighter fabrics that allowed a “visible nipple” (this post is not going to get through your firewall, I fear). If you remember wearing the 1970s bra (or even no-bra) you may also recall men staring at the impact of colder weather on your nipples. Last century bras got most of their shape from the stitching together of sections – you can see the seam lines on both these bras. Today’s brassieres are often constructed with a thin layer of padding inside a seamless cup to create a very natural curve but also obliterate the part that has the most erotic potential – shown in the T shirt bra below.
This is a roundabout way of suggesting that modern dressmakers want the bust area to be flattered and enhanced without drawing too much attention to their “tips”. We strive to create the rounded shape of a natural breast rather than sport pokey points on our hand made garments.
Recently I have experienced this problem. Twice in two weeks! My empire line dress had pointy tips. So did Esme’s dress. In fact if you ever have a man in the room when you are trying on something you have made you can be sure this is the first fault he will notice. If he is a gentleman he may not comment, but you can be sure he will have clocked your error.
Now I have researched and tested, I have some useful advice.
Why do we end up with pointy darts?
- The take up of material compared to the length of the dart is excessive (ie short fat darts tend to create points)
- The point of the dart is too close to the bust point/apex/nipple
- The seamstress finishes the dart by back stitching which creates too much stress at the tip
- The fabric is heavy or difficult to press
How can we prevent pointy bust darts?
- Short, fat, darts are created if you have a relatively large cup size and create a relatively short dart. This is what happened on my Empire line dress. The style line cuts across the underbust line, and the dart comes off this line. In my pattern all the bust shaping was in this area. In retrospect I should have created a second dart to the side (underarm), or divided the underbust dart into two or three darts so that the angle improved. As it was I was left with a dart that was almost an isosceles triangle – the base was the same length as the sides. It is virtually impossible to create a nice dart under these circumstances. This is why I gathered the fullness.
- Too big on the bust is when there is just a bit too much fabric in front of the bust point and there is not enough mound for it to be shaped by. The solution here is to reduce the fullness and size of the dart.
- Dart position is crucial. Commercial patterns will assume the bust point is about 1.5″ down from the underarm (tuck a chop stick on pencil under you arm and measure when wearing a bra). If the fullest part of your bust is somewhere else change the dart position. Then make sure that the dart finishes at least one inch from the apex. The idea of a dart is to get the fullness of the cloth to the area where it is needed.
- How to sew a curved dart: when we make patterns there is a great emphasis on squaring everything up and down and across. This is basically to provide symmetry and balance and to ensure that the garment is made on the correct grain. However the human body is curved and many of the lines we create need to be curved rather than straight. The bust and buttock “protuberances” as my old teacher used to describe them are especially curved and need to be taken into account. For this reason, while a bust dart will normally be drawn with a straight ruler, to avoid a very pokey look hollow out the stitching line a little as you come to the point and make sure you run the stitching a little parallel to the edge as you finish it off. This was the technique I used on Esme’s dress.
- Construction technique is important too. A technique I learned from Bunny is to decrease the stitch length as you get to the point, giving a nice smooth finish. Don’t back stitch or tie off the ends tightly.
- Fabric issues A short, fat, dart in a heavy fabric will need to be cut open, trimmed and treated more like a seam. Some fabrics that don’t press well may create a poke at the end that cannot be rectified with pressing.
- Press on a curved surface eg. pressing ham, balled up towel etc.
I hope this is helpful; any other suggestions out there?
Developing the off the shoulder dress
Thank you for all your kind remarks about my first off the shoulder summer dress. I was going to make it up in colour block silk and then I had another thought. I remembered I had an off the shoulder dress I had always meant to replicate. I bought this dress in Brighton, I think, in about 1996, for a posh evening do, and then wore it quite often as my LBD. It is a simple princess line with a halter neck strap combined with a dropped shoulder. I don’t wear black anymore as I find it too harsh. But also the truth is the dress no longer fits me.
