Back to School -- First Patternmaking Class!

I went back to school yesterday!

Actually, yesterday was our second class; I'd missed the first one as I was on vacation.  I nearly didn't get into Patternmaking at FIT at all because by the time I tried to register, all three sections of the class were full (they're each limited to 18 students) and for some reason they weren't maintaining waiting lists.  From Provincetown I managed to get someone in the department to find out if any of the professors would be willing to take one more student.  Fortunately for me, someone was: Professor Tamanaha.

I owned most of the supplies we'll be using already, with the exception of an L-shaped ruler, which I picked up locally on Tuesday.  The supply list includes muslin, pencils, rulers, pins, tape -- about what you'd expect.  I'm one of only two guys in the class; the rest are women.  There are a few people around my age in the class but most seem to be undergraduates or maybe just a little older than that.

The room is full of Alva body forms and each student will choose a form to work with over the semester (or so it seems).  I think most of the first class was focused on how to take the necessary measurements of the body form; luckily I was familiar with most of these measurements already.  We were given handouts on what to measure and then how to use the measurements to draft a basic sleeveless front and back bodice to fit the body form we'd chosen.







We spent most of the 3-1/2 hour class drafting, with the professor first demonstrating at the blackboard, and then all of us students working on our own.  The time flew by, though by 10 pm I was pretty fried.  I like the professor a lot -- very clear and also helpful.

Our only assignment is to complete our bodice drafts but since I finished mine in class, I'm basically homework free.  (If there's time it might be fun to draft for the body form I have at home too.)

I really enjoy all the measuring, calculating, and drafting: I find it very satisfying.  I've already done some drafting, albeit using a different formula than the one being taught in this class, and that helps tremendously.   (Clearly there are a number of different formulas people use to draft bodices, maybe with the same results and maybe not.)  So that was class #1!

Meanwhile I've been busy working on another shirt muslin (below), which I'm making entirely on my Elna Grasshopper.  I love sewing with it, though I'm not used to working on a free arm: I may consider setting up the table using the metal carrying case after all -- we'll see. 



And that's it!

Anyone ever taken a patternmaking class out there? If so, how was it?

Have a great day, everybody!

Susan Models Summer Separates!

Susan's back and looking sensational!

I met Susan downtown yesterday for a quick repast and lightning-fast modeling session of the skirt and blouse I designed for her.  Susan's blouse is made from a vivid cotton poplin Liberty of London floral print.



Her pencil skirt is a bottom-weight soft cotton woven.  The color is a pale raspberry.  It coordinates with the floral beautifully.



The fitted blouse buttons in front and has a simple mandarin collar and short sleeves.  It flares slightly below the waist.  The skirt has four darts and a kick pleat in back.  Rather than use petersham ribbon, I stayed the waistline with a strip of the same Liberty print from her blouse.



I trimmed the inside hem with lace and hand stitched it in place.



Here's more of the the outfit on Susan on a rather windy Wednesday.  I love these colors and patterns on her.  They're summery but sophisticated.  The lines are simple and unfussy.







I'm delighted by the way she looks in this outfit.  It flatters her figure and captures her sunny personality.

Thank you, Susan, for the opportunity to sew for you!

Susan Tries on the Blouse Muslin

Friends, no doubt you're wondering why I'm leading with a photo of designer Carolyn Herrera in her signature white shirt.

It's to remind myself that even internationally famous clothing designers wear clothing that will sometimes wrinkle, and drape awkwardly.  Our bodies are three dimensional and mobile and the clothing we wear needs to be able to move with it.  There's a reason why so many women have given up entirely on woven fabrics, opting for stretch knits.

Susan swung by today to try on the blouse muslin I made for her, as well as to see the fabrics we chose for the separates I'm making for her.



Let's talk about the blouse muslin.  As you know, I drafted it myself.  You may be wondering why I'm bothering, rather than working from a commercial pattern.  The answer is simple: I love it.  Drafting from scratch can take longer (though not necessarily), but it is incredibly satisfying to me and I'm learning a tremendous amount.  (I can honestly say that patterns no longer mystify me.)  With time, I'll get better -- and faster -- at it.

Susan's blouse is based on the bodice muslin I drafted previously. I shifted the shoulder dart (which had eliminated most of the excess fabric in the hollow of Susan's upper chest), to the side and redrew my front pattern.  I added a button placket, sleeves (also self-drafted from Dorothy Moore's excellent book) and a simple band collar.  The shirt is fitted at the waist with fish-eye darts and flares out as it extends roughly 4" below her true waist.  Working in stiff muslin on a what will be a soft garment is not ideal (darts look awful), but it does call attention to fit issues.  Before I cut into the Liberty fabric Susan chose for the blouse, I'm going to whip up another muslin in some inexpensive shirting from my stash.

Let's take a closer look.

The armhole is high enough for Susan to lift her arm without significantly raising the shirt.  The fish-eye front darts could be shallower; the collar band could be narrower.

The sleeve, even folded up clumsily at the hem, look pretty smooth

There's enough fullness in back for Susan to cross her arms comfortably in front.  An option is a back yoke with a small center pleat below it.

There's a little too much fullness between Susan's right breast and shoulder.  In a soft fabric, will this be noticeable?  The darts could be shortened.

Side seams are straight.

There's a bit of fullness at the left shoulder too.

I'm also considering extending the shoulder 1/2" -- it's a mite narrow.



