Developing a Fabric - the story of our tartan silk (Including guest post by DH)

I'm starting this post in August 2015 but don't expect to post in its entirety until 2016. I'll be saving it for my own benefit and it's easier to put in my steps as I go along.

Beginning:

My husband is a McClure. The McClures were largely based in the south west of Scotland. The clan was a precept of the McLeod clan - this effectively means that the smaller clan got protection from the larger in return for support in battle etc. Or so we believe. The small clan is a separate clan,  with its own tartan.

Over the years,  however,  while the patterns for the McClure tartan still existed, DH was not aware of that as he had not found any information about them and it was impossible to buy the tartan - or at least he could not find a source and could not find a anyone who was aware of the existence of the tartan. While DH was young, he could only find links to McLeod tartans when searching on his name in available tartan reference books. There was McLeod of Harris and McLeod of Lewis,  dress,  hunting,  ancient and modern tartans. He clearly would have preferred a McClure tartan but had been led to believe that such didn't exist by other local McClures. A teacher at school with the McClure name wore a kilt made from McLeod tartan and said that was the one that was meant to be worn. DH didn't take this any further at that stage.

Fast forward a number of years.

My husband had never had a kilt. One reason was the expense of the kilt outfit. The other was that he had no real desire or incentive to get a kilt. For years,  I had been trying to persuade him to get a kilt. I wasn't keen on him getting one in McLeod tartan as I didn't like it. We decided to look at various options as we were now firmly in the Internet age; visits to tartan shops with clan tartan reference books weren't successful.

We did a lot of online searching,  coming up short in most tartan websites. However, we eventually found mention of and a picture of his own clan tartan! There were two tartans with green and red/orange being the main colours with additional blue, white and black - the green is the dominant colour in the hunting tartan,   and the red/orange is dominant in the dress tartan.

We can't remember all the details - this was in 2003 - but our reference source led to us contacting Lochcarron mills. This mill was prepared to access the online pattern information we had found and use this to set up a special weave. This was very expensive, since apart from anything else,  there was a minimum weave amount. We had the option of different weights of tartan and chose the heavyweight, in double width. Later, the mill made up a kilt from the tartan. A traditional kilt takes nine yards of single width tartan - hence the saying 'the whole nine yards'. We have a fair bit if this heavyweight tartan left.

Zoom forward another few years.

Our youngest daughter requested a skirt for herself made from the tartan.

More time passed

Our youngest daughter asked a few more times.

Eventually, we got in touch with the mill again. It was still operating.  After discussion,  they were able to custom weave the same hunting tartan we'd had before in a medium weight tartan (light weight was also available) - subject to the minimum order of 30 metres. They still had the details on record.

I still haven't made that skirt....

Meantime, this same daughter got engaged. She requested integration of our tartan into the wedding (corsages etc) - and her fiance requested a waistcoat to be made with our tartan at the back. Officially we were still thinking of the wool tartan.

I thought it would be nice to have printed silk or cotton as I thought that medium weight wool would be very heavy for the back of a waistcoat. I was a bit concerned with ordering from US sources because of import duty which is hefty and also because of time delays in posting samples.

The first few sources I chased up were no use.

Then Kate of Fabrikated (Fit and Flare)  gave me a couple of leads. One didn't work out as they largely supply silk scarfs. They suggested another source.

The other source from Kate looked very promising and I sent off for silk and cotton samples and colour samples in these mediums.

The instructions and guidance from them is excellent. Currently,  however,  we are stuck as DH's Colormunki isn't working. This is needed to calibrate the colour on the computer monitor screen, so we can be sure that when we order what we see it's an think it should be. We have scanned direct from tartan,  copied the tartan and we also have the original printout from 2003, complete with weaving instructions and colours used,  unfortunately using a different system.

I like the look of the silk satin weave and like the look of the colours on it. I think this would make a great back to A's waistcoat (he'll be wearing morning suit by the way) and also sashes, corsages etc.

Hopefully, we will be able to move on to the next step soon.

That was started last year. I have since made the waistcoat (blogged here).

Helen and Anthony at the reception; waistcoat front

Waistcoat back showing tartan silk

Many have asked for further details about the fabric printing and I asked David to write up a 'guest' blog post for inclusion here. So here we go:

The McClure tartan by David McClure

My wife has already given a brief history of how the printed silk back for the waistcoat worn by my new son-in law, Anthony, was created. This is my account which in no way contradicts Anne’s version and really adds only a few asides, personal thoughts and minor technical details.

As Anne pointed out we both laboured under the impression that my ‘family’ tartan was that of the Clan McLeod. I had no real problem with this since one of my best friends at school was a firmly established member of this clan, being related to Dame Flora McLeod.

