Me Made May 2016 – Week One
I have been “doing” Me Made May 2016 for a week now, which involves wearing something i made everyday and getting a photograph.
I have completed the first week. The photos are taken by my husband, my PA, the sales manager at Royal Albert Wharf, my boss and my daughter. Thanks for that!
Looking at the seven out fits I must conclude that clothes, in the UK, are always about the weather.
These pictures, taken over seven days,show how the weather affects what we wear. Day 1 (Sunday) was a nice sunny day but not too warm, and we had our lunch outside with stepson Ben, Mel and Maia. By Monday it was really cold again for our visit to the Hindu temple. I had on lots of layers, including a big scarf. On Tuesday (back to work) I wore a jacket over a jumper and my thick tights. But by Tuesday it was starting to get warm. But I am still in the thick tights just in case it gets cold on the way home. By Wednesday, although I have on my jacket I have dispensed with the tights and I have bare legs for the rest of the week. But the lemon jacket and pink cardigan are worn as it is not that hot. But by Saturday (day 7) it is hot and sunny and the kids are in shorts and I have bare arms! My Australian friends and work colleagues find the discussion of weather, and the pure excitement and joy about sunshine, funny. You know how we buy more “soft top” cars than the European countries that actually have warm weather, and “put the roof down” at the slightest provocation. And in our parks you will see us in underwear sometimes, or with our skirts or trousers rolled up to allow the rays to touch our skin. With only 26 sunny days a year we try to get out in it as much as possible.
I also notice that I wear much lighter and brighter colours when the sun is out (and I am someone who avoids black and tries to get colour into the wardrobe daily). The first half of the week it is grey, navy, mid blue and deep red. Then out comes the lemon, light pink and white.
The other thing is about how clothes fit into your life. One day I got a picture taken of me actually working. I love this picture of an outdoor meeting (on the upper floor of the car park at the Stratford Centre) where I am talking to Kate Hofman. Kate is the CEO of GrowUp box. I want to bring this fantastic idea to one of our new developments in East London. I don’t really like posing as a “model” for the clothes – for me context is everything. My working clothes are more formal than the weekend outfits, but it is subtle difference for me. Weekends are not too slobby, and work is not at all formal. But as the CE of my organisation it is important that what I wear is congruent with our values and purpose (the provision of low cost housing in London, plus property development to fund it).
Shopping for fabric in London
One of my readers Karen Mulkey, from Houston, Texas is in town next week and she asked for suggestions on where to buy fabric in London. This is not a comprehensive list but it covers places I have visited and can recommend.
South London
Simply Fabrics, at 57, Atlantic Road, Brixton, SW9 8PU, has been my favourite shop for a long time. It has recently gone downhill a little I must admit. Robert used to get some amazing Roland Mouret end of line fabrics that were sold for very low prices. I still go there as there are still some nice fabrics to be had but I am less loyal than I was. Expect to pay around £8m for silk and maybe £10 for good wool. I always ask Robert or Leo what they recommend, indicating that I am looking for high quality, natural fabrics and designer fabrics. The sister shop, just across the road is usually run by the ladies, and has zips, threads etc. It also has what I call “cheap fabric” – coming in at £2 to £4m – that will serve for toiles, school projects etc, plus calico, interfacing, curtaining, oilcloth, African prints, buttons, elastic etc.
Brixton itself, the Market and Electric Avenue, has lots of Asian run shops selling African fabrics, such as Wax prints and Laces, which are usually sold in 6 yard pieces. Expect to spend £25 – £60 depending on quality. The indoor market has stalls selling trimmings, again mainly from the subcontinent.
Rolls and Rems at 111 Lewisham High Street, Lewisham, London, SE13 (and also 9 The Concourse, N9 0TY) is a good local shop. It is ages since I went there but it was good value with all the basics. You have to get the train to Lewisham, so unless you live locally I wouldn’t make a special trip. Same with Fabrics Galore, 52-54 Lavender Hill, Clapham Junction BR. I haven’t been here for even longer so can no longer vouch for it, but it used to have some nice stuff. Some people recoomend Wimbledon Sewing Centre, 308 Balham High Road, SW17
West London
If you are based in West London, then I would mainly recommend Goldhawk Road. I used to work nearby and could get there in my lunch hour. The nearest tube is Shepherds Bush or Goldhawk Road.
