This picture was made by Jamie from “Me to You” photo blog. I HAD to share this with you
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This picture is called “Creative Director Simon Kneen of Banana Republic sketching his version of spring”
Lightbulb moment
Posted by on October 29, 2011 Leave a Comment
This fascinated the sewing nerd in me.
Late night puzzle
Last night I was adjusting a bodice sloper for a client after first fitting. The bodice needed some ease added and just generally “relaxed” in main “construction zones” as I call them. These include Back width and Chest width zones. In the pattern drafting technique I am using, the Back and Chest width ease is in strict relation to each other and to the garment overall ease.
So last night I was adding ease to the Chest width area and I suddenly got stuck. My client’s Chest width measurement seemed to be so small, that the front armscye would need to be cut out by 4 cm and the armscye length would end up being 62 cm long. And after this I was supposed to lower it ( following the fitting notes ). To compare, the relaxed jacket armscye I made earlier for the same lady was 55 cm!
That got me very confused. If I cut out the scye then I’ll have to raise it to control the scye length. If I don’t cut it out then the front will be too wide on her.
The revelation
I went back to my books and notes, everything I could get my hands on and suddenly I have come across this little picture
Chest width measurement
Looks unassuming, doesn’t it? All great discoveries seem that way at first.
Maybe it will help if I show you how Aldrich suggests measuring the chest width
Another chest measurement!
How about now?
The chest by Aldrich is measured above bust. This is the way I took my measurement. The chest by my old pattern drafting book ( which I use much more often ) is measured across the bust. Obviously, across the bust measurement is going to be much larger if bust is present.
Valuable lesson
By the old book you can also calculate the Chest, Back and Armscye widths using your Bust measurement as a base. Here it is, all in cm
Nifty calculations
This will give you a good idea of what those measurements should be. Of course as you sew for individual figures some adjustments will be inevitable.
Have a great weekend everyone and welcome to new readers! :)
New additions
Posted by on October 23, 2011 7 Comments
Fabric stash top ups
I just remembered that I didn’t put up the pictures of the fabric I bought on our big fabric shopping trip. I am going to rectify this immediately.
These I bought at Remnant warehouse.
Lurex stripe black suiting
This suiting is very light and does not crush. At all!
Metallic finish
This is also suiting, a bit heavier hand, very soft
Grey stripe
I call this fabric “grey stripe”. The grey thread creates textured effect.
and
Crispy!
an exceptionally crisp white linen able to stand on its own.
Standard knit fabrics
Nylon
A nylon mesh for lining
NSW leather
Leather!!
Stunning coloured leather. I have nothing in mind for it, but I could not resist.
Tessuti
Very lady-like
This silk was calling my name.
Sudden inspiration
Remember that silk/cotton treasure I found in my fabric stash? Here it is
"Purple flower"
I found a blouse pattern in Burda magazine I thought was very cute. I don’t hesitate once I find something interesting, so I pre-shrunk, dried and cut the fabric on Saturday. On Sunday (while my husband and son were busy bonding) I got so carried away I completed the blouse by 2pm. I have no buttons for it, of course, but it is DONE.
Here is the technical drawing of it
Model 106 A
The show and tell are coming!
What have you got in mind for your fabric treasures?
True colours
Posted by on October 20, 2011 7 Comments
I had my colours “done” at PR weekend.
Wendy the stylist wrapped me in a white sheet and sat me in front of the mirror. Then she proceeded to drape coloured scarves right under my chin to see if colours suited me or not. It was a very eye-opening experience. Apparently I can pull off a very wide range of really bold and bright colours ( much to my surprise). One of them was a brightest shiniest purple. I would have never even considered wearing this purple before, now I am intrigued.
Here are my colours
my colours
Now I am going through my fabric stash and comparing every single piece to my colour book. I found this piece, and I think I was onto something when I bought it
"Purple flower"
Wendy said that if the fabric has 75% of your colours, then you can get away with 25% that are not quite “yours”. This purple does not photograph well, but I found it very close to “my” purple. Green also seems to be quite close, do you agree?
Then I assessed my “jean clone” fabric:
Jean clone
This is very close too!
But which colour goes with this blue?
Any ideas?
Stretch jeans fitting
Posted by on October 19, 2011 7 Comments
So I continue with my stretch jeans pattern. I have made up this little number and I think it fits just like my favourite jeans do. They do look tight and they are, but this cotton/elastane fabric does give quite a bit, never fear!
Please note where the tailor tacks are. The waistband on my jeans is 2.5 cm wide, so even with this width added they will remain quite low. I have decided to raise this pair 3 cm.
Please ignore the VPL. Note to myself – these pants are unforgiving.
Here you can see how low the original jeans are. The wrinkles on the side is due to me not pulling the pants up properly.
The verdict
In general, I am happy with the fit. The seat height must be raised. There are some horizontal wrinkles at the back ( strain+some excess length ) which I am not going to touch, because I think removing lenth will affect the range of movement quite a bit. And I am keeping these pants tight, 90% sure the cotton will do it’s usual trick.
Now that I had my colours done with Wendy I am quite ctitical of everything I put on. So… What do you think of the colour? What can I wear as an accent?? :)
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