McLeod tartan. Image source: Lochcarron of Scotland – www.lochcarron.co.uk

However the tartan was a very vibrant pattern with a strong bright yellow component which Anne found not entirely to her taste. Initially we decided that we would not pursue any incorporation of this particular tartan into any garments which she constructed, but just to make sure that we were not missing any alternatives I carried out a fairly exhaustive search using what are now very familiar tools namely the internet and Google.

I found a link to what appeared to be a very authoritative site with well referenced sources which indicated that there might be an authentic McClure tartan. Eventually I traced images of a Dress and Hunting pattern for a tartan listed as the McClure tartan. Unfortunately this was several years ago, the initial search trail has long since gone cold and, as is the way with these things, become a bit blurred. In other words I cannot remember where I have filed the web addresses and images of the tartan found originally. However I did determine to try to obtain a real sample of the cloth and possibly even consider having a kilt made with the ‘Hunting’ version of the tartan.

First a small aside which might cast some light on my early assumptions that no tartan other than that of McLeod was available to me.

As with many Scottish clan names the meaning of the name can be traced to possible Scottish or Irish Gaelic origins and the clan ‘home territory’ can be linked to some part of Scotland. The McClure name is apparently found in greatest density in the south west of Scotland. This was the area which I considered home being a native of what was Ayrshire. In fact in my years at secondary school there were four McClures all of similar age. We were, in our own way, the strongest ‘mini clan’ in the year. There is however no clan chief or clan stronghold.

Apart from the group of four McClures in my year we had one other noteworthy McClure in the school, namely the PE teacher, affectionately known as ‘Stiffy’. Unfortunately this teacher had also come to believe that the McClure name was inextricably linked to the McLeod tartan and since we are referring to the period 1963 to 1969 during which time the internet and Google were not readily available, this was accepted as fact. I wonder if he still wears his McLeod tartan kilt?

However back to the present. Having established that I could claim a tartan as my own rather than one borrowed from someone else, I set about finding a supplier of the cloth. This was not too difficult since there are not too many tartan weavers left in Scotland. Unfortunately none of them had any stocks of the McClure tartan and in fact most of them did not even recognise the pattern. There was one well established firm who were able to locate the source of information which I had identified as an authentic record of the pattern and who would also weave the tartan to order, namely Lochcarron of Scotland. Not only would they weave the tartan but they were also kilt makers and could advise on the quality of cloth required, the amount and make the kilt.

The company sent a detailed print of the pattern with specifications of the colours of threads used; this print showed a full ‘cell’ of the tartan pattern which would, of course, be repeated in a regular fashion.

Source sheet for McClure ‘Hunting pattern’ tartan. From Lochcarron of Scotland.

Having placed the order I was contacted by the company and invited to inspect the weave on the loom. This, I thought, was more of a favour and a courtesy than any indication that I was going to be able to verify that they were producing the correct item. However, as I was to discover later, and have now come to understand, this was indeed a vital part of the process. I was delighted to be able to visit the mill and see the tartan in production and dutifully took along a bottle of single malt with which I toasted the birth of my tartan. In due course the bale of tartan was completed and the kilt produced.

Anne may already have reproduced this image in her blog but I include it here because it gives some substance to my possibly protracted tale:

Kilt in the McClure tartan modelled by me! Photo by Joanne McClure.

Apart from a request from Helen for a plaid skirt using the tartan, incorporating the tartan into garments associated with Helen’s wedding was seen as a particularly attractive possibility. Having a panel of the tartan as part of Anthony’s waistcoat was one way of achieving this and would allow for a very interesting ‘reveal’ at an appropriate point in the ceremony if the opportunity arose. The only flaw in this plan was the nature of the tartan, namely heavyweight wool cloth. Not exactly ideal for a June 4^th wedding, even if the wearer of the garment was acclimatised to southern English temperatures and the wedding was to be in sunny Newcastle upon Tyne. The obvious solution was to have the tartan reproduced in a lighter weight material e.g. silk. After all printing on silk was a well established process and there would be no problem finding a company who could carry out this task

 Right?

Well not exactly. Although in a global community, where the need is for industrial quantities of product and the timescale is measured in months or years, this is probably a relatively easy undertaking, a small piece, sourced locally as a one off, did not prove so easy. Eventually we heard of Lacuna Press and read several very encouraging reports of the experience of others who had used their services. Initial contact, by email, directed us toward their web site and their extensive, detailed and very informative help files. These files guided us through the process of creating an image file of the pattern to be printed onto the fabric. In addition a range of different fabrics can be used and a test sample is offered as a 1 meter wide 10cm section. The cost of this test print is then offset against the cost of any final order.

