A Good Wardrobe

I’ve been working on the gathered skirt proto-type over the last two days. It came together nicely and looks much more flattering on than the muslin. Once I finish hemming it, I’ll post some pictures of me wearing it. Until then, here are some quick pictures of it in my work room.

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I have cheap steam iron that I’ve been using and it has finally given out on me. The sole-plate has cracked and it spits water with mineral bits out while I’m trying to press.

I’ve been putting off buying a new steam iron because, frankly, they are just too expensive. I’d love an iron with a steam-hole covered plate but I’m saving my money for a serger. Instead, I ordered a dry iron from Home Depot which ran me $30. No more steam-hole indentations on my garments and I can always create the steam I need with pressing cloths, spray bottles, and blotters. I’m excited to see if this fits the bill. Do any of you use a dry iron as your primary?

This week I’ll be working on my gathered skirt for my grandmother’s batik fabric. I’ve been trying to decide whether to use a straight or contoured waistband so I worked up a draft for both. I sewed up a muslin for the straight waistband that I’d like to share with you.

I can’t decide if the garment is unflattering or if it’s simply the muslin that I can’t look past. The side shot shows how much the back pops out which makes my butt look 10x bigger but I’m wondering if a more fluid fabric would lie down a bit more. Given that my batik is so precious I’m not willing to take a chance on this yet so I’ve decided to make this draft up in a purple linen to see if it’s more flattering and if it actually gets worn. I’ll be lowering the hem line about 2″ so that it falls mid knee but if I end up using it for the batik I might raise the hem another 1/2″.

Hopefully this skirt goes better than my the seersucker (which will be going in the wash today – wish me luck). I’m really looking forward to using a new straight waistband technique so I’ll post production pictures as well.

Guess what?

I finished my seersucker skirt today! No, you can’t see pictures.

Why?

I was a little over exuberant with the iron and now the texture is missing from portions of the skirt. I had read about this before hand somewhere on the web and the columnist said that texture would return after washing. No problem, I thought – I’ll soak the skirt in my kitchen sink and throw it in the dryer.

The texture still hasn’t returned.

Is the skirt doomed to a life as a half-breed?

Yesterday I posted about three of my final project skirts and mentioned a green seersucker that I had drafted an eight-gored flared skirt for. Here’s a look at the muslin I presented in class last week and a description of the changes I’ll make this week.

Unfortunately, the muslin’s color hides many of the seam lines but hopefully you can get some idea of the project. I’ll work on taking pictures that show the details better for the next skirts. One thing that you should be able to see is the pencil mark on the waistline. My draft pointed a bit at the center and I went back to fill in this spot for a smoother contour. The hemline in the front was a little long so I also shaved off about 3/4″ at the center and smoothed it out towards the sides. Other than that, I was very happy with the progress.

The back didn’t show any problems so I’m leaving it as is. My pinning job, however, needs some work!

What do you think? Are there any adjustments that you can see that I haven’t spotted?I’ll be working on this over the next few days and plan to have a finished shot by the end of the week!

I mentioned in my introduction that I started a pattern drafting class last January. I had always dreamt of going to art school for fashion design but I couldn’t wrap my head around paying the tuition, especially when I had other scholastic interests. So you can imagine my excitement when I found a serious program that wouldn’t break the bank. I go to a self-paced class once a week and work my way through a syllabus that should take somewhere between two to three years. I’ve just finished the skirt section which requires us to draft and sew (at least) 16 skirts in muslin. At this point I’m working on my own designs that I’ll draft and sew up in fashion fabric.

Here’s a look at three of my final projects:

I was placing an order with Vogue Fabrics for cotton batiste when I stumbled upon this green striped seersucker. I usually don’t buy seersucker without first purchasing a swatch because it’s difficult to tell whether it’s a true seersucker before washing. But I figured the price was right and I could take a chance with it. I was ecstatic when the swatch came out of the wash with the texture intact.

For this skirt I drafted an 8 gore skirt with flare and a pointed yoke. It’s hemline will come to the knees. I’ll be manipulating the grain of the gores so that the seersucker stripes produce chevrons. The yoke’s stripes will be, more or less, horizontal. The seersucker is very lightweight and it frays something awful so I need to find an appropriate edge finish.

This stunning green fabric is a cotton and silk blend that I found at Britex. It sells under the name Radiance and it looks like fabric.com has a few colors.

I decided to draft a full a-line with a front button placket and contoured waistband. The hem will fall just below the knee. I’m still debating whether to underline the skirt or not. I’d really like the final product to have a rich drape and to fall close to the body. Given this, I’m thinking maybe a batiste or flannelette.

This is a vintage batik brought back from Jakarta in the 60′s by my grandmother. For many years it has been used as a tablecloth but is still in beautiful condition. I have two panels that equal about two yards. For an element of surprise, I purchased a purple/taupe striped cotton for the waistband.

For the batik, I drafted a gathered straight skirt that comes just above the knee. The waistband has posed a dilemma for me and I’m still trying to decide whether I should sacrifice my design for wearability. As a short waisted gal I usually draft a contoured waistband but a straight waistband would work better for the vertical stripes. If I do end up re-drafting for a straight waistband, I’ll use a technique I found in The Dressmaker’s Handbook of Couture Sewing Techniques. 

I’ll be posting more about each of these projects as I work on them in the coming weeks.

Want to see what I made with the green cotton/silk? Read this post.