There are a long line of shops – maybe 30 – almost all run by Asian people. People seem to like A1 Fabrics (50-52) and Classic Textiles (next door). There is plenty of choice and you can get just about anything you want. But the prices are not low. They are the going rate in most cases. For example I use habotai silk for linings. The very cheapest I have bought this is at £5m in Simply Fabrics and £3m at Goldcrest. But in both cases it was too flimsy and shoddy for the job. A very slightly heavier product is available in Goldhawk road for around £8 – 12 m. I bought strong colours (mainly from India or China) and the colours are not fast. I found buying better quality silk from Missan was the same price. Also Simply Fabrics sell nice blouse weight silks for around £8-£10 which are much better quality. On the other hand I have bought Liberty prints in Goldhawk Road for £21 for three metres which is great value, when Simply Fabrics sells Liberty for £12 a metre (and Liberty sells it for twice that).
Shaukat, 170-172 Old Brompton Road, SW5 0BA is nice big shop in Kensington that specialises in Liberty prints, mostly pre cut selections. People rave about it but I am just not that into the product. But if you are coming from abroad and want something typically English this might do the trick.
West End
I live close to the West End but I rarely buy fabric in the area. This is because rents are so high that every shop has to charge about double the going rate. Two very expensive shops near me (Edgware Road tube), (I have visited but never bought) are Jason’s at 310 Edgware Road and Joel and Sons is just off Edgware Road at 73-87 Church Street, NW8.
Berwick Street
This area is the centre of the historic London rag trade with the fashion colleges and many designers based nearby. When I was doing my qualification in the 1980s this was the place to go for silks, satins, “stage wear” cloth, and really unusual pieces. But with rents being so high now so are the prices and I can’t really recommend this area.
Cloth House (no 47 and no 98) is a modern, rather trendy shop where virtually everything is navy, grey or striped. There are some nice Indian block prints and some Japanese fabrics, denim, plain linens. All very tasteful, but of course expensive.
Misan has two shops, one like Jason’s has silly prices. The other is expensive too but has more standard fabrics. Downstairs it has remnants and off cuts. I have bought quite a few pieces here as they are unusual and because they are damaged or dirty you can get a bargain. But not necessarily. For example Linton tweeds which are around £22 to £28 a metre on line are £55 a metre off the roll in the shop. Even a remnant will work out at around £35 to 340 a metre, more expensive than from the Linton website. Small pieces of leather really are terribly expensive too.
For wedding fabrics there are specialist silk shops (Silk society and a few others) but, while you will get wonderful fabrics, you will have to pay top dollar for them.
Borovicks is a shop I used to use a lot when I was doing my fashion qualification in the 1980s. But today it has priced me out. For example when looking for floral stretch sateen it was £25 p/m here compared to getting similar stuff on line for about £12 p/m.
Macculloch and Wallis moved to their new spacious premises at 25-26 Poland Street London W1F 8QN earlier this year. Again the cloth is on the pricey side although they have some nice quality products. They will order gorgeous mohair woven fabric in fabulous colours but it costs about £55 p/m. They cover buttons and have a wide range of trims. It is a good place to go for a shoulder pad or some rivets on a Saturday if you just can’t wait. Nearby there are two or three specialist trimming shops.
Oxford Street (a short walk from Berwick Street)
Liberty of London is off Oxford Street and has a small selection of expensive fabrics including their own Liberty prints and some gorgeous but very expensive furnishing fabrics. Ideal for cushions if you want something classy. A great experience, and inspirational, but not really for spending money in, unless you have lots of it.
John Lewis has boring fabrics on the whole, lots of quilting fabrics which I have no use for, and things for “crafting”. My daughter gets fabric here for fancy dress outfits and it is good quality, reliable stuff and fine in an emergency. But everything from zips to threads to buttons and trimmings is full price. Nicely laid out and helpful staff.