The important stages of producing the image for printing are the colour matching and sizing of the image. Here the help files are vital and although working through these for the first time was a bit daunting, they are presented in a clear and logical manner. I used a combination of Adobe Photoshop to produce the image file and a ColorMunki calibration device to ensure that my monitor was correctly adjusted.

Here I will further lengthen my tale by including another aside. Lacuna Press stress the importance of ensuring that the monitor or screen on the computer used to view the image as it is being prepared, is correctly adjusted to show the true colours of the image. This can be achieved ‘manually’ using various methods including a set of detailed instructions in Photoshop. However by far the easiest method is to use one of the commercially available devices specifically designed to perform this function. Since I am interested in photography to the point where I have almost as much photographic kit as Anne has sewing associated items, I had, and was in the habit of using, a ColorMunki. This is a calibration device which synchronises the colour settings for monitors, printers and scanners. Unfortunately I appeared to have electrocuted my munki. I plugged it in via its USB ‘tail’ in order to calibrate the monitors of the computer I was about to use and it promptly ceased to be a ColorMunki. It was now a DeadMunki. There then swiftly followed a short period of my expressing my thoughts on all munkis and a slightly longer period during which I tried the manual calibration methods before admitting defeat and buying a new munki. I also rebuilt the USB stage of my computer just in case a fault in that area had caused the munki’s demise. The monitors were then calibrated and the task of having the tartan printed on silk recommenced.

Producing the image file was possibly the most tedious part of the whole process. I had my bale of tartan cloth which I could use for the image. A simple photo of the cloth would have been sufficient. However I wanted to have the finished item look as good as possible so I started off with a photocopy of the reference cell of the tartan provided by Lochcarron. I then selected the representative cell and proceeded to copy and merge this to create an image which would print to produce a 1 meter wide pattern. There were two main difficulties in this process. One was achieving alignment and register of the pattern and the second was the rapidly increasing size of the file as the process progressed. Fortunately Adobe Photoshop is extremely comprehensive in its provision of tools to achieve virtually any image manipulation task which can be imagined. In addition many of the tasks are possible using Photoshop’s automated features. Thus the alignment was helped immensely by the photomerge function and the file size, though increasing rapidly with each duplication and merge of the image, was no real obstacle.

In this image the representative cell has been copied and merged to produce a single strip of the required width which will be copied lengthwise to create the 1 x 1 meter print.

We decided that the full size cell of the real tartan was too large for the waistcoat and opted for a reduction to approximately one half of the original size. Lacuna Press allow some choice in the resolution of the final print and I chose the maximum 300 dpi quality meaning that for a 1 meter by 1 meter print my final image needed to be 11,811 by 11,811pixels.

This is the image which was used to produce the tartan sample on silk. Initially the file was massive but saving it at 300 dpi in Photoshop reduced it to manageable proportions.

This is a very truncated version of the process since any attempt by me to provide detailed instruction would probably be completely incomprehensible and could not possibly be better than the excellent help files available through the Lacuna Press website. However as a final comment on this stage of the process I think it is worth adding that the colours of the final print were adjusted to be muted by comparison with the original since this blended much better with the fabric of Anthony’s waistcoat.

I can now put a little twist in the tail of this tale. As I mentioned earlier my daughter Helen expressed a wish to have a plaid skirt made in the family tartan. However the fabric produced for my kilt is the heavyweight version and while it would be possible to use it for a plaid skirt, it would be better to have a lighter weight fabric. I therefore contacted Lochcarron again with a view to having a length of the tartan produced in a medium weight version. This is when I discovered that my participation in the creation of the original fabric was not simply that of a customer placing an order. Before I was able to order more of the tartan from Lochcarron, I had to establish that I had the right to use the pattern. It seems that in placing the original order I was now part of the ownership formality for that tartan. The tartan was regarded as a private tartan by the mill with only a few able to have it made for them. Not only was it my family tartan it was MY family tartan. I’m still not sure of the implications of this but I am strangely very pleased at the thought of this exclusivity. The bale of medium weight tartan now rests securely with the rest of Anne’s fabric stash where it is supremely safe since no one in his or her right mind would try to penetrate that gargantuan collection.

Finally an image of Anthony modelling the waistcoat.

Incidentally the malt used to christen the tartan was a 15 year old Dalwhinnie.

Groom's Waistcoat - burda 3403

Anthony and Helen asked me to make Anthony a waistcoat for the wedding. Anthony asked for this to be tartan, in our family tartan which we'd had specially woven in medium weight wool (I've spoken of this before). However, he then explained he wanted the tartan at the back of the waistcoat, the idea being that once he was part of our family,  he'd take off the jacket with a bit of flare and surprise everyone with its unique back.

