Sewing with a Plan 2015 0.22
My green camisole dress is finished. It epitomises spring – especially when worn with a large bunch of daffodils. And a pineapple!
I wore this dress for my birthday, with a piece of yellow vintage silk velvet ribbon around my waist. It felt nice and, with our improving weather, suitable for the season.
It was not an easy make, despite having done the same skirt with camisole before. The main reason – and I often find this – is that with different fabric the sizing changes – this time by around two inches (which would be a couple of dress sizes, or more), mainly in the length. Even now it is a little looser than the navy one, but I decided to leave it with a little fullness at the waist which can be pulled in with a belt.
I ended up taking an inch off the dress above the waist, and three inches off the length (having asked for your opinion and being supported in this course of action – thankyou Jay, Sewniptuck, And others.
Sadly I did this after I had put in the zip and hemmed it.
So I had quite a lot of unpicking, remarking, cutting, sewing, doing the same with the lining, and then stitching it up again. If the truth be told this dress has had a zip put in four times.
- A lemon one because I didn’t have green (it showed). [I then managed accidentally to order ten green zips on the internet]
- A green one, but the dress was too long
- Adjusted the wasit length, but the skirt was too wide
- Took an inch out of the girth of the skirt. Final insertion
I often find I am altering almost finished garments, which is really irritating, but despite my best efforts on fit, different fabrics behave differently (of course!). And if I have made something before, and it fits, I am off-guard – in that my sense of security means I just sew away, assuming that all will be well. I have learnt this lesson more than once but offer it to you now. TNT does not mean automatic pilot.
In terms of the SWAP I now have to make a white overblouse, and a hand painted silk dress. I have the rest of the month to achieve this and feel fairly confident.
Guest blog – a review of the film “Dior and I” by Linde Carr
Linde Carr, Notting Hill Housing board member, has already been featured on this blog. She told me she was going to see Dior and I with her daughter so I asked her to review it.
I remember the first time I arrived in Paris as a young fashion student I felt that I was in heaven. It was the mid 70’s and like the youth of every generation we felt we were the experts and the traditional fashion houses were old hat and to be tolerated or worse to be smirked at. We were taken to a show at the House of Dior and it makes me cringe now at how ungracious we were looking at the garments with derision. They were beautifully made but very boring to us.
Only now do I appreciate that they were put together so beautifully that they were works of art in their own right even if not to my taste. It is strange how age makes us more tolerant. If only it were the other way round.I do remember walking into the salon and looking at the gilt chairs which had seats the size of a tea plate. They were tiny even for me who was a size 8 at the time. Up until the present day I have never seen models as thin as the ones at Dior, so gaunt they weren’t even attractive.
The reason for my reminiscence was that all those feelings from 40 years ago came back the day I went to see the film Dior and I. I think you need to be a fashion anorak to understand what I am getting at. To anyone who has not been involved with fashion I promise you the anticipation and build up of excitement that is portrayed in the film is 100% correct. Behind the scenes of Dior is as real as it gets. It is hard to explain to an outsider that the tiniest of details such as the size of a cuff or the way a scarf hangs is a life or death issue. The colour of a blouse under harsh lighting or the size of a bag with a jacket is more important than any political matter. All these issues are major to the House of Dior. It is another world. All of this was brilliantly documented in the movie.
It showed the ladies who work in the back office live and breathe Dior. It is their very reason for living and even though a number of them are certainly not slim it is their quest to make sure these emaciated models carry the garments off to their very best advantage. The back room ladies are more like a flock of lab technicians as they walk around in their white coats the look which has been copied by Clinique. Their whole world is very small and to them it’s not a garment it is their baby.
The film portrayed the intensity of their world so well that I came out of the movie feeling that I had been part of the roller coaster ride to the catwalk. I would recommend it to anyone who has any connection with fashion or loves that world. To anyone else I think it would seem rather passé to get so het up over a bolt of cloth and I doubt they would enjoy it.
I loved it with a passion.