East End
For wholesale prices try Woolcrest, at 6 Well Street, Hackney, E9 7PX. This is my current favourite shop mainly because the prices are so low. I bought cotton here at £2 a metre, which is the sort of price you will normally pay on a market stall. Crescent trading, Unit 2, Quaker Court, 41 Quaker St, E1 6SN is good for wools, with lots of choice, and nice designer silks too. But the prices are relatively high. Storm leather is a great shop at Unit 6, Stephen House, 1B Darnley Road, Hackney Central, E9 6QH.with lots and lots of choice of leather in all weights. Read my review and talk to the men. They are very helpful.
Fabrications at 7 Broadway Market, London E8 4PH a small but quirky shop that has ethical fabrics and some interesting classes where you can meet nice people. They sometimes run a class in making dolls that I hope to attend soon.
Walthamstow market is a traditional market – the longest there is in the whole of Europe – and it has a good range of fabric sellers with keen prices and some bargains. If you go to Walthamstow (on the end of the Victoria line) make sure you go to the William Morris museum too. It is great and free.
Out of town
Ikea has shops in Neasden and Croydon. They have furnishing fabrics from about £3m to around £10m for heavy weight linen. A few have a nice Scando vibe and may make up a nice little shift dress. I wouldn’t go especially but if you are there anyway and can stand it, go to the lower floor about half way in, and half way out and you will see a small collection that you cut yourself and then they weigh. If you go to Neasden be sure to have a look at the Neasden (Hindu) temple.
Markets
Throughout London there are lots of markets. You tend to get to know the ones near where you live or work. Not worth a special trip they do have everything you may need in the way of basic dressmaking fabric, upholstery materials, and notions. There are lots of these in every part of London – Brixton, Tooting, Church Street, Chapel Market, Whitechapel, Ridley Road, etc. Some of these have become hipster hangouts in my lifetime, but most still sell fruit and veg, meat, cheese and fish. Many still have a few stalls selling fabrics and trimmings and ethnic goods of all descriptions that allow you to make more interesting clothes.
Have I missed anywhere important that you would recommend? What is your local market like? Do please let us know. Thank you.
Sweet Thames, Flow Softly
The River Thames starts in the Cotswolds, at Thames Head near Kemble in Gloucestershire, It seeps out of the earth near our new holiday home and thrillingly a small tributary of it flows past Rainshore. The green plastic boundary is a temporary newt fence to protect them during the building work.
From here the river flows eastward to its mouth near Southend in Essex, defining London as it goes. So many of London’s important places are on the river – seven Royal palaces from Windsor to the Tower of London are on the Thames which was England’s most important transport link since prehistoric times. In fact although we think of London owing its importance to the City of London and its financial centre, it is the Thames which makes our city both famous and wealthy. During the middle ages barges brought everything the city needed from wool, wood and food, and river boats ferried people up and down its length. During the 1700s the boats took imported goods like silk, sugar, tea and spices (from the Caribbean) into London.As the main transport route the River was more congested than our modern roads with ships backed up along the banks, waiting to unload timber, iron ore or consumer goods for days on end. In my day job we are regenerating some of these important dockside locations – at Surrey Docks (Canada Water) and at the Royal Docks (Gallions Reach).
It is 215 miles long, and one of Britain’s longest rivers. I am so excited about having a little bit of the Thames outside our door, and one day (it’s on the bucket list) I would like to walk the Thames path.
In the meantime if you travel on London Underground you sometimes see poems, in the place of advertisements, some of them distinctly local. Like this one.
The RIver is such an important part of our history and life in the capital that, like Ewan MacColl, you cannot help be inspired by it. So I was interested to visit a recent exhibition at Morley College (where I am studying pattern cutting) of artwork, textiles and printing – all inspired by our RIver Thames. If you are near Lambeth North do pop in to the gallery – there is often an interesting show of student work. I was particularly drawn to these textile pieces using iron (some found in the river) and indigo, incorporating patchwork and shibori techniques.
The screen printing impressed me – it always does, especially The Height of Ambition – an amazing super-sized wall hanging protesting in a beautiful way about the high rise buildings going up now, on the edge of the River. As someone involved in property development it certainly gave me pause for thought. The slogans are from the advertising material of the top-end developers who sell large quantities of these apartments overseas, while many in London struggle to find affordable housing.
I also really like the screen printed map of the Thames and the surrounding area.
