Let’s have another look at that halter neck
I associate halter necks with Princess Diana, who looked amazing in them. They can minimise large squarish shoulders. My shoulders are squarish but not so large. I don’t mind showing my back – it somehow seems less indecent than cleavage or a very short skirt. I like wearing a halter top but it does have to fit well.
You may remember that I tried to make a halter top through draping on the stand. I learnt an important lesson – that draping, unless your stand is precisely manufactured to your exact shape, is not the best method to get a good fit. As you can see below, where there is too much fullness across the chest, gapping at the armhole, and it is also too low at the back, revealing the halter bra. Draping on the stand is a good method to develop a design, but you will generally have to work further on the pattern.
I did persist with this pattern for a while, slicing a wedge out of the underarm/back section and building up the back. However the little piece of carefully pinned out calico somehow got lost. Maybe it was swept up with my cuttings, or maybe “someone else” accidentally threw it out, but after a week of cursory searching I decided to move on. I did consider undoing the blue top and redrawing the pattern. Then I had one of those “life is too short” moments and decided to buy a pattern.
Isn’t eBay wonderful? I searched and found lots patterns for halter tops – options from every decade.
The cheapest one I could find was £2.10 – a pattern provided free by the now defunct Me Magazine. It is one of those pull out and trace off arrangements which I used to use frequently in the 1980s. Did you? It is described as a “Glam” halter top – truly reflecting how we used to talk back in 1992. I showed the top to my daughter, who tells me that 1990s style is very fashionable at the moment. Who knew – a twenty odd year old pattern is fashionable? Am I the only one who has trouble understanding what 1990s style actually is? My friend Felica made some 1990s trousers the other day with a “paper bag” waist. I used to enjoy that style, which is also perhaps a 1990s thing.
Being lazy I traced off some of the pieces, cut out the rest and used a tape measure and chalk to draw the big sash on the fabric. I used some nice, slightly stretchy green cotton sateen.
There were no instructions, but I guessed it mainly right, I think. It did need a few adjustments as this one also had a fair bit of armhole gaping at the fitting stage.
Any way I wore it with jeans to see Richard II at the Globe.
I have enough fabric to make a skirt, but I think it may be too much. What do you think?
I have since altered the pattern to be little bit snugger in the back, a tiny bit longer at the waist and to remove that 2cm armhole wedge on a permanent basis. I really love the style of this top – aren’t surplice tops flattering? I like a wrap round for comfort and adjustability. I may make another one in a more luxurious fabric as it is a terribly easy to make garment. The big tie does take quite a lot of yardage, so there is the option to narrow it down a bit.
Amal Clooney’s Personal Style
We are bound to be impressed by the woman who snagged George Clooney. Amal Alamuddin is not just a successful international lawyer, she has the figure of a fashion model and great personal style.
Amal is around 5’8″ tall, very slim and athletic, with a straight body shape. In this respect she resembles Princess Diana, and many top models. Her shoulders are wider than her hips which means visually her torso tapers down from the shoulders. In this first set of pictures we see her in various lengths of skirts, all of which are flattering. However the A line skirts are actually slightly less attractive than the cream pencil skirt as they make her legs looks a bit too thin. I feel the open necks on the two jackets are better than the very high necked orange top with a python collar. You can see the fabric slightly pulling on her upper chest and it emphasises her wide shoulders, especially given the stronger colour, compared to the neutral skirt and shoes. Overall I love the cream suit – elegant, understated, classic and very nice detailing.
What about dresses? These summer frocks, worn with sunglasses and big bags, do look pretty. But which is the best? I don’t particularly like the mint fit and flare as it emphasises the width of her shoulders, and the style seems to me to be fighting with her shape. The pink on the other hand, which has a high waist and nice little sleeves that complements her figure. However, just because you have great legs doesn’t mean you have to show them all the time. My favourite is the longer black and white dress with high, black heels. I think the lower neckline is really great and de-emphasises her shoulders. It makes her look both slim in the middle (with the black line across her waist) and very feminine. I also think her bust looks better in a lower cut neckline – it looks a bit wide in the mint dress.