Musing on making vintage patterns
I have just been making a 1967 jacket. Prior to that a 1981 jumpsuit. It occurred to me that even if I didn’t know exactly what I was making, not having access to the pattern envelope fashion drawings, I would know what decade I was in from the instructions alone.
Techniques
Some of the old instructions are so sparse and assumed you knew how to sew. In 1940s and earlier patterns there was an expectation that you could quickly draft some of the pieces such as facings, cuffs or underlaping. This economical approach to both fashion fabric and paper is a good discipline.
Many older patterns give instructions for making tailors’ tacks, and indications of where these should be placed. The tacks marks the sewing line and allows great accuracy in matching seams and were important before seam allowance sizes were standardised. Our modern idea of using the edge of the fabric and the indentation marked on the sewing machine to create a nice even seam appears to have come in with the multi-sizing, where one pattern can be cut to any size say from a UK 6 to a UK 14. Today tailors’ tacks are considered old hat – I remember Tilly (and the Buttons) giggling in amazement when Ann Rowley started putting in tailors’ tacks (GBSB series 1). Modern patterns assume you will use carbon or tracing wheels to transfer markings. Like Ann I prefer to use tacks which I find as quick as any other method (or a washable felt tip on occasion).
Then there are different methodologies for achieving an outcome. I don’t think a modern pattern would tell you to pad stitch, or use a continuous lap. Older – prior to the 1970s -patterns expected you to make your own fastenings, shoulder pads, and belts. Also, of course, the diagrams were charmingly hand drawn, and the instructions were typed out with a typewriter. Also I am pretty sure the heading, below, was prepared with a stencil.
The instruction to put two rows of gathering stitches in a sleeve head dates from around 1958. Before then you were expected to know how to ease in a sleeve.
Interfacing
A few things are very much of their time – technical involvations, such as iron-on interfacing for example. Until about 1968 the pattern just assumed that you were sewing it in. The requirement was to stitch with a long satin stitch along the seam lines, picking up just a little of the fashion fabric. Once stitched the interfacing was usually cut away from the seam allowance to reduce bulk. Again I usually prefer stitched-in than the funny melty stuff.
Zips and buttons
Zips is another example – first zips of any type, then invisible zips. A 1950 pattern I was using gives the option of making a placket or using a “slide fastener” – not yet called a zip. Pre-1960 the norm was bound button holes, even on blouses and dresses.
And whereas from the 1960s onwards it was assumed you had would do your button holes on the machine, it was around the 1975s that it was assumed you had an automatic button-holer on your machine.
Seam finishing and linings
Older patterns often tell you to “finish” your seams using stitching under, overcasting, pinking or – for coats and jackets -binding with bias binding (when purchased this was called “novelty bias”). Although I have an old book that describes how to pink seams with a small pair of sharp scissors, pinking shears were widely available from the 1930s onwards. In the 1970s and 1980s using a zig-zag stitch to finish the edges was proposed – I was taught to finish in this way and a great result can be achieved if you get the zig zag the right size on a good machine. These days even rank amatures seem to own an overlocker. Me? I like to line my garments.
The look of the pattern
Obviously the older patterns are pre-cut in the factory and marked with perforations. I have a 1947 pattern that seems to be printed on brown paper with italic handwriting.
Printing on the pattern piece came about in the late 1950s. The patterns of the 1960s were generally one specific size, with multi sized patterns coming in around 1980. During this period the pattern itself often contained lots of instructions – how to put in a zip, and the order of work (steps in the construction) were in numerical order on the pattern too. Little dots would show where to put in a tailors tack, often showing the hem line, the side seams and areas to ease between.
How hard can it be?
One thing makes me laugh is the idea of certain garments being “Easy” “Simple” “Quick” – which so depends on your standpoint and experience. What is categorised as simple or easy today would be the kind of garment that everyone would know how to make without a pattern a few decades ago – an apron, pyjamas, a gathered or elasticated waist skirt, a babies dress or kids shorts. I love this Second World War “siren suit” but few modern dress makers would breeze through those pockets, collar, button holes, hand made belt, gathered cuffs and hood.