Summer princess line pencil dress – the toile
You may remember I drafted a princess line dress, based on my new personal dress block. I used some nice fabric that I had bought, very cheaply, when I put my SWAP fabrics together. I thought it might work well for my Pucci Pant suit, which I made up in pink eventually. So I used it for my toile, hoping (as ever) that my toile might turn out to be wearable.
My dress, as you may recall, is inspired by a Karen Millen summer dress. The princess seams create a fitted bodice and the skirt is effectively a high-waisted pencil skirt, with no darts at the front and two darts at the back. I decided against the back – a cut away racer style with a V back I do eventually want to make this dress in a nice floral print.
I made up the dress, self lining the bodice and leaving a split at the CB hem. I needed to make one important alteration which was to close the bust dart by a further 1.5cm at the armhole. This is not surprising as I had created the original dart at 7cms wide at the shoulder. As I have a bigger than average cup size I needed to take a little fullness out. I have since taken one additional cm out of the dress block. This means I have a nice close fit at the top.
The darting at the back and the lack of a dart at the front worked surprisingly well, and I fiddled around a lot with the side seams to get a “skimming” effect rather than the “Jessica Rabbit” look that Mrs Mole is always asked for, by various brides. I am always scared of leaving too much/not enough ease over the hips and thighs. I just can’t be doing with any tightness here, not just in terms of sitting down and walking (as advised by Mrs Mole). If it is too tight I fear it may emphasise my bumps, but equally if I exaggerate the hips/thigh area I am in danger of looking disproportionate. I am hoping to do some careful fitting with Pia soon, so we will work on my skirt block as well as the one piece dress which is, always, a compromise between no waistline seam and a good fit.
I am wearing an insect brooch that my daughter gave me one Christmas and a Mexican silver necklace from my mother. In terms of styling I find this sort of look a bit too dressy for me – the sort of thing for I might wear for a summer party. But with a dress like this, especially in such a neutral shade, I prefer a denim jacket or perhaps a bright pink cardigan.
I am not entirely happy with this dress, especially when I examine the photographs. It looks a little bit tight on the bust, and there is a bit of fullness in the torso. I think I should have dropped the waistline by about five centimetres. Also the skirt is puckering up a bit against my underwear, probably caused by it not being lined. Also I think the silvery grey is a bit dull and a bit too formal looking. I prefer the denim jacket as it brings in some extra colour as well as dressing it down.
I will line the next version. But on the whole I am beginning to get what I want here, so will preserve. I have already cut out a second version – here it is pinned to Camilla. The fabric, from Fabric Godmother, was suggested to me by Val Barkworth (Valbark on Instagram) and Louise fromno23. Thanks Ladies – I really like this fabric.
Making a basic dress block (part three)
Firstly – thank you everyone for your supportive and interesting feedback yesterday. It made me feel very connected and valued. And Nick made pulled pork with apple sauce on home made sourdough bread, hummus and Vietnamese salad. Which we enjoyed with a glass of Prosecco.
Back to work!
I made a bodice block to my own measurements, and then how after fitting the toile, I made a one piece dress block. This week I made a dress in order to test the fit further. To those readers who have not done this before I have to warn you about a few things.
- The style lines are not the most flattering. The bust dart comes from the neck to the bust point – this is rarely used and not very pretty. But, combined with a waist dart (bust point to waist) it gives the most accurate fit through the bodice.
- The same is true of the relatively big darts at the front and back waists. If you have a relatively small waist and want a close fit these are definitely clunky.
- The high round neck and simple shoulder line of the block will not flatter everyone.
- A fitted one-piece dress is one of the hardest garments to fit well – a waist seam is much easier as the skirt and bodice are joined. Here all the shaping is carried out in the vertical seams/darts
- This style of dress (the sheath) is best suited for a relatively straight figure without too many curves. It has to go in (upper chest) out (bust) in again (waist) and out again (hips). The less curve on the body beneath the better. A man, by contrast just needs to come in from shoulder to narrower hip.
- Also getting a good fit is a tedious, back and forth type of project. You need patience, and ideally a helper.
- If you are more or less fitting yourself (as I was here) taking photographs can be really helpful in allowing you to see the garment on your body fairly clearly.