I agreed but suggested that as waistcoats usually have a silk back we'd try to get silk printed with the tartan. It's a long story, and not mine to tell (though interesting!). Kate (of Fabrickated) suggested a couple of UK companies which might help. There appear to be more now. David was in charge of this part. Lacuna Press printed the tartan pattern provided by David onto the silk twill I chose, after sampling various silks. We first bought a sample of the printed fabric following which we slightly altered the colours and scale, making the patterns smaller which I thought would fit better with a waistcoat.

I chose a suitable pattern (burda 3403) and made a number of toiles using version 'A' from the pattern envelope until we were happy with the fit.

Overall, Anthony preferred a slimmer and slightly longer style than the original shape.  We kept the 5 buttons. I finally made up a complete waistcoat, complete with buttons and pockets and rear belt and fasteners. This fitted well and we were good to go. I completely redrew the main waistcoat and lining pieces so I wouldn't get confused with the changes I had made. I didn't ever intend to make the waistcoat pattern from scratch.

We looked for suitable fabric for the front of the waistcoat. Anthony and Helen found the perfect fabric in Joel & Son. Anthony, the best man Alex and the ushers would be wearing ties in Cambridge blue and the chosen fabric, a beautiful wool and silk blend, matches beautifully. I must say I continued to have a bit of a concern that they would clash - until I actually saw them together on the day of the wedding. I needn't have worried. In Joel & Son they also bought the lining for the waistcoat and the main fabric for the bridesmaids' dresses, which were also going to be in Cambridge blue.

Why Cambridge blue? Anthony and Helen are Cambridge graduates and Anthony has a Cambridge Blue (awarded to those who represent the University in sport at the highest level including playing against their big rivals, Oxford). Anthony was a successful international fencer (he isn't now fencing internationally) and gained a Full Blue for fencing. I hope I have the correct terminology here - I haven't checked up the details.  He has a Cambridge blue blazer which to me seems a lot paler and more blue than the shade we have (which I see as green and others as various shades of blue, silver, green, grey.) Several other members of the wedding party were also fencers, including Anthony's brother who regrettably just failed to gain a place on the GB fencing team for the Rio Olympics. Helen also played sport for the university. 

Time to start the waistcoat! 

I had great difficulty making the first cut!  This was at the time the most expensive fabric I had ever used. My tutor Lyn and the other ladies in the sewing class were all encouraging me to go ahead. Lyn pointed out I had tested the pattern, redrawn, checked and just needed to do it.  So I did. Scary! That was a key moment in this whole process.

There isn't a great deal to say about making up the pattern. Instructions weren't brilliant but adequate, particularly as I had Lyn to ask for advice.  She's shown me a few techniques not mentioned in the instructions which improve the finish. The main fabric behaved well. I followed some written advice about how to bag out the waistcoat lining in addition to Lyn's advice and she explained how important it is to ensure there is no excess lining, trimming any excess off so that it lies properly inside. I used interfacing as suggested. All the edges were understitched.

Of course I had a few problems. None insurmountable, though.

• I was ironing the creases out of the custom printed silk and got water stains! I couldn't believe how dirty they were, even though my iron is new.   I was horrified but we washed it, after pressing on the right side on the hottest setting it could take as per FAQs, and it was fine. 
• I had to redo one of the facings
•  I accidentally cut through one of the welts when snipping a thread with my so sharp scissors. I had no choice but to replace - I replaced both and slightly modified and improved how I did it. Fortunately I had enough of the fabric to replace the bits that needed replaced.
• When I was making the toiles I got confused with the turning through of the lining at the end so I needed to have advice available. That's why I needed both the books, with diagrams and Lyn's advice on hand
•  I made imprints of the darts on the front of the waistcoat but these disappeared

I had more difficulty with the slippery silk for the back. David helped me lay it out flat and even and secure for cutting. I had to ensure that the appropriate pattern line was at the centre back of the waistcoat and that the waistcoat was perfectly symmetrical around this. This took some time but I think I succeeded pretty well. I practised with some off cuts and started my sewing with the belt.

It was difficult to match thread and buttons to the fabric but we succeeded pretty well. The main thread is the same as that for the bridesmaid dresses. I chose a colour to fit in with the silk on the strap. (You may admire my pattern matching of the strap to the main body of the back!) Anthony chose a couple of sets of buttons and together we all chose the ones to actually go on the waistcoat. I had the buttonholes made (but not cut) and the buttons sewn on before I dared to cut the buttonholes - and then only after getting the tutor to check the positioning etc. Another scary time.

So the waistcoat was the first wedding garment completed. 

Front. On hanger

Back. On hanger

Back - on Missy!

Front - on Missy!