I have never worked with really old patterns – say from the 1920s or 1930s. Have you? And anything else you have noticed about old patterns? Apart from the funny smell and rusty pins?
Alexander McQueen Tailoring at Savage Beauty
It’s April Fools Day. Here is Lee McQueen fooling around with a scull and a fag. But perhaps making a serious point about death. But today is good day to discuss Bumsters. See below, as it were.
For me the best and most interesting aspect was to be found near the start of the exhibition which is, in many ways, overwhelming. At the start are a number of garments leant by Katy England, his stylist, who worked for him throughout. She obviously chose wearable pieces that show the virtuosity of cutting and design. I am sure these jackets will have very wide appeal.
It was also very interesting to see the iconic “bumster” trousers close up. These, like the dress above left – with a spine revealing slot – focus on the curvature of the spine and were a McQueen invention, first shown in 1996. Lower than a hipster, with a very low rise, and revealing both the base of the spine and some of the bottom, these trousers would be almost impossible to wear. They were held up by an integral rubberised belt, built into the inside of the trousers.
Although they are preposterous I actually find the look rather beautiful, especially on Kate Moss – certainly compared to the effect created by young men wearing their jeans so low their pants show.
However the bumster is not a trouser style that could be recommended for normal mortals – the horizonatal line emphasises the width of the hips, exposes both buttocks and abdomen and will only stay up with cruel and unusual features. If you have ever worn hold up stockings and experienced the unpleasant feeling of rubberised, clinging pressure you will know what I mean. Apparently, Kylie Minogue was the only person to buy a pair, but the design sparked a trend for low-slung styles. “To me, that part of the body – not so much the buttocks but the bottom of the spine – that’s the most erotic part of anyone’s body, man or woman,” he said in 2009. An original pair of bumsters were sold for £3,500 in December 2014.
Skirt and blouse in one – designing a new pattern
I have been having some fun with my camisole-skirts.
The pattern calls for a zip at the CB. However when trying on my green one during construction I found it was loose enough to be pulled on over the head. Then at my gym I witnessed a young woman put a dress-mascarading-as-a-skirt’n’blouse in this way – within a few minutes she appeared fully dressed. (I so wanted to take a photograph, but the circumstances prevented it). The skirt part was black, with an elasticated waist, and the cream blouse part was arranged as a wrap around, surplice top. Within moments she added a belt, and instantaneiously looked pulled together and smart.
It was a young look and the fabrics and colours were unsophisticated. I don’t like an elasticated waist. But it got me thinking about how I might like to make a skirt and blouse “ensemble”. The idea of a great fit, top and bottom, and a waist seam in exactly the right place so it rides neither up or down, in nice coorindating fabrics, is an idea that appeals to me. I couldn’t find many images on the internet to show what I mean. But this dress from Hobbs is quite a nice version.
I like the following features:
- streamlined elegant outfit
- the overall neatness of the dress avoids any tucking in, riding up or lunch time discomfort associated with a skirt and blouse
- blouse has interesting front detail, benefiting from CB fastening
- unusual dart treatment
- silk crepe de chine blouse (the skirt, unfortunately, is polyester)
- nice colour combination
I don’t want to copy this dress exactly, but I think for women (like me) who find it hard to buy an all in one dress – due to being different “high street sizes” top and bottom – a version of this dress might be a boon. Mixing two complementary fabrics, in terms of both fabric composition and colour palette, and possibly including a grosgrain belt in a third shade, gives the home dressmaker a good basis for creating a number of very workable dresses that look professional and pulled together for work. In addition one could add a jacket in the same fabric as the skirt and have what looks like a suit but feels like a dress. Some of the vintage Chanel suits appear to have a silk blouse stitched to the skirt.
I bought a vintage pattern some time ago (stamped 15 April 1950 – although it has a 1940s look) as it was described as a “one piece dress”. As you can see from the drawing.