OK. Now you can see me in my grey fitted dress – first iteration. I am not saying it is perfect. Far from it. But before we talk about what is not working yet, let’s look at what is good about this first version.
- The neck is good (there is a seam allowance of 1.5cms).
- The shoulder is now at the correct angle and the right length.
- The fit across the upper chest is generally good although the diagonal pull imply that it is a little bit tight. I could slightly let out the bust dart (by say.25cm) to deal with this.
- The armhole is not too tight or too loose (includes a 1.5cm seam allowance)
- The bust point and wasit is in the right place.
- The fit across the torso is is more or less OK, although the front darts are pulling down and out.
- The back view shows the neck, shoulders and armholes are good.
- The back darts are not perfect but not too bad.
In terms of what to do to improve the fit, what would you do?
For me I thought that the key to improving the fit was to take in more at the back (rather than the front or side). Here is the dress pinned out at the back, effectively creating a second back dart. If you compare the first and second versions of the front view you can see how pulling the fabric in at the back waist lifts up the skirt and begins to make it look much better. At the back (I pinned myself) it is not very accurate, but this can be sorted out with the pattern and a ruler.
I added a second back dart towards the CB seam, making it 3cms at its widest point (at the waist), compared to 4cms of the existing dart, and the same length as the block dart. I hemmed the skirt and finished the neckline with a bias strip. The horizontal pulling that was evident in the first version has now disappeared.
Now we come to look at the fine tuning.
I would like to lengthen the front darts as the poke-y look is due to them being too short and wide for my figure. Of course long front darts are not very attractive.
What am I trying to do with this one piece block? Actually I am desperate to make it into a princess line so that I can get the close fit through the waist, plus the shaping for my curved lower half. But this is a one piece dress and the only way I can get the fit right is by extending the darts. The lower part of the dress needs to include walking ease – otherwise I can see that extending them to the hem – even pegging the skirt slightly might make the design more attractive (not really the point with the a block dress). Before I complete the dress, does anyone have any further fitting advice for me please?
Two years of blogging
Some of my favourite bloggers have been blogging for a decade. Me, it’s just two years. Today.
Later today we will have a little celebration with the family – Nick, Esme, George, Gus, and Kit – who help me with the blog in so many ways.
- some of them subscribe and read it most days (some of them can’t read yet, although they can use a computer to watch videos about Spiderman, bin trucks and motor bikes)
- one of them comments, occasionally and briefly, usually witheringly but also accurately. (She does have her hands full with her job, kids and commitments)
- my husband often comments, but never in writing. He will make an announcement about the spelling or grammar, or say what I could or should have included in the post. He sometimes says “liked the blog today”.
- my husband’s real talent is in taking photographs when he really, really doesn’t want to. I love him for that. We live in a small underground flat. There is not much sunshine even in summer, so I prefer to get pictures of my outfits outside. On occasion he comes up to the street, first thing in the morning, in his dressing gown to take pictures. That is very brave as we have a lot of tourists, street sweepers and parking meter men wandering around at all hours. Nick is the absolute master of a quick pic. I get no more than one minute to “pose”, such as it is, and he mindlessly snaps until he hands the phone back to me and retreats indoors. New technology being what it is the pictures are often of pretty good quality despite the inauspicious conditions.(I think I should offer to take up his trousers a bit, don’t you?)
My photographer - my dear sons will take pictures too if they are around. They have a little more patience than Nick, and often try something a bit arty like bending down and shooting upwards. Nick can’t do this. Don’t know if it is a lack of imagination, training or his knees.
The boys – we all love light grey - the little kids don’t really help much. They dislike being photographed and they don’t like me to do anything that distracts from food, stories or watching videos of Spiderman etc. Luckily their choice in viewing is so tedious that I can think of other things, but usually when I have finished babysitting I am pooped and ready for bed myself.
- In summary I just want to thank my great family whom I love very much – they support and sustain me with love, resources, jokes (often at my expense), ideas, connections, and encouragement. We invariably eat one meal together, at least, each week and it is so important to me that we can depend on each other. As a family we are facing a tragedy at the moment and we are all working hard at looking after each other. At the end of the day love is the only thing that counts.
