Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Too Much Of A Good Thing?

I'm a bit overwhelmed by having plenty; plenty of fabrics, plenty of ideas, plenty of new found knowledge. I'll start with fabrics:
Mother's Day and birthday came and went, and with them came a whole bunch of fabric. Exquisite fabric. Fabric I've only dared to glance at. Yup, DH is priceless. And his wallet seemingly bottomless :)) I'm going to post photos of them all eventually.

Below is a picture of fabrics that I bought on my birthday. They're not for me. Did you guess? They're for DD #2. Crazy. I know. Silk charmeuse for blouse with scarf, sequined fabric for skirt. Now I'm thinking DD #1 would like this as well. We shall see.


Ideas:
Being in possession of such incredible fabric certainly gets the juices flowing, but since they're so intricate (lace, beads, sequins, feathers) they require careful planning, and I'm not up to the task at the moment. I just received Susan Khalje's Bridal Couture and will hopefully find many tips on handling these kinds of fabrics. In the meantime; I got one fabric that was plain and just the perfect color:

Remember this dress?


It's the same color, which happens to suit me perfectly. So, I'm doing some draping. I want a cowl neck but nothing else, just a simple dress.  Below is my initial test.



And finally; knowledge.
I was browsing the boards over on PatternReview the other day and stumbled upon the thread Sewing for rectangle shape and of course, being a rectangle myself, had to check it out. There I found a most amazing link: Inside Out Style, a blog by Imogen Lamport who is an Image Consultant based in Melbourne. Below is the link to the H Shape:
It made everything so clear and I will refer back to her anytime I'm in doubt. What really changed my viewpoint was the fact that us rectangles are born this way; our hips and ribs are closer together and therefore, no matter how thin we get, there's never going to be a real waist definition. On the plus side; we usually, because of this, have longer legs :)) So, understanding how we're put together allows us to choose styles/patterns that really work to our advantage.

On a final note: I'm almost done with the vintage Cardin jacket. After reading about the H shape it may turn out the jacket is too boxy for me, we shall see. It's a one color suit with a fitted skirt so that may help but the fabric is very stiff. So far I'm not in love with it but it was fun to learn how the collar is done :))
Here's a link to the post about the pattern:

11 comments:

  1. Wow, thanks for the links, I am a rectangle, too, so I appreciate the information.

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  2. Happy Birthday! The fabric is gorgeous.
    I'm anxious to see your garments.
    I should pick up Susan Khalje's book. It does sound like it would be a great book to have on hand.

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  3. Thanks for the link to the H shape. I will never have a waist. Given the popularity of the wrap dress, and my own past experience, it is great to read that the wrap dress is a no-no.

    I think the Cardin jacket will work. Not every jacket needs to have a waist.

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  4. Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday deeeaaarrr Birgitte, happy birthday to you !!! May I complain a little bit? Those pieces of fabric are not a gift if they are all for DD. ;-) When DH's wallets feel better, shouldn't there be some for you ? Oh I should mind my own business. ;-)) For this dress of you are workin on, do you plan the skirt to be folded as well ? This dress as something retro of the late 1930 early fourties. My grand-mother got married in a silk crepe dress which is somehow very similar. For the fabric, this will be very beautiful with your skin tone and hair. Do we see the fabric in the back (right side) of DD's lucky set of silk? I am curious to see this the muslin and the dress after. Did you finished the raincoat? Or it is sleeping with my denim DKNY jacket... in UFO land? Or you never have UFO's? Happy sewing and for me after happy seing !

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  5. I forgot, Imogen Lamport's blog made me sad. She has no shape for me, I am nor an X or an 8 shape. I am lost now, what a tragedy ! ;-) I think, I am a Z tonight and I have to quit my keyboard before falling asleep here.

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  6. You are busy! I love the dress. Can't wait to see the steps and finally the results!

    By the way, your daughters are very lucky!

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  7. Susan's book is excellent! A must have for every serious seamstress. I make lots of gowns and her techniques are phenomenal! I even took a "couture hand sewing" class with her. She is so talented.

    Your fabrics are georgeous!

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  8. What a gift! and such a treat to sew on. I am jealous. Off to check out that link. Maybe something for petites?

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  9. LOVE that dress, both color and style. It's going to look great on you.

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  10. Birgitte, did you see this gorgeous shirt dress in the latest BWOF magazine? I cannot cut and pace the web address ;-(. I think you would look wonderful with it! Happy saturday! Anne

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  11. Thanks for the link - great fabrics, and what a gorgeous dress - I look forward to seeing it finished.

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