Couture Sewing Techniques

The Dressmaker’s Handbook of Couture Sewing Techniques

Lynda Maynard  (Interweave: 2010)

“A thing of beauty is a joy forever…”

That saying goes for the clothes we are all striving to make, and also for this book.

I love the cover and the colors used on the cover.  I love the wire spiral binding so I can flip back the pages in the workroom to use each technique.  I love the large amount of actual runway pictures used as examples and photos of fabrics and how-tos.  

At first glance, I thought the content was a little heavy on hem/banding techniques, but on second run-through, I found that it’s divided between creating supporting structure, finishing techniques and decorative techniques.  Especially helpful was seeing how backing a luxury fabric with a differently weighted fabric can change the hand of the fashion fabric and make it behave in a different way, but there is much more here. 

In the near-future I will be using several new techniques and referring to this book especially for the discussion of lining fashion fabrics.

Happy Valentine's Day

'Erato'                                   from The Year of the Century, c. 1897

Have on Hand - Pin from Grandma

My grandmother had this tucked in her stash when she passed.  While I'd like to think that she'd received it from her great aunt or her mother, I can't be certain, as one of her tales of woe involved her entire train case containing the bulk of her jewelry being robbed from the train, at some point.  This putto with butterfly wings is making a sour face and has one thumb up (love me) and the other thumb pointing down (love me not?).  He is actually a bit grotesque, but the over-all style is nouveau in sentiment and execution.  It is marked faintly on the back "sterling" and it looks quite old.  I drag it out and polish it each Valentine's Day and think of my Grandma.  Polishing silver is one of the chores she taught me to do and I actually enjoy it because of her.

Beaded Victorian Cuff

This was made from period lace and tidbits from around my studio. I built it up, layer by layer doing most of the work by hand, using the machine when I could.  I really like how it came out, even though I know where all of the imperfections are.  It’s base is muslin with ivory silk charmeuse from an old shirt as the mounting.

 I covered the silk with a tiny tulle netting in black, dotted it with glass beads, added vintage lace and velvet gathered from garage sales throughout the years and topped it off with a huge jet bead medallion.  Add a black glass button and voila!  Finished!

HOH - The Black Ribbon Cincher

It's not exactly a corset per se, but it is a neat little cincher that I grabbed for a song a billion years ago at Hot Topic.  It's made by Versatile Fashions out of elastic and holds everything together fairly well.

While not my ultimate favorite, I still reach for it again and again.

Press On!

Before I can complete my second muslin fitting, I need to make my grommet panels for this and future fittings.  Ideally, there will be several panels, so if one set is in use, there will be back-ups available.  I finally got to use the new hand press.  My verdict is that the press sets the grommets much more evenly than the results I was getting with the hammer method. The edge of the grommet is less likely to split, mush and get beat up.  This method is faster and creates a smooth, rolled grommet edge.  Less headache all 'round.

Here is the first panel, in the works:

Osborne Hand Press

First Toile

From the front, it’s easy to see that I will need to make a full bust adjustment to the armscye keeping the space for the girls, but not increasing the armscye at all.  Not really sure what's going to flatten out all that.

From the back, it won’t even close, so back to the drawing board on that.  I’ll need at least 5 extra inches through the back of the shoulders for it to begin to look like something.

It’s sitting too high in front, as well.  Pulling it down makes it feel as though it will fall off, as there is not enough fabric in back.  I absolutely have to wear a full-support bra, even with a corset.  The only corset I’d attempt to not wear a bra with would be a well-fitted 1860’s.  When I tried this on without the bra, it was a disaster that I don’t wish to share in a photo.

Well, That Was As Much Fun As...

...trying on bathing suits under fluorescent lights, or perhaps sticking a finger in my eye.  The graceful lines of this 1776 pair of stays are, shall we say, elongated and widened considerably.  I have nothing more to say here except I'm annoyed and had to go do something else for a while.

The bottom line: my waist is short (8") and I had to hook my lower center back length full around to the side over my ample hips in a really stupid sweeping arc, which I rather don't like very much at all.

Then, I had to get the bust to equal at least 22" inches (up from what a negative 0?) and then pull the front where the strap is supposed to attach up from where it was (sitting in the middle of my bust line - uh, no) to sitting up at least 4' - 5" higher at my shoulder and re-draw the armscye and hope for the best.

  Essentially, I had to grade this ancient pattern up from about a size 6 or 8 to a size 18 and now I'd really like a glass of champagne as I toss the whole mess from the balcony, but I won't because now I'm headed off to make the toile...
Post Script: Could she have trued that line a little better?  No, she couldn't as she's lost her drafting ruler and the Fiestaware didn't prove quite large enough.  :-(