Fashion Icons

So I went to the Fashion Icons exhibition at the Art Gallery of South Australia. This exhibition has been brought over from Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Paris. 90 pieces showcasing fashion from the 1940s to the 1990s. What can I say, other than fan-bloody-tastic. It felt like a dream walking through clothing designed by some of the most famous people in the world: Chanel, Dior, Yves Saint Laurent. I did find myself struggling to even breathe. As I progressed through, things improved so I could really focus on design and construction elements. Sigh! There was so much to see. At times I thought my brain would burst! How to keep it all in there. Whilst not every piece got me excited, I could appreciate the work put into it all. The fabrics (or plastic or metal or glass!) were phenomenal.

I did want to take a few pieces home with me. Ok, I would have taken any of it home with me, but there were some extra-special pieces. The beading on the jacket of the evening suit by Yves Saint Laurent (black on pale blue velvet) was divine. The jacket was quite fitted and was paired with a short full black skirt - so typical of the 1980s. It took me back 😊.

The ball gowns were amazing. For me, this is the quintessential component of French fashion. The first gown in the exhibition was a 1948 Dior ball gown with huge amounts of tuille in the skirt (I think someone said 90 metres!!!). Just amazing. The piece is exhibited on a mannekin but with a wonderful photo showing how it could have been worn at the time. Just beautiful!

But my take home piece was the Chanel gown from 1996 right at the end of the exhibition. And typically for me, it was the most expensive piece of the exhibition 😉. But of course that wasn't why I loved it. Firstly the fabric - gold (literally) beading and threads stitched onto black velvet in a pattern that mimics panelling in Chanel's own apartment in Paris. Then the sillouette - fitted bodice and a straight skirt over the hips and to the knees and then flared. And finally, construction. One of the best parts of the exhibition is that you can see 360 degrees around almost every piece. I spent a good deal of time, especially this piece, with my neck craning to see details of the back or side or hem. The beading details were breathtaking.

I picked up a copy of the catalogue so I can flick through it for years to come. A glance at the photo will bring back memories and the written content includes a wealth of technical details as well as interesting stories about the designer, the collection or fashions of the time.

The exhibition is on for another two months. I plan to go again. I wonder what elements I can incorporate into my own sewing.

Vogue 1071 #3

I blogged about cutting this shirt out a while ago.  And I sewed it up a while ago too. Plenty of other things to do other than blog :)

One thing I didn't blog about was my pattern placement, or lack thereof. I was limited due to the fabric meterage and, to be honest, didn't really think about it too much. But now I've made it up, I've realised that I could have done better. Check it out.

This is view B of Vogue 1071. I cut out a straight size 12, as per my previous versions of view A. I really enjoyed making it up. The fabric is just as fabulous to make up as cut out. I used many of the techniques developed over my sassy librarian blouses, including understitching the facing and easing the sleeves. I also got to use some of my favourite buttons ever, bought of course from The Button Bar.

I struggled a little with the rear neck edging. I followed the instructions but the final look looked wrong - too wide, which meant that it wouldn't sit flat. So I rolled it over again and it looks much better. There is a little distortion and gathering at the neckline but it's not too obvious. I think I've been pretty successful. Some of my topstitching could have been better but I received compliments the very first time I wore it. One of colleagues asked me where I had bought it and didn't believe that I'd made it :)

Socks!

I try to knit a pair of socks every year. Our mild climate doesn't require any more than that. This year I thought I'd give a crocheted pair a go. I had found some sock weight nylon-wool blend at my local Spotty's called Regia's. I searched for their patterns and found knit and crochet ones. I picked a toe up. My last pair were toe up and I liked working them up. This pattern was pretty straightforward - rounds of single crochet with the heel inserted. I made one up, fitting as I went and then I started the second. And... meh. I wasn't excited. I think it's a mixture of the variegated yarn being lost in the crochet and the lack of stretchiness.

But I still had the "sock bug". I still wanted a pair of socks. So I pulled out my dpns and searched Ravelry for a suitable pattern. I took a moment to come up with a few "wants" - not too complex so I can relax, not too complex so the self striping stands out (hmmmmmm... is there a theme developing), toe up knitting (I wanted to practice this cast on again), a loose top bind off. And the winner is ... Lacery by Michelle Hunter.

I started knitting whilst travelling for work and spent a couple of quiet nights getting started. This was the perfect project for travelling. And once I got started (and travelled some more) I just kept going. Ravelry notes here.

Second Sassy - finally!

For the first time in months I feel that I have enough head space to get back into regular sewing time. I even started thinking about UFOs. I currently have two sewing projects hibernating and they are beginning to play on my mind. So this week I put on my big girl pants and faced one. My second Sassy Librarian Blouse.

I completed my first SLB last year. I love this pattern. L. O. V. E. The neckline and cute Peter Pan collar, the vents that aren't darts and just enough shaping to stop it from being boxy and yet not fitted. And then there are all the options - sleeves or sleeveless, tucks at the front, a cute bow at the front opening.

For my second one, I decided to have a go at the tucks and sleeveless bound armscye. I also made the collar and armhole binding is in a solid contrasting fabric to the patterned main fabric. I added 1" in length. I'm a bit long waisted. A little between the bust dart and armscye and a bit more between the bust dart and vents. But I did forget to increase the length of the front facing. Duh!I

I refreshed my knowledge on pleated fronts and bound armscyes on the Craftsy platform. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed Christine's style. What a great smile!

The blouse came together really well. I motored through the tucks. And then....

Stopped...

