Et voilà!

Last week I was very despondent about my dressmaking. I made a kind of very early stage toile for the bodice of my daughter's wedding dress. It wouldn't even fit on Missy - even with a side seam and back seam undone. It was clear that my toile was several inches too small. Although the front looked good, the side seam bent markedly towards the front at the bust area and the back seam was a long way from meeting. I understood why this was. My daughter initially wanted a bodice that would be laid over stretch tulle so I used a stretch leotard block initially which needed fabric with quite a bit of stretch. I made a leotard and it fit beautifully. However, and it's obvious, really, change the fabric to one with much less, or no, stretch, and it can't possibly fit. I was working under guidance of my tutor who hoped this toile would work given that I wanted a tight fit - but it wasn't to be. She didn't have time at the very end of the informal class to point me in a new direction although she did say we ewould need darts after all - it's perhaps indicative of how upset (internally - -n not visibly, at least I don't think so) that I didn't immediately understand what she was saying. I felt I had wasted many hours and lost a lot of hair and was pretty upset and flat, too, when I got home. I decided I had to work from the original, non-stretch block. I followed some instructions in Suzy Furrer's book and, in addition, moved the darts into princess seams. It took ages. In the end, when I looked at the pattern pieces, I was very doubtful about them. As I was going to be seeing my tutor again, I didn't take it further. On Wednesday, I saw Rory and took my wedding dress toile problems and showed her the toile on her model. She said I needed to make a toile from the original block and asked if I had it with me. I did, in a way. Problem is I'm very poor at labelling different pattern iterations, okay labelling in general. I must do better! Rory also pointed out that the instructions Suzy Furrer gives depend on the type of block you were using, how much ease etc - but as I was not using her block, these instructions could not be followed directly. So it wasn't surprising that following her instructions hadn't resulted in a suitable garment. Anyway, I was able to make up a toile. Standard bust dart and waist dart. Rory drew up what she had interpreted from my badly drawn designs and concluded, as I had felt earlier, that princess seams were the way to go. Here's the magic. All those hours I had spent carefully rotating darts! Rory drew the dart position we agreed on the toile. Then all I had to do was cut it out and add seam allowances to where I had cut the fabric apart. The bust dart stayed closed - indeed I realised that it gets closed when rotating it elsewhere. The waist dart gets cut out. Exactly as per dart rotation. But how much faster!! I couldn't believe it! I ended up with the same side panel and front panel that I would have starting with the flat pattern and rotating darts! It's clear that a combination of flat pattern cutting and draping is very useful - and as Rory says, will generally get you to where you want to go. Tonight, in class at college, we were doing moulage. Then Rory showed us how to make a bra pattern from the moulage. I thought the dart, from the moulage, could simply be kept there as had happened in the bodice block - but of course, it had only been pinned in place, not sewn. My homework for next time is a paper bra pattern. I modified a pattern for a lace cardigan. I had to increase the size as the pattern only went up to a 16. I probably graded up to a 20. I needed extra space in my hips and for my biceps. That was a couple of weeks ago but I got around to cutting out the lace this week. I found the lace difficult to work with as it wanted to slip all over the place, distorting the lines. Hopefully I managed it reasonably okay in the end. I decided to pin and then hand baste and found that the lower sleeve from elbow was very wide indeed. I also found that I had somehow stupidly cut out two left sleeves! Lyn advised me how to try to modify my sewing to take account of this error - I didn't have enough fabric to cut a new sleeve, despite it being narrowed by quite a bit. I'm hoping it won't take too long to sew this up. I'm probably going to overlock the seams, by the way, rather than do French seams as the lace is possibly too thick for the latter. Next week is midterm so I don't have classes but I do have some time to get up to date.

I have some photos so I will edit this post later - I don't have time to do that just now, just wanted to get my thoughts sown so I remember the process.

