Claire Kennedy Design

I digress

But why not...today I got my frocks trimmed and reverted back to my high school days of sitting under the hair drying and between nods would look at the latest PhotoPlay. 

Now of course you understand that I would never subscribe to the likes of PhotoPlay and maybe that's what made it all that more delicious to read.

So while getting my trim today and under the hair dryer (not because I was getting a bouffant hairdo, but because I do color!!!  My hair is not natural!!), I picked up the PhotoPlay update, "Us" and while thumbing through it, not expecting to see anything I liked (cause I don't know about 95% of the people they are talking about in there), lo and behold, my point was made in the "Who wears (fill in the blank designer) better" article and photos of two starlets wearing the same dress and who looks better.

The one I particularly loved was Marisa Tomei and Debi Mazar.

Now both of these ladies are beautiful and have excellent figures, but their figures are very different.  The poll they were running over on redcarpet-fashionawards.com is which one looked better.  This is a Vivienne Westwood dress and both these gals are in the same color palette so this deep beautiful blue-green looks great on both of them, but one is just off.  And most of the readers of the poll got it.

Most of us would get it.  It's Debi who looks a little frumpier, and it's not the way she's standing, it's not how she looks, and it's not cause Marisa is standing better or right or anything like that.  Look at their legs.

Both have great gams, but something is wrong with the hem and how it hits Debi's legs as opposed to where it hits on Marisa's legs.  What's the matter?

Marisa has a little more shape to her legs....the thickness of her calf is a little lower.  This causes the outline of her leg to go in toward the knee a little lower than on Debi's leg.  This makes Debi's legs look thick and fat, when they are anything but.

If Debi would have worn that dress as much as 1½" higher, but still below her knee to get the same feel of the dress (that it should fall below the knee and flare just a shade out from the knee), she would have looked a gob better....

I did a little photoshop to make my point.

What happens to make this work?

Well, every person's calf eventually moves inward to the knee...where that angle is, is different on every single person...the calf thickness can be higher, the knee can be higher, the indentation can be higher or lower - there are a myriad of combinations to this.  The way to make this work is to have the hem just at the point where the leg profile starts moving in.  This gives the illusion that not only is something smaller coming (on up under the hem), but something much smaller and therefore her legs are shown off to their best advantage, even if what's above the hem isn't all that much smaller.

Here she is side by side to show it even more dramatically.

Remarkable and simple....Still great line to the dress and Debi is the va-va-voom gal she needs to be!!! Debi even looks thinner in the version on the right.

So if you have thick calves or legs that seem to go straight up and down, this is a great technique to use on your hems.  One word of warning.  Don't try and hem to the latest fashion.  If you have thick legs, there is a very small area where this works - anything shorter or longer looks bad - and not just bad - it looks awful, and in case you think I'm wrong - take a look at the pick above again. 

I dare say that had Debi worn this just a little shorter, it would have been a tie on the vote!

 

 

What's the matter with Vogue Patterns

Well, might as well jump right in on this one and get into a whole passel of trouble.

I'm not trying to dis Vogue.  But to be honest, I'm not sure what they're up to, or how they hope to make any $$$ with what's going on.

Here's the problem....I scrounged through some of my old patterns (won't get too old here), in the catacombs and found these gems, and they were (and still are) gems)

A jewel by Ralph Lauren.  I made that jacket 2 times and wore the daylights out of both of them.  It fit gorgeous snug around my little waist, and those puffy sleeves (OK it's dated now, but back then it was the rage!), made my little waist look even smaller.  This pattern was in the "couture" or advanced category, and it was not easy, but it went together well, the markings matched and when the bustpoint said it was 34" it was, but had a nice 1½" ease built in.  The waist had a 1" ease.  When you measured from bustpoint to waist to shoulder you got reasonable measurements (the bustpoint was pretty on target).  And the back was as well.  Obviously if you were sway back there would be adjustments, but for the most part the pattern measurements were good.

But here's the real thing....the sides matched on the patterns - with or without adjustments, the facings matched, the notches matched.  If you put a sleeve together matching those notches, it would come out like the sleeve on the photograph.

That's good pattern design - the mechanics of the pattern are good as well as the line and cut. 

