Bound Feet Blues – theatre review
For a few more days, at the Tristan Bates theatre in central London a short play by Yang-May Ooi, is available until 12 December. I saw it last night and I recommend it heartily.
It is a personal story, somewhat in the vein of White Swans. At its core, however, is the story of the bound foot, the constraints of costume, traditional views of femininity and individual freedom.
I went to this performance because Yang-Mei works for one of our funders – her day job supports the provision of social housing. Her company – The Housing Finance Corporation – sponsored the event which was celebratory and moving in equal measure; utterly professional and still deeply raw. I thought it was amazing.
Based on intimate, autobiographical material Yang-May starts with describing going to an Oxford University ball in a red cheongsam and high, pointed, black heels. She envies the easy stride of her boyfriend and asks him to walk more slowly. She describes how she was a top City lawyer with big hair and stilettos. Then she covers walking in Australia in hiking boots and how they allow an easy stride but cause blisters initially. And throughout this personal story, where she works through her own sexual identity, she refers back to her Malaysian origins, and the Chinese ones beneath them, and how her own great grandma had bound 3″ feet – the golden locus.
Some of the plays power is in the very elaborate and explicit description of the process of binding the foot. What I had not understood, quite, before seeing the play was that the feet were cut as well as bound. The foot bones were broken repeatedly, starting at the age of around four or five. The point of tiny feet was to help girls attract the richest men, but of course it also restricted their walking – and freedom of movement – to an extreme extent. Foot binding persisted for 1000 years. Men found these little deformed feet, these coiled flowers, an erotic and compelling zone.
Yang-May’s performance is utterly compelling – story telling at its finest, by a woman who normally speaks what Americans call “cut glass English” but can impersonate her mother, sister, brother, grandma and aunties – bringing them all to life with her voice, body and gestures. She is a fine performer and actor; she is a superb writer (she has written books which I will now investigate) and her short play is one of the best things I have seen on the stage all year (and I go to the theatre a lot). I liked the Brokeback Mountain moment and how afterwards she was bound by her single sleeping bag.
Her basic message – that as women we dress partly to meet others’ expectations; that some of the items we choose are containing and binding – long hair, tight clothes, high heels; that at work we project an image that may be false; that masculinity and femininity are social constructs and we all encompass both – these messages rang completely true to me and the play connected. I loved her story of how after their Civil Partnership ceremony she and Angie took tea to her parents in the ancient Chinese tradition.
If you have a chance to go – it is one hour long and only £16 for a ticket – do go. You will not regret it.
If you can’t get to the theatre then you might try the book. I haven’t read it, but I will.
Developing the draped bustle skirt Part 2
I explained in Part 1 how I started to develop a bustle back skirt using some green lining fabric. This was an interesting experiment, but I wanted to make the prototype in fabric and wear it. I am still having quite a lot of difficulty of transferring something that looks nice on the stand to fabric – something I am still learning with draping. I wanted to make something I could wear, even though I was still worried about a bustle of any description.
Using what I had learned with the green lining fabric, I made up the skirt again. Unfortunately I didn’t have very much fabric – just about 80cms. I wondered if I could squeeze out a version of the skirt, checking the balance and wearability before having another go with more material, ideally in a drapey fabric. In retrospect I should have found a larger amount of fabric.
I used the same pattern as before, but adapted it for a smaller piece of cloth.
The back is cut with around 40″ added at the CB. By sewing down the CB and lifting the fabric upwards until the hem is even we can create the additional piece that will form the bustle on the outside.
I filled the space that was created with some cotton organdie to create an 1880s type silhouette. All the gathering at the back side seams allows the extra bulk to be accommodated. The
Another Victorian skirt! I hurriedly rearranged the excess fabric to create a bow. As SewRuthie had warned this created a 1980s silhouette. Neither hem nor waistline are finished in the picture below, but as you can see the bustle looks OK at the front. It is OK at the back too, but I couldn’t manage a selfie.You will see that without the padding I had to lift the side pleats up at the CB (CF in this picture) to create an even hem.
I admit I am finding this sort of draping rather challenging. I am going to have one more go to complete the project of “skirt draped over understructure” – there is only one week left of the class.
Ditto Fabrics of Brighton – shop review
Brighton is a sea side City, around an hour from London. It is the sort of place you go for a day trip. Although there is a beach there is no sand and while Brighton can be fun it is also rather run down and undercapitalised. I know the place, especially its housing, well having been the Director of Housing from 1996 to 1999.