Anthony tried it on and it still fitted the way he wanted it to - too late to change anyway!! I'm showing him trying it on just before the wedding - he's wearing casual clothes.

I didn't get a chance to get a photo of Anthony and David together at the wedding but I believe there will be one from the official photographer. You can see the front in some of the photos.

I'm pleased with the waistcoat. It fits as it should and looks good. I'd be happy to make another. I learned a lot - not least to be braver and to try things.

As it happens, the weather stole Anthony's thunder!  It was so hot that he slipped off his jacket at the meal without any fanfare! I was glad we had sun and warmth after a poor start to the day - and even more glad when the next day was even nicer for our BBQ. 

After I brought the waistcoat back from the display of my work at the college last night (Anthony needs the waistcoat for a wedding they are attending immediately they get back from their own honeymoon) I checked it and realise there are some pulls in the fabric and some minor staining. I'll have to see what I can do with it. 

Does anyone want David to say more about the process of printing the silk?

Some people have told that they'd like more details about the wedding dress. Can you let me know if you would like that, please?

Also - I will be putting up another brief post about the bridesmaid dresses. As you know, I didn't actually do the final sewing but did do everything up to that stage. Alison commented how lovely it was for us all to design the dresses, personalise them and then get them to fit perfectly. So they will be on the blog.

More photos of the wedding will have to wait, I'm afraid. All photos here remain the property of their original owners!

A Beautiful Wedding

We had a lovely weekend. Not just lovely. Fabulous.

Helen married Anthony on Saturday 4 June in a local church. Helen’s two sisters were her bridesmaids.  Anthony had a best man and 4 ushers including his brother. My two grandsons, Helen's nephews, presented her with a lucky horseshoe - a real one,  painted by Alison and trimmed with ribbon from her wedding (no photos of that yet - will have to wait for those from the official photographer)

Helen and Anthony. Alison and Joanne. Best man Alex and 4 ushers. Taken in the garden at Capheaton Hall

Then we travelled out into the country for the reception which Helen and Anthony had organised and the two families help set up in the few days leading up to it. It was great. Photographs,  garden games, wedding breakfast in a large marquee, ceilidh followed by cake cutting (the cake was made by Anthony's mother), hog roast. A free bar with plenty to drink including a bride's cocktail and a groom's cocktail.

Then on Sunday we had a post wedding BBQ in our garden for their friends who were travelling back - mainly to London but some friends had travelled much further, one from Australia who had travelled just for the wedding and was then going back. The weather was glorious.

You want to know about the dress, though.

Yes, I finished it. Very much at the last minute. All that hand sewing took so much longer than I thought, not helped by incorrectly sewing in the weights and having to redo. Helen made the belt to go with the dress (well done,  Helen, you did a brilliant job and I'm not going to say any more so you can put it in the sewing blog you’re going to start) and I finished the cathedral length veil at 11pm on Friday after Joanne and Alison researched how to do it for me.

I realise I am not going to post a lot about the design or construction of the dress as I've had to put all of that in my course portfolio.

Helen wanted an unstructured very soft dress in double crepe sandwashed silk. My portfolio shows some of the evolution of the idea. We had to compromise as the design needed to be something I could make but that still had the vibe that Helen wanted. Her first ideas were much too complex for me (I tried but couldn't make them work). Gradually we evolved something that worked.

The earlier ideas were very revealing dresses e g. illusion tulle topped with fine Chantilly lace and appliqués added strategically.

Originally she didn't want a waistline but this affected fit so we changed.

The very low front was raised as I couldn't stabilise the front properly.

Helen decided against princess seams at the front. She wanted completely smooth. As I had to wedge out neck and armscyes and have waist shaping there, this led to a very large side dart - I decided to split this dart into 3. We like it.

The back consists of small side wings. It is supported by 3 spaghetti straps on each side. Each bias strap has a core of cord. The wings have an additional layer of silk organza interlining. The sides are low and cut away as requested.

Getting ready

The back skirt does have princess seams and is tightly fitted with the centre backs extending into a short train. We discussed how she'd dance etc but H just wanted to let the dress do its own thing. It did.

The neckline and armscye are supported by tape and understitching.

The whole dress is underlined in habotai silk. We tested samples and this soft silk kept the look and feel Helen was after. The dress is lined in a soft fine charmeuse silk. The lining has a fine rolled hem (done very much at the last minute as I had to shorten it the night before - I had to do this quickly on my overlocker). The dress has a horsehair braid hem and the back to the sides have string weights inserted into the hem. I ended up stitching and pinking the main skirt seams though I hand overcast the bodice seams. I just realised today that I forgot to put a chain stitch between lining and dress - perhaps that contributed to the train’s early demise!