Does Amal ever get it wrong? Not often, but there are a few looks I think are flawed.
The first dress (below) was widely adored by the media. It is by Giambattista Valli, and features white lace with embroidered pink and purple flowers. Although it shows off her long, slim legs I just think it was too short and wide at the front. The paisley jumpsuit is an unflattering muted colour, and just looks boring. The hat, necklace, brogues and denim jacket don’t come together, and I would say she was barely recognisable. The blue and green lacey dress is too long in the sleeves and, while the length and open neck are good, the ribboned waist and soft, textured fabric is not as good as more structured cloth.
But overall she is a very stylish lady. I hope she is happy with George.
Are you Made Up?
One of my favourite blogs, certainly for depth of the thinking and the quality of the writing, is Did You Make That? Karen lives in East London and sews nice things, and is an inspiration to bloggers with her accessible style and interesting approach to various topics.
Last summer Karen ran the very popular Sporty Summer Sewathon, which inspired me to make a running kit from self printed fabrics. This year she has launched a charity appeal with a difference. You donate £10 or more, and promise to make something specific by 10 September. Something that you have been meaning to make for ages.
Karen’s charity of choice is the National Literacy Trust. She works in the book trade and has an absolute joy of reading, writing and editing, and she promotes the idea that books change lives. I am very pleased to be supporting her efforts.
My day job is working for a Housing Association. Many of our tenants have low levels of literacy and struggle to deal with official letters and bills. Sometimes this is because English is not their first language, and sometimes it is because the family struggles with reading. It is estimated that 15 per cent of the UK population is functionally illiterate. Certainly in social housing I would say that probably twice as many – one in three – cannot be reached through the written word. As a result many of our services are delivered face to face to the tenant, in their own home. But without reading confidence many of these families struggle to get a job, or the help that they need. So it’s a jolly good cause.
The pledge aspect is to encourage everyone to do make something that has been stalling, or to finish a project that needs completing.
So what am I going to do this year?
Regular readers will know that I have been meaning to make something nice for my daughter Esme. Since her second baby arrived last year Esme has been on maternity leave but now she has a new job. I want to make her something nice she can wear for work.
So I have two choices. A yellow coat to replace the Zara one OR a neoprene circular skirt. My problem, as ever when sewing for others, is that they want something specific and my skills, pattern and fabric choices are more restricted. Sewing for others can be a can of worms. However the clock is now ticking. Stay tuned to see what happens….
If you want to participate go to Karen’s Just Giving page now and donate any amount – £10 or more – and pledge to make something by 10 September.
A little bit of hand painted fabric
I tried to buy 2m of white habotai from Simply Fabrics for £5 a metre. But they only had a little bit left – just over 1m. So I took it – it was very cheap.
Last night I decided I needed to do something easy and relaxing (it has been stressful at work, and a tense one at home with sewing both lace and chiffon).
So I got out my wax point and my silk paints and I painted the fabric with pink, blue and light purple flowers, and then decided on a dark purple background. Here is the fabric covered in paint and wax. It looks pretty messy, but that is half the fun.
Later on I ironed out the wax. The colours still look nice and vibrant. I think this technique is such fun and although I just sloshed it all on (and got some on a chair so I spent half and hour with some Vanish and a hose pipe) it looks quite artistic. I don’t know if I could paint anything other than “flowers” actually. Incidentally my friend Erin Fitzpatrick, on seeing this piece, suggested we might collaborate – she is a proper artist who uses textiles in her paintings. So this is very exciting.
In the meantime I am not sure what I can make with this. When I made my painted silk dress using the same technique I cut out the dress first and then painted the fabric (being careful not to get large flowers on the bust or bottom).
This all over design doesn’t have that problem, but I am not sure what I can make from it. A summer skirt? A little top? Any ideas for 1 metre of lightweight silk please?
