In today’s podcast, I talk about how burnt out I was feeling, get on a soapbox or two, and talk about starting a new semester of classes.
I forgot to take photos of “my” students hard at work in the Fashion 1A class but I did remember to take my camera to the 1B class. These are my classmates making their patterns:
Larry is tracing the basic skirt block (the manila paper pattern) onto dot (aka pattern) paper
Natalia has traced the skirt back onto the dot paper (aka pattern paper) and is reaching for the basic skirt front
After tracing the basic skirt block, Natalia is adding the pattern markings for darts, notches, etc.
Cat has cut out the pattern and is trying to keep the paper from rolling up (she ironed it to make it stay flat)
Cat is "closing the darts" on one copy of the dot paper pattern in order to make the facing pattern. She taped the darts closed and then drew a line two inches from the top across the width of the skirt using her hip curve tool
Our homework is to attach the dot paper to brown paper (kraft paper), add seam allowances, cut out the muslin and sew most of the skirt by next Wednesday.
During my eight-week summer vacation, I only sewed one thing (other than the Tailored Curriculum samples): A Simplicity 2900 dress for Baby Alice (that is her modeling it for us). The only reason I finished her dress was because I wanted to finish it before she outgrew it. Her mother says it “just” fits her which means she’ll only get another one or two more wearings out of it because she is growing like wildfire.
I couldn’t bring myself to sew.
I wasn’t interested in reading the sewing blogs I usually follow.
Patterns and fabric I bought over the summer just sat on my sewing machine.
I was crispy fried when it came to sewing.
I’m sure you figured that out because there weren’t many updates coming from the sewing cabinet.
And you know what? I think it is perfectly legitimate to give one’s creativity muscles and juices a break. For ten months they had been working overtime despite Alice’s surprise birth and my grandfather’s mostly surprise passing (he was 96, after all).
But school has started for the year. I am tutoring the intro to fashion course and taking both intermediate and advanced sewing classes. After a two month break, I am ready to jump in and learn, learn, learn and sew, sew, sew!
Oh, yeah, and share with you all what I’m learning!!
Generally speaking, women’s sewing patterns (and clothing) are designed for someone with a perfect B cup. Now that is great if you are a perfect B cup. But some of us are “curvier” and some of us are understanding the force of gravity. So, for the rest of us that don’t have a perky perfect size B cup, we will need to make adjustments to a pattern’s bust dart in order to make a bodice fit correctly.
I remember when I was intimidated by the idea of having to make bust dart adjustments. What is this slash and spread thing and where do I cut?
First, make a “working pattern” by tracing the original pattern. You want to have your original pattern intact in case you need to start from the beginning again. This will also give you confidence when you start marking up and cutting into the pattern to make your adjustments. It may feel tedious but doing this step has saved me on more than one occasion.
Before you do anything to the pattern, you need to have a good handle on where your bust apex really is…not where you wish it were but where it is (perhaps having to do this step will encourage you to get that new set of bras that you’ve been putting off…). Wearing a snug, but not constricting, knit top and the bra you will wear with the garment, measure from the point where the shoulder seam intersects with the curve of your neck down to your bust apex (nipple). Make sure that your tape measure is perpendicular to the floor when measuring. If you angle it, the measurement will be off. At the same point on the pattern, measure down from the shoulder and mark were your bust apex is located (for example, see purple lines on illustration).
Measure how far the pattern’s dart point is from the pattern’s bust apex. It can be anywhere from 3/4″ to 1 1/2″, depending upon the design of the pattern. Make a mark equal to that distance next to your apex. That is your new dart point. If you wish, you can draw a line from the dart point to the end of the dart legs. Also, draw a line from the dart point, through the apex and the center front.
You are now ready to make some of the adjustments that Shirley Adams demonstrates in this video…
I don’t know about you, but I was totally confused by the terminology the first time I bought silk from an online store. Some places use the abbreviation “mm” and other places use “ply” to describe their silk. What does this all mean in English, please?!
Momme (abbreviated as “mm” and pronounced “mummy”) describes the weight of the silk. One mm weighs 3.75 grams. One ounce is equal to 8 silk mm. I don’t know why it isn’t an even number. They didn’t consult me when they were coming up with the system. Basically, the majority of silk fabrics are produced in several weights. The higher the number, the heavier the fabric. Knowing the momme system enables you to know that a silk with a 15 mm weight is not going to be a bottom weight fabric. Under 20 mm is considered lightweight fabric, 20-28 mm is medium weight and anything over 28 is heavy weight.