Looking at the construction notes it was soon evident that the “Easy to Make” dress is actually quite hard work, involving bound buttonholes, home-made shoulder pads and belt, and a regulation placket or “slide fastener” (ie zip) at the side seam.
- The pattern assumes that the dress was made from the same fabric (unspecified) throughout, which could be a plaid, rather than contrasting fabrics.
- Effectively this is a blouse and a six-gored waistband-less skirt joined together at the waist
- The side opening allows it to be put on, but it is not a very elegant fix.
As soon as I have the SWAP out of the way (end of April) I am going to work on this pattern.
Idea 1: a princess seam dress where the dress is in just three pieces with the main shaping in the CB seam and the two shoulder/underbust/front waist panels. The skirt would be slightly flared. Then it is sliced in two around the waist seam, but with the possibly of it being shaped.
Idea 2: A sleeveless cowl top with a pencil skirt
Idea 3: A wrap round blouse, with a wrap round skirt
Idea 4: A close-fitting dress with sleeves that looks like a blouse and skirt
I have signed up for a draping class at Morley (you may remember I intended to do advanced pattern cutting last term, but I decided it was too advanced for me). This idea may be developed there.
Re-naming my blog and creating a logo
I have decided to change the name of my blog from “Fit and Flare” to “Fabrickated”.
The main reason is that having two names can be confusing.
I called the blog Fit and Flare to try to get across my commitment to Fit -which is very important to me in terms of designing and making clothes. One of my favourite blogs is Fit for a Queen – and I love Mrs Mole because fit is everything to her too. And this includes the concept of Flair (OK it’s a pun) – I want to fit in (at work, and in a social situation) but I also want to have flair – style as well as substance. So the title of Fit and Flare – which is a style of dress that fits the upper body and flares out in the skirt – appealed (and still does) to me. But Fabrickated is the stronger idea as it includes my name (Kate D[avies]) as well Fabric – another obsession – getting the right fabric is as important as getting the right fit.
In the end I have decided to let the Fit and Flare go.
As I will be renaming the blog I decided I would like a logo of my own. I therefore commissioned my friend Rachel to do it for me.
I thought you might be interested to see how she created the my logo.
She did some sketches featuring sewing paraphernalia.
I loved the sketches! Rachel does make clothes and knows about sewing. So her ideas were very creative and exciting. I gravitated towards the most simple – the zigzagged name tape, and the pinked patchwork pieces idea (Rachel, who designed these on the train home) apologised for missing out the K in the patchwork logo (top left).
We settled on the patchwork idea, and she asked for some colour schemes that I liked. This is a difficult question as there are endless possibilities! I initially chose colour schemes that were strong and authoritive that would work for men as well as women. These were red/navy/turquoise/white; navy, dark brown, forest green and white; and Rachel developed the pieces of cloth idea with a range of colour versions. Rachel split up the colour scheme to spell out how I usually refer to the name of my blog. “Fabric – then Kate D”. I didn’t feel this worked as well. Always an issue when you have a real word spelt “wrong”. Isn’t the logo on what looks like linen or canvas interfacing cool?
I liked the strong deep colours but I wanted a logo I loved. So I proposed a new colour scheme – brighter colours that I actually enjoy wearing – pink, blue, turquoise, yellow. I knew this would produce a prettier, feminine logo and wanted to see how I felt about it. Rachel came back with these these logos. I much preferred the white writing rather than the black and preferred the brighter, as opposed to the pastel look.
Finally Rachel substituted the yellow which I always find a bit unsatisfactory in logos like this. Although I like yellow (and love it with white) it never quite holds its own against the other colours. Therefore I suggested more of a blue-grey neutral instead. And we came to this – the bottom one is the one I liked the best. Obviously once committed to a logo it is relatively easy to change the colour, and this one also works well in black and white (as shades of grey).
I feel pleased with this version of my new logo and it will appear on my blog as soon as I can work out how to do it!
