Vintage racing jacket (for the true enthusiast)

I had a client who owned a 40 year old racing jacket, which is no longer being made. He loved it so, but it was soiled and stained, worn in many places, failed elastic ... sprinkled with holes and threadbare areas.  He asked me to copy the jacket.

So I did.

And he loved it.  These kinds of projects make my heart happy.

So I was on TV in Japan...

In front of an audience, which I believe, is bigger than Oprah's, I did a quickie change on a shirt from "nerdy" to "cool"! The show's producer wanted to tell the story of what he sees as a Vintage Movement in clothing right now, but I see it as more of an aesthetic revolution. People want special things, made of special fabrics that can endure the normal challenges of movement and laundering without looking like a rag. For the creative, this is a necessity. If you are reading this on a wi-fi only Kindle right now, go find a desktop, laptop, tablet or phone to watch it HERE. (Hope you speak Japanese! If not, you'll just have to wait for me or my client to speak. The rest will just be funny!)

What is old can be new again...

This 1890's ensemble, bought at an auction, cried out to be refashioned for this millenium. This creative bride's personality was a perfect match for this dress. Here are the original three pieces, before we began:





and what we created:




Sometimes the vintage dream just won't conform to the woman's body. That is what extreme alterations are for! The addition of a shaped back panel of matching black silk gave this vintage store find a new life.



Check out this great little 1950's dress on the bridesmaid...


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Vintage... there are no straight lines on the body...

I am still wiping the drool from my chin after seeing this pretty post from www.junebugweddings.com on vintage dresses. I have included one of her pictures (above) to give you a taste of what you'll find there, since the highlighted word "post" on its own doesn't really inspire exploration of another blog, right?

I love that dress... that architectural, straight look. My body is far from straight, though, and I don't think the dream would live up to the reality if I really tried to make such a garment.

We are a combination of curves, bulges, valleys and protrusions. In both good and bad ways, depending your point of view. Nothing brings this whole curve idea into sharper focus than making swimsuits. You body will just defy its constraints, and let you know that any stretch garment is just a mere coating for the your figure, and that all the structural tricks underneath are where the magic happens.

One thing that I notice about my own sewing, is that there is one area where I almost always, without fail, deviate from a printed commercial pattern. I am sure that due to the complications grading the markings would present, darts are just simple angles. (see below)


My darts are never just straight, and I usually have to change the length of them to suit my figure. I like my bust darts to end 1 1/2' away from the apex, and I like a gentler taper than most darts are designed to have. I guess this is one part of my draping and patternmaking education I have never been able to skimp on.

I am full of ideas and I have VERY little personal time. In keeping with my "no apologies" mantra, I aim to just complete my personal projects as I complete them, with no feelings of guilt over how long it takes me to finish, where we are in the season, or how many "do-overs" I have to endure to get the right look and fit.

P.S.

For those of you following my son's progress, I must share the sentence I heard this morning. After putting on his small Crayola backpack full of crayons, Aaron marched toward the front door and said "Aaron wants school today" Aaaaaugh! It made me want to cry (for joy)! He has been on school visits with me, and he actually sees the possibility of going to school, and is looking forward to it! Not only that, he is just 2 years and 9 months old, so it is completely age-appropriate for him to start thinking that way. Autism, schmautism, I say!


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The angels are in the details!

This post was inspired by my clean-up/clean-out for our move next month. It is a brief farewell tribute to an old blouse I made, which I found...in a ball, in a box... in a dark corner... waiting to be discarded.

I love details. The tiny elements that make a garment extra-special, if only to the wearer, can be so powerful.

Like pintucks...



And beaded fagotting...




And interesting buttons (in this case bone beads on a false closure - there are actually snaps underneath)...




I was inspired by a December 1996 Threads article "Heavenly Embellishment" to try the beaded detail, and I was in a vintage-y, batiste-y, pituck-y kind of phase, so I designed and draped this blouse from the ground up. I was so happy to have learned how to drape and draft a pattern for a collar, that I wanted to create a blouse using all of the elements I loved. I wouldn't recommend it.

As I have matured in my sewing, I have found that it is best to isolate these details, not pile them all on one project, as I did with this monstrosity... (below) I am not bothering to iron it, or give it a new life -- I will simply cut off the bone buttons, and save the strips of fagotting for use on another batiste project in the future. I do remember that 12 hours of handwork went into that beading!

Glover-ly fingers!

I have really enjoyed "trying my hand" at glovemaking. Ha! I can see what a lovely pair of gloves this pattern will make, and the excruciatingly careful attention to detail it requires. The next post you will see on this subject, will probably be me working on (or having completed) a real pair of gloves using this pattern.

For now, I understand the construction, thanks to the muslin process. I couldn't wrap my brain around it on vacation. The assembly of the fourchettes was impossible to understand on paper (couldn't put my finger on it - ha!), but much easier to understand with actual fabric in my hands.



The manipulation of the pieces to get accurate and attractive stitches is outrageously difficult, I think. Now that I've got the thumb understood, this muslin assembly was just quickly done, to see if I could get the construction happening the way it is supposed to look.



In my experience, the stitching that will give me the look I want, is not one of the suggested methods the pattern provides. For me, I need to baste my 1/8" seam together, and then hand sew on the right side of the glove with what I would call a fine, closely-spaced diagonal "stab and wrap" stitch, if that makes sense.

The fingertip shape is very important to the femininity and grace of the glove. A rounded tip is not what the pattern would yield, so they need to be re-shaped.

It seems that the biggest reward of making a custom pair of gloves is that a truly perfect fit is something you rarely (if ever) experience in a glove, and really unique gloves are such an indulgence. This project also has the benefit of being small and portable. And... if you like to drag things out, you could really spend an outrageous amount of time sewing them.

If you are a true glutton for punishment, tatted lace edges would create an unbearably luxurious pair...