- I need to mention my dear stepson Ben, who builds websites, and more, for a living. He created this Fabrickated website a year ago. If I ever get an issue his troubleshooting is instant. So this is the end of the first year of my self hosted site and it has gone well. If you are thinking of breaking free yourself I would say there are some downsides. I can no longer see where everyone lives on a little interactive map – I used to enjoy that. I more or less knew the two or three people reading in Brazil (Hi Mauricio, Hi Sandra), Romania (Hi Katerina) and Latvia (Hello Galina), but now readers, unless they comment, are more anonymous
Ben with his lovely daughter
So on to you, my dear, dear, readers. When I started this I had no idea how close I would become to you. I do worry a bit that many are just “being nice” when they routinely say kind and generous things about my sewing efforts. I doubt my own abilities. While I am a fairly confident person, with dressmaking I often feel that I am ‘faking it” – making it up as I go along. I doubt myself and am very self critical. So I don’t really believe the nice stuff. But I do appreciate it. I know it is the done thing to say nice things and the round of applause one gets is sometimes for effort and trying rather than for achieving. I have experienced the amazing generosity of others that astounds me again, and again. Stephanie you stand out as being kind, engaged and interesting. I love your blog and I so look forward to meeting you one day. The help I have received is so much better than book advice. It is coming from people – like Jay, Mrs Mole, Linde, Annie, Bunny and Pia, who actually do the same sort of thing as me. Pia loves the internet as it helps you find the small sub-set of people you really want to know. I agree.
The blog has also allowed me to meet, in real life, all sorts of amazing women. Marianna from Sew2Pro, Nat from Made-in-Home, Megan from Pigeon Wishes and recently Pia from The Overflowing Stash; Mary Funt from New York; Gail, Anne and Lesley from Australia, and a fair few from the London and Sussex blog scene who I hope to get to know better over time. This rich seam of happy, beautiful people has enhanced my social life and made the world feel safer and smaller.
Sometimes I have had negative and critical comments. I decided not to censor them. I do actually believe rather strongly in free speech and allowing people to have their say.
This year I went down from daily blogs to four a week – Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. And this is enough – maybe too much for readers. My life is busy so I may reduce again, but I will keep writing for myself. I am so grateful that so many read what I write and especially for those who leave a comment.
Thank you.
Shall I do Me Made May?
You probably know of “Me Made May” started by Zoe of the well known “So, Zo…’ blog. The idea is you promise the world that you will wear more of your handmade clothes. I have been put off before by the idea of daily photographs, but of course they are optional. And also a worry that it might be a bit purist (for some, who make their own underwear and even shoes). And up to now May is the end of SWAP and the mad process that involves taking photographs of the eleven garments, combined into outfits.
But it is actually a flexible idea to think about where our own clothes fit into our wardrobe. I very rarely think about what I have made myself and the need to wear it specifically. But when I know I am meeting a fellow seamstress, like Linde, or someone who is interested in my dressmaking (like my Mum) I often pick out a “me-made”. Last week, when I had a cup of tea with Pia, she asked me if I had made what I was wearing – jeans, T shirts, trainers, coat. No! Not one item! I could have. I could have made the coat and the jeans. But I didn’t! She, on the other hand, was dressed head to toe in her elegant personally designed and made wardrobe. I need to claify that she was not wearing the hat with flaps on the day. Or the mittens. But she had on this lovely mohair jacket.
So here is my pledge.
I intend to wear something home made everyday, but (as usual for me) to mix my hand made clothes in with RTW and charity shop buys. I will post a daily outfit photograph on my Instagram using the #MMMay16 hashtag. At the end of May I will post the month’s outfits and provide some reflections on the blog. I don’t know how it is going to go, but it might be interesting. If the weather is fine I might include some of my unfinished 2016 SWAP clothes.
Anyone else doing it this year?
Making a basic dress block (part two)
I am making a personal dress block. I covered my first experiment last week, and I was overwhelmed by the quality and quantity of the feedback. Thank you Jay, SJ KUrtz, Anne McC, Mary F, Cherry, Kim Hood, Linde and everyone else.