A basic introduction to lace
Lace is a particular type of fabric, composed of holes. Traditionally making it was an exceptionally time-consuming task, when all fabric construction was time-consuming, (compared to weaving cloth or knitting socks, for example). So it was always a luxury item, reserved for small items like collars, trimmings on gloves or for special occasions like weddings and Christenings.
Because of its construction it is not an easy fabric to deal with unless it is just attached at say the bottom of a petticoat, or to trim a sleeve. Using it to make whole garments – such as a wedding dress – can be very challenging. For a marvellous set of posts of doing this with vintage lace (with a little help from a cat) see Mary Funt’s amazing blog, Cloning Couture.
When I was at college lace was one of the “difficult fabrics” offered as a dissertation. (I chose satin instead). My friend Anastasia (Cathy) Minvielle chose lace as her topic and I learnt something about it from her researches. She spent a fair amount of time in the National Portrait Gallery in London studying the old paintings, trying to determine what she could about the lace makers’ craft. If you want more detail try the Lace Guild.
So here is a beginner’s guide.
Lace is classified by the way it is made. Cotton, silk or linen thread was used traditionally. There are really two main types – needle lace and bobbin lace. The first is made using a needle and thread to create knots that build up to a design. Here is a very old, very fine example.
The bobbin lace is when lots of bobbins are used on a pillow to create a pattern (a bit like a really complicated plait). I have just bought a piece of vintage Valenciennes bobbin lace that I will use once my blouse-making skills improve.
There are other methods including knitting, crochet, tatting, macrame etc, techniques used to create lacey (or holey) textures. I was given a beautiful hand knitted lace shawl when my daughter was born – so fine it could be passed through a wedding ring. Unfortunately before the second baby arrived it went into the washing machine and shrunk. Crocheting and tatting can produce fine lace and was a common pastime in the UK until about 1930. My Grandmother and her sisters made a lot of these and it surrounds my mum’s table cloths to this day. Before there was the internet and TV many, there was only reading and conversation, much of which was accompanied by handicrafts and sewing.
I also really enjoyed looking at this site which dates and analyses lace.
In terms of modern dressmaking we are probably going to use machine made lace, or lace fabric made of something synthetic (from fabricland, ebay, and cheapfabrics respectively).
With lace trimming we have either got an insert lace (attached at both sides and a space for a ribbon or further trimming), a lace trim which is also symmetrical, or an edging lace with some sort of scalloping.
This is a very basic introduction, and just enough for the everyday dressmaker. Although I am myself a complete beginner I will cover some of the techniques I am learning about in a future post.
Guest blog: Rachel Hearn’s new colour palette, and working wardrobe
In July I went shopping with Rachel in Hackney.
As you can see she was wearing a black and white ensemble. She is an architect, so something graphic is de rigeur.
But while shopping I observed that she might suit warm colours better, and in the shop we draped some yellow based shades on her and found that cream was really much more flattering than white. Rachel herself observed that the white made her look a bit grey, especially under her eyes. So we bought a batch of linens in shades that really complemented her complexion.
In between her very busy job and her rowing practice Rachel has been making up a few of items.
Here is her work in progress.
The tobacco brown skirt is finished and has been worn. Rachel who is a good, self taught dressmaker made the pleated skirt by measuring her waist, creating a waist band and then pleating the fabric on to it. She has washed the skirt and noticed that the colour has changed a little compared to the unfinished top – probably caused by the optical whiteners in her washing powder. The same thing will happen to the top when it is washed. If you don’t want your clothes to fade you may need to use soap flakes or organic products, and avoid drying them in the sunshine. Personally I would not worry about this – linen is a natural fabric and if the two parts are slightly different shades I think this can look charming.
The simple top is not finished. Rachel has bound the neckline and she is making cap sleeves to match. I absolutely love this colour on Rachel and you can immediately see how the brown harmonises beautifully with her natural colouring. This is one of the deeper colours that could become a reliable neutral for Rachel – it would be a better colour for a winter coat then say black, or deep navy.