I'm excited about tweaking this and moving forward.  As always, thanks for coming along for the ride.

Have a great day, everybody!

Susan's New Wrap Skirt Muslin + Back to the Bodice!

Susan came over for a fitting this evening; the dogs were so excited!

I made a new wrap skirt muslin with an overlap that extends 6" beyond the center front line instead of 3" (as in the earlier version).  It's much more flattering this way.  I chose not too add darts to the overlap even though it creates some asymmetry in front; I may change my mind.  (I'd have to add darts to the facing too.)  Do you think it looks odd?

I added 1" to the skirt length but Susan's wondering if it isn't more flattering shorter.  I made the wrap skirt muslin out of a very soft cotton sheet -- I wanted something that had more drape, like her final skirt will have.  It has a texture similar to wool crepe.



It fit quite well.  Of course a skirt will shift a bit when you move in it, sit down, stand up, etc., but my horizontal and vertical balance lines stayed put.  I added a 1/2" waistband that buttons along the overlap.



Susan likes her skirts narrow, and she was concerned that the wrap skirt might look too A-line.  I explained that the hip-to-hem line is straight but an option would be to peg it a bit.  I think it looks flattering as-is, and the vertical line created by the overlap elongates her lower body.

Susan liked the look of an oversized pin along the edge of the overlap (like you'd find on a kilt), just to keep the skirt from spreading too much.  I might try to work that into the design (but with a better looking pin).



I know it's hard to tell from the angle of the photos and Susan's wearing flats, but does the skirt look too long to you?

Susan also tried on the straight skirt muslin again.  This skirt will not have a waistband, but rather a ribbon facing.  I think it's good to go.  It's about 1" shorter than the wrap skirt.  (A stiffer fabric seems to look better shorter.)





Finally, Susan tried on the bodice again.  I think I'm ready to use this to create a front-buttoning blouse (muslin), either with cap sleeves or three-quarter sleeves.  Since the blouse will made be in a soft fabric, I'm reluctant to overfit the stiff muslin bodice.  I may actually unpin the back darts since she's going to need some ease back there once sleeves are attached (as a number of you reminded me). 







And that's it!  I am excited to start looking at fabrics, which I hope to do before the weekend.  I would love to have something ready for Susan by next week.

Have a great day, everybody!

Another Fitting with Susan: Wrap Skirt + Altered Bodice!

Susan had a fitting yesterday at that little French café that doesn't seem to mind us using their bathroom or seating area.  (We do usually eat there too of course!)

I had made a new muslin for Susan to try on -- a wrap skirt drafted according to the specifications found in Dorothy Moore's pattern drafting book.  I made sure to add horizontal (as well as vertical) balance lines as per Sarah Veblen's recommendations, which helped a lot.  The primary problem with the wrap skirt is that it doesn't extend far enough across the front, which has nothing to do with Susan's measurements, but rather with the design of the skirt itself.



Here you can see that the horizontal and vertical balance lines look pretty good.  But both the under and over (lapped) layer need to extend farther beyond the center front line, both for the look of the skirt and to make sure the opening doesn't reveal more of Susan than she wishes to share.



The back pleats could be a little shorter; there are no front pleats at all.





You can see (below) that the skirt needs to extend another 3" or so.



Next Susan tried on the bodice.  I'd inserted a 1-1/2" shoulder dart, which narrowed the front shoulder dramatically, and I trimmed the width of the back shoulder to match it.  I inserted a thin shoulder pad on Susan's lower (right) shoulder to correct a slight imbalance there.

To my eye, the shoulder seams sit where they should be.





I pinned out a little in back; perhaps a shoulder dart, similar to the one in front, would be helpful (and I wouldn't need to trim the outer edge of the back shoulder to match the front).

Some of the poofing under the armhole is due to my badly pinned left side seam.

Here's some live footage of Susan wearing bodice and pencil skirt so you can see her move in it.  (Michael just told me I should have held my phone horizontal so apologies for the big black spaces.)



I think I'm ready to make a fresh muslin and take it from there.  (Sarah Veblen recommends addressing just one alteration at a time.)  Susan called my attention to the moderate tenting of the stiff muslin in the horizontal hollow between her breasts but I think that's inevitable with stiff fabric like this, don't you?   I tried cutting a slightly lower neckline, which alleviated this issue somewhat.





I do think this is an improvement over the last fitting but I still think there's work to be done.  A princess-seamed bodice might be more flattering, frankly.

If you have any insights/ideas, I welcome them.

Have a great day, everybody!

Fitting Susan's Bodice Muslin

And now onto Susan's bodice muslin.

If it looks like Susan is being fitted in a public café...hey, we were a little pressed for time -- and space!  Luckily we finished just before the lunch rush.

More photos:

There was approximately 1/2" excess height in Susan's right shoulder.  I pinned this out.  Overall, the back doesn't look too bad.  I quickly realized that Susan's back waist is roughly 1" higher than her front waist.





The area that needed the greatest alteration is the front armhole.  I pinned out a good-sized dart on both sides.









 To make this more of a "You Are There" experience, here's a short video (after some pinning):



These instructions from Dorothy Moore's book should help me to relocate that shoulder dart.



I'm hoping to be able to produce an improved bodice this weekend and then take it from there.  The good news is I'm learning a lot.

If you have any fitting-related insights to share, I'd love to hear from you.

Have a great day, everybody!