I didn't like working with the charmeuse or the habotai silk.  Too squiggly and difficult to control. I did enjoy working with the sandwashed silk, which didn't fray much at all.

Proud mother, beautiful daughter

There had to be a few very last minute changes as the silk was spongier (not sure of what word to use to describe) and I had to give up on the planned side zip because of bulk that I couldn't remove with three darts there. I used a back zip instead and on my tutor's advice stopped this at waist level (mistake - it would have been much better going all the way up as the suggested hooks and eyes didn't hold it sufficiently firmly and came out a few times anyway - I was going to sew her in at the reception but we didn't do that)

Helen found the dress supremely comfortable. She had wanted very soft very unstructured, very her,  as she had heard of brides being so uncomfortable in their dresses. Helen could sit, dance, go to the toilet etc. The dress is supremely lightweight and soft, just as she requested.

Photo from Patrick Lourie

The dress hasn't survived. I don't know if it's possible to revamp so that Helen can keep it as planned. I dry cleaned the fabric before construction. The train is filthy,  both outer and lining and her foot caught in the braid tearing it back. The hooks at the back didn't survive intact - this meant that for much of the time the bodice was too loose. Helen didn't seem to mind.

I received a lot of compliments for the dress. Helen looked beautiful and happy. 

I spent a long time on the dress and on toiles because fitting at a distance isn't easy. Helen helped by visiting a number of times and I visited her. I’d do it differently on another occasion. I'm pretty pleased with the result and I hope Helen is too (she certainly seems to be). I learned a lot of new techniques and now feel I could tackle anything - the support structures I have are great,  too. Helen says I can't call myself a beginner anymore!  Obviously there are loads of things I've never tried and my attempts at what I did aren't perfect - but the more I practice,  the better I'll get!  When I get around to putting my reviews of the waistcoat on PR,  I may celebrate by upgrading my status to ‘Intermediate’. What do you think?

Back - our family tartan printed on silk

Pre wedding try on

I also made Anthony's waistcoat. More on that later.

I had made the pattern and the final toile for the bridesmaids dresses but in the end ran out of time and arranged with Rory and Dan to sew them; Dan was ill leaving Rory to do them both. I was sick with panic as Rory didn't finish until the evening before the wedding and for the last few days I was running around like a mad thing because of all the activities we had,  including hosting a meal for the two families, meaning that my sewing room was out of commission. Yes,  I know it should have been finished by then…

I took my mother home yesterday (Monday) and rather belatedly helped her sort or some of her stuff in her new sheltered accommodation. Sorted out some by bringing it back with me. We have so much to do! We still plan to downsize…

Tomorrow our course work is moderated and on Thursday we have a display of our work at the college. I handed in my final board with some wedding pictures tonight - some photos from my camera (which I unfortunately broke irreparably by dropping it during the reception). We've had a teaser photo from the official photographer which is fabulous. I've given my tutor the dresses and the waistcoat  but I'm not sure what will be used - do they cover the muddy train? Let it show? The waistcoat and the bridesmaids dresses probably will go in.

Help question, though - a lot of Helen and Anthony's friends have posted terrific photos on Facebook and Instagram. I can't work out how to save and print them, unfortunately. Any ideas?

More later

Some unexpected length changes after altering wedding dress toile

Helen's wedding dress is a very fitted style.

I ran into problems when she markedly changed shape

I originally didn't realise this would be an issue. After all,  she was already slim, UK RTW size 8 - 10 at 6’ tall - pretty much ‘model’ proportions. She started a diet alongside a fitness regime. She wanted to get slightly below her ‘ideal’ weight, by a kg, and tune up her figure.

If she had been readily accessible for fittings, this would have been okay but as it was…

Early on, Helen made it clear she wanted the skirt to be bum hugging. Compromises were made on both sides and I think the skirt was a nice shape.

First problem was that the skirt didn't flow properly at the back. The rear portion was inverted. This was improved by a combination of making the angle of the under bum seam less acute and adding additional fabric - a godet-type addition, except the seaming wasn't visible as it was removed in the pattern pieces.

Better.

Except Helen had lost 5 kg and her shape had changed markedly. I don't know if she will be willing to show the before and after. I'll ask! She says her weight is in the ideal range - I was of course a bit concerned that she was markedly overdoing it when she lost 5 kg and threatened to lose more. Most of the changes are due to toning up her figure.

The toile had to be changed a lot - taken in by up to 8 cms in width at the waist!

I think things began to go wrong here.

The next toile was too tight. A lot too tight. 6 cms too tight! How did that happen? This was a toile complete in all details bar embellishments. The fitting session was taken up with the addition of fabric. Rory says that adding fabric is never as accurate as taking in. I guess I’ve seen this in action now!