Next Rachel has started making a contrasting top in the warm white. The inspiration pictures show different sleeve treatments. She would like to make a shorter top that is designed to be left out rather than tucked in. I think this style should work really well on Rachel. Although Rachel has a semi-straight figure and relatively long legs, the receding colour of the brown skirt, and its relative width make it a nice look for her. The ideal length, I think, is to finish the blouse so it covers the waist band, rather than cropping it. However she could make it a little longer if she has enough fabric, finishing at the high hip.
This very light cream is Rachel’s “white” – while it reads as white in this photograph we chose a creamy, yellow based white that will flatter Rachel more than a pure white. Basically Rachel likes “boxy” shapes, which suit her for her work role as a designer of amazing buildings, and her semi-straight figure.
The blouse is made of the remnants from making a warm-white formal dress. First the inspiration dress with it 12 released darts giving nice, but subtle shaping around the midriff. I think Rachel’s work in progress is also really promising. The dress does look better with the belt as it is so plain, but once it is finished I think she could wear it unbelted and wear a scarf or necklace instead. I think the big sleeves will look great, and like the belt, give her more waist definition, but she could certainly make this up as a sleeveless dress. I noticed that, as the linen is pretty thin, that the darts show up. This is such a nice feature and may be worth considering in a future garment – such as a blouse. If she lined the dress with white these might disappear, but It will be OK unlined.
Rachel hasn’t made a start on the yellowy gold linen yet. I suggested a play suit (shorts). She is thinking culottes – a nice Butterick pattern. I also gave her the Pierre Cardin Vogue 1636 pattern and a piece of Linton tweed, so that might feature as a suit.
The darned Dino lace skirt is finished (but..)
Well that was a bit of a challenge!
I can’t say I have ever made a lace skirt before, but (now I know what I know) I will definitely try again. This one is not very well made. It is uneven and bodged together. I bought 3m of the lace, so I can have another go). I wasn’t at all sure how to make it, so asked for your advice. Thank you so much for taking the trouble to give me some.
Demented Fairy wrote
Sew the zip into the silk [stabilise first of course]. Fasten the lace over the top of the zip using those little ‘invisble’ press studs.
For the hem: finish the lining in your preferred way, and cut the lace carefully round the pattern to give a dinosaur-scalloped edge. Cool! In fact, it looks like you already have, apart from cutting away the little eyelash connector bits.
Mrs Mole wrote
Since the waist is slightly curved, I’d make a facing with the same curve and attach it and flip it to the wrong side, no waistband needed. Treat the lace on the center back seam like one unit with the lining. Stitch them together just like the waist top edge. You can hem the lining first and leave the hems separate as Demented said and trim the dinosaurs to be scalloped. Now for the zipper, that might be a problem with so much space between dinosaurs but with the center back seam treated as one unit, it may be OK with an invisible zip or regular. I was also thinking about binding those edges with the navy lining before insertion or just attaching a strip of the navy to use as a cheater strip to use to attach the invisible zipper and then it is hidden inside.
The fabric
This Sophie Hulme cotton lace remnant is adorable. (For those of you who have fallen in love with it I am sorry to report it is all gone). But it is created with the dinosaurs marching across the fabric (away from and towards the finished edge). Unless I had the Triceratops head or tail upwards I couldn’t rely on a finished edge for the hem (with the lace sleeved dress I was able to use the edge for the cuff). This was my first mistake.
The pattern
I made a mistake with my pattern too. My plan was to use a favourite RTW lace skirt as my pattern. This was a good plan, except I had not realised it was a skirt made with a single piece of fabric. While the skirt is nice and flat across the front of the body, and the lace carries around in a pleasing way, the shaping of the skirt means the CF seam is not on the straight grain. Therefore the dinosaurs sort of collide in a slightly chevron shape, creating no end of problems in joining the skirt together. Consequently the finished skirt does have an ugly kick-flare at the CB (not intended).
