All about corners
This dress by Matthew Williamson has altogether eight corners. As you can see from the technical drawing, the two front corners are the most prominent and require a lot of attention
I had a hard time sewing, ripping and sewing again the two main corners. Here's the corner technique which Susan Khalje showed me.
Step 1:
Especially if you do it for the first time, mark the corners (symbolically) as pieces X and V due to the shapes they create.
Step 2:
Fold both pieces in half to determine the center. Also decide the seam allowance for both pieces: it should be equal! Then staystitch piece X along the seam allowance pivoting at the top center. See, it creates an "X" :)
Do the same with the piece V. Be very careful at the top to make the needle pivot at the very center.
Step 3:
After you have staystitched piece V, cut into the fabric as close to the stitching as possible. Don't worry, it won't unravel!
Step 4:
Pin both pieces right sides together starting from the corner.
Because you will pivot at the corner, pin your fabric so that it will be easy for you to remove the pins as you sew. See how the pin heads are placed? I start from the bottom left towards the corner, then pivot and go down all the way along the right seam.
Step 5:
Here you go, your corner looks perfect (almost)!
Step 6:
Never underestimate the importance of pressing!
Have you ever come across difficulties in sewing? What helped you overcome them?
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| Please ignore the wrinkles as this dress is still not sewn together! |
I had a hard time sewing, ripping and sewing again the two main corners. Here's the corner technique which Susan Khalje showed me.
Step 1:
Especially if you do it for the first time, mark the corners (symbolically) as pieces X and V due to the shapes they create.
Step 2:
Fold both pieces in half to determine the center. Also decide the seam allowance for both pieces: it should be equal! Then staystitch piece X along the seam allowance pivoting at the top center. See, it creates an "X" :)
Do the same with the piece V. Be very careful at the top to make the needle pivot at the very center.
Step 3:
After you have staystitched piece V, cut into the fabric as close to the stitching as possible. Don't worry, it won't unravel!
Pin both pieces right sides together starting from the corner.
Because you will pivot at the corner, pin your fabric so that it will be easy for you to remove the pins as you sew. See how the pin heads are placed? I start from the bottom left towards the corner, then pivot and go down all the way along the right seam.
Step 5:
Here you go, your corner looks perfect (almost)!
Never underestimate the importance of pressing!
Muslin is an easy-to-handle fabric. Cotton or linen would behave nicely as well. During the couture sewing class, I had my share of trying to handle the corners on two layers of silks: silk satin and crepe-de-chine. It did not go smoothly in the beginning and it took me a while before I could sew some corners of my dress with a bit of confidence.
Have you ever come across difficulties in sewing? What helped you overcome them?
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Report on Couture Sewing School
Where shall I start? How about with the conclusion: the couture sewing course has changed the way I see and want my sewing to be. What I really want now is to dedicate my time to sewing a high-quality wardrobe, regardless of how long it takes. To me, it's like cooking; I can take a $1.50 packet of pasta and add some canned sauce for another $1.50, or I can make the dough and sauce from scratch and elevate my pasta to the level of art. Here's what I am saying: I don't want $1.50 pasta anymore! (Well, maybe only when I am starving hungry!)
If you want to know, my dress is probably only 30% done but the learning experience and the amount of information acquired during one week with Susan Khalje is worth more than a finished dress. What is more, I met the most incredible crowd of couturières: from beginners like me to sewing stalwarts like Marina. We were such a multicultural and multilingual group coming from four corners of the world: the US, Canada, the Netherlands and me from Japan. Within our group, we spoke four foreign languages and shared our experiences both of sewing and life. We drank wine and ate not-very-healthy food from the hotel's restaurant, we sang, we danced, we went to bed after midnight and were back in the sewing room for 7am (some people even earlier)... All in all, I had an unforgettable week and plan to return to see Susan in March for the French Jacket class.