Even better one expert seamstress and blogger Pia of The Overflowing Stash contacted me to offer help as a fitting buddy. Although I am a keen follower of her blog I must admit that I found it rather intimidating with her outstanding designing, pattern cutting and construction skills. But we met up in Berwick Street for a tea and a mooch around the shops. What a talented and beautiful woman she turned out to be – not in the least bit scary, but warm, funny and very capable. The power of the internet!
Since last week I have redrafted my bodice block using the standard shoulder measurement in order to correct the angle of the shoulder seam. The pictures below show what the new, redrafted block looks like. It just looks miles better than the first version. The shoulder is much squarer although longer. When this is made up in calico it will be possible to see how much needs to shaved off to make it fit my shoulder. The new block is now about 1cm longer and this means the waist will now be in a much better place. I have also compared my new block to a standard size 12. It is very similar.
Using the second block (where I had altered the shoulder, bust point and length), I made another half toile (I know, but I am not fine tuning yet) The shoulder is too long so I reduced it at the armhole edge as the neck edge seemed to be good. There was a little too much fullness in the body so I have taken in the side seam. I am happy with the length, the armhole and the general fit.
I have now altered the bodice block at the shoulder, taking a centimetre off at the shoulder seam and tapering to nothing at the sleeve pitch points. The side seam fits well at the waist so I have curved the side seam, taking a centimetre off most of the length, but curving out to the waist seam.
At the evening class we have already made a s12 dress block, based on standard measurements and the instructions provided by Winifred Aldrich. She describes how to take the bodice block and turn it into a block for a close fitting dress. However. If you are two different sizes (ie bust and shoulders are small compared to your hips) this approach won’t work, will it? The front and back have to be separated in order to accommodate the wider hips.
When I made up the dress block with my own measurements I did the two halves separately. I added 3.5cms to each piece to accommodate my hip measurement.
Although I know the bodice is close to having a good fit I have not yet tested the skirt. Rather than make further calico half-toiles, I will make up this dress block in fabric. As many of you have mentioned the final stage of fitting can’t be achieved by pinning half a pattern to a thin T shirt. Rather than use calico I have found some cheap polyester suiting fabric in my cupboard that I bought it for £2 a metre in Simply Fabrics. I had bought it for a draping project as checks and stripes can be useful.
I will make up a fitted one piece dress with my new block and see how it looks. I will be back next week with an update.
How many types of dress do you know?
I wrote a post about how many different types of skirts there are, which is one of my most popular posts!
As I am studying dresses this term I thought I might zip through the main types of dress. With a dizzying array of patterns available sometimes it is easy to forget that there are just a few basic shapes that the designer plays with.
I have already written about the difference between a shift and a sheath dress, two of the most basic one piece dress designs. And just last week I covered the princess line dress. The word one-piece includes all dresses with no waist seam. Let’s just have an image of each.
- The shift tends to fall from the upper chest with some volume towards the hem (A line or wider) with minimal shaping into the waist from darts. It is fairly easy fitting with a very simple almost childish shape
- The sheath is fitted around the bust waist and hips – usually tracing the outline of the figure closely.
- The princess line is made up of horizontal sections, seamed across the bust and hips, often comprising six panels. The dress can be close or loose fitting but will follow the contours of the bust and waist, but may or may not flare out towards the hem. Many fit and flare dresses are created as a princess line dress. Of the three dresses this is the one that lends itself to the closest fit as it avoids the limitations of darts.
- The shirt dress is another very distinctive style which looks like an extended shirt, ie it has a collar, buttons down the front often to the hem and usually has shirt sleeves with cuffs. It was originally created (in the 1940s) by joining a skirt and shirt together, but it developed into a one piece dress.
- The easy fitting dress often omits darts in the body. This dress is based on a looser fitting dress block.
Turning to the two piece dress, ie dresses which have a vertical seam, usually at the waist (although this can be higher or lower too). This allows all the versions of bodices/tops to be combined with all the versions of the skirts. Here are some common options.
- The full skirted dress. Here the bodice is often fairly fitted with darts or princess seams and the skirt is gathered or pleated
- The empire line dress – the seam is placed under the bust allowing a close fit and often a more flowing skirt
- The dropped waist skirt – the waist line is closer to the hip, usually involving a fairly loose fitted bodice and a fuller skirt
Finally there are draped and asymmetrical dresses which defy the rules to some extent. These modern dresses put seam lines in unusual places to create structure, fullness or novel silhouettes. I include the technical drawings so you can see how they are shaped.