Zip
I considered using an invisible zip but didn’t have the right colour, so I hand picked a beige zip. This worked fine, but I would certainly recommend an invisible zip if the fabric was a bit less “holey” and the CB was on grain.
Darts and Seaming
I tried sewing the lining and lace together. This worked until it came to the hem. I unpicked it. Then I stitched the lining separately and narrow hemmed it. I joined the lace with a technique suggested in GBSB Fashion with Fabric by Claire-Louise Hardie for “hairline seams”. This involves stitching the seam, trimming the fabric away and finishing with a narrow zig-zag. This may have worked on lacey cloth, but it was impossible with my guipure lace. Finally I resorted to cutting the lace with a narrow seam, overlaying it and hand stitching (as did with the darts). It wasn’t perfect but it was the best technique I found.
Next time round I will try mounting the guipure lace on a backing fabric – can’t see any other way around it.
Waist band
I had intended to create waist facings, but my RTW skirt had a piece of gros grain ribbon, so I copied this technique. The lace and the lining were stitched to the ribbon, which was then pressed into place and secured at the darts. This approach – a variation of Mrs Mole’s advice – worked well.
Hemming
In addition I didn’t know how to finish the hem. The original had a sort of bound hem, but then the pattern was much simpler than my dinosaur. In the end I just left it unfinished as Demented Fairy suggested. I am sure this is not ideal, but I tried quite a few techniques and all of them were just too bulky and spoiled the pattern.
So for my next version I will use
- a less challenging lace – more of a fabric – with a finished edge
- or a guipure mounted on organza or similar
- a more traditional skirt pattern with three pieces
- an invisible zip
- a different approach to seaming
Update:
I wore the skirt to work today and something sad, and very serious, happened.
I had already had a little lace accident with a table clip. But then I walked past a drawer and the knob caught the skirt. And this happened. As a result I have decided that this beautiful, fun, modern lace is not really suitable for a whole garment. I won’t be mending it. I may use the skirt for scraps. Sad. But unless I protect the dinosaur lace by stitching it to a backing fabric, or covering it with a sheer layer I don’t think fragile lace works with my lifestyle.
How to sew chiffon (the theory)
Before I embark on my sheer chiffon blouse with cuffed, puffed sleeves, I have had a lot of very helpful advice from the amazing sewing community, I have consulted my own sewing library and I have made a few samples. As with many vintage patterns the 1959 Vogue 9783 doesn’t give much help.
The issues I needed to answer before I embark on this blouse are:
- Pin tucks or gathers?
- I agree with everyone who says pin tucks. I do want to practise my machine skills, but on this occasion I am going for gathers and don’t anticipate any issues there, although the gathering is joined to lace.
- Interfacing
- I will use black silk organza for the collar, cuffs and front band, as everyone suggested
- Lining
- This will be a sheer blouse that will need to be worn over a chemise. I did think about lining it, but on balance was swayed by Ruth F’s suggestion that different colours underneath would be fun
- Lace
- I decided to go with the brown, nylon lace that I already bought on eBay. You did provide some fantastic ideas and resources on this. In order to make the slightly reddish brown lace work I mounted it on black organza and joined two thickness.
- Button holes on the cuffs and facings.
- The pattern says do by hand. I don’t think so.
- Buttons
- I love the idea of dark pearl buttons. I will look around for some.
Now for the chiffon sewing advice from my selection of sewing manuals.
Seams
Use a number 9 needle. Keep the stitch short but not too tight.
Obviously the seams show so French seams are suggested, with tissue paper to stop the fabric slipping.
- With wrong sides together stitch 3/8th” seams, trim to 1/8th. Press the right sides together and seam on the seam line which is now 1/4″ from the edge.
This works on straight seams. With an armhole seam a mock French seam can be used. This is sewn on the seamline with right sides together
- The SA is trimmed to 1/4″ and pressed inwards and then sewn neatly together.
For the collar and cuff a hairline seam is proposed. This is when the seam is stitched with a narrow zig zag which could involve a filler cord to give more weight. I have decided just to do a straight seam as I don’t actually want any bulk at the edge of the collar.