The shop I wanted to visit and review is located in the North Laines area of the town, just a short walk from the station. When I lived and worked here this was not an area I often frequented – its a bit hippyish, touristy, often crowded. The sort of place you go to buy a present or just mooch around.
Ditto Fabrics is located here, and if you are in the area I think it is worth a visit. The shop was founded by Gill Thornley in 1983 (so all that time I was there, she was there, and we never met). They have had a website since 2010. I met Gill working in the shop when I dropped in last Saturday on the way for a lunch date with my husband’s family – Chris, Carrie, Ben, Mel, Maia, Charlotte and Lee at the Regency. She is very animated and it was hard to get a photograph of her that isn’t blurred. In this picture she appears to be levitating the fabric – actually she is just ensuring it is cut on the grain. “We always cut on the grain” explained Gill. What a good idea – reduces waste and saves the purchaser the trouble of pulling threads or tearing cloth when you get home.
I hit it off with Jill immediately. She comes from Chorley in Lancashire, has a degree in fashion and lots of experience making clothes. She travels to Italy to buy unusual cloth (have a look at her vintage Italian silk), and I would say her prices are reasonable. Not as great as Simply Fabrics but mid range and acceptable. I asked for advice on putting in a jeans zip, and sewing PU fabric. I have never used polyurethane coated fabric before, but I saw this picture and thought that my silver accented SWAP might benefit. Anyway the advice is to sew in a cold room – if it’s too warm the fabric sticks to itself. You have to wonder what it is like to wear.
Gill is just passionate about what she does. I was impressed that she could see from what I was wearing (rainwear and a picnic rug scarf as it happens) that I would like cool, brighter fabrics and led me to them. She has warm colouring herself and there was more choice in these rusty colourways! She said
I don’t make a lot of money from running a shop. But everyday I am happy when I go to work that I am doing something I love. I really enjoy being with, and talking to, people who sew – just some of the nicest, most interesting people.”
I also liked the way Gill arranged the fabrics – putting complementary colourways together regardless of the fabric. I would do this too if I had a shop rather than sticking all the linens together, for example. Here are her vintage silks. I got a remnant of the dark green and purple squarish pattern (bottom centre).
Anyway this is a nice shop run by a great woman who you will enjoy talking to.
As I entered the shop on Saturday I immediately recognised one of the customers – Jane from Jane Makes. Then I realised she was shopping with five other bloggers and Instagrammers, three I followed already and a further two I now know. Its funny when you follow people you sort of feel you know them. Certainly Clarinda Kaleidoscope seemed like an old friend.
Sewing with a Plan 2016 0.5 – the Sweet Pea collection
I just knew it!
It is very, very hard in November – when the trees turn yellow and brown, and the nights are drawing in, when it is dark and cold in London (and snowing in Lancashire) – to turn your mind to summer dresses. The shops are full of coats; magazines display wool, fur and boots; pattern companies and blogs are full of pea coats and ski wear. Except the Australian’s – bless you! I am finding it almost impossible to think of summer outfits (another reason I could not be a designer!).
I have joined in the SWAP for two years now, and both times I have sewn wintery, autumny outfits. Mainly because I am planning and sewing during November to April, which, generally, is when it is cold, dark, wet and a little bit depressing. I think I sew much more at this time of year than in the summer, when I want to go out and play. And sewing, especially with bright, colourful fabrics is very cheering in these dark days. And for at least nine, if not ten, months of the year I tend to wear some woolen clothes to keep me warm (I do feel the cold). I don’t have much call for summer dresses and cotton skirts. But of course in June, July and August, and when we go to hotter countries for a holiday, I love wearing breezy, happy clothes that let the sun get to the arms and legs and allow me to undress for the gym in a matter of minutes. (Currently I have to take off a waterproof coat, a down jacket, a work jacket, a jumper and a blouse, a skirt, tights, shoes and underwear. And then, after a work-out and shower, put it all on again).
What I am trying to say is that it is hard to envisage summer in depth of autumn and winter.