Here modelled, somewhat reluctantly, by my daughter who dislikes the dress. Black doesn’t suit her either. If you look carefully you can see a pair of small PJ’ed boys busy on their morning tasks – this was taken at 7am. I wanted to copy this dress so I could consign the black dress to the charity shop. But hopefully you can appreciate that (if pressed and dry cleaned) this might be a very elegant evening column dress with just enough interest in the shoulder/neckline area to relieve the austere look of the dress.
Let’s take a look at the back view.
Here is what I did:
- Drew around my dropped shoulder block which has waist darts
- Created a princess line from the base of the shoulder “strap” to the top of the waist dart
- Used my Contour Guide Pattern to ensure that the pattern would have a close fit through the bust
- Shaped the front and side panels to create a nice curve along the dart line
- Used my skirt block to create a knee length dress pattern, running the princess line into a new waist dart (back and front) of the same dimension as before but now at the princess line.
- This creates a pattern with a long, irregularly shaped dart from armhole to hip.
- I cut pattern out in calico and thread traced the dart
Putting it together was challenging.
I tried two different approaches to these unusual darts (well unusual for me. I had never created princess darts before so I was making it up as I went along.) Firstly I tried to sew the shape together, easing the bust fullness in a little. And for the second dart I tried an alternative approach which was to cut the dart through so there was a teeny tiny seam allowance at one point. This was a slightly better approach. I followed the same approach for the back which had sufficient seam allowances and obviously less in the way of curves to cope with.
The halter straps are cut on the bias and are sewn into the princess line seam too.
I made up the toile.
Although the fit is not perfect it is not far off. I really like the way the halter strap is working to take some of the pressure from the off-the-shoulder straps. I can immediately see what needs to be changed on the pattern, can you? This dress is too tight over the bust point and lacks shaping in the hollows above and below the bust (this is what the Contour Guide Pattern is designed to do). I may also need to slightly change the angle of the off the shoulder straps which are creating extra fabric in the upper chest area. On the other hand this may be resolved by them being worn slightly further down the shoulder. You can see my Sharpie lines on the pattern where I will need to make a few changes.
But the princess darts are the main problem, in my view. By changing to princess seams instead of darts I should be able to get a much neater appearance and avoid the tiny seam allowance problem which may have caused the over the bust tightness and also pose a risk of splitting when worn.
I will now
- Create a princess seam pattern
- Take out a little width above and below the bust
- Let out a little at BP
- The back is more or less OK but I will make princess seams (as opposed to darts) in the back, to be consistent
I have some nice fabric in mind for this dress. More later.
Thinking about a casual wardrobe Part 1
One thing that struck me during #MeMadeMay was that while I dress up during my working week my first choice at the weekend is super casual. I had to try hard to incorporate “me made” at the weekend. This is because I usually wear:
- jeans
- long sleeved T shirt, often with a second one on top, sometimes with shorter sleeves
- slippers indoors; trainers outside
- cashmere jumper if it is cold
- down jacket if it is colder or I am going out
- waterproof anorak if it is wet and windy
- rucksack
- small silver earrings
- little or no make up
- Er, that’s it.
In a nutshell – comfortable trousers, leggings, jeggings, joggers, stretchy jeans – with a jersey top is what, literally, everyone (man, woman or child) wears.
I remember being impressed, in about 1986, with the concept of the “babygro” – a stretchy outfit that covers top and bottom and feet in soft, cottony jersey. It occurred to me as I pulled on yesterday’s worn, grubby and ill fitting clothes that what I really needed was a “mummygro”, an all-in-one, comfy, stretchy garment that in a jiffy, I could zip myself into.
The picture above of David Beckham’s designs for kids shows outfits virtually everyone wears – comfortable cotton jersey T shirts and leggings/jogging bottoms. My two year old grandson and I have almost matching Converse shoes.