I overestimated my capabilities for this project; it was not that easy as I thought. By Wednesday, I was still working on the muslin: after two fittings, I had to make muslin #3. The trickiest part with my dress was its construction. The designer replaced darts with side panels which shape the waistline. Once I’d tweaked one of the sides during the fitting, I needed to change at least two other sides in order to match all of the seams exactly. After the first fitting when Susan said there were not that many fitting issues, I was extremely happy because I wanted to start working with the fabric! But only on Wednesday night did I cut into the fashion fabric.
The biggest area of progress for me was in working with silks and sewing corners. You can see from the design how many bl**dy corners shape the dress! I have to tell you that some of them I ripped and sewed in more than three times. Susan helped me to sew the main bust corners, but she also had a hard time with them. She was kind enough to reassure me that the corners on slippery fabric are tough even for the pros.
I plan to write more detailed posts on the silks and corners and Couture Sewing School soon, but at the moment I have one more week ahead of me in New York city! Hope you understand!
See you next week!
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Jumping into autumn
The summer is almost over with more and more rainy days. Summer, don't go! Yesterday, we were lucky enough to enjoy a hot, sunny day and it was just perfect for the photo shoot.
I finished this jumpsuit almost immediately after receiving the Home Sewn book. The pattern comes in medium size only: bust 95cm, waist: 78cm, hips 106 cm. Suggested fabric: "one-stretch knit fabric that can be left raw". The quantity recommended by the designer is 3m x 150cm. I managed to fit everything into 250x150cm, sacrificing the belt ;( The making of the jumpsuit went smoothly and I enjoyed working with the pattern immensely. My favorite part was inserting the bias tape!
Fabric: 2.5m knit jersey purchased at Jo-Ann during my last trip to the US. I scored it for $4/yard!
Notions: 1.5m of knit bias tape, 50cm of black elastic band
Cost: $14
Modifications: no changes to the singlet. The pants were a bit big for me so I reduced them by 7cm from each side starting at mid-thigh all the way to the top.
The original design includes a three-meter tie which I found such a cool detail! When cutting the fabric, I had to be economical. Instead, I inserted a piece of elastic band.
If I had to use this patten again, I'd play with the width of the pants but also I might try to convert it into a maxi dress! A singlet pattern can also easily be used to create lots of funky tank tops. Working with knits has become my latest obsession and with the abundance of knit fabric in the shops for the colder season, there's lots of room for imagination!
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Do you also like sewing with knits?
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Taking a break!
Nothing sewing-related to report today (although I've got a couple of finished garments to share). From today, I am officially on a break from my office job until the end of November!!! Instead of going into too many details about how hard the last nine months had been for me work-wise, I'd rather concentrate on the positive side of things. Being off work means that I'll be dedicating all of my free time to what I love the most - sewing, reading, traveling, enjoying life at its fullest!
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| From my trip to Kyoto last year |
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When it rains ...
- Ate pizza for lunch and dinner
- Read on the couch wrapped in the bath towel. (By the way, if you are a keen reader and want to share your favorite books, please join me on goodreads.com)
- Sewed a cover for the sewing machine and bin it because I did not like it
- Skyped with friends while they had breakfast and I, my evening cup of tea
- Watched a movie
Then I realized that my couture class with Susan Khalje is just around the corner (from October 8th!) and that students are asked to come with a fitted muslin. And, of course, I was not ready!
The pattern I'll be working with is from the September Burda edition.
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The challenge that I've set for myself during the workshop: learn from a professional how to work with silks. So let's see how it goes!
It's raining again today.... What are your favorite rainy-day activities?
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Deer&Doe
This month sees a new arrival to the family of independent pattern designers; welcome Deer&Doe and lovely Eléonor from Paris! Eléonor launched her first patten collection only last Monday and I could not help writing about it.
The collection is made up of five garments, divided into three levels of difficulty - beginner, intermediate & advanced - with the level being denoted by the color of the envelope which the pattern comes in. Don't you find the designs sooo French? :)
My absolute favorites are the unlined spring/autumn jacket, Pavot, and the dress, Belladone.
All patterns include detailed explanations with step-by-step construction drawings.