Nina Ricci Camisole skirt version two
I mentioned that I wanted to do another version of this dress. And, having experimented with the discharge paste I couldn’t wait for the weekend!
This time I have decided to make the skirt with green wool, and to use the discharge paste to create the camisole top. In the first (navy skirted) version I used white gutta and then painted each square with a different colour. This time I use thed discharge paste to create a green and white version.
First I made up the green silk bodice by putting in the darts and joining the side seams. I covered the ironing board with newspaper, and then pinned the bodice to it. This meant it was fairly stable while I used the discharge paste.
I used a plastic ruler to guide my lines, making them approximately 2″ squares. The lines may have been a bit thick, but the material doesn’t bleed so it dried quite well.
Then I “coloured in [out]” some of the squares with the paste using a thick paint brush.
Finally I used a finer paintbrush I also created a few subtle lines in some of the squares. Then I went to work and left it to dry all day.
When I first ironed it the colour was rather yellowish, but I kept going and it became almost white. The newspaper stuck to the discharge paste, so once I had ironed it as much as I could to bleach it, I washed the fabric gently. This is necessary to remove the discharge paste, and the little bits of newspaper that stuck to the back.
The camisole is lined in the same light weight green silk (plain), and the skirt is cut from the same Roland Mouret crepe double wool that I used for the previous overblouse. I cut out and attached the skirt. This is the unfinished dress before it has a zip inserted and not hemmed. I think the proportions look wrong. I am wondering about taking the top up just about one inch at the waist, and also making the skirt slightly shorter. This double crepe wool is heavy, and stretchy and although I used exactly the same pattern as before it seems that it will finish around two inches longer. I will leave it hanging for a few days to see how I feel about the overall shape of the dress. Any suggestions before I finish it?
Sewing with a Plan 2015 0.21
Making another Pencil skirt – for the Roland Mouret Squiggle suit
To match my Roland Mouret Kimono jacket I wanted to make a plain skirt that would co-ordinate with it, but might also work with my Fuchsia and navy jackets.
I like a pencil skirt although with my shaped figure (small waist, larger hips) it is difficult to buy one off-the-peg. So here is my grown-on waist pencil skirt in the longer length, with the adaptation for a small waist (13 inch difference). My dress stand’s hips are smaller than mind so you can see the skirt drooping at the sides. It doesn’t do this on me!
I have made this pattern into a PDF downloadable pattern as I use it rather a lot and thought this would be convenient. It was a fun experiment to down load and sellotape my own pattern, but I am pleased to say it worked really well. I made this skirt with a pleat at the hem rather than a split as this is more of a tailored, lined skirt. You can see the hem pleat on this side view picture.
You can also see that the pattern matching is OK – obviously the skirt is quite curved so it is not a perfect match, but it blends together quite well.
And here is the skirt with the jacket. It is a nice, light weight spring suit. It is not a faithful copy of the original, but it echoes it in a small way. My short-sleeved jacket is designed to be worn over a jumper or blouse. But it occurred to me that, as it is fairly close-fitting, I could wear it next to the skin and with the skirt it would look more like a dress. Also, thinking of the theme of the SWAP – to have garments that can be something else – I thought sleeveless it might work as a waistcoat under a jacket. So I have been thinking of taking the sleeves off, to give it a more streamlined look – at the moment Camilla has got it on and I am thinking of making the alteration – I do like bare arms. What do you think?
Here we have a nice combination.
Dolce and Gabbana in the news
Recently high profile Italian gay designers Dolce and Gabbana had a go at couples who had created “synthetic” children by way of IVF.
As a result Elton John and David Furnish posted happy family pictures on Twitter said they would boycott D&G wares. Victoria Beckham rallied in support. Maddona gave a little Twitter sermon and Courtney Love said she would burn her D&G clothes. Storm in a test tube – they are all friends again now.
Anyway I had a look at the D&G obsession with “real” families and found some interesting images.