Vogue also had VEV, which had great design.  This looks like a sack and doesn't have many seams, but back in the day, yada, yada, yada...I made that top a number of times, and it was perfect for what I wanted.  It was easy (fewer pieces) and yet had great detail in that front placket and collar, and looked just like the pictures....the sleeve went in just as the picture shows, and the mechanics were good.

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Vogue even had international designers, and I loved this jewel.  I know the shoulders are somewhere large even comparing to Michael Oher, but it was the style, and this fit beautifully.....that little pocket thing in there has a dart and fitting to make it hug around your hips easy as pie! And the pattern made that dart mechanics work beautifully.

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OK - here's a perfect example of classic (if you don't have me as your friend on Facebook, go over there and friend me.  I put little jewels up all the time over there - and today I talk about what is classic and what isn't using this pattern - click here).  This pattern has to fit.  Those darts have to work.  Additionally the bodice waist darts and skirt hip darts have to match as the waist and they do, because they are marked well.  The mechanics are good.

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Lastly a staple was always a Calvin Klein here and there, and this jacket and skirt were great.  This collar and neckline just screamed to me, "Make me up NOW!!!" And I did and it was not that hard, because the pattern markings were right on.

So what Vogue had was not only had the most up to date patterns, but also had the patterns that had good mechanics.  They would lay out the designer clothes and copy them piece by piece, of course with the designers blessing and permission, but the patterns had good guts.

This is the part that really makes Vogue a problem today.  They KNOW how to do this, but either don't care anymore, or just aren't doing it.  They KNOW what good style and design is, but just aren't doing it.  And you can't say that it's not out there....I spent a couple of days recently in a metro area spooking the local stores and there are beautiful clothes out there. 

So my complaint with Vogue is two-fold. 

1. They know what good mechanics and construction is and just aren't doing it any more in their patterns, AND
2. they know what good design/designers is/are and aren't doing that as well.

This is all well and good for those of us who have experienced Vogue for what they used to be and know there's a difference today, but for those who don't...new to sewing or else younger that they've never known these patterns or way of sewing, and the pattern mechanics are not good or off, the young sewists thinks it's their fault. 

And it's not.....

It's the fault of the pattern, not the sewist.  After you've sewn with these a couple of times and the result is the same, a confused or messed up result because of the poor pattern mechanics, pretty soon the newbie thinks that they weren't meant to sew, or there's something wrong with them....when it's not them.

My sewing improved unbelievably when I purchased an excellent sewing machine, and when I began sewing with excellent patterns - at the time that was Vogue patterns.

Today, it's probably spread throughout, but Burda seems to be the company that takes the place of the void left by Vogue.  You can get them online at several sources

• SewingPatterns.com - they also have a variety of other patterns, but also some from their seasonal catalog.
• BurdaStyle.com - this site is a little controversial, as the sites for other countries, German and France in particular, have a lot more from the magazine, but the US/English site has a bunch to download along with the Burdamode group that did variations on these patterns.  It's a creative, site, but also they have stuff from the magazine that you can download, so it's worth checking out to see what they have on a regular basis.
• BurdaStyle Magazine - Here you can subscribe to BurdaStyle magazine...depending upon how fast you want the delivery.

BurdaStyle and all the others

Patterns have become an interesting topic, mostly because there's been a change going on for about 10 years or so.  When I was first learning how to sew, and even back when I was first introduced to sewing, Vogue Patterns was the standard by which all the other patterns were judged.  Nothing, domestic or international could compare.  As I began to hone my sewing skills, Vogue Patterns grew with me, from beginner, intermediate, advanced to couture.

I even made these, even though some of them were considered high tailoring.  But this is the sort of product that Vogue Patterns used to produce.  So no wonder no one could touch them.

But eventually sales waned, home sewing waned, even while I was learning some advanced tailoring and dressmaking techniques, sewing was becoming passe.  I think that's one of the things that was most appealing about it to me.  While all my friends were shop-a-holics and spending 3 to 4 times what I was, I was making that very wardrobe myself, and much better I thought, cause it was in the color, style, and fabric that I liked and wanted so much.

For a long time, there was a void, and although I had known about Burda and Anna Burda, and what a fine company it was, it lived under the shadow of "no seam allowances" in the pattern and the horrid nightmare stories of cutting it out, not quite matching and being always too small.  So there was a stand-off-ish-ness to Burda that followed. 