What I like about this uniform
- comfortable
- practical
- warm (it’s rarely warm enough for proper summer clothes and if it is I have plenty of choice)
- casual trousers (as opposed to skirt and tights) means I can walk, climb, run, bend down etc. without a cold zone or loss of dignity
- casual trousers (as opposed to tailored trousers) can absorb dirt, rain, etc and can go straight into the washing machine and back on with no dry cleaning or ironing
- very economical as I can wear virtually the same outfit everyday so long as I change the T shirt (the value of a uniform)
- it’s easy and doesn’t require much thought
- suits me – I look OK in jeans with a fitted T shirt
On the other hand this look scares me because it has no individuality in it. Not much anyway. And boring colours – navy or denim often with a blue or grey jumper. And my casual wardrobe is almost entirely bought off the peg, which reflects its low effort/low maintenance vibe. For me this outfit is worn only 2/7th of my week – but if I didn’t have a fairly senior job I might also dress like this for work; then it might be a 6/7th of my week. When I retire (not for at least five years) is this my wardrobe life?
I was talking to my daughter about her wardrobe. She works nights and weekends in a small annex with three or four others, hidden in general from the public. She sometimes has to go to hospitals, police stations etc but is not expected to be particularly smartly dressed. The rest of the time she is gadding about with two little kids so has minimal need for formal wear.
My mother, (who is elderly and rather disabled) also likes to keep her wardrobe very simple, as she struggles to dress unaided. She has adopted a set of clothes that are either stretch trousers with a jumper, or a jersey dress and cardigan, over simple underwear (vest and pants) with support socks and velcro or elastic sided shoes she can remove without help. Even so she still manages to look pretty good – in terms of the colours, patterns and textures she chooses. Her outfits are restricted by the actual difficulties of dressing.
And I think all of us – Mum, me and my daughter all love dressing up and looking nice – but, like everyone else, our default look is easy, simple and comfortable.
Here are a couple of old pictures of us wearing “smart casual” My loose fitting floral maternity trousers are worn with a stripey red top and periwinkle blue cardigan. My Mum has a nice white blouse with pleated skirt, and Esme appears to be wearing something white and frilly. In the second picture Esme is wearing a floral dress I made for her from the softest Indian lawn. I wear a navy spotty dress and a Marks and Spencer purple linen jacket that I subsequently ruined by leaning on a bleached worktop. Mum is wearing floral jeans in muted pinks and greens with a light pink T shirt.
So what am I saying?
Should I try to dress up more at weekends? Or should I reinvent the weekend wardrobe to make it more exciting and individualistic, but still casual and comfortable? Do you make too many dressy clothes that you never wear, or do you just keep churning out comfy tops on your overlocker?
The annoying empire line dress (Pattern cutting 0.6)
I explained how the Contour Guide pattern works. I have a few requests for a better explanation – I will put that right soon. But for now I am going to try it out.
We were given the opportunity to create patterns for a “classic empire line” dress. I am a sucker for the word “classic”. The original Empire line (named after the first French Empire) is so pretty – an elegant look with a softly gathered skirt falling from just beneath the bust, forming a high waist, and an elegant, elongated silhouette, especially when combined with short, puffed sleeves that create width at the shoulder. The 1960s versions are also very beautiful. I love this beaded version by Valentino. The Fabiani fascinates me too as a marvellous wedding dress. Although there is a lot of fullness over the midriff it is so sophisticated with its high neck, subtle trimming and flared back with a slight train.
So although the pattern making was (according to Vanda our teacher) “easier” than the surplice design that was our alternative project, I decided to give it a go. Actually, dear reader, I found it quite challenging.
Design and pattern cutting
Here is the description from Joseph-Armstrong:
The midriff styleline of the Classic Empire cross and contours under the bust. The styline slopes gently downward to the CB. The garment fits closer to the figure than does the basic garment. Darts (or gathers) are controlled by the midriff under the bust.
Taking my new Contour Guide pattern I included the guidelines for the underbust (guideline 4) and one on the back (guideline 7). I then drew in the style line that defines the empire line – one that sits below the bust. As Vanda explained to me later, when I was not entirely happy with my design, this line slightly cuts across the lower part of the bust, a fact that helps with minimising a larger bust. The instructions require all the bust darting to be placed under the bust with additional fullness removed to create the close fit in the midriff area.