The fate of Simplicity 1418 and toiles of other types. And welcome a new sewer

From last Thursday until Sunday,  I was visiting my daughter Helen - mother/daughter wedding dress trying and fabric shop trawling. Her fiance A was away on a stag weekend; my husband was at home. I travelled by train which is easier than driving. Though I took a sewing machine for Helen which made it rather more awkward. What's not easy is travelling around London on underground and bus - crowded and hot. I was exhausted!

Before he left,  A tried on the toile of the waistcoat I'm making for him. H had sent me his measurements but had clearly,  I thought,  made a mistake in the back measurement as the measure was so short.  She made a mistake in her and A's shoulder measurements and I had to guess. The toile was actually a pretty good fit;  I had used the standard burda size 40 pattern. A's shoulders are wider and the shoulder line will need to come out. H had got his back length wrong; A requested a 1.5 cms longer length. We also took the waistcoat toile in at the side seams. I thought there was gaping at the front armhole;  this was removed by pulling the shoulder up so I hope that is the fix! Nothing too major.

H was unable to get Simplicity 1418 on - or at least she got it on, though not pulled down properly over her bust  and the zip was a long way from closing. My feeling is that this pattern runs smaller than the other Simplicity patterns I've made. H reckons the dress would fit one of her friends so hopefully it will get some use.

However,  I had a couple of toiles with me for her,  too.

The first was a dress (bodice plus skirt)  made from my Sure Fit Designs kit, using the updated sizes she finally got around  to sending me. I was surprised to see that she quoted her upper bust as 3cms larger than her full bust and realised that her shoulder width couldn't be correct. I had made up a more basic pattern from the dress I made previously and saw that she didn't have the mammoth shoulders she quoted. When I drew up the SFD pattern,  I compromised and put her shoulder width half way between what she said and the standard.  Even so,  this was wide and the armhole surprisingly small.  However,  I went ahead and made it up.

When H tried it,  it didn't look too bad.  The shoulders were certainly way too wide and the armhole significantly too small.  I drew on a better armhole shape and clipped and that was much better. Other than that, it was pretty good. H requested less ease at the waist and for the waist seam to be lowered 1.5cms. I slightly adjusted the bust dart.  Overall, it looks pretty good. When I get home,  I'll change the pattern and make a new toile. I will also try to adjust my small model to her sizes so that I can use that.

The other toile I made was from an old Style pattern 1961. A short pencil skirt with a vent. I made a straight side 12, this was before I got her sizes though,  and when I made it up,  complete with zip and waistband,  it looked very tiny and I thought there was no way it would fit her. Especially after I got her new sizes and thought I'd have been better sewing the 14 skirt.  However, she tried it on and loved it. I think it's a little too tight across the upper thigh but H is resisting it being made larger. I took out the side seams

I took a sewing machine down for H as she is keen to start sewing. I gave her a few basic pointers,  let her go through the basics of threading,  winding spools etc. , do some practice sewing and read the instruction book (as I won't always be there) and got her to sew the seams on the skirt toile. She did some overcasting, made a buttonhole, looked at standard and invisible zip insertion,  though we didn't go ahead to do this and looked at the various stitches and the different feet. She seems to be picking it up quickly. She's loving it.

Pattern Cutting Portfolio Handed In

I'm glad to say that I managed to hand in the second of my two portfolios on Thursday.

Both the portfolios were massive undertakings and it's clear that I made them much more involved than they need have been. My husband attended a photography course which also required a portfolio each term and the tutor there commented that mature students have a tendency to want to do things really well. My tutor (Thursday - pattern cutting) said my work was what was required for level 3. At that stage, she was talking about quantity only, of course. While she hasn't read through the portfolio at that stage, she clearly knew all my work. She wasn't surprised by the number of pattern drafts and toiles I had. I didn't in the end hand all of these in.

In pattern cutting I had to make a personal trouser block with all the steps that involves and include the different pattern drafting stages and fitting toiles with comments on the process. The we had to research trousers, trouser styles, trouser details, fabrics etc and choose one to take forward. We had a croquis exercise, then moved forward to a working drawing. From that we had to develop a pattern and go on to toile fit. We weren't expected to have a garment made up in fashion fabric but we were expected to have made up a final toile.  At every stage we had to include detailed notes on our thought processes.