It certainly wasn't the design that scared people away...these looks were totally in fashion and completely savvy at the time.

It was the seam allowances and it was as if someone had put a curse on Burda - or at least that's how I felt.

Then I finally just got to the point where I would draw up what I needed.  This was mostly for my clients and there was hardly anything out there that was close to the pattern my clients generally wanted, so this is all I used.

Then for some reason, I decided to take the first Burda World of Fashion, and that was it.  The first couple of issues were a little weird, but what I noticed is that I would go back to those and use them again and again.  I'm still drawing from patterns in the late 90's - good classic style is timeless, and some of those patterns were and are timeless.

I kept thinking that Vogue, Butterick, McCalls would catch up.  And even would look at New Look and some other art house patterns (Dianne Ericson, Linda Lee, Lois Hinse), but as I begin to look closer and closer at the BWOF, I was astounded at how well they were made, how well they were cut, how well they fit, how easy they were to alter (lots of cutting lines means lots of places to fit), and basically what great look they were.

In an effort to find another BWOF out there, I've started taking Knipmode.  It's a bit more casual, not as many pattners, but certainly classic enough to last for a while.  And frankly with just one issue, it's not really fair to compare.  BurdaStyle (today's version of BWOF), is so far and above ahead of any other patterns, that it's going to be a hard act to follow.

In the February Knipmode

is this blouse, in another version (which I couldn't find immediately online) is the same line with a collar and without the ruffles, that looks interesting....

and this little gem...a new and interesting way to close a jacket, which I liked...

...then this jacket, which is hard to see, hard to photograph, and hard to see the lines with this picture, but take it from me, the lines look great and might be interesting to do.

 

But in the February issue of BurdaStyle, is this jacket:

This has gobs of style and I'm immediately taken to it.  That seam in the middle is there for fit, and my bet has a nice bust dart in there, which you have those waist darts fitting the waist.  I have the perfect fabric for this, as a matter of fact I was on the Burda site before the Feb. issue arrived and knew I wanted to do this up, and was wondering why my mailperson hadn't finished delivering all my mail, thankyouverymuch!  So I've been waiting for this pattern.

Then there's a compliment of sorts

Again - with the cut....and the seam in the middle looks like it doesn't go all the way to the side seam - it does, again probably with a bust dart in there, but if it's not, I can sure add one.

Again with the "cut", the "line" the design....all of the BurdaStyle patterns have all of that, where as I feel the Knipmode is a little tricky, and Vogue is so far down the list now, that I hardly look at them.  I received my current issue of Vogue Patterns and it just lays there.  I hardly open it.

For me the difference between Burda and Knipmode for now, is that BurdaStyle has way more design detailing and good line and cut than does any other pattern.  I'm going to give Knipmode a good shot, I have a subscription for a year, and if they don't do anything really fun and outstanding, then I won't renew (and considering it's almost twice as expensive as BurdaStyle, that will be a relief).  But if they are good, then they will be worth the money.

Lastly, and I can't believe I actually have to say this about commercial patterns, but some patterns these days are "off".  IOW, when you sew them up, correctly, as the pattern markings and directions say to do, they go together badly and there are a multitude of errors that may not even be undone or redone by a master, much less a newbie or even intermediate sewist. 

This irks the heck out of me, and that's about as nicely as I can put it, cause it steams me up so badly so quickly, it's like lighting a match under Mt. Kilauea, and I blow.  I think newbies and beyond have enough problems that they don't need any others by supposedly "professional" pattern companies (and this goes for poorly made sewing machines as well).  It's so rewarding to sew for yourself in so many ways, but one of the main ones is that sewing is a constant state of problem solving, and to look at the end and see, feel, wear and garner all sorts of compliments, is the whole purpose, not to stumble through professional directions from a professionally made pattern or sewing machine.

So I suppose my #1 reason why I like Burda is that it goes together well, and you will have a well-cut garment where the pieces actually fit together well. 

The #2 reason is because I may look at a pattern for the first couple of months, thinking, "What are they thinking?" Then go back to it, and think, "Ingenius!!!"  It's actually long-lasting.