Ply actually refers to the number of silk yarns that are twisted together. A single ply means that two yarns have been twisted together. Double ply means that two single plies have been twisted together (for a total of four yarns). Thus, 3-ply means 3 single plies have been twisted together, 4-ply is 4 single yarns and so forth. Manufacturers ply their yarns to “increase diameter, strength, uniformity, and quality (Textiles, 10th Ed., Sara J. Kadolph).” Interestingly, two-ply yarns are found in the best men’s broadcloth shirts so I don’t know why silk producers would go with 4-ply yarns. Perhaps it is because silk fiber is so fine that it needs the extra plies to bulk it up a little bit.
You might encounter habutai or china silk or crepe used in association with silk fabric. Those don’t describe the weight of the fabric but rather the yarn and fabric structure. Texere Silk tells us,
Habutai is a Japanese word meaning “soft as down.” Habutai is a plain weave of silk, originally hand woven of single warp yarns and filling yarns of hand-reeled silk, which made it slightly irregular. Habutai usually has a natural, ecru color, and is known to wrinkle less than other fabrics. Both Habutai and China silk are soft, lightweight and lustrous. Very closely related, both have a soft graceful drape, and a smooth surface. This silk is the “hand” or touch that many people identify as silk. Habutai is natural in color, sheer and ivory, and China silk is smoother and usually dyed. Seams may pull open on tightly fitted garments. Sews relatively easily, and doesn’t show pins marks. It is best for lingerie, dresses, blouses, and light jackets.
Crepe describes the twist of the yarn. Crepe fabrics are so forgiving because the yarn has been twisted within an inch of its life. Crepe silk has a beautiful drape and is primarily used for garments.
The highest quality silks come from Japan. India is known for handwoven wild silks with a pronounced texture. Thailand’s iridescent silks are created by weaving two yarn colors. Remember, there are over 30 countries producing silk so there will be a variation in quality.
Finally, when buying silk fabric, try to find “pure silk” or “pure dye silk.” Silk may be treated with a solution of metallic salts–called weighting–to increase its weight, hand, and dyeability. However, weighted silk isn’t as durable and strong so the Federal Trade Commission ruled in 1932 that anything labeled pure silk or pure dye silk could not contain more than 15% weighting for black and 10% weighting for all other colors. To be fair, most silk isn’t weighted anymore but you don’t want to be stuck with an inferior silk. Also, keep weighting in mind when buying vintage garments. Many museums are stuck with silk garments that are “shattering” (disintegrating) because of the weighting.
Next time we’ll finish up our lesson on silk and other insects that create silk (think twice before pulling out that can of Raid!)
Today we will finish up sleeve shapes. There is only so much you can say so I will only be illustrating the different types of sleeve shapes (click on images to be taken to the websites):
Dropped Shoulder
Dropped Shoulder--Image Courtesy of Ageless Patterns
Peasant
Peasant; Image courtesy of Out of the Ashes Collectibles (I do believe I owned this pattern at one time)
Raglan (not to be confused with kimono or dolman)
The sleeve and shoulder are one piece.
Raglan sleeve
Kimono Sleeve
The sleeve and the bodice are one piece (no shoulder seams)
Kimono sleeve; Image courtesy of Empress Patterns
Dolman
Wide at the armhole and narrow at the wrist; Often called a “batwing” sleeve
Dolman. (Yeah, I know.)
And, we are finally done with sleeve shapes! (yay!)
I’ve been reading Tom and Lorenzo’s fabulous analyses of the Mad Men wardrobe. Naturally, getting a closer look at the designs only makes me want to replicate them all the more! Sheila, from Out of the Ashes Collectibles is having a 15% off sale that ends Sunday night so I thought I’d mosey over there to see what she has that would satisfy my Mad Mania. I found two patterns that could be easily adapted to evoke Betty Draper (Francis)–the upper middle class homemaker.
Betty Draper’s white dress intrigues me because I love pleated skirts and the buttons that partially go down one side of the bodice. I’ve been trying to figure out how to adapt it for Southern California fall where it stays warm clear to Thanksgiving (and beyond) but I don’t want a sleeveless look.