The key factors in creating this pattern was that some additional length was allowed in the bodice section for fitting under the bust.
The darts are closed in the midriff section the create a shaped piece. I used my standard tailored skirt block for the skirt.
Construction
I tried to create that dart – as shown on the picture and in the description. It was such a short dart with such a large take up that it just looked like a little pyramid! It had a very definite point. I tried to sew it with a curved seam. I tried a range of bust points – higher and lower. I placed it against my nice, round bust and felt I was wearing a horrendous 1950s bra. I didn’t take pictures. I should have but they were embarrassing. I unpicked my ridiculous darts and decided to try the gathers.
Ah. That’s better.
I explained on MMM16 that I don’t like the navy version as much as the white version – possibly because white looks better with my lighter colouring. I quite like navy for work and I wore this dress with navy tights and trainers and a striped T-shirt. But I am not very happy with this dress. The largish floral pattern is chopped up by too many seams and I didn’t have anything like enough fabric for pattern matching. The style has a very simple silhouette (I am still relying on my straight skirt block), has the right neckline and a good armhole shape. I think the length is appropriate. But I still don’t love this dress. I wonder what it is?
The colour blocked, dropped shoulder dress
Ta da! I have made it up.
That was an exciting project. You may remember my sketch, toile and fabric.
Design
I was required to create this dress as part of my college course. I really liked the opportunity to create all the shaping in the horizontal seams. I had tried to do this with my Mondrian dress. This time I had books and diagrams to help me. Nevertheless it required a bit of brain power as the book gave instructions for creating diagonal stripes rather than symmetrical ones, and failed to explain how the seams work from the front to the back of the garment. I created one seam line across the bust and one at the waist to get the more flattering shape, but I wasn’t sure how these seams would look on a finished garment – maybe none too subtle. My hoops were gentle, just curving by 4cms up or down on the back or front of the dress.
I had created the off the shoulder look as part of the brief and wanted to try it. I actually like this neckline on me, mainly because it creates width at the shoulder which minimises the hips. Having created the toile I took the shoulders in by about .5 – 1 cm to avoid gape. Also although I have a strapless bra it is not really ideal in terms of support and I felt that maybe these shoulder straps would slip off.
In terms of length I thought just on or below the knee would work well.
Fabric
I didn’t want to buy expensive fabric for this dress so used cloth I already had at home. In my last post I asked for feedback and most suggested I stick with the navy and maroon. I decided to use all four fabrics in five blocks, for more drama. I used a plain white cotton sateen with a little stretch for the shoulder straps as I figured if I made it fairly tight it might stay up. I introduced the cute pattern (little hens) for the upper bust area. I have a few of these sweet patchwork type prints but would not want a whole garment covered in hens, so wondered if they could be used in subtle way. For the rest of the dress I used a navy linen, and a slightly lighter weight maroon linen, I thought would make up a nice skirt. By using the deeper colours for the skirt and the lighter ones at the top I planned to create the illusion of a balanced hourglass figure, rather than a slightly bottom heavy one.
Construction
One of the great advantages of making a toile is that you can practice making the garment. My toile taught me that the key with this dress is getting all the seams to line up beautifully. When I made the toile I started at the top and stitched each section to the one below it, then stitched the shoulders, and then the side seams.
For the fashion fabric version I followed this process.
- Make up shoulder and upper bust sections of dress and facings
- Stitch facings and bodice together at neck and armhole edges and turn through
- Finish by sewing the side seams of the upper bodice and facings
- Stitch the three lower sections together and attach at the side seams carefully matching the joins
- With the side seams as there is a curve on the seam use a pin to match exactly at the seam line
- Then join the upper bodice to lower bodice and skirt, carefully matching the side seams
- Baste back seam ensuring all five points are lined up, press
- Insert an invisible zip, finish the back seam and hem
I like this dress and think it is very flattering. I had considered making the skirt a bit flared, but because the waist is very fitted the skirt appears flared (whereas it is completely straight), so i am happy with that.