Hopefully that answers a little bit of why I like sewing with Burda so well.  Knipmode, the jury is still out, but has a long way to go, and Vogue, Butterick and McCalls are not to be trusted, Simplicity has a lot more going for it, but still way behind Burda, and although the art-to-wear designers like Diane Ericson, Linda Lee and Lois Hinse are beautiful things, I think it's more fun to fit the body, than to just mask it.  And Marci Tilton, Claire Shaeffer and Sandra Betzina do an excellent job of keeping up the old Vogue standard, it's just they can't do it all by themselves.

 

More on Vogue Fabrics, Jan 2011

Oops - I'm registered on Vogue Fabrics by mail, and some of the links I provided on yesterday's post are for those registered.  It's free:  granted it's another password and username to remember, but it does give you access to the latest fabrics by mail.  I think after a month they are all accessible.  In the meantime I do have some of the pictures up of the fabrics.  What my intention was that if you receive the samples by mail, but are looking for ideas for the fabrics.  Hope that makes sense.

A perfect example is the Parity Tweed.  It looks like a tweed (and is even called a tweed), but when you put your hand on it, it's a lot like a blouse weight.

So you can definitely add backing to the tweed to make it structured like a typical jacket-type fabric, or you can think outside the box and do something a little different, but something that works.

The first idea is to do some sort of blouse look.  (This does not require any backing)

This is BurdaStyle #104 from May, 2010, but you can download it on the Burda site here.  This would be an easy solution, and sort of a "folk" look.

But what about something different (this doesn't require backing either):

This is from the same issue #126 or you can download it here on the Burda site.  This looks much more like the jacket that the tweed is meant for, but it's loose, and would make a really fine look.

For a fun variation a slit up the back taked with an embroidered arrow would also be a neat look:

You can do this one of two ways...you can insert a block pleat with a stay at the waist, or an opening (this would entail you always wear a shell or camisole under the jacket, unless you want a really big raise at work (OK, not funny!)

Following is a short tut on how to make the embroidered arrow tack.  I like to place this so that the flat edge is at the bottom and the point is at the top.  The stay needs to be at the bottom of the tacked area, so that should be where the bottom, not the point of the arrow needs to stay this area.

Vogue Fabrics by Mail, Jan 2011

I get a lot of questions about what fabrics go with what patterns, so thought I would go through Vogue Fabrics by Mail January (Winter 2010) selection issue and look at the fabrics.  If you don't subscribe to their fabric by mail, it's well worth the annual fee of $30 to put your hand on these.  But if you do subscribe, then read along for some ideas about what makes a good jacket, blouse, shirt, skirt or whatever you're thinking.

The first thing that pops off the first page (Gabrielle) is this jewel, which is 100% cotton.  This screams jacket to me.  You want to put the more dramatic fabric closer to your face, because that's where you want all the attention.  There's also a nice red linen that coordinates with this beautifully either another piece or binding/contrast for this fabric piece.

Here are two classic Burda patterns...#127 (1/2011), and #108 (2/2010).  Both would be fabulous in this "district check" red and white.  Plus, this red and white and these jacket styles classify as "classic" and get into the investment wardrobe builders in your closet.  And you can elect to trim #108 which would be easy to do, in the red linen coordinate.

This first page features more of a cherry red, rather than a tomato red, and with white and bright colors as the coordinates, so this would tend toward someone who wears cool colors very well.

 

The next one is a couple of pages on and for the warm side of the color wheel:

This photographs a little lighter than what it actually is (one of the advantages of holding it in your hand).  This is also 100% cotton, and with backing (that's either a nice silk organza which is the easiest and safest thing to back with) or a woven (I just prefer non bondable when backing which prevents bubbles from appearing later in the garment), to make a more tailored and structured jacket (like the two Burda examples above).  If you do the jewel neck version (#108), you can trim with the great turquoise stretch.  Yes, it's stretch but just back it.

There are other coordinates with this, but these are two solids, and wanted to make a point with these.  Both are stretch, but the turquoise has much more body, and is excellent for pants or structured skirt to use with stretch-type fabrics.  The brown is a tad darker and a little lighter weight and would probably best be used in a looser structured garment like a fuller skirt or blouse (not tailored shirt).