I chose what I thought would be a useful and not too difficult style - cropped trousers with side knee slits, back patch pocket, jeans type front pockets, fly zipper closure and standard waistband with belt loops. This is the type of trouser that I like wearing to golf in the summer months.

I had to include lots of drawings and photos. I don't propose to put them in this post, you'll be relieved to know!

I found that my initial trouser block wasn't that good a fit, unfortunately.

However, I drew out and modified my block (no seam allowances or details - sloper for those in US) to the correct length and added the slits and seam allowances. I drafted out the pieces for the fly front closure and for the pockets and waistband.

I should say that the vast bulk of this work was carried out at home because there simply wasn't enough time in class to tickle the surface! Also, I missed the penultimate class. As a result, I didn't have any tutor input for the end stages.

My initial toile was tried on and some modifications made to it; the tutor was able to help with this fitting. I transferred the modifications to the pattern and made another toile... repeat several times! I had a number of problems as I have knock knees; these didn't seem to be much of  a problem in the past but as the arthritis in my left knee is worsening, so is the bend! In my penultimate toile, I was reasonably happy with things, though I felt that the trouser legs were too wide below the knee; I had done some market research and wide cropped trousers were a no-no. So I narrowed the legs by quite a bit, tapering out to zero at fork point/high hip on side seam. I later split the difference and widened them again as I feared them being too tight for me to wear - and they were to fit me, after all.

At an earlier stage, I spoke to my tutor of putting in a side seam 'vent' and she advised me on that. However, I later came to realise that what I wanted was a 'split' not a 'vent' and was grateful that I had the book 'Professional Sewing Techniques for Designers' by Cole and Czachor. While I had fitting books, they didn't have sewing instructions and sewing books didn't have the pattern details I required; this book is great as it has both the pattern elements and the sewing details. I didn't find this out until too late in the process to modify the pattern appropriately, though.

I carefully trued all the pattern pieces, but found that somehow I'd made an error and my back and front  lengths didn't match at either inseam or outseam. I added the necessary amount (2.5cms) to the back leg length. There was still a discrepancy in the inseam but I texted the tutor who advised that the amount would be usefully eased in particularly as these were sports trousers.

So I carefully cut out all my pieces.

I followed the construction process we had used in our jeans making course. This meant the very first thing to be constructed was the side pocket. This went ahead no problem. Then I had to insert the fly front zipper. I struggled with this - the notes from the class we had previously weren't great, unfortunately. The Reader's Digest 'Complete Guide to Sewing' came to my rescue.

Looking good so far - then I tried them on! The back side seam was 2.5 cms longer than the front. No matter what I did. Well, toiles are for cutting apart and ripping up and drawing on (there's really no such thing as the 'wearable muslin' that I read about so often) so despite this being the night before my submission was due, I unpicked the toile, cut off the excess on one leg only and resewed at the correct length. Now my inseam and outseam lengths both matched perfectly!

Otherwise, I was reasonably happy with fit - I felt another couple of toiles would do it!! I further modified this toile by taking in the back seam where it was loose and standing away from my waist. I found that there was some pouching below the zip and I wondered if I had used too long a zip (8") and also I felt tightness across the thighs when I moved.

It was too late to do anything else. I decided against putting on the waistband. I didn't hem but put in a sample of the vent/slit treatment with comments. I completed my portfolio, including the necessary changes I still thought was required, and went to class on Thursday evening.

The tutor looked at my fitting photos, then I tried on the final toile. It's interesting that the tutor thought one thing when looking at the photos but immediately changed her mind when seeing the real thing, which shows the limitations of fitting from photos.

She didn't think they were too bad and pinned out some adjustments which I transferred to the 'modified final pattern'

• I further took in the back seam
• Excess fabric was removed from front (the pouching between zip and inseam)
• I added 1 cm to the outseam of front legs only
• My left leg (the one where I have a particularly knock knee) was okay from the back but the right leg was not. Although I knew I really needed separate leg patterns, I hadn't had time to address this. However, now I did!