I had to make up a quick new toile and post (are you counting the number of toiles here? - I haven't even mentioned them all!). Helen sent photos and I was extremely disappointed. It just didn't fit. It looked huge and baggy and shapeless and the bum wasn't fitted … I thought this was due to further weight loss and shape change. There were horrible pouches at front of both bodice and skirt. Ghastly. Rory, too, was at a bit of a loss saying she certainly hadn't expected that. We assumed Helen had lost more weight as she had threatened to do.

I went back to Missy on Rory's advice and with Dan’s help refitted the bodice. It looked great on Missy (I had rechecked Missy's sizes with Helen's and they were still sufficiently close) I removed the pouching (details in a different post) and made up a quick toile to take with me to Cambridge. I didn't refit the skirt on Missy as it looked as if most of the problems were bodice. In the photos Helen sent,  the back was pulling up and I did some work to alter that (again details elsewhere but briefly the bodice was altered more than the skirt to reflect what we saw on the photos, but the skirt back did have a small section removed to smooth it out)

In Cambridge I also had the opportunity to see the toile I had previously sent on Helen. More of that later.

Latest toile:

I am clearly not good at fitting, unfortunately! I made some changes to the bodice on one side and not the other with a view to asking Rory's advice. Helen wasn't wearing the right bra so I didn't want to over-fit.

The bum was not right. I suddenly realised (after a while of looking at it in consternation) that this was because the back skirt was not long enough at the waist. I unpicked the back bodice from the skirt to the side seams and the bum started to fall into place. There was a gap of 5 cms at the centre! There was still a gap at the side seams.

I then got Helen to try on the posted toile but just the skirt portion using the waist stay to hold it in place. It sat beautifully 3 centimetres below her natural waist and the bum shape was great! (I think the difference between the 3 and the 5 cms reflects the small bit I took off to smooth the back and of course the 5 cms is a less accurate measurement because I had to add in)

So at some stage I have lost that amount from the pattern. I'm not sure how, apart from the smoothing out. The why must be all those alterations, I guess. Sorry,  Helen, for assuming it was ongoing weight loss. She has agreed not to change between now and the wedding so that's something at least.

My next step?  You've guessed it - another toile!!

I will add the ‘lost’ portion to the top of the skirt. I will not modify the bodice at this stage as Rory too suggested I was in danger of just chopping away and away at it and not really gaining anything. When the skirt and bodice were joined, the waist in front was correct so I think that means I don't need to change front bodice length. I'm not sure about the back bodice.

Another issue, of course,  is length. The skirt will now be rather longer. Helen was keen to have the train longer and likes the longer length but I don't know if I have enough fabric! The fabric amount was measured out with shorter lengths. The fabric is expensive so we didn't want to buy too much,  of course. Fingers crossed! At one stage the bodice was cut on the bias and now it is not so that at least gives some hope for fabric quantity!

Helen is here this coming weekend for a friend's hen do and we can manage another fitting. It was going to be an all singing all dancing toile - I bought some beautiful Prada fabric that is much too good for a toile but I couldn't see fabric close enough in handle. I will use this anyway I think but not yet as fit is still an issue. I won't underline it at this stage. The assistant in the fabric shop thought I was making the actual dress from it. It's gorgeous enough! I bought the same quantity as I have in the silk. My underlining and lining fabrics were cheaper,  however.

Wish me luck!

Thoughts on seams and seam allowances; wedding update

When I use commercial patterns, the seam allowances are usually 1.5 cm or ⅝”. The two are not absolutely equivalent. The big 4 are ⅝” and they tend to have all seam allowances this size and then get you to trim. I'm not very good at trimming. However, I do use their seam allowances if I'm making one of their patterns. It would probably be better to trim some of the allowances on the paper pattern before I start and that's my intention in the future.

1.5cm v 5/8"

I ran into an issue when sewing up a skirt with several panels, drafted with 1.5 cm seam allowances. My sewing machine is marked at 5/8" and I sewed up using this marking. However this is 1.6cm approx,  in fact. So each seam allowance was 1mm x 2 larger than it should have been. 5 seams mean that the skirt is 1cm tighter than it should have been. This doesn't seem much but was decidedly problematic. I'm going to mark the seam allowance on the machine which should make it easier to follow the correct straight line. I tried this but the tape I used isn't too easy to follow; I need to find a better method.

When I make my own patterns,  I tend to use metric.  I use 1 cm seams a lot. I find these good for princess seams, neck and armhole edges etc. This is the size we use most in class. There is no doubt that particular sizes are best for particular purposes, however.

Reading pattern making books which use imperial measurements,  they often recommend ¼” for collar edges, for example. Different sizes for different purposes.