So, at exactly the moment when I was modelling my mainly wool 2015 SWAP on a warm day in early May, very deliberately, I made a pledge. I said to myself “Wouldn’t it be nice to have a set of summer clothes that you could wear for three months, from now on? In lighter colours that are currently missing from my wardrobe – pinks, mauves, light blue, white? Some drapey silks, some lightweight linens, cotton lawn and something sheer? All these lighter shades work well with my navy and grey neutrals, so some lightweight items might be useful all the year round.”
If you are in London and thinking of a summer SWAP you will have a limited selection of fabrics. Our shops are full of wooly cloth, coatings and evening fabrics for Christmas parties. So, with SWAP 2016 in mind, in July, when the shops here were full of soft summer fabrics, I bought a few pieces . I planned ahead. I really did. I got some nice pieces of silk and linen for my SWAP. This pile includes a few items that have been in my cupboard for longer – especially the green velvet which I bought to make a winter cape but didn’t buy enough.
You may remember my sweet pea inspiration.
Now I am here I don’t really fancy it. There is something bugging me about this idea. Somehow these colours together lack the clarity and purity of the flower inspiration.
I think it seems wishy washy. I thought of some lighter softer shades, but I enjoy brightness. I am not fully signed up to my Summer Wardrobe plan. Should I persevere knowing I will probably feel just fine in May? Or should I go with the Westwood inspired set, which is where my love lies?
Here is my sweet pea plan. I have yet to choose suitable patterns but I may have a couple of draped skirts in there – the green velvet one maybe a pegged skirt, and perhaps a bustle skirt for the aubergine. I am making jeans at the moment so thought of putting them in there, perhaps enhanced with silver (inspired by Bunny!). In fact I think I want silver to play more than just a supporting role in this collection.
Pod 1; Mauve: Linen dress, wool coat, hand painted silk blouse
Pod 2; Pink; bright pink dress, aubergine skirt, light pink jacket
Combo: Blue jeans, White lace blouse
Wildcards; Green velvet skirt, silver recycled top, hand painted silk skirt
I promise (myself) I will make up my mind by next weekend and then flesh out the plans. Life has been a bit trying (emotionally and professionally) so letting this decision simmer was the best response. Then I might plunge into something I could wear for Christmas – perhaps the bright pink dress – which will encourage me to carry on, knowing I can adjust the plans as I go.
Developing the bustle skirt Part 1
First version – brown Victoriana
My first attempt with a draped skirt, with all the interest at the “bustle” area (or butt as Mrs Mole would say – do your brides blush?), was executed with brown corduroy. Or “corde du roi” as my (new) tutor Daniel Kinne calls it. We like to speak a bit of French in the classroom. I countered with (serge) de Nîmes. I am sorry about the overexposed photograph taken in the classroom. Brown, like black, can be a bit fussy to photograph. So it looks like we have no stand behind the skirt.
If you are thinking why drape in brown corde du roi, the answer is that Morley college was selling off various remnants for £1 a metre – half the price of calico – so why not? Actually it is nice fabric and I thought I might make a “wearable toile” with this fabric. But so far my draping experiments never seem to go from fabric to outfit in one fell swoop (or one foul sweep as someone at work said the other day.) Anyway what is interesting with this experiment is that I had to gather the side seams to create the space for the bustle. I then picked up the fabric at CB and pinned it to the CB neck of the stand. I had some fun pleating the fabric to create some pleasing folds.
I then whisked this off for more work at home. I created a waist line with thread, then cut off the large centre folded section to create the back of the skirt. There were several layers of cloth at the CB and i stitched it down carefully. I also used fusible interfacing at the side seams where they were gathered with two layers of machine basting, and then taped.
Finally I bunched up a piece of cotton organdie and pushed it up the skirt. It seemed, against my best intentions, taking the shape, colour, weight and bulk into account I had more or less invented a Victorian skirt. Not really what I had in mind.
Back to the drawing board
I showed you some historical inspiration for the under structured skirt. I was wondering (a little conservatively) if I could create something a more restrained, for everyday wear rather than court or couturier. I liked these 1940s dresses and, while they are all evening/cocktail dresses, they are very wearable. Maybe as a knee-length skirt, rather than a one piece dress.
For my second attempt I decided to make a toile first, and rather than using corduroy I thought I would have a try with something drapey. Also I had been toying with the idea of using the middle, pulled up piece to make the bustle – something like in the third Vogue pattern above, the striped mustard dress with the square back. I got out my skirt block, cut a skirt back with closed darts (opened at the CB and side seam) side gathers and an about 38″ of fabric added at the CB. I think that in a nice fabric without an obvious front and back (or maybe with an interesting reverse), and with a little more body, this design might be really nice. The bustle bit looks a bit like a big bow (or could be arranged that way). I think this is another skirt that has legs, but it needs quite a lot of development. I will report back in due course.
