Dior Coat- it's been done since forevah!!

Better late than never. At least that what I've heard... Remember this coat? Maybe not, and I won't blame you. I had to go back and see when I last posted about it. That would be December 29. And it was done way before that. Ha. It's been worn, NYC was a perfect match. Got my boots there too and love love.

Open gets the most wear, but it was good to close it

on those chilly windy days.

Some close-up details: Double collar, single welt pocket, chest flap. And of course, the exquisite workmanship of Warren at A1 Pleating: belt and buttons.

Like the lining? Silk charmeuse in ombre, gray to purple.

Here's the link to the post about the pin tucks, which also shows the original Dior inspiration coat:

Using grainboard for pin tucks

Btw; I can't be the only one having trouble with the new blogger formatting? The photo thing is driving me nuts. And the preview is so bad! Hey Blogger/Google, get together with Mac, they know how to do it, just check out their iWeb :))

Thanks for all the encouragements on how to wear the Balmain; I'm inspired!!! I'm in the process of beading the collar, which means the lining is not far behind :)) Thanks sooo much, it's the push I needed.

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:

Body Shapes Explained - H Shape (rectangle)

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:

Cardin

Using the Grainboard 4 Pintucks

Thank you to Lori, Sigrid, Ann, and Dana for nominating me for the Sisterhood Award, I will do a separate post on that. It's been really busy in my life lately...

Still very excited about my grainboard :)) I've been putting it to use the last couple of days. First to trace and cut patterns, then to cut a muslin, and finally for pintucks.

Here are a few more followups to questions about the grainboard:

Joanne asks : But where to store it? On top of the cutting table? On top of the cutting mat that sits on the cutting table? No accidental cuts on the grain muslin?

And Sew A Beginner asks: Can you use rotary cutters on the grainboard?

I've been storing the grainboard on the cutting table, but when I need to move it, it will easily lean up against the wall. I have a cutting mat to use with the rotary cutter- which I only use to cut quilt blocks and bias. I never use a rotary cutter for anything else. With scissors you have complete control, which is a must in couture. The scissors will not cut into the grainboard because the surface is pulled very tight, but you can not use a rotary cutter on the grainboard. I don't quilt much, and now I will use the grainboard for bias strips as well, so the rotary cutter and mat won't be of much use.

And thank you Katy for alerting me to the faulty Baby It's You link. The website is under construction and will hopefully be up and running soon.

Ann said: I have a spaceboard (51"x33")which I bought years ago. I love mine too and always use it. 

I also use mine to draft patterns on, and to trace patterns. If you use a tracing wheel to trace, it perforates the paper underneath nicely and you just follow this to cut out your pattern pieces.
Found a picture here:
http://www.yarn-store.com/blocking-supplies.html

Thank you Ann for the info on your spaceboard. I have a question for you: Is it a hard surface or can you pin into it? I usually trace patterns with a marker- I buy large rolls of the cheap tracing paper from the art supply store and just place it over the pattern.

Edit to update:

Ann answered; yes, you can pin into the spaceboard, and she included  a link to photos of how she uses it. I thought this to be so helpful, I asked if I could post the link here. She kindly agreed. Thanks Ann!

Spaceboard photos

So in conclusion; if you don't have the time/space/interest- fill in the rest:)- for a grainboard, a spaceboard is a great alternative.

Okay time for the pintucks part :))

Here's my inspiration coat. This is a bad picture, go to yoox where you can zoom in : Christian Dior Coat.

And this is the pattern I'm using, BWOF 1-2009-115

As it turns out I like the pattern so much I think I'm keeping most of the details and then add the pintuck section, pockets, belt/cuff straps and the button spacing. I might add pintucks on the yoke as well as inside on the upper facing and the under collar. The double collar is really cool- you can flip one up. I also like that it's very relaxed, not so fitted. I mostly wear my jackets and coats open. Here's the muslin.

Okay the pintucks. I need them to be really even and straight and the grainboard is FABULOUS for this. My new gravity feed iron doesn't hurt either :)) I'm using the walking foot and 3mm stitch length. The fabric is a silk shantung (at least that was what the label said), but it's really soft and drapey. I fuse-interfaced for the pintucks but think I'll use silk organza underlining for the coat.

What are you all sewing/dreaming about? It's time for another giveaway, I need some ideas :))

Working Some, Dreaming More

This is the working part: Burda 2-2008-120 Parka.

Here are the cut pieces, well some of them at least, had to order an additional yard. This is real metallic organza, which I suspect is not the case in the Burda photo. The real stuff is quite stiff and very sheer, so it will be interesting to see how it will turn out. Fun to work with though; you can actually bend the fabric due to the high metallic content- 80/20. It can never be washed, so if it ends up being wearable, I should put a giant sign, "DO NOT TOUCH" on the back :-)

And here's what I'm dreaming about. My current inspiration pieces:

Louis Vuitton blouse jacket. The details include 3/4 length sleeves with pin tucked hems, contoured and topstitched front princess seam, diagonal dart from neck, soft Peter Pan collar.

Jenny Packham black dress with metallic detail. It's the skirt portion I'm interested in, very Art Deco and I love it over the pants.

Dior dress. What can I say. It's everything I love. The drape, the Art Deco trim... I will make this an experiment to see how far I can go with my still very limited draping skills. The ad itself is a masterpiece, pure Art Deco from background to the Cleopatra-inspired hairdo...

What are you dreaming about?