The Italian design duo love glossy, high-profile advertising campaigns. The adverts often feature imaginary, posed, families, expressing the South European, Roman Catholic ideal of young parents, several gorgeous children, three generations of raven (or silver) haired beauty. Dolce and Gabbana have used the same theme again and again over many years, and clearly it sells clothes. If you want to look authentically Italian buy our frocks – drink an espresso, pick a lemon off the tree, and imagine stopping for a chat with three or four old fellows sitting in the square, on long, warm summer evenings.
Obviously if you are selling “designer” clothes for men, women and children, it makes sense to pose families rather than just the specific group. People can then feel they are buying into a perfect lifestyle where there is never mess, sick, stretch marks or poverty. The slightly brown, sepia tones similarly imply an old-fashioned vibe, although I am pretty sure the same female model appears in both these families – maybe she leads an interesting double life. So D&G – are these families more real than Elton’s or are they “synthetic” families?
Gay or straight, synthetic or real, family life is a lot more complex, and interesting, than these idealised images project. Sometimes advertisers use “real” people in their shots, rather than impossibly beautiful people without blemishes. Although the look may change the objective remains – the adverts still aim to sell us a handbag.
This summer the Sicilian duo are celebrating Spanish influences and produced a charming photograph of three Nonis pretending to have a gossip. On their laps not a scraggy bit of crochet or a yellowing newspaper but D&G bags and purses – costing thousands of Euros a piece.
My GBSB Quick Sew challenge
I had this idea, after watching a few episodes of the Great British Sewing Bee on my iPlayer, that I might try to sew against the clock. On GBSB they usually get three hours to make a garment. I asked you to estimate how long it would take me to do the jacket and skirt.
Here are your views:
Mrs Mole: Jacket and skirt 6-8hours
Sew2Pro: 6 hours
Sewniptuck: Thought 3 hours for skirt, and 3 for jacket
Lyn guessed: 6 to 8 hours
I used a tried and tested fairly simple pattern for a jacket and I worked as fast as I could. Here are the timings (to the nearest five minutes). I did not baste unless it was necessary (collar attachment), used no markings beyond the notches, CF and key pattern marker, and worked as quickly and steadily as I could.How did I get on? Hopeless!
Cutting out
The added complication of pattern matching slowed me right down. I don’t find it particularly easy, to tell the truth. I don’t know a quick way to do this. I cut each piece separately, having to remember which direction we were going in all the time, checking where the seams would join and ensuring I had enough fabric left over for a skirt, so being as economical as possible.
Time taken: (cutting out and tacking the main seams together to ensure a match); 1hour 55 mins
Sewing the jacket together
Apart from two bust darts the jacket had just four main seams. Although I had to do one twice this was a quick job, followed by pressing and cooling.
Time taken: 45 minutes
Creating and attaching the collar
The collar has a stand and fall. The collar needed interfacing. Then I stitched together, top stitched the joins, trimmed, pressed, and pinned to the stand so that it dried into shape. Then it was attached to the jacket, pressed and overstitched. Finally I stitched the revers, timmed, pressed, folded them out, pressed some more and then hand stitched the inner collar to the inside of the jacket
Time taken: 1hour 35 minutes
Hemming
I trimmed, measured and hemmed the jacket and sleeves by hand. Pressed.
Time taken: 55 minutes
Cutting out the lining
I decided to use up some cheap, inferior, exceptionally lightweight silk for the lining. It was a false economy (£5 a metre) from Simply Fabrics. But the colour was good (navy) and I couldn’t bear to not use it up, so in it went.
Time taken: 20 minutes
Sewing together and attaching the lining
Time taken: 1 hour 5 minutes
Total: 6hs 35mins
What could I have done to make the task quicker?
Obviously using a plain fabric would have helped. And I could have done a machine stitched, bagged out lining. I could have left out the top stitching but it helps support the collar and the hemming may have been easier with a plain fabric. Maybe I could have shaved one hour off. Now to spend another five minutes pulling out the tailors’ tacks….
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