When Susan came over last week, I asked her to bring me samples of some clothes from her wardrobe that fit well and that she likes.
I explored them in detail today because I want to learn how women's RTW garments are finished. I've made a fair amount of women's clothing over the years but have always followed commercial patterns so I'm not that familiar with what store-bought women's clothing looks like inside.
The first garment I examined is a Trina Turk black pencil skirt -- a cotton/poly blend, I believe, with a bit of Lycra in it. I'd call this a "better" skirt, the kind you'd find at Nordstrom's or Lord & Taylor (based on my online research). It's lined and the lining is trimmed with lace.
The lace is serged to the lining and the seam allowance pressed down.
One thing that struck me as unusual is that there's a front zippered fly; I assumed all skirts zippered in back or on the side.
I like how, inside, the lining smoothly covers the outer edges of the fly facing.
In back there's a kick pleat.
The seam allowances are serged, as you'd expect.
There are no darts in front and two approximately 4" darts on either side of the center back seam.
The waistband looks like it's attached from the front and then folded over and stitched in the ditch. The raw edge is finished with bias tape.
The waistband is lightly interfaced.
This is a nice skirt but I don't care for the front fly. Would you want that showing when you tucked in your blouse?
I also want to show you some details from Susan's black pique dress from Friday's post.
It's unlined but the front and back neck facings extend into the armholes. I've read about this way of drafting facings on some sewing blogs but I've never seen this in a commercial pattern.
Susan also brought a floral print cotton golf skirt. The unlined skirt has two darts in front and two in back, all the same length. The waistband is just a facing (interfaced with a tricot fusible) that's folded over and topstitched along the top to hold it in place.. The raw edge is finished with seam binding.
Seam allowances measure 1/2".
I noted that women's waistbands are generally pieced together and (I believe) each piece is curved, in contrast to a casual men's pants waistband that's often just one long straight piece.
There's an invisible zipper in back -- broken -- which I offered to repair.
I love looking at ready-to-wear, don't you? You can learn a lot by seeing how clothes are made in a factory setting.
Yesterday I bought a pattern online with Susan in mind. We didn't talk about cocktail dresses but I saw this pattern -- Butterick 5599 -- and thought it would really work for Susan's figure, don't you agree? I've seen some great-looking versions on Pattern Review.
Moving right along, readers, are you following me on Instagram? I've been using it a lot lately now that I have a smartphone.
It's great way to share things like flea market finds and dumpster dive treasures -- as they happen! (Lots of dog pics and some street fashion too.) If you follow me you already know I found a great vintage straw hat this morning as well as some beautiful Russell Wright Steubenville dinnerware to add to my collection!
And that's it! In closing, does anything about the clothes I've archived surprise you or is this pretty much familiar territory for you (for you women especially)?
Have a great day, everybody!
 |
| Caught this woman on the street today -- very successful pattern placement! |
No comments:
Post a Comment