A guide to shopping in London
We often have visitors from abroad, and as we live near Oxford Street they often ask for advice on where to shop. I will not cover fabric shops in this post. This is about ladieswear. Maps from Time Out, which I also recommend.
Here is my take on High Street fashion, starting at Marble Arch tube.
New Look/River Island/Forever 21
Low cost, especially the shoes and bags which are rarely made with leather. Not easy to find anything well made or nice, but worth a look occasionally. May suit teenagers.
Primark
More or less in a class of its own (although there is a Matalan in Oxford Street now). Very cheap. Most of the clothes are cut very badly and are probably unwearable in terms of nasty fabrics that ride up when you wear them. There are some exceptions. I heartily recommend their cotton T-shirts with stretch. They last for years, are available in great colours and lots of different neckline, sleeve variations. They are also very cheap – £2-£5. I use them to screen print on as well. The socks are cheap – not the best quality but OK. And for little kids clothes, especially boys jogging trousers, underwear and T-shirts they are unbeatable.
Marks & Spencer
I like M&S – fairly well laid out, innovative, pleasant staff, well made clothes on the whole and some bargains. Not very high on style side, but if you look around there may be a few interesting items.
Good for: Thick tights in basic colours, knickers, cashmere jumpers, shoes, simple jewellery like silver studs.
Selfridges
A department store with lots of smaller outlets inside the shop, some of them high street like Top Shop, Karen Millen and Oasis, but also edited collections by top designers such as Westwood, Armani, Chloe, etc. A few small independent makers too, which change from time to time. A nice shop with lots of choice; classy store with well-trained staff. Nice food too – especially the salt beef on rye, which is nearly as good as my husband’s.
Russell and Bromley
My daughter and I both love this shop. The shoes and boots are very expensive, so we tend to stick to the sales, although the discount is tokenistic. For absolutely classic, classy styles this shop is fantastic. Although I think many of the items are made in Spain or Italy it has a very British feel. The leather soled shoes can be repaired because these are classic shoes you will probably wear every day.
Gap
This shop does nothing for me. Everything is boring and badly made.
Debenhams
A middle of the road department store. Look at the Designers at Debenhams area – cheapish versions by top designers, unfortunately often in polyester – Preen especially – and the swimsuits are good too.
House of Fraser
Similar to Debenhams. I like it less but probably because the escalators feel claustrophobic.
John Lewis
A nice department store. I prefer it to the two above, mainly because it is friendly, easy to navigate and has (on the whole) great staff. As they are “partners” and get a good bonus if the company posts good results they are generally very helpful and patient. The fabric department is pretty poor and not cheap – although any port in a storm sometimes. They run knitting and crafting classes and the staff can really help you with a knitting question, say. The clothes are generally pretty good with an emphasis on the “occasion” clothes which is why I understand it is such a popular shop with young middle class women and their mums.
Uniqlo
A super Japanese shop. Great for basic items like long-sleeved vests in great colours, long johns (perfect for yoga or under trousers on cold days). Also I love the down jackets which are fantastic; light, warm and in nice colours. The other thing that is great is wooly jumpers made from cashmere – not the very best quality, but I have found them very good so long as you wash gently. If you have a skinny husband or sons this is a good shop for men’s jackets and tops.
BHS
A sad shop. My mother always used to rate this shop for lampshades. But for clothes, no.
H&M
I always think this shop smells funny. Do they have their own brand of perfumed room spray? I could be imagining it. The clothes are generally quite well designed, especially the more expensive ranges, with nice colours. A bit hit and miss but worth a look.
ZARA
I like this shop very much. A Spanish company with lots of Spanish staff who always seem harried, but helpful. The window displays can be very fashion forward and inspirational. Often you can see high designer looks at a fraction of the price. One of the few high street shop with clever cutting. Good yellows and lots of neutrals, coats, waistcoats and jackets, nice dresses and skirts, shoes, bags, scarves – and great value, especially during the sale. Many of the clothes are cut a bit small and tight so probably not a good shop if you are on the larger side. For slim tall men their suits are good.