I will show you the back view. Since the photo revealed I had lined up the back neck incorrectly I have fixed it. And you will see I choose a white zip which shows a little bit in the maroon section. With colour blocking I never know what to do about zip colour – I thought it was better if it didn’t show in the white area. I guess both of these errors are construction points. In terms of the fit, the fact that the shoulder is slipping down a bit implies I need to reduce the width on the neckline. I will alter the pattern before I make a final version. Overall I really like the curved seams across the waist and hips, and I am keen to try this dress again for real when I find the right fabrics.
My Me Made May – week four
I will remember this particularly sad May for a long time. Thank you all of you have left a sweet comments about John.
So I wore Me Made everyday in May, as pledged. It wasn’t a difficult challenge as I have plenty of homemade clothes to choose from. I normally mix RTW with home made as I prefer the look. So I can’t see me promising to exclusively dress in “me-made” clothes, although I of course totally admire those who do so, right down to their tights and underwear – Sue and Carolyn – for example. Maybe when I retire I will get into knitting. And lingerie. But for now I can’t be bothered.That navy striped top has appeared three times this month.
We had three days in Romania at the end of the month. You can see me in cycling, walking and sunbathing gear – all of it handmade. And back to work on the 31st.
So, now it’s over, what did I learn?
- I do like my clothes. On the whole they make me feel good, or better, about myself. That is the point I think
- Generally I wear what I consider to be a business casual style. Much more dressy than many #MMMay16 participants, but then I am not retired, a young mum, a graphic designer or whatever. But not too casual as I am a senior manager and need to be taken seriously by banks, developers, councils, MPs etc. If I do a road show (money raising) trip to the city I would probably wear one of my darker suits with a blouse. And sometimes I wear jeans and Converse for work – on 31st as I had a site visit, following a meeting with some branding agencies. I usually consider my diary commitments when selecting outfits.
- Someone mentioned I don’t do jersey. Well I do! Not so much as others who have maybe a more relaxed lifestyle, but that pink dress (23) is jersey, and on day 1 I wore wool jersey. I don’t have an aversion to the stuff although I prefer a slightly harder edge. The compromise for me is to wear T shirts and knitted tops and more structured bottoms (sometimes wovens with stretch). I think this topic deserves a post of its own so I will have a further think about it.
- My choices of clothes are rather conservative in some respects – mainly in the shapes I tend to wear. Fitted top, waisted skirt, flared, A line or straight skirt, knee length or thereabouts. And a belt. Long sleeves, lighter colours at the top/near the face, deeper colours on the lower half. Tried and tested colour palette with a predominance of blue, blue greens, pink, with white, navy and grey as neutrals. A bit of yellow. Stripes. Floral. Often three colours rather than the more predictable two.
- I put the pictures on Instagram daily. Each got a number of likes, and most came in between around 100 and 150. A few went above. The one that got the most votes was this one, with 257 likes. Not surprising really as it was my most dressy outfit (worn to the Mayor’s ball). Funnily enough dress 25/27 is in the same fabric (navy background rather than white), in a slightly different style. But I think on me white is more flattering than navy. What do you think?
8. KM dress and VW jacket - The better photographs in terms of lighting got more likes. The pictures where I looked taller and slimmer got more likes. I don’t take photographs too seriously. During MMMay16 I asked a total of 15 different people to help me with pictures and I didn’t dare pose too obviously. This project has certainly made me think about pictures – some bloggers do work hard at great pictures and it is pleasing to see people look their best. Learning more about photography is going on the list of things to do when I retire (with knitting, weaving, lingerie and patchwork).
Anyway thank you for your feedback over the four weeks, and your encouragement.
Pattern Cutting 0.5 – The Contour Guide
Well my pattern cutting class just got exciting! I know! A life with diagrams, brown card, a set square and a compass sounds as fun as basic maths for adults. But the possibilities are endless.