In class I redrew and modified the main pattern pieces. I had one front leg piece and two back leg pieces, for right leg and left leg. I didn't have time to modify pocket pieces, waistband etc.

I look forward to actually making up a pair of trousers when I get my portfolio back - though rest assured, I'll do another toile first! The calico I used for the toile is much heavier than the fabric I intend to use for the trousers, so some adjustment on that account may be required.

I've signed up to the class for September for 30 weeks. The tutor has suggested that my pattern drawing and then sewing project should be my daughter's wedding dress. The main stumbling block is that my daughter lives in the east end of London, works at Kings Cross, and I don't see her that often, so fitting is an issue. I discussed options for fitting - duct tape, plaster dummies etc. I know that Morley College does a dummy making weekend but I think her Dad will carry this out when she's home. Unless anyone has a better idea? My daughter feels that thinking about the design is more crucial at this stage. She wants me to go to London for a few days when we can see a couple of the dresses she likes, finalise a design, go fabric shopping etc. I think it's too early for that. Expense is a problem - I really can't afford to spend several nights in a London hotel and really can't stay with my daughter; I could commute from Cambridge, perhaps. I'll have to think about this.

Birthday weekend in London and frantically getting porfolios ready

I haven’t written a blog post in a while as I have been too busy.

My main reason for starting my blog was to act as a kind of log book for me. Tonight I handed in my portfolio for the Fashion and Clothing Course I have been doing. Whew! It seems a long time since I had to do anything like this - and while I was used to academic submissions, this was very different. It means, though, that as I was documenting for my portfolio, I had less reason to blog, as well as less time. I haven't mentioned the courses for a while. The Pattern Cutting Course has been running smoothly, and to plan, but the Sewing Course has been a fiasco from start to finish, not due to the tutor. I spoke about the problems previously but I elected to continue, in any case.

I made a dress for my final garment, see above, which was submitted alongside a previously made skirt, see below. I will submit a review of the dress later.

 

Tonight, I’m too tired to sew and not tired enough to go to bed just yet, so decided I’d write this post. I’m not through with sewing, you see - I have another portfolio to submit on Thursday for my Pattern Cutting course and I’m way behind. I drew up the pattern for my final garment - a pair of cropped trousers for golf and today cut out and made up the toile. It was awful! It was too baggy, too long at the front and rather twisted in appearance. DH took some photos.

How could that happen when I’d been so careful? Well, I found out the answer! I realised that the sewing class tonight would involve a lot of waiting and paperwork and that after I had sewn on the last poppet to finish my dress, I could look at my toile. These crops have side vents - and I realised I had cut one longer than the other! In a vent, there is a crucial point to which the side seam must be sewed. I had very carefully marked these points - but a 2.5 cm difference in the position of one made a huge difference! I started sewing at that point, sewing up to the side waist so it is no surprise that the front was 2.5 cms too long for the back!

When I realised what I had done, I inadvertently made the situation worse by reducing the length of the long side, when what I should have done was move the stitch point down by 2.5cms. Magic tape will come to my rescue - tomorrow. I'll get it sorted.

I ripped the toile apart and re-pinned to the correct position. Now, the trousers at least met at the top in the right place. I tried them on in the college toilets, just pinned, so my critique is likely to be far from accurate. However, I don’t think I now need to alter the waist height. However, I do need to narrow the trouser legs, increase the side seams to tighten a little and make a knock knee adjustment as they were not lying properly due to my knock knees (the left is a lot worse than the right due to arthritis). I thought that had been taken into account previously as I had already made such an adjustment at an earlier pattern stage for my block, but it's relatively easy fix, though I'd probably be better having separate right and left leg patterns. I'm not sure I have time for that though.

So my plan is that tomorrow I will re-sew the toile, making a knock knee adjustment, greater on the left, narrowing the legs and adjusting the vent. If the result is reasonable, I will draw up what will have to be my final pattern and stitch up a complete garment - if I have time. I’m busy tomorrow night and Wednesday morning and all day Thursday, but I hope there will be enough time to achieve this by Thursday evening.