P&B
Never been in, never wanted too. I think this is one of those shops with throbbing music.
Three more great shops
Liberty
Consistently voted the best shop in London and I have to agree. The shop itself is beautiful. It sells fabric and yarn, but most of all it has beautiful products – most of which are very expensive. Designer clothes and new designers, interesting shoes and accessories. Lovely, lovely place. Also you can get a nice meal here. If you love Arts and Crafts antique furniture you can find it on the 4th floor. If money were no object I would not shop anywhere else. As it is I rarely buy anything, but I do love looking round and getting inspiration.
Topshop
This is a shop I drop into regularly, often for inspiration as many of the clothes are cut very short and tight. They have lots of good shoes at reasonable prices. I have had a lot of great white shirts from here – there is clever cutting here too if you look around. I do get a few things in the sale and alter them. The designers are great – have a look at Unique for example. Also downstairs they have a lot of brands, including recyclers and vintage suppliers. The menswear is great too again for slim, youthful men. You can get a manicure and a blow dry too.
Office shoes
Inexpensive, modern, stylish shoes.
Locals – have I missed anything? Visitors – what were your favourites?
Draping on the stand 0.12 – Understructures – inspiration
I am slightly behind in that I have not completed the asymmetric wrap round skirt with flounce. Because the term is coming to a close I have moved on to the final project – the under-structured skirt. I very often find myself un-enthusiastic when a brief is given (as discussed yesterday). We are required to create a skirt that drapes over a foundation and has lots of structure and shape. If I was a historical reenactor I might be pleased to make one of these. My friend Demented Fairy is on a roll with “Steam Punk” Victoriana at the moment, but to be honest I have never had a desire to wear a corset or a long, dramatic fabric hungry, heavy dress.
Before draping we will have to create some sort of base to drape over. Here are some original cages and cushions from the V&A collection.
I like a challenging brief, but with this one I admit my first thought was “arghhh. I don’t want to make a cushion to wear under my clothes – are you kidding? My behind is already big enough – without enhancement!!”.
Here is another idea – to create width at the sides, created by panniers. I remember being fascinated by these when I was young – especially being told that ladies had to enter the room sideways through the door. And this dress, permanently on show at the V&A has the most exquisite floral embroidery and silver threads (it would be nice to have a little embroidery like this in my sweet pea collection!).
More modern, wearable versions, with a barely exaggerated full hip shape, are is this gorgeous green Givenchy gown, and the checked dress from Ferier.
The interesting thing about padding out part of the body is that it can have the effect of making the other parts appear slimmer and more sinuous, an effect that Dior achieved perfectly with his New Look Bar Suit, in my opinion. The jacket has plenty of structure at the hip, holding it away from the tiny corseted waist.
I am beginning to think this might be an interesting project!
Inspiration – how do you come up with your ideas?
Years ago I signed up for a two year part time fashion course. Early on, one of the tutors – Mrs Tregelles – set us a task. “Design a T shirt” in 30 minutes. We were given a piece of paper with an outline of T shaped top and told to create a design. The room fell silent. We picked up our pencils and started drawing. She paced the room in her clacky heels, peering at our work.
I was paralysed! I didn’t have any ideas up my sleeve. I could only think of drawing a T shirt I already owned. I think I ended up drawing some diagonal stripes on the T shirt which took me all of five minutes with a ruler. I am not artistic! I didn’t know how to design. Any slight enthusiasm and confidence I had slowly ebbed away. I was also sure the other students would have imagined something amazing and was fearful that I would be found out as being unable to do the design side of the course. I was terrified I would be thrown out as a useless fraud. If you want to know how this feels do try it at home. Try it now. Design a T shirt, I tell you!
At the end of half an hour all was revealed. Some of the designs produced were OK. Ish. Most were as banal as mine.
Mrs Tregelles said “Right! Here is a pile of colour supplements and old magazines. Take ten minutes to find inspiration pictures. Not clothes! Choose environment pictures. Then sit down and design a T shirt.” I looked at a travel supplement. I found a picture of a brown skinned swimmer against azure seas. I used the colour scheme to create a wavy lined drawing that became rather beautiful as I used thick crayons to create a blended look. Later I used this design to create machine embroidered waistcoat.
Mrs Treggelles also made sure we went to exhibitions and art galleries regularly. She would take us herself and set us design challenges, based on what we had seen – exhibitions of Cossack dress, the art of Gwen John and Tiffany lamps to mention just three.