Just a quick run thru the next couple of pages.

Parfum page - The tweed (a hemp with a beautiful sheen and great price) is the jacket/top (VF111-32), and the others are coordinates....the VF111-35 could be used as trim/contrast/binding for the tweed, and the VF111-33 would be fabulous for pants or structured skirt.  This might seem to be a little off the beaten track, but if you live in the warm side of the color wheel, these colors are neutrals for you. 

Upheaval is mostly greens and I've already done plenty of those so onto the cool side of the color wheel.

Comeback - I'm not a blue person, not that I don't like blue, I do.  It's just I can't wear it...why even look at it if I can't even wear it.  But this blue brocade beautiful.  To me this is almost year round.  It's a cotton, which means it's cool in the summer, and it's dark enough to be gorgeous in the winter.  For a cool palette, this is a great selection, especially for those who wear deep rich colors.  This is a perfect MOB (Mother of Bride) jacket, if the wedding is spring, light dress, if winter, dark dress.  And again if you live in the cool side of the color wheel, then this is a classic color in your wardrobe or should be.

Fashion the last page is an unusual page with some fun fabrics....a little on the dressier side, with some normally casual fabrics.  The polyesters 49, 51, & 53 all would make great tops or blouses, no shirts, and the 54 & 52 would be great for pants or jackets.  The 52 is particularly interesting cause it is stiff enough for pants or something that requires a lot of structure.  It has no stretch in it, but is almost gun metal color and hint of shine.  The other idea for 52 would be a leather-type designed jacket....something like this

I particularly like #114 - both of these are out of the August, 2010 BurdaStyle.  #114 has so many great seams to fit and with a kickin' zipper in that VF111-52, would b e stunning - for a person who lives on the cool side of the color wheel.

OK - hope that gave you some ideas!

 

 

 

I haven't been this excited in a long time

I love pretty fashion - always have and always will.  And I understand that in the passages of time, we have to go through periods of less attractive fashion to come back to really beautiful things again, and to be honest, the fashion starting in the 90's just didn't do a thing for me.  I loved a lot of the 80's - not the shoulder pads, but the beautifully, elegantly made clothing.

So like the rest of the world, I'm sort of on "Kate Watch" - waiting and wondering and speculating what Kate will wear for her wedding gown, which will no doubt be knocked off it about 5 seconds after it appears in Westminster Cathedral!

And part of that is speculating on the usual suspects - a list of British designers who will probably contain one of the designers that Kate Middleton will choose, and among that group is John Galliano.  So I just spooked over to his site to check out his latest designs and I was totally charmed.

OK - now some of this stuff is silly and some is just stupid, but I think what charmed me so were the fabrics.  This jacket (below) isn't the best, although it has some beautiful couture detailing, but the skirt - I just love all that girlie-girl flounce
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Again with the fabric - I just love this print and love the way it's put on a diagonal and layered around.

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And here's this little number with a nice little waist line - OK the sheer stuff is stupid (I thought we got over showing absolutely EVERYTHING on the runway, but I guess not).  But the dress is darling, and again with the fabric - lots of fun.

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And I swear, if I'm looking at her arm, this gal looks like she's at least 30 maybe even 40 (look at her arms, that's what gives 'em away) - on the runway at a major designer?!!!! I must be having visions....I just liked this for the model alone!  But the fabric again - it's just delightful.  Maybe it's all the hand work I did this fall and winter that this dress reminded me of.  I liked it.

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And another pretty dress (sheer again, but a beautiful sheath type slip would be fabulous under this - why don't they show it that way?), but love the fabric and love the swirl and swish of the dress.

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I liked this for the jacket, even though it's just a little funky, but love the general line and style of it, with this gorgeous print and the fabulous detailing in the red piped/trimmed shirt dress.  Another fabulous print.

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Love the colors...they are so much fun here...I'm into this, and they look so sherbet-y and so spring-y.

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OK - thank you for letting me just get this out of my system.....maybe it's the gray VERY cold day, but these all hit me so right, and it's been so long since I've seen something on a runway to get excited about. 

 

Looking and finding new sources

The first of the year for me always brings on a new time to look at my last year and see what I did right and what I did wrong, what I want to do more of and less of (the stuff that was wrong will hopefully be done less!)