For fitting, larger seam allowances are best. The big 4 amazing fit patterns suggest 1” as do many of the imperial pattern books. Our class tutor suggests 2cms.

I find in practice that I often use 1.5 cm,  approximately ⅝”, as that is so widely used (but see issue, above) 

So

1 cm for shoulder seams,  armholes, neckline, facings

1.5 cm for side seams and back seams if a zip is going to be included, 1 cm otherwise.

1.5 cm for waistline seams.

However, when I started making my own patterns,  before I started my college  course, I used Sure Fit Designs, SFD. This is in imperial, ⅝”.

When I started drafting patterns for my daughters, I used SFD - draping and using some of the other systems weren't really possible.

As I fit the toiles, I alter the seam allowances.

Why do I mention this?

I've already said in other posts that I'm not very organised.

I'm doing patterns for two pretty much identical bridesmaid dresses, each custom sized for my two older daughters. For the bodice of each, I started with SFD.

I was sewing up a further bodice toile before posting it off. 

The shoulder seams on one were 1.5 cm  and on the other 1 cm as I had adjusted one and not the other. Needless to say,  I sewed one at the wrong place! Just as well this wasn't the final fabric.

I'm regularly getting them wrong as I'm just not consistent.

This leads to slowness as I keep having to check with the pattern what size the seam should be.

Rory and Dan have agreed to sew up the bridesmaids dresses for me. So I reckon I'd better sort out those patterns! I'll do that after these two toiles are fitted, which will be done by post. ( edited to add - Joanne's is fine but Alison's needs taken in quite a bit,  so her pattern will have to be altered; I've asked her to get a local dressmaker to do this.)

Update Wednesday 27th April 
Quite a while has passed since I started writing this post. Helen's dress isn't going well. I posted her a toile this week as the last one was so bad - but there are still problems. Alison was going to get a local dressmaker to pin fit her toile on her but has been so busy with her open university course, work, life and motherhood and organising the hen-do for Helen that she hasn't managed; she just realised when I tired to chase her up that it was nearly the end of April. I've decided I do have to travel to meet the girls. I decided against attending the hen do, originally (it's a full weekend and Monday is a bank holiday, too). Firstly, I personally don't feel that this is for my generation(!) and secondly, my mother was due to be moving into sheltered accommodation this weekend and I was involved in moving her. However,that has been postponed slightly. So I'm visiting my mother Friday and Saturday to help out and then travelling home (car) then on Sunday/Monday will visit Cambridge and attend part of Helen's hen do on Sunday night. On Monday I should get a chance to fit both Helen (in the yet another new) toile I'm making at the moment to take with me - and Alison. I have a couple of things to check out with Joanne too. Wish me luck!! It's still more than a month to the wedding, but only just!

Changing direction

I'm not sure where to start so I'll keep it simple and brief.

Lots of you were expressing concern that I had overloaded myself with wedding related sewing and was becoming way too stressed. True,  of course.

A couple of you suggested deferring my course. This wasn't possible. However, I have managed to change my final project to the wedding dress and am being allowed to submit photographic evidence of the final garment  - obviously I couldn't hand in the dress! The tutor has been involved throughout the process.

This means I have dropped the MOB dress, which wasn't required by me and I was doing purely to fulfill course obligations. I have purchased an outfit and have arranged to get shoes and bag dyed to the right shade - very dark navy. So that part is completely sorted.

I have arranged for Rory and Dan to make up the final bridesmaid dresses. Joanne's final toile looks fine but Alison's needs some work. I've suggested she tries to find a local dressmaker to pin fit her - a lot cheaper than either of us travelling to the other. Then the pattern will get modified and that can get passed over.

My course starts again tomorrow. I need to do a fair bit of writing up but that's no major problem as I was tracking what I did. I might have to do a new mood board. Again no problem as we have a Pinterest board.There will be a final presentation but first things first!

I've nearly finished the final toile for the wedding dress. I've found a couple of the techniques extremely tricky - and difficult. Helen is trying on this weekend - then I make the proper dress. Scary and exciting! I have 3 weeks.

I'm visiting my mother a few times to help her move into sheltered accommodation. It's very small and requires a lot of downsizing. I feel less panicky about the time I'm spending with her at this stage. Travelling is 3 hours each way so a lot of time gets used up.

Everything comes together,  of course. My tooth broke and that had to be fixed.

We still have a large and noisy fan running, trying to dry out the wall after the toilet flood. The builders were here today planning their next steps. Not looking forward to the mess! But of course it will be nice to have this toilet back in action - it was a real miss over the Easter weekend when we had a full house. Just as well we weren't completely reliant on it.

Thank you for your good wishes.

Back to finishing a piece of work (lining) to take to course tomorrow.