I know we struggled a bit at first with the idea of designing clothes based on display of tea cups, or men’s military uniforms. She even had us designing based on a piece of music or a poem. One of my designs started as a poem, linked to picture of the Challenger disaster.
I learnt to collect pictures (before the internet, Pinterest and Instagram was invented) that attracted me, sparked interest and provided inspiration. Anything at all could provide inspiration, but not clothes. I still adopt the same process. I wander around an exhibition, a museum or a park, or look up pictures on the internet. And rather than copy what I see I try to capture an element of it, a mood, a colour scheme or texture. And then bring it into my clothes making and designing.
For me
- I like to be stimulated visually before I can produce
- I enjoy a brief, challenge, or framework. Often it is not something that appeals originally but as I dwell on it I see how it might work for me. I go to evening classes and when the brief is “a flared dress from a yoke” I groan inwardly. But the project that initially turned me off, led to the creation of my circle dress, which I really love. But I wouldn’t have had that thought myself.
“Flared dress with a yoke” - Too much freedom can stunt creativity (I think this year’s SWAP rules, while universally welcomed, maybe too broad to get the best out of me). I actually prefer to make a meal from what is in the fridge or store cupboard, rather than buying all the ingredients listed in a recipe and following the instructions.
- Having an inspiration picture can encourage the introduction of further elements. For example with the swimmer picture I embroidered with blues, green and browns. And then I noticed the little white spumes in the water and added a rougher light grey thread on top. This just made the embroidery look so much stronger and more integrated.
Is it the same for you, or do you work quite differently?
Sewing with a Plan 2016 0.4 “Inspired by Viv”
This marvellous 1993 Mario Testino photograph of Christy Turlington, dressed head to toe in Vivienne Westwood, is so evocative, beautiful and brilliant. The stripey feather in the soft, shapely cap; the stick she holds at another angle; the mad jazz of the plaids, her titian hair clashing perfectly with the scarf’s pink, the red jacket and her orange lips. and the soft, moss green Farrow and Ball wall behind her, bringing out her eye colour perfectly. This picture moves and inspires me, beyond measure.
Of course the most traditional of British fabrics – malleable, flexible wools and Scottish tartans in modern colourways – mixed together make the outfit outstanding. But for me it is the shapes that really excite. These wools enable Westwood to drape and mould the shapes. A jacket with peplum and pleats, secret pockets, closely fitted almost like a blouse around the diaphragm and waist. It’s fancy, but you can imagine any one of these component parts utterly appropriate with a pair of jeans, with a baggy jumper, or wellies.
I have started thinking seriously about a skirt or two, and some trousers, a jacket, a coat, maybe a cape. An evening dress. All in a co-ordinated set of tartans and stripes. Maybe complemented by a hand painted blouse or two. In terms of shapes I have had some success in copying a Westwood jacket. And more recently my draped skirt experiments have led me in a Westwood direction.
Westwood creates her own tartans – I would use more easily available populist options, with a theme of red, white, navy and bottle green, perhaps. These fabrics are always in fashion and you only need to walk from Primark to the Oxfam shop to find there is always lots of availability. I think I could make these four tartans, for example, work together introducing a further colour to provide an element of surprise. Maybe yellow. Or pink.
Stripes, checks and coordinating plain colours could work well too. The recycled suit, and some plain bright fabrics I have in my cupboard may be an alternative approach. I have always loved the Kaffe Fassett quilting fabrics and maybe they could feature in a subtle (?) way – a little blouse or skirt. This challenge would be very interesting in terms of matching pattern fabric – which is quite a challenge in itself.
Sticking with the tartans, and by way of illustration I have an initial plan
Pod 1; Navy tartan skirt, white draped blouse, green tartan jacket
Pod 2; Red tartan trousers, white tartan coat or cape, dark green blouse
Combo; navy blouse, hand painted silk top using navy, red, green, white and pink
Wildcards: Bright pink coat, green velvet skirt, white evening dress
Many commentators on my first SWAP post have said “Do Westwood, but with the sweet pea colours” – unfortunately my summer fabrics are not ideal for the kind of Westwood shapes I have in mind. Although she, of course, does do summer collections, I do love using nice wool – cutting it with decent shears, sewing it, seeing the stitches sink in with a little steam, making the fabric shrink, or stretch or bend – as required. If I go with Westwood I will have to have to buy fabric. Although I was determined to do a summer collection this year, and I still think I will, I find myself very, very tempted by this opportunity.