And one of the major conclusions I've come to is that I'm letting go of my fashion magazine subscriptions one by one this year.  The magazines are just not relevant for me any more and taking up space and I'm feeling guilty cause I don't even seem to want to open them up.  I still have wrappers on some of the fall issues.

So I've been out there looking for other sources much better than the fashion magazines and one I've found has been the Wall Street Journal of all things.  So I've subscribed to their RSS feed and already lots of fun interesting things....like this little ditty about denim.

I thought the history was fun and really interesting, and stuff about Levi Strauss we all knew, but it was equally fun if not more so to see what fun neat things Stella McCartney, Derek Lam, Valentino (my fav) are doing with denim - kinda makes you think!!! 

 

 

 

For Nancy K

On Nancy's blog she talks about a typical question I get with my clients.

I need to go to my daughter's or son's wedding and yet this may be the last time I look formal for the rest of my life?  I hate spending a lot of money on something I'll wear once, but then I want to look nice.

The older we get, we really don't need all that formal stuff, and for some of us, it's really the only time we want to be formal.  That doesn't mean that we don't like formal, or that we don't want to wear it, it's just that it doesn't work for our lifestyle.

I usually solve this problem with separates.  And usually what I like to do is put the $$$ into one piece with the other being the "background" or something that can be worn again - lots of times that means that background piece can be worn to a friend's child's wedding where you don't have to look so formal, but you can look nice and feel that you have one outfit that will fit into that "formal" category for when you need it.

So for Nancy - here's what I'm thinking.  She's close to "the" fabric district (yes the one in New York), and so she has access to anything (lucky soul), so that's not a problem.  So I'd go to the jacket, skirt or dress idea, and there are a couple of patterns here that can look really fabulous with this.

IDEA ONE:

This is an Issay Miyake and I love this jacket....here's the tech sketch:

I can't say the skirt does much for me...but I adore that jacket....it has darts and all sort of fitting mechanisms in there to make it easy to fit, and you can even do a wonderful contrast with those inset pieces.  The collar pice and the front "lapel" piece that in back becomes the center back inset, would be gorgeous done in the shiny side of a silk peau de soie with the rest of the jacket being done in the crepe side of the peau de soie.  This is a formal fabric that doesn't scream but it's very luxurious in a very quiet way.  For further contrast, you can do a facing piece for the inside of the cuffs in the shing side of the peau de soie. 

I would think a beautiful silver or slate gray in a peau de soie would be gorgeous with Nancy's coloring, and it would go with everything.  I'd put a sheath type dress or shell and skirt under this jacket and accentuate with pearls and some classic earrings and off you go.

 

IDEA TWO

This Badgley Mischka doesn't look like much and it's not photographed well, but look at the tech sketch of this:

This shows all the great fitting darts that are in this jacket....I love those princess-esque type seams with those little bust dart thingies coming off the upper curve.  And the same seams in the back to allow Nancy to really get a great fit on herself. 

This jacket is also quarter length sleeves, which I love for California during the summer.  It looks fresh and cool and nice, as does the collar standing away from the neck. It also has a great skirt and all she would have to add is a shell or a camisole and she's done. 

To do this in a wonderful shell (light coral, peach, aqua blue - a light color) in a fabulous iridescent dupioni or shantung would be elegant.  She might have to back it, depending upon the weight of the fabric, and then put this with a background colored skirt - something that is classic, that she would wear again means that the bucks go into the jacket and the skirt, camisole or shell can be worn again.

 

IDEA THREE

 

This is an older pattern and I made it up for my sister when my niece was a deb. It was beautiful.  For Nancy, again some beautiful shantung (preferably iridescent) and think about using one of those gorgeous Swarovski Crystal zippers where the works of the zipper show - like this:

I know they have these in the fabric district cause I've seen them there - on 36th-is or 35th-ish,  and they have them in different colors.

Anyway - here's the sketch of this Guy Laroche:

It's got a lot of style and a lot of  class.  And if the collar is too high then just shorten in an inch and you have the same great look without it getting in the way.  Again putting the money in the jacket, and this jacket is even conducive to a little trim - something sparkly, although wouldn't use the Swarovski zipper AND the sparkly trim....