Simplicity’s 4399 might do the trick! Although Betty’s is not a true wrap around, this pattern could be adapted the following ways to evoke the white dress without actually replicating it:
Use View 1 bodice and sleeves
Use View 2 skirt but pleat it instead of gathering it. Debating about whether to keep the flat panel and wrap around or to simply eliminate the wrap around and put a zipper into the side seam. The flat panel would masquerade stomach pooch that might be emphasized by pleats sticking out where they shouldn’t be.
Image courtesy of Out of the Ashes Collectibles
The second ensemble is a Hitchcock Blonde suit and easy to replicate. Oh how I wish I were a Hitchcock Blonde! But only for the fabulous wardrobe, not all of the trouble that besets them.
We only get the gist of it but I’m guessing that it is in the mode of a Jackie O dress/suit. There are a lot of Jackie O style dress and suit patterns available but most of them do not have a collar. However, Simplicity 5383 not only can be adapted for our use, but it also has a vintage Chanel attitude about it (Betty’s wardrobe seems to be moving in that direction), too. To adapt this pattern, simply scallop the front closing and collar. Interestingly, when I was looking through a mid-40′s Butterick pattern book, there were a lot of dresses that had that scalloped look. I think it is a great way to add interest to a rather simply silhouette, don’t you?
When people hear that I have been taking fashion design courses, they often ask if I’m going to go on Project Runway. My answer is immediate: Ummmm, no. It’s hard enough doing all of that stuff under a deadline for a course, I can’t imagine what it would be like to try to complete an entire garment in 24-48 hours.
But, in honor of the new season of Project Runway, I thought I would show a clip synthesizing the Fall 2010 collections to get us in the mood for some fall sewing. I didn’t find anything I liked. Truth is, I want to look at stuff I could imagine me wearing…not something like the Donna Karan Vogue Pattern I talked about yesterday. (I loved Betty’s comment about it on the Facebook fan page: “It looks like she forgot to sew up the back and decided to just tie up the corners and tuck in the raw edges! No one will notice, right?”). So much of the runway stuff I saw looked completely unwearable in real life. I’m going to go out on a limb and just say it: Just because it is on a runway doesn’t mean that it is fashionable.
So, in desperation, I decided to go to individual designer’s sites to see what I could find. I was rewarded at the Chanel site with the Fall/Winter 2010 Haute Couture collection. While the collection didn’t reflect Vogue Pattern’s Fall Fashion Forecast (PDF File) exactly, the influence was there.
Okay, so why did I like the collection so much? Generally speaking, I loved the silhouettes. I don’t know if it is the influence of my sculptor husband but form is one of the first things I notice (the texture of how light plays with color is the other thing). The silhouettes in this collection are completely wearable or easily adapted for real life. I’m not going to wear a brocade dress to work, but I could see myself wearing that particular shape. There were a lot of flared skirts and sheath dresses. The designs were feminine and timeless and person who is not six feet tall and weighing only 100 pounds could wear them, too.
There are several variations on the sheath with a cropped back-closing jacket (see the maroon photo above). After I had my dissertation defense, I started working on a vintage pattern from the late 40′s with that silhouette to wear to my graduation party. Alas, I ran out of time and bought a cute little party dress. I still like that silhouette but think that with my current bustiness, I’d have to add darts to make it curve under the bust instead of just hanging straight down.
Oh, and before I give you the link (since I can’t find a way to embed the video), I just have to tell you that I hated the clompy boots. It’s bad enough that models stomp their way around the runway but the boots make it worse. I thought for sure some of those girls were going to fall! (And don’t get me started on wanting to brush their hair! *arghh* I’ve turned into my mother!!! *laugh*)
Is it just me, or does this new Donna Karan pattern from Vogue (#V1202) look like she got her skirt and her top stuck in her pantyhose?
Donna Karan Vogue Pattern #V1202
The front is just as much of a mess as the back:
Seriously. Who are the pattern companies designing for these days? Obviously not for me! And I can’t even begin to imagine what would happen if I tried to turn in a design like this for a class project. I am dismayed that I keep seeing this pattern pop up in Vogue Pattern advertising. You’d think they’d want to hide it!
I find it interesting that when they show a closeup of the skirt, it is with a different top:
With this top, the skirt turns into something interesting rather than the disaster it is with the top that is part of the pattern.
As the fabulous Tom & Lorenzo would say, this is definitely an “out.”
Yes, yes, yes…I know I’m ending the title with a preposition. But bear with me. I have a sinus headache so I’m not writing at one hundred percent. In fact, this article will be shorter than I originally intended. We’ll stretch silk out to next week, too.