Pressing
A light touch, and not too much steam
Hems
A rolled hem is suggested – either by hand or machine. Not sure about this. I shall try a simple turned up hem.
OK, ladies. Armed with your advice and desk top research I am going in there.
I will let you know how I get on.
“Brown” Lace
Most lace is either white or ivory, due to its starring role at weddings.
Of course black lace can be nice too – especially for evening wear or underwear. I really like this vintage dress where the black lace is mounted on white. Then there is Black Lace, which was a terrible 1980s band (push pineapple, shake the tree).
Red lace, is well, racey.
And pink, blue or lemon lace is nice for ladies negligees, petticoats and other frilly stuff.
But I wanted BROWN lace.
I am making a brown, chiffon blouse that calls for a lace edging. It needs to measure about one inch wide. I cannot find the stuff in this country. If you search “Brown lace” you get something to hold your boots on with.
I tried Simply Fabrics. I tried the internet (one piece – I bought it, see left, but it is not dark enough, and it is too narrow), I am stumped. I could dye some but it seems an inordinate effort for a bit of trim. Lots of you suggest black, and maybe you are right, but I want to be different!
I have got some brown gingham ribbon, and I have got some ric rac.
Here I try them against the yoke. I don’t think much of any of these. Any other suggestions? Or do I have to go for black?
A sheer blouse (Vogue 9783)
I mentioned that I don’t have much experience with sheer fabrics so before I start designing something clever I plan to grips with the techniques. I really appreciate the feedback I have in the way of designing – how to use sheers and how elegant they can look – especially in terms of obscuring certain body parts rather than revealing everything.
I looked at my pattern collection and found two late 1950s patterns shown in translucent patterns. I really like these delicate blouses, worn here with plain, straight pencil skirts. I find a good blouse can work almost as well as a jacket in terms of creating the right balance between authority and approachability. But how might that work with sheers?
Both patterns suggest suitable fabrics including a range of translucent ones
- voile
- lawn
- muslin
- dotted swiss
- dimity
- organdie
- silk organdie
- chiffon
Now I have wanted to make a blouse with a puffed short sleeve for ages.
Unlike lace and sheers they are not really in fashion at the moment, but I love them. Here are a few vintage ones. There seems to be a marked preference to matching them with a low cut scooped neck. I don’t know if you have ever worn a top like this, but they are not easy to keep in the right place. I think a proper blouse with translucent yoke and sleeves will create a more wearable look for me.
So V 9783, view C it is. Also V 9783 features a lace insert between yoke and body. And it is mitred. And whip stitched. So, OMG, that will challenge me.
I found some nice (cheap) brown silk chiffon. I know it is lemon on the pattern envelope, and it is pretty, but I quite like a dark coloured blouse and thought this was a nice colour to work with. The fabric, being pure silk, is a little bit textured and crepey, but at least it is not polyester which I am sure would be much worse. I made lots of tailors’ tacks while I pondered some of the decisions I have to make.
- Shall I do pin tucks or gathers? I want to do pintucks as they are much more difficult (see markings top right) but I think this view will work better with gathers.
- Shall I use interfacing? I am inclined to use black silk organza, but only where the piece is fully enclosed – collar, cuffs and front band – to avoid the hair shirt problem.
- In the picture the bodice below the yoke is not translucent, but the pattern is silent on this being two layers, or a different fabric. What shall I do? Line it? Double it up? Make it in one layer and wear a camisole?
- It needs some lace – what colour, what fabric?
- it will need quite a few buttons, and buttonholes, including on the sleeves
- Seam finishes are assumed to be pinked and/or overstitched by hand. I don’t think this is the best finish for silk chiffon. My instinct is French seams at the side and maybe hand finished at the armhole.
Help!
I feel like I am sinking before I even start with this one. I really appreciate when you give me construction advice – but don’t feel you have to – I have books and the internet too. I will let you know how I get on.
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