 

This on a silver gray or iridescent slate gray shantung would be ELEGANT.  AND you can take it off after you're finished and the jacket can become just a classic jacket for that night you need something for a dinner party or to go to the city for a concert or something.

Dang - I wanna come to NY and do this.  The sad thing is that I know exactly where this trim is at M & J and know exactly where the fabric is at B&J! 

I WANNA COME TO NY. 

I can only go so long and then I need a good ol' fashioned New York fix!!!  I need to get my schedule better organized!!!

OK - hopefully that helps Nancy with some ideas. 

Another "Duh!" moment in journalism!

OK - I shouldn't be so cruel.

But I can't help myself.  True confessions:  I love to gloat!

This was just to rich to read through.

 

In case you need some teasing....here are a few choice quotes from the article:

or how about this one.....

Here's another favorite:

Not only would this type of construction not be acceptable for my clients, it sure wouldn't be acceptable for anything I might do for myself.

It's sort of scary to think that American women's  expectation of clothing has declined so significantly that they would settle for such poorly made garments.

The article is well worth reading, because another thing we sewist get in our clothing is well-made garments.

From the Wall Street Journal Fashion Section, click here.

 

 

The Chanel Tie Blouse

That's what I call it - actually this is BurdaStyle, September, 2010, #111 (view A or B)

 

Unfortunately this is hard to see the lines of this blouse in this wild print, but they're there.  I'll make this again cause it's got great lines - that classic scarf front that is great under a jacket.

There are a few things....the casing on the sleeves doesn't need those tie ends hanging down, but the ruched cuffs are cool - this is my preference, and of course you can shorten the sleeve.  If you do, my advice is to also widen it a bit and put a nice 2" cuff on the sleeve - just makes a nice ending here.  But those hanging ties have to go.

Next is the important part.  The buttons at the waist or actually at the hip don't work in my mind, when  tie/wrap-around is much better and more secure.  Part of the reason why is that this front piece extends all the way around and makes a nice closure in front without gaping which is the usual problem with wrap-arounds.

I added two bias ties at the waist (shown by the blue arrow).  The pink tie end (blouse left side) is sewn on to the edge of of the blouse at the waistline point.  The green tie end (blouse right) is sewn onto the edge at waist (under the wrap as shown), and a break in the right seam at waist is made to thread that green tie end through and then wrap around in back and....

Take the ties, pull the under side of the right side of the blouse through the slit in the seam, and the outside of the left side and tie in back.  If you want to make them long enough they can wrap around in front, you can do that too.  I wouldn't wrap these tight as the blouse is not made to fit that way, if you do want to wrap them tight, take in the back dart seam, side seams a little at the waist and that will make it fit better for a closer fit.  But this is for basically under a jacket so it can be comfy and doesn't need to fit tightly.  The blouse is already a great jacket blouse length, so you don't need to worry about that.

Unfortunately the whole ensemble is over at the Bernina store, and I haven't gotten my kazizz over there to get a snappie of it.

One last word here.  Why make the effort with this blouse - why not just pick another?  There's a lot that's right with this blouse, and I feel badly that I didn't mention this at the first of the post.

1. The big thing that's right about this blouse is the cross over.  Not on the bias, so economical cut, yet great drape, which usually doesn't come from a non-biased cut.
2. Second thing about the cross over is that the stance or place where the cross over hits center front is a modest point, it's not low cut and doesn't gap, which is a big problem with a lot of wrap arounds.  Usually you have to add a snap or hook or something to hold it in place for that "serving peanuts" position (You know that bend over look that oogle-eyed camera men love to get in the movies!)
3. Great back, darts, collar, nothing funky or hard to assemble or wear.  No "fixing" when wearing.
4. I love the ruched cuffs, just not the ties, but they can easily be altered into a cuff configuration, but I think the ruched cuffs are a great look.
5. Length is perfect for jackets, short and long.
6. Great shoulder and armscye - nice and crisp with a crisp under arm so that the jacket underarm can fit nicely without having to buckle or bunch under the jacket.

So it's worth it to mess with this pattern a little, cause it's got a lot of style to it.  But it's also got a lot of good pattern cut to it that you don't have to mess with, and frankly, adding two ties, and slitting a seam at the waist to run the tie through is honestly no big deal - oh yeah, and taking those tie thingies off!