Have I missed any important categories? And which type of dress do you like making?
Pattern cutting 0.1 The princess line
I am signed up to learn Intermediate Pattern Cutting.
The first project of term (after making a shift dress pattern) was to draft a pattern for a princess line dress. This is a style where there is no waist join, but the full length seams over the bust and hips allow close shaping. Named after Princess Alexandra, the wife of King Edward VII, it was a relatively revealing and willowy look, in contrast to the crinoline. Look at this amazing photograph of Princess Alexandra (is it a montage?) from Life magazine; and a more typical dress and photograph, both featuring the princess line. And while the corset has created the waistline, the princess line has emphasised it.
I love princess line dresses!
Mainly because if you have a shaped figure (ie larger bust and hips, smaller waist) or are larger than average, or even if you have an unusual shape, the princess line allows a much better, and closer fit, than the one piece, sheath dress (which is a great look for the straight figure). What I was even more excited about was seeing one of the original (1870) “princess line” dresses in Brussels, made by Charles Frederick Worth. This dress, from 1876, is made from grey silk and described in the catalogue as “this one piece dress is made up of different lengths of fabric arranged in a single strip from the shoulder to the bottom of the skirt, without horizontal seams at the waist” ie a princess line dress. I was very thrilled to find this early Worth example.
At Morley we were asked to draft a pattern for this dress. Hmm.
I did it (without the sleeves) but I wouldn’t want to make it up. Instead I have chosen a Karen Millen dress to copy. Although the back detail is nice, and I would enjoy the challenge, I want the dress to have a more classic look. It has a side zip but with a plain back it could have a CB zip. The princess bodice is combined with a pencil skirt that starts at the empire line. It doesn’t appear to be darted in the skirt front (and I will replicate this to preserve the fabric pattern across the front), but probably is in the back. What I really like (of course), is the floral fabric with a white back ground – so I will have to look for some suitable fabric.
Here is how I did it, in case you want to have a go.
- Trace around your one piece dress block, back and front. Cut out.
- As this is a sleeveless dress drop the armhole 1.5cm at underarm, tapering to nothing at the shoulder, front and back
- Draw in the empire waist line at the appropriate level (I put it 27cms down from the front neck); match to back, cut along line, separating the bodice from the skirt pattern
The bodice
- On the front, draw a nice curved princess line from the arm hole to the new waistline, and close the bust dart.
Moving the dart to create the princess line - Cut open the waist dart in the bodice piece and remove the dart take up, and add notches so that the side front will be sewn accurately to the front
Removing the waist dart - Now draw in a new neckline to create squared shape and “straps”. At the front I took the neckline up 8cms from the bust point for good coverage and drew in a strap measuring 5cms across. At the back continue the “strap” and mirror the front (or whatever design you want – the KM dress has a deep V at the back).
- On the back bodice draw in the princess line and cut out the back dart, creating a back side bodice piece and a back bodice. The second back dart is measured across the waist line, and this amount is divided in two and eliminated at the CB and side seam at the waist line, tapering to where the dart ends at the shoulder blade, thus eliminating the second dart. I decided to join this small back side bodice piece to the front side bodice to eliminate the side seam.
The skirt
- Take the front skirt portion which has the remains of the waist dart and the hip dart. Eliminate at the waist, and smooth down to the point of the dart. This will still leave about half the take up of the dart. In order to create a close fit I took the excess out at the side seam, and then curved out at the waist to create a smoother curve.
- I used a curved hip rule to create a nice skirt shape, very slightly (1.5cm) tapered at the hem to create a slight pencil skirt shape. (It looks like the dart is not flat – there is a pinch in it, but it will be flattened when I cut out the toile).
Reducing and redrawing the side seam - One the back skirt ignore the second dart. With the main dart drop the waistline on it by 1.5cms. Shape the back waist to match the front, and use the curved ruler to ensure the back skirt side seam shape replicates the front.
Altering the darts on the back skirt
I will sew up a toile to see if this works! In the meantime I will look for some suitable fabric (suggestions welcome).
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