Fast forward 18 months (yes, really that long). I had pulled a heap of stuff out of my craft cupboard and was looking at the pattern pieces - all cut out and ready to go. There were fewer reasons to put it all back away than to get to and finish it. So I did. Using a pattern for a second time is a bit like riding a bike; you never forget. It did help that I'd written copious notes during make #1. But I did re-review (is this a word?) binding the armscye on Craftsy. I made up the collar and faced the shirt. I found making the collar and manipulating the facings so much easier this time.

Using different fabric for the collar and binding did present a small challenge. I think that the armscye binding could have been a little longer. The binding fabric wasn't as flexible as the main fabric.

All in all I'm really pleased with the way SLB#2 turned out. I do have fabric for #3. Hopefully it won't be 18 months before I finish this one. :)

Ice skating on butter...

I've started on another version of my current fave pattern Vogue 1071 but this time view B (the picture on the right). Main differences are set in sleeves and buttons down the front (not back).

I've had this beautiful fabric in my stash for a little while courtesy of those fab girls at The Drapery. I went in looking for something else completely, walked past their remnants basket and spied this. It's from the Lou Lou Thi collection by Anna Maria Horner. Sigh! I couldn't leave it there. It needed a good home. Take a moment to check this fabric out. The pattern is delightful - sunflowers! And the quality of the fabric is breathtaking (yes, I gasped when I touched it!). It felt like butter. 

I spent last night layout out and tracing the pattern pieces. The usual size 12. This pattern is verging on vintage and needs to be looked after. Tonight I had enough time to cut out the fabric before dinner. But X had his homework spread out over the dining table which is where I usually cut out. I got inventive. The kitchen island bench was empty - cleared in readiness for dinner. I estimated that there would be enough length but maybe not width. What the heck! Have a go. Wide enough. Just. 

So I laid out the fabric, positioned the pieces and started to cut. Wait a minute... Why haven't I done this before? The pins slid over the granite. No sticking at all! Then I started cutting. It was like skating on butter.

Vogue 1071

I'm slowly developing a few TNT patterns. And Vogue 1071 (view A - the one on the left in the picture below) is probably the first one - almost without realising it. Very occasionally the fitting gods smile down on me and they did with this pattern. When I first made it after "re-finding" this pattern in my mum's stash, the only mod I made was to open the neck up. The original is too tight. The rest of the fit in size 12 was just fine. This is a semi-fitted top so it doesn't have to be perfect.

Last weekend I found a spare day (I know it seems strange :)) and I needed a bit of stress relief. It has a been a very busy time. This pattern is vey simple - two pieces. The arms and bodice are one pattern piece. There are facings but I used bias binding for both the neck and sleeves. I had some cotton with pink flowers on cream just waiting for something to inspire me. There was a lightbulb moment when I saw the wider neckline on the Butterick 2444 and I knew that I wanted to try something similar with Vogue 1407. For my first make, I made up the back as two pieces with all seven buttons but for this one, I realised that I did have quite enough fabric for the buttoned back so I contemplated cutting the back on the fold (I never use the buttons on the original to get it on and off). But I couldn't quite stretch the fabric that far so I cut the back with a seam. And no, no pattern matching happening at all.

All in all the top took an afternoon to make. I wore it the next day to work. I love wearing me-mades to work.

This is a great top for work or casual. I am contemplating my next one in a sheer silk of some kind. I think this would be a good pattern to work on my technique for sheers.

OAL2014

This has been soooooo much fun! I was actually a bit torn... which do I start... dress or cardigan... cardigan or dress. So I started BOTH!

The Myrna. This is my second Andi Satterlund knit. My first, a Miette, is in very high rotation this winter, so this OAL's timing is perfect. I love how quickly 10ply knits up. And the Bendigo 10ply is a dream to knit. I spent half my time patting the wool. The colour is a little bit like butter and for some reason that's what I think of when I'm touching it. I did have a moment with the keyhole in the back. It's shape didn't look so good after knitting, but after finishing, I have to say it looks fine.

I was checking out Lauren's posts on the OAL dress when she snuck in one about stabilising button bands with petersham ribbon. What a good idea. There's nothing worse than having a fab cardi ruined by the dreaded GAPING BETWEEN THE BUTTONHOLES. So I went hunting for some butter-coloured ribbon and stabilised those bands. Very happy with the result. Minor issue with the size of button holes made. Note to self: when using irregular (flower-shaped) buttons, make the size of the holes just a little bit bigger. Whilst I can open the buttons, it's not an easy job. Oh well, I'll just have to wear it all day. Can you tell? I love it. Love. It.


Simplicity 2444. I've not made this dress before. This is a wearable muslin. This fabric is not what I would usually pick but nice enough and the lemon colour matches my buttery wool. The double bodice darts intrigued me and whilst full skirts aren't my "thing" I thought that a pleated skirt would be worth trying.

So I was making this up and, because I like doing this kind of thing, I hand basted all my skirt pleats down about 1 1/2 inch from the waistband. I still had the basting in when I first tried it on. A little bit of pulling over the hips, but wow! I really liked the silhouette. As a rectangle, any assistance in waist definition  is good (one reason that I generally make straight rather than full skirts). I usually end up looking like a box when I try on gathered or pleated full skirts. This was a nice compromise. But because it pulled and it was just hand basting, I took out the basting. Nice, but not as good as before. So I made the closed pleats permanent by stitching them down. Much better. There is also some gaping at the neckline. I've read that others have had the same problem. I might slip a couple of little darts in around the neck if I get around to it later, but I will make changes to the pattern. I will use this bodice again. Don't know if my wardrobe will stretch to another full skirt but I definitely use the bodice again.

I actually finished both the cardi and the dress in time for the grand reveal but then got sick and had to travel for work so either didn't feel like photos or wasn't anywhere near my new outfit to take them. So instead, here's my own personal reveal. Better late than never.