a sewing project
Over Easter I got together with a creative sewing buddy for an inspired day of fabric shopping, cutting and sewing, and now I very nearly have a completed skirt- but I couldn't wait until I finish it off to share the process and the fun with a few people who might appreciate it a bit more than Walter (who just wants to lie on it) and Scott (who doesn't see what all the fuss is about).
My sewing buddy and I started out with a fabric shopping expedition to two of our favorite haunts: Cutting Edge on Glenferrie Road, Malvern, and Artextil in Lennox Street, Richmond. Wonderful stashes of bolts of beautiful quality fabrics including Italian deisgner creations, and wonderfully friendly service. I love a sales lady who offers you the remnant she had stashed behind the counter for herself, just because she sees that you've fallen in love with the large piece from the shelf, that's just not quite big enough for the coat that you're planning to make. So kind.
Some of the fabric is pretty pricey, but it's great value when you consider the quality. After all, how much would you spend on an Ermenegildo Zegna skirt? - that would be of course, assuming that they had given up on making suits for Paul Keating and actually made skirts. Personally I like to think that the $80 I spent for a bit less than a metre of the most divinely supple and soft Zegna wool flannel was a bargain.
After the shoppping fun, we ajourned to my friend's perfectly appointed inner city studio flat, and reaching for her copy of Pattern Magic (Hey, doesn't everyone have a copy yet?), I started cutting little boxes from stiff paper, and taping them onto a copy of my favorite skirt pattern: a DKNY A-line skirt that's at least 10 years old and has been "made" at least a dozen times (I suppose I could say I've made it that many times... perhaps more accurate to say I've based a garment on it a dozen times?).
We contemplated the placement of boxes, which involved some modelling, and sketching, and contemplating. The idea was simple enough, but there were a multitude of ways of arranging them, sizing them and piecing them, and I wanted to play with the pattern of the stripes and the shape of the boxes.
With the design decided, and the pattern pieces cut, the next step was cutting the pieces. I mixed in a scrap of a plain black flannel for some added design interest.
I returned home to the familiar presence of my Huskies to tackle the next step: tacking, pinning, snipping, trimming, and sewing. With the benefit of hindsight (and confirmed by my friend's advice: she concocted a skirt based on another Pattern Magic style in a fraction of the sewing time that my skirt has taken) this is probably one of the most difficult designs in the book. Or at least, it seemed that way as I carefully trimmed, pinned and sewed, stretching and folding the fabric at each corner of the boxes. This isn't a sewing exercise for the beginner or faint-hearted.
But OOohhhh, the sense of satisfying wonder as each sculpted box took shape...
The end result was a bit of a dog's breakfast on the back (and will be getting covered up with some lining), but the front of the skirt is pretty cool I think. Subtle enough to evade the first glance, but a point of intrigue for the eye of a keen clothing fan (or so I hope...)
Ok, so maybe that photo isn't so good- you really need to see it worn as a skirt. I guess I'd better get on and finish it....
Along with my sockapaloooza socks....
and the bags I'm making for the shop...
and a couple of things I'm swapping...
or something for the 7 friends (and counting) who have announced they're producing babies this year...
and I'd better not bore you with the other mundane stuff on the "to do" list...
My sewing buddy and I started out with a fabric shopping expedition to two of our favorite haunts: Cutting Edge on Glenferrie Road, Malvern, and Artextil in Lennox Street, Richmond. Wonderful stashes of bolts of beautiful quality fabrics including Italian deisgner creations, and wonderfully friendly service. I love a sales lady who offers you the remnant she had stashed behind the counter for herself, just because she sees that you've fallen in love with the large piece from the shelf, that's just not quite big enough for the coat that you're planning to make. So kind.
Some of the fabric is pretty pricey, but it's great value when you consider the quality. After all, how much would you spend on an Ermenegildo Zegna skirt? - that would be of course, assuming that they had given up on making suits for Paul Keating and actually made skirts. Personally I like to think that the $80 I spent for a bit less than a metre of the most divinely supple and soft Zegna wool flannel was a bargain.
After the shoppping fun, we ajourned to my friend's perfectly appointed inner city studio flat, and reaching for her copy of Pattern Magic (Hey, doesn't everyone have a copy yet?), I started cutting little boxes from stiff paper, and taping them onto a copy of my favorite skirt pattern: a DKNY A-line skirt that's at least 10 years old and has been "made" at least a dozen times (I suppose I could say I've made it that many times... perhaps more accurate to say I've based a garment on it a dozen times?).
We contemplated the placement of boxes, which involved some modelling, and sketching, and contemplating. The idea was simple enough, but there were a multitude of ways of arranging them, sizing them and piecing them, and I wanted to play with the pattern of the stripes and the shape of the boxes.
With the design decided, and the pattern pieces cut, the next step was cutting the pieces. I mixed in a scrap of a plain black flannel for some added design interest.
I returned home to the familiar presence of my Huskies to tackle the next step: tacking, pinning, snipping, trimming, and sewing. With the benefit of hindsight (and confirmed by my friend's advice: she concocted a skirt based on another Pattern Magic style in a fraction of the sewing time that my skirt has taken) this is probably one of the most difficult designs in the book. Or at least, it seemed that way as I carefully trimmed, pinned and sewed, stretching and folding the fabric at each corner of the boxes. This isn't a sewing exercise for the beginner or faint-hearted.
But OOohhhh, the sense of satisfying wonder as each sculpted box took shape...
The end result was a bit of a dog's breakfast on the back (and will be getting covered up with some lining), but the front of the skirt is pretty cool I think. Subtle enough to evade the first glance, but a point of intrigue for the eye of a keen clothing fan (or so I hope...)
Ok, so maybe that photo isn't so good- you really need to see it worn as a skirt. I guess I'd better get on and finish it....
Along with my sockapaloooza socks....
and the bags I'm making for the shop...
and a couple of things I'm swapping...
or something for the 7 friends (and counting) who have announced they're producing babies this year...
and I'd better not bore you with the other mundane stuff on the "to do" list...
posted by Clementine's Shoes at 11:27 PM
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