 

For my Chanel Jacket

I had just a little left over of the lining I used for my Chanel jacket, and for a while it's been beating a place in my stash to be made up.

And then the perfect pattern shows up (of course Burda)

#111 from September, 2010

And I had read a little about the "dangling" cuff ties, so decided to tie them at the other end on the inside, and this is just totally impractical for me.

And while this came out great - that collar/closure will be beautiful under my Chanel jacket, there were some alterations that I thought this top needed.

That droop on the right didn't work for me, and the hooks or buttons, just wouldn't hold the top where I wanted it.  So I added a bias cord from the side here and from the waist of the other side, and just wrapped it around.  It works beautifully.  Unfortunately it's over at the Bernina shop being displayed for the upcoming class.

This is another case of the basics being really good, but there were some minor details that I changed for me to make this work more for what I want.  Something we sewists can do regularly.

Why are pants so hard?

Part of what makes fitting pants so hard is to know what a good fit is.

I thought it would be interesting to take a look at some movie stars and their pants and how they fit.  Mostly these are from the 50's and 60's because these were made of fabric, not stretch fabric.

Why?

Because stretch is not a fit.  Stretch is a fabric that fits no matter what, and fitting and making stretch pants doesn't require that much fit.  The other side of the coin is that stretch pant show ever error of your body, whereas a great fitting pair of woven fabric pants will make you look great.

So here we go.

I love using Marilyn cause in my day, she was the penultimate sexy symbol...she had the perfect figure that everyone wanted to emulate.  She was not skin and bones, she was voluptuous and very sexy.

Look at these pants...even though she's not standing straight, which is where you want to fit your pants, you can see that she has wrinkles in her pants.  Some of these are due to her position, but some are natural...the wrinkles in the middle are from when she's sat or stooped in them and these are natural wrinkles in woven fabric.  Also look to see how small her waist is compared to her hips.  This is fit well too - no drooping or excess around waist or hips.

I would like everyone to cut the picture below out and past it on their wall.  Look at the stomach this gal had and it was considered sexy.  It's also fit well.  If you look closely here you can also see some saddlebags - albeit small, but it's there.  See how there is fullness just below the hip line?  This helps mask this saddlebag look.

Another great shot of Marilyn's stomach and how well it's fit.  You can see in this check the darts and how they fit her waist and stomach.  And notice again the fullness below her saddlebags which helps mask the fullness through the lower hip/upper thigh area.

Reading the wrinkles here, the ones that are in her inseam, are natural for the position she has where she's standing on one hip.  This is common, but not ill-fitting.  If these wrinkles were pointing toward the crotch area, then we'd have a fitting problem, but seeing them being parallel to the ground, makes them OK - they just come from her body position.

OK - to one of my favorite movies (Gentlemen Prefer Blonds.  Note to self:  record the movie and take out some stills showing how well the clothes fit in this movie)....Look at Jane Russell's waist - it's small, small especially compared with her hips.  This was considered hugely sexy. And although it's really tough to see the detail on Jane's pants, you can see that every it fitted well here (see below for a better photo).  But there's something else - a little off subject, but the tromp l'oiell that is created by the men wearing nude colored trunks with black trim.  It really makes them look like they're not wearing anything which is kind of a fun way of doing these trunks.

OK - I lightened this up so you can see Jane Russell's pants better.  First notice the seams in her bodice, and notice the wrinkle in her right inseam.  This is caused by her standing on one hip. (Don't try and fit yourself while you're standing on one hip or another!).  But in my book this is fine.  The part that is amazing here is that Jane Russell has a very small waist to very large hips.  So this fit can be done.

Hopefully some of these make my point about fitting and how it actually can be done.  The actresses, models and women of the 50's and 60's had voluptuous, full figures - that's what was considered healthy (probably after seeing so much starvation in the conquered areas after WWII), being full-figured meant that you were healthy.

But what I wanted you to see out of this, is that not only is it possible, but it's done.  Fitting voluptuous bodies, full-figured bodies, irregularly shaped bodies - it can all be done.

And remember this.  Once you have that pattern, 99% of the battle of making pants is done.  It takes literally little or no advanced expertise to make pants.  The hard part is the fit.