“Mommy? Where does silk come from?”
“A stork carries it and puts it in a basket on our doorstep.”
Wouldn’t that be nice if that were the truth? Unfortunately, the truth is not glamorous and many people have sworn off silk because of it. Don’t read this while eating if you don’t have a strong stomach (don’t say I didn’t warn you).
As we learned last week, sericulture is the production of cultivated silk. Silk begins its life when a silk moth lays eggs on a specially prepared paper. When the eggs hatch, the caterpillars (or larvae) are fed fresh, young mulberry leaves and are as happy as can be. After about 35 days and four moltings, they decide that they really should get their own digs because they’ve outgrown the home place (they are about 10,000 times the size they were when they were hatched), so they start spinning cocoons on specially constructed straw frames that are placed on the silkworm trays (you’d think they would start getting suspicious, no?). They spin their cocoon by moving its head in a figure eight. The silk is produced by two glands and the liquid silk is forced out of the spinnerets (openings) in the silkworm’s head. The silk is coated with sericin, a protective water-soluble gum. When the silk comes in contact with the air, it solidifies. The silkworm is focused on getting this cocoon built and spins about a one mile of filament silk in 2-3 days. Then it sits back, fully encased in the cocoon and waits for the metamorphoses into moth thing to happen.
Only it doesn’t. At least, not for most of them.
Silkworms are usually killed with heat (stifled) before they reach the moth stage.
Silk is the only natural filament fiber. To make a wool thread that can be woven, they have to spin a whole bunch of short fibers together to create something long enough to weave. Not so with silk. The silkworm makes our nice long thread for us. After the worm has been stifled, the cocoons are sorted for fiber size, fiber quality or defects, and then brushed to find the outside ends of the filament. After that, several filaments are wound together on a reel (referred to as reeling). Each cocoon gives us approximately 1,000 yards of silk, creating raw silk. Several of these filaments are combined to give us yarn that can be woven (remember, yarn used here is not the same as the yarn you find at the craft store).
Silk noils is also known as silk waste. Remember that the next time you see a silk noils dress being advertised in a fancy-schmancy catalog. Essentially, silk noils is created from cocoons where the filament broke or the moth was allowed to mature. The resulting fiber needs to spun just like any other staple fiber. Spun silk is less expensive, less durable, more likely to pill, and of lower quality than its filament counterpart.
Silk shantung
Wild silk is exactly that…wild. Production of wild silk is not controlled. The silkworms feed on oak and cherry trees in the wild and the cocoons are harvested after the moth has matured. Because the filament is broken, the silk must be used as spun silk. Tussah is the most common type of wild silk; tasar is a wild silk from India. Beware: “Raw silk” is often used incorrectly to describe wild silk.
Finally, Duppioni silk is created when two of those crazy silkworms decide to shack up and spin their cocoons together. The result is that the yarn has a thick-and-thin appearance. It is used to create a linen-like fabric such as shantung.
No, no, no…an epaulet is not a euphemism for a curse word although I’ve seen some that deserve to have curse words associated with them (the silver lame’ top with epaulets comes to mind…).
French Republican Guard, Bastille Day, 2007
Truthfully, I’m not sure why an epaulet (also seen as epaulette) would be listed as a type of sleeve. Perhaps it is because an epaulet was a shoulder decoration that originally hung over the sleeve to indicate military rank. Over the years, the epaulet evolved into the strap we most often see on military clothing with bars, stars, and other insignia attached to the strap to indicate rank.
General Ann Dunwoody receiving her fourth star
In the fashion world, we most often associate epaulets with trench coats. Since trench coats are descended from the military, it isn’t surprising that the epaulet remained a design feature.
According to fashion-watchers, military-inspired clothing was supposed to be making a comeback. Perhaps it is in other parts of the country, but I’m not seeing it here in Los Angeles (someone correct me if I’m wrong). I’m also not really seeing it in the catalogs either. Go figure.
I discovered a juicy little tidbit while researching this article: It seems that the army was not prepared to provide uniforms for the women joining the Women’s Army Corps during World War II. The quartermaster’s office had patterns created for the women’s uniform by men’s tailors! Naturally, since these guys weren’t used to having to create garments that go around curves, the uniforms were quite ill-fitting. Later iterations were better but the army was still futzing with the design of the women’s uniforms clear to the end of the war.