Do you know what a “Contour Guide” is? I expect some of you do, but I had never heard of such a thing, but now I am a total fan.
Basically the bodice block is constructed so that it fits well at the shoulder, bust, side seam and waist (the touch points) but it ignores the indents of the body – the concave curves above and below the bust, the curve between the breasts, the indentations in the middle of the shoulder and so on. Even if your bodice block is fitted to your exact measurements if you try to make something like a halter top or a low-cut neckline you will get gaping. I have had this issue many times and I didn’t really understand why it happened. And now I do. This diagram of a pouty 80s model dressed in a graph-paper dress reveals all.
The fitting problems that we experience with gaping at the neckline and armhole when we create cut away looks (assuming the straightforward bodice pattern fits) are due to the fact that the body measures less in those areas that the garment does. As Helen Joseph Armstrong explains: “These differences are measurable and compensation can be made for them by the using the Contour Guide Patterns”.
When I was a student we created what we (being English, rather than American) called our “Lingerie blocks”. To do this we made more or less the same adjustments that are described here. As a result the lingerie block was much closer fitting and allowed us to make evening dresses, petticoats and, for those who wanted to, brassieres and camiknickers etc. But I like the idea of “contouring” although these days that seems to involve putting different colours of make up on your face to create an illusion.
OK! Let’s do it.
Start with your bodice blocks and draw a circle that represents a breast. The exact radius can be found by measuring from the bust point to the top of your underwire or similar. Once the circle is drawn (and a hole created so that you can trace this circle on to a pattern) you basically reduce it at various points,, reducing the darts to the waist, neckline, armhole etc. I measured the actual indents on my own figure to try to get the best possible fit. I was not very different from the average measurements, except in terms of “Empire styleline” (the indentation under the bust) and the “contour between the busts” as the book puts it (cleavage). As I wear a relatively large cup size this is what you would expect.
I have used green and red to distinguish some of the seven guidelines. There is also a back bodice Contour Guide pattern with additional ease taken at the shoulder, side, and a longer dart up to the high back line.
With my new guides I am ready to tackle all those looks above. Neither I nor my teacher knows exactly how to pronounce “surplice” but now I know how to make one. Below is a photograph of me in Butterick 3636, a charming 1970s style with a surplice. Can you see the gaping? Now I understand how to avoid this I will make a pattern for a surplice dress, or maybe a halter dress, or maybe a classic empire dress, or something with cutaway armholes, or perhaps a strapless dress (brain explodes). Stay tuned to see what happens next….
Corseted dress challenge
Marianna of Sew2Pro has set a new challenge, which is to make up this dress, or perhaps a version inspired by it. It is by Six Napoleon, and involves 8m of silk organza for the skirt and a boned, corset style top.
What I like
- the boned corset top
- the uneven/asymetric princess lines
- the many layered skirt in translucent fabric
- the contrast “colour”, ie grey skirt with black bodice
- the uneven hem and asymmetric bodice
- the modest cut of the top
- the way the top looks a bit like a T shirt or vest rather than something too “fancy”
- the flattering shape of the bodice and easy shaping of the skirt
- the challenge of creating the top and skirt
- the deep hem
What I don’t like
- too black
- too grungy
- organza is not really soft to wear.
I have agreed to join the challenge and I hope I think a few others are “in”. So what about my design?
Mainly I would want to change the colour scheme and the styling. I like a bit edgy but I don’t want to wear hobnail boots, leather accessories, hat and mask. I do like the idea of including a range of colours – possibly monochromatic – shades of green for example. It might also work nicely with navy or dark brown instead of black. Or I could do a white version with light neutrals in the skirt. Or denim. Or leather. So lots to think about.
I am thinking about doing this as a two piece to get more versatility from it. The corset would look great with slim fitting stretch trousers, and the skirt would be lovely with a T shirt. The skirt could be a yoked skirt that fits neatly under the corset.