So I have been pretty immersed in the course work for the two courses I’m doing but not everything has been course work.

By birthday is on 4th July and I said I'd like to visit the Alexander McQueen exhibition at the V&A in London. We arranged our hotel but I was unable to get tickets for Alexander McQueen. Fortunately, I joined the V&A as a member and that gave me access to a members' only showing on the morning of my birthday. I thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition. I don’t have any pictures but there are many online and the exhibition was reviewed very well by Kate from Fabrickated. My youngest daughter was unable to go with me, though she had so much wanted to go, because she had a lot of back pain after camping at Glastonbury a few days before that. So DH accompanied me to that too. The exhibition finishes on 2 August and has been so popular and constantly sold out that the museum is opening overnight for the last two weekends. There are many supportive materials available. One of my pattern cutting friends went at a busy time and found that she couldn't read the notices (I use a large print book - but she's young and doesn't need that!) because people kept getting in the way. Although I don't live on London, I still think that my membership plus 1 guest has already been very useful; I do have a number of things later in the year pencilled in. We're likely to be in London reasonably often.

While in the V&A I also chose to visit the shoe exhibition Shoes: Pleasure and Pain which is on until January. This was also well reviewed by Kate. This time, it was at a rather busy (Saturday late morning) public time and my enjoyment was a little spoiled by the crowds - and the heat! As a northerner, I’m not used to the heat in London. Fortunately, I hadn’t been in London 3 days earlier when the temperature broke all records.

In the course of our weekend, I also visited the Imperial War Museum to see the exhibition 'Fashion on the Ration’. I very much enjoyed that too but was disappointed that in addition to not being allowed to take photographs, or sketch, there were no postcards available of particular garments and the book was text rather than any exhibition photos. I liked a utility garment - these must have been two a penny at the time; one was sold by M&S. But no joy, I’ll just have to remember, as although I'm not a vintage enthusiast, this looked fabulous and I'd love to make it.

Not everything was sewing related, though. I did visit Tate Modern for the first time. I found London very wearying in the heat.

On each of the two evenings we spent in London, we met our youngest daughter and her fiancé (we can't stay with them as their flat is so tiny (and they have so far been thwarted in their attempts to get onto the property ladder) but we stay in a hotel across the road). The first evening, I was so pooped and my feet were killing me that we ate in our hotel. The second evening was my birthday and we went to a lovely and helpful restaurant not too far from our hotel that my daughter recommended and booked. My oldest daughter came to London to join us so that was lovely.

A while back, my youngest daughter had requested that I make her a kimono and she chose the fabric for it when we were at Olympia in February. Eventually, we decided on one of the patterns I already had (free with a magazine) and she requested that I make it as long as possible both in body and sleeve - there she requested 3/4 length sleeves. Well, I did make it and took it to London with me to give her. I will review that, too, later. I took a couple of photos of it on my mannequin but we weren't able to get any of my daughter wearing it. She’ll send me photos eventually. I'll post then.

On the Sunday, we decided to leave London and return to Cambridge slowly, via Duxford (we drove to London; originally we were going to leave the car in Cambridge and get the train but our plans changed.). No, I didn't do any fabric shopping while I was there! My daughter had prepared a lovely family celebration evening meal and my grandsons gave me their handmade cards. Then, unexpectedly, my middle daughter arrived. So I didn't see all three daughters at the same time, but at least saw them all in the same weekend.

On the Monday morning, we were babysitting for our younger grandson until he went to nursery school in the afternoon but then we made our way home slowly. This meant I missed my sewing class, which meant in turn that I have been more pressurised since! As I went to London via Cambridge on the Thursday, I also missed my pattern cutting class.

So it comes full circle. I need to go to bed now so I'll be refreshed for my marathon to come, tomorrow!

On Friday I'm going to see the Yves Saint Laurent exhibition at the Bowes gallery. Should be good. I'll write more about that next week, perhaps.

Bye for now.

Anne