Draping versus Flat pattern cutting – where do you stand?
There are basically two different approaches to making patterns for clothes – flat pattern cutting and draping. When I recently posted some pictures of skirt-spiration, Jay mentioned that she thought some of the designs lent themselves to draping and some to flat pattern cutting.
Flat pattern cutting
It is called “flat” pattern cutting because (although clothes are for bodies in three dimensions) the patterns are cut on a flat surface in two dimensions, where virtually all the lines you create are either at right angles (to resemble the grain of the fabric) or curved to fit the curves of the body. So flat pattern cutting – using a set square, paper and pencil to create first blocks then patterns is what I know best. However I have always been intrigued to know more about draping, or modelling, on the stand (a mannequin), as I felt it might be fun. Also I like shapes, asymmetry and handling fabric. Also with paper you need to make up a toile in fabric to get a sense of whether an idea might work.
Draping on the stand
The second approach is very different and is much more about what the fabric wants to do, or what the fabric will allow you to do. This approach is known as “drape” or “working on the stand” whereby a designer or pattern maker will begin by draping basic fabric, such as calico, onto a mannequin or dress making dummy (such as those being hugged by Alber in the image above) and working much more like a sculptor the fabric is smoothed, creased, spliced and pinned until the desired shape is achieved. Once the garment is roughly the right shape, the fabric can then be marked with pen lines and notch marks and annotations of what piece is which, so that it can then be removed from the mannequin and flattened out without later confusion. It is from this drape that a first pattern can then be traced and the lines and measurements smoothed and checked, before a new first toile is sewn and ready for a fitting on a fit model.
In order to try to investigate Jay’s approach I tried making two skirts with the draping method, and with the flat pattern cutting method.
Experimenting with the two approaches – the Westwood pleated side seam skirt
Basically I have made the same skirt twice. The flat pattern cut skirt is superior in terms of length, fit, waist line and hem circumference . The draped skirt is pattern matched at both sides which is more pleasing. But I couldn’t have made the purple one without having made the green one first, and some of the advantages are due to making a second attempt and learning from the first one.
My findings
Pros and cons of draping
- It is freeing – for example a skirt can become a dress, you can change the placing of the side seam relatively easily etc
- it helps aid creativity and improvisation
- you can much more easily visulise the effect you are planning
- you can start draping without a design in mind
- you can drape a garment in your fashion fabric – great for fancy dress or something to wear this evening
- it might save a lot of time in terms of seeing how a garment looks in 3D right at the start
- It is hard to get a symmetric result, but lends itself to asymmetric looks
- It is not good for fitting – unless your stand is exactly the same size and shape as you are (ie custom made)
- It can be hard to replicate a design – it is not easy to transfer a design to paper
- it can be expensive in terms of equipment and fabric (compared to paper and set squares)
- you can create a garment from a specific piece of fabric, thus reducing waste
- although grain lines are marked with either a drawn line or thread traced it is likely that you will be working with a non-straight grain. This can be more challenging when constructing a garment.
Pros and cons of flat pattern cutting
- If you make a pattern from your own or a standard block you will have the right size that will fit
- You still may need to make a toile to “see” what the design looks like, but you will be confident of the overall dimensions
- For me FPC is closer to the construction process and easier to control things like symmetry, grain,
- with draping the pins can be very deceptive – holding a garment to the stand for example, whereas in real life it will droop
- you need a sketch (real or imaginary) of what you are trying to achieve
- you can be very accurate with your measurements
- you can create balance and symmetry relatively easily
- bias cutting tends to be used for specific features eg collar, waist-band, with everything else being very much on the correct grain.
Conclusion
I am still a beginner with draping on the stand. I have had about 100 hours of tuition (30 of them of the nearly 30 years ago), and I have made up about ten garments. I still prefer flat pattern cutting as it is more predictable, and I come back to it each time in order to “capture” what I have done. I have tackled so many new projects and ideas and I have created several outfits I wouldn’t have conceived before. Also, and I suspect this may be the reality with many designers, I am finding myself moving from draping to flat and back again as I develop an idea. I am planning to do a further term on draped bodices, and a short course on bias drape. There is a class on draping jersey which I may try too.
Any other views?
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