In the meantime I will draft a pattern for the corset. I have never made a corset or even a boned top. I don’t know why not – but here is my chance.
And I will have a think about the skirt which it probably best draped rather than flat pattern cut. I want something soft for the skirt – a delicate silk muslin or cotton lawn would suit me better, with a bit of fullness coming perhaps from silk tulle.
Will anyone else join us on this challenge – there is plenty of opportunity for customisation and styling? The deadline is 14th July.
Good bye darling
My first husband John Davies died yesterday. He was only 57, and had been suffering from bowel cancer for a long time. John was brave and suffered horrible pain, gruelling treatments and many indignities. At the end he was looked after by Trinity Hospice, and he couldn’t have had better care. I feel desperately sad that a wonderful dad and grandpa had his life cut so short.
We met in Manchester, in our mid-20s, married and we had three kids – Esme, George and Gus. When we married we made a deal that, if we had kids together, we would see it as a lifelong commitment to the family, even if our relationship floundered. So we shared looking after the family in a modern way and did our very best. After a decade or so we did split up and eventually divorced. He remarried Jo who already had two daughters Lily and Rosa, and stepson Nathan. I remarried – Nick – too. But John and I carried on loving and respecting each other, and we remained firm friends to the very end. I will honour the pledge I made to him and will do my best to provide for our children and grandchildren.
John was creative, very smart and funny, and an early developer. At 14 years old he was organising protests at school (the Marxist Pupil Power Union) against a compulsory carol service and school uniforms. At 17, when his parents disapproved of his girlfriend, they got married and moved into a rented flat. He supported himself through college working in a food processing factory and at Tinsley Wire. As a student at Sheffield Polytechnic he led demonstrations and continued throughout his life to fight against real injustice as well as the things he simply found annoying. He was a great organiser with twice as much energy as everyone else. Most at home in the country – especially in the north of England – hiking for long distances, even when he was already very ill – and camping. He walked his two dogs daily and came back with firewood. He loved gardening and created an absolute oasis of beauty around his home, including the grass verges which are just now blooming from his cultivation and attention. And trains – going on them, reading about them, especially steam but also diesel, and creating a detailed model railway in the garage.
John made videos and computer-based media as a youngster, pushing the boundaries technically and in terms of content – most of it comedy and satire. He studied throughout his life qualifying as a teacher, getting an MSc in computing and an MBA in education. When he needed to get a proper job he worked in Arts Education for EdExcel, until his recent ill-health retirement. He made and decorated the cakes for all the family weddings and Christenings, as well as parties and birthdays. A couple of Christmases ago – 2014 – Nick and I were due to spend time with my Mother in Lancashire. She fell and ended up in hospital so John and Jo invited us to join them for Christmas lunch.
For me he was my husband, my love, my children’s dad. Others in the same position will know that you don’t stop loving someone when you agree to part. We were never critical of each other, and we worked together to provide a firm and consistent base for the kids, especially after our divorce.
John was just the best Dad there was. He saw the children every single week (often at Wong Kei in China Town), took them on holiday, phoned daily when they were younger and just communicated constantly, especially when they needed him. He was great with children and young people. He has been an amazing grandpa too, supported by his dear wife Jo (she who knits Minion jumpers). The fact that my boys know how to care for others, especially little kids, is testimony to his amazing, insightful and loving parenting. I am so glad my sons have turned out like their Dad.
What else can I say? John was very funny, genuine, principled, intelligent, generous and sociable. He bore his illness so bravely. Cancer is desperately cruel and dying when you are still young and vigorous seems terribly wrong. Our family knew that his untimely death was inevitable and coming soon. It cast a somber mood over all our lives. Nick and I did what we could to provide support and love to John, Jo and her children, John’s brothers Paul and Mike and their girls Robbyn and Briony, and our kids Esme, George, Gus, Ted and Kit. Many of you too will have faced death, loss, bereavement and deep sadness. It is part of life as much as birth, growth, achievement and happiness. But today my grief feels very raw as I say goodbye for good to my dear love: John.
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