What is more, Deer&Doe is an eco-friendly project! All patterns and instructions are made from recycled paper and the site itself is hosted by an environmentally-engaged company which uses 100% hydropower to generate electricity.
Don'w worry that the blog and patterns are in French. Eléonor is currently working on an English version of her blog and should provide English instructions as well (I am currently double-checking with her and update asap).
Do you like it?
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A silk dress fit for a princess!
Every girl wants to be a princess sitting in a castle in a beautiful dress and waiting for her prince to come. As I grew up, I came to understand that such fairy-tales were nonsense (look at what happened to Kate Middleton), but a beautiful dress never did anyone any harm! A proper ‘princess dress’ should be made of gorgeous silks and flowing through the air.
Like many of you, silks inspire nothing but fear in me. In October, I’ll attend a week-long workshop with Susan Khalje and my main goal is to become friends with silks. But before the workshop, I intend to work on some garments and get used to these nasty creatures. During one of my recent trips, I acquired this beautiful crepe-de-chine with the idea of transforming it into a princess dress. Also, a friend’s wedding was approaching and so the pieces of my challenge came together. Now I only had to take it on!
Like many of you, silks inspire nothing but fear in me. In October, I’ll attend a week-long workshop with Susan Khalje and my main goal is to become friends with silks. But before the workshop, I intend to work on some garments and get used to these nasty creatures. During one of my recent trips, I acquired this beautiful crepe-de-chine with the idea of transforming it into a princess dress. Also, a friend’s wedding was approaching and so the pieces of my challenge came together. Now I only had to take it on!
This Burda dress was the winner of my ‘princess dress’ contest for many reasons. 1. I had always wanted to own a silk maxi dress. 2. Due to heart surgery in my childhood and a huge scar crossing half of my back, I was scared of dresses with open backs and hardly owned any. 3. Any princess would die for it!
Fabric: 3.5m of crepe-de-chine
Size: 36 for the top and 38 for the skirt
Cost: $18 (yesssss, I scored some great fabric on sale)
Modifications to pattern: none
What I learnt from this project: patience!I Besides spending two weeks to complete the dress, I discovered not only how to tame silks but also myself. But let’s start from the beginning!
Challenge #1: cutting on bias. Silk should not be cut folded in half, but as a single layer of fabric to prevent slippage or distortion. You can see from the technical drawing that the main skirt piece is quite large. None of the tables in my apartment is big enough for cutting, so I had to lay the fabric on the floor. Did I sweat or have cramps? Oh yes, I did! All of the pieces from the fashion fabric and lining were cut on the floor. Holy Moly! How happy I was when it was over!
Challenge #2: thread and needle. Most of the sources that I’d consulted before starting the project suggested using cotton or polyester thread for silks. But for some reason, none of it worked when I tested it on swatches of the fabric beforehand. Silk thread worked much better. The Mircotex needle which I used performed miracles; no complaints!
Challenge #3: assembly. I assembled the dress in two stages: the bust pieces, and the skirt with godet. Once the skirt had been sewn together and the godet attached to it, I let it hang on a mannequin for a day to stretch and adapt to its new shape. In fact, having read Marina’s article since, I should have let the skirt and the godet hang separately before assembling them. I will definitely do so next time.
Challenge #4: zipper. As a result of being lazy and not wanting to attach the zipper by hand, I had to rip the seams and re-attach it three or four times. Bad idea! In some places, the fabric got stretched and puckered a little bit.
Another issue I faced with the zipper: a piece of fabric in the middle curls over and I have no idea why. I shortened the top of the skirt from both ends of the zipper, but the issue remains! Do you know what could have caused it?
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| You can see on this photo how the fabric curls over ;( |
Lastly, when I tried to play around with the bust pieces, I came up with an alternative way of wearing the dress. Instead of tying the straps behind the neck, I let them go over my shoulders, cross over on the back and tie a knot in front.
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| New Look :P |
Having conquered this challenge (despite a few hiccups along the way), I would say, sew with silks and make yourself princess dresses!
P.S.If you happen to be in New York mid-October and feel like going fabric shopping together, let me know! I could be fun!
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