Q is finally finished late last night. Just in time for me to go back to work and do nothing with her for a while. Typical!
It may take me a few days to organize a proper write up. In the meanwhile, here’s a preview of what she looks like to keep you sweet:
Humm, that CF & CB seems to be twisting. But they seem to be twisting in the same direction. So may just need a little tugging with the cover.
Look what came in the post today: These lovelies to keep me motivated on finishing Q, my new home-made dress form.
I haven’t read them in-depth yet. So no review. Just first impressions / why I bought them.
I already own Draping for Fashion Design, so don’t really need another draping book. But come on, who can resist all those luscious photos. Drool.
The art of draping
Not every design is my cup of tea, but they’re look more high fashion than in a lot of draping and pattern-drafting books. Well, most of these books don’t even have photo illustrations. So no competition there.
There are also plenty of other high fashion runway photos illustration the application of these different draping methods. These aren’t illustrated with step-by-step draping guide. But I don’t feel cheated like I do with some of the other books. The sample designs that he does go through in details make me feel that he knows what he’s talking about and those runway photos aren’t just to lend an air of authority to an otherwise unexceptional book.
So not really your starter draping book, but certainly compliments those more basic books. I really like it because I’m mostly inspired by fashion photos & clippings I collect, and the draping projects in this book look much more inspiring than the mundane examples in most other draping books. You almost feel like you’ll be able to create one of those fabulous couture dresses one of these days. Now the only problem is where to wear it to!
A word of caution though. The book is in English & French. I find it a bit jarring to spot the English instructions amongst the French.
Draping: The Complete CourseI’ve wanted this one ever since Peter of Male Pattern Boldness reviewed it, but couldn’t justify it without a working dress form.
This one is more like the standard draping books. It does the some basics, but isn’t as comprehensive in the variations of designs covered as my Draping for Fashion Design. But it most definitely is more inspiring. I mean, it even has a recreation of a Vivienne Westwood dress. Yum!
Celebrity junkie are you? How about recreating the train of Kate Middleton’s Alexander McQueen wedding dress…
Or the Oscar de la Renta dress that Gwyneth Paltrow wore the year she won the Oscar!
More inspired by history? There’s this Grecian dress and this corset with Georgian shape for you…
Want classy & smart? Can’t beat a well-shaped trench!
OK, maybe it’s just me. But this home sewer just can’t mentally stretch from illustrations of your typical draping book to fabulous garments of the fashion mags. This coffee table style book hits the sweet spot and get my dough. Let’s just hope it won’t feel be horribly dated in a decade or two!
And last but not least, and not a draping book…
Vintage Couture TailoringI saw this in a brick & mortar bookstore and was hooked by these photos:
I mean what the… LOL. I’ve never seen back pad & bust pad mentioned in any other tailoring books.
OK, if it was just this it wouldn’t justify the purchase. But the book is full of lots of step-by-step photo-illustrations. And you know I like my photo illustrations!
Granted, it’s just one jacket all the way through. And it doesn’t cover fitting.
But I’m sure I’ll learn something new. Something in addition to the padding in weird places, which I may very well make use of now I know how lopsided I am. I mean, just look at the innards of that jacket…
I feel like if I practice these techniques for long enough, they may let me through the back door of Savile Row!
And again, attractive example of the author’s handiwork really help sells the book to me. Here’s a remake of a 1951 Balmain suit he made…
The only complaint I have is that like other reviewers, I also find the text very difficult to read because the text colors weren’t dark enough. A magnifying glass helps though.
OK, better get back to that dress form so I can justify these purchases…
So let’s get back to Q. Yes, I’ve decided to christen her Quasimodo. Or Q for short (with a sideways nod to James Bond). She’ll be my smart cookie gadget girl, slightly deformed but still beautiful.
And what tricks has she got for us up her sleeves? Well, you already know about her hidden foam bra cups. This time we’ll check out her innards & leg. Yes, just the one. But she’s got one hefty hoof to keep her grounded…
And here’s the tidied up master plan with lessons learnt…
Next up, fattening Q up! It is coming up to xmas after all.
So, while we’re on the Knit Block detour we might as well finish this conversation.
As you know, I’ve been using my adjusted Burdastyle 2012-09-123 T-shirt as my tentative Knit Block. And it’s been working OK. No major complaint apart from the sway-back type puddle in the lower back. So I thought I’d try designing with it. Nothing fancy, just a simple U-neck T.
I was going to make it with 3/4 sleeves. But the fabric I had in mind was a $1/yard remanent from FIDM’s Scholarship Store in LA, so not enough for long sleeve. No problem I thought. I’ll just make a short sleeve version.
Straightforward right? Sadly no.
See those pulls emanating from the neckline towards the shoulder? I had no such problem with the previous makes based on this Knit Block. It could be the fabric, though this one seem just as stretchy. My bet though is on the short sleeve. All my previous makes were long sleeves. I think maybe the weight of the long sleeves pulled the shoulder seams in place. So I hadn’t really noticed that the shoulders were really too short.
Here’s how it compare with my zero-ease Moulage pattern:
Apology for the confusing extra lines – they’re for the blouse/dress, jacket, & coat slopers. I’m waiting to test them out with muslins before separating them into heavy paper Blocks. The heavier red lines show the Moulage.
The shoulder is about 3/8″ too short. Waist is zero ease, and Bust & Hip are both currently negative ease (even accounting for the bit taken out by the Moulage darts).
I think I need to redo the Knit Block, get back to basic principles. Specifically, where it’s OK to have negative ease and where it should be kept at zero ease. And maybe figure out a totally zero-ease Knit Block for those less stretchy knit fabrics.
And I thought I was saving time by starting with a commercial pattern for knit! Sometimes there’s no substitute for learning properly, especially if one intend to get creative with pattern making.
The dress form is still WIP. I’m no deft hands with the DIY, so the stand is taking a while to make. And I’m leaving the padding & cover till the last.
So how about a spot of Here’s One I Made Earlier?
Well this one has been stewing since March. I was going to franken-pattern this bodice & sleeve with the front neckline of Burdastyle 2011-11-114. In the end I went for a simple modified Blumarine pattern because I couldn’t my head around that weird grafting. And I’m glad I did…
That last set is my homage to the melodramatic Dolce & Gabbana 2013 ads 🙂 But you won’t catch me doing that in real life.
And last but not least, all the holiday snaps. Lucky top!
Coney Island, NYC, USA
As you can see, I end up wearing this open most of the time, with the ties looped around my neck. I really should add a thread loop to the CB neckline seam to keep the ties in place. They get a bit unwieldy with the constant taking off & putting back on (especially in Taiwan where outside it’s freaking hot and inside it’s effing freezing with A/C everywhere).
34 because it was closest to my tentative Knit Block.
Read & ignored as usual. Once I know how the pieces are suppose to fit together I prefer to follow my own batch work-flow and modifying where necessary to fit my design changes and fabric behavior.
This modified top is fast becoming a favorite. It’s great for layering & goes with almost everything. It’s classy with a little flare of drama in the bell-shaped sleeves. Considering that I have a moth problem I will no doubt be making more of the same in the future.
And the dress version too. I already have in mind a muted gold stretch jersey as well as the same turquoise leopard print I used for the pencil skirt & cowl top you see in the photos above.
Other people’s makes on Burda & Pattern Review all look great as well. So definitely would recommend. You can still buy the PDF version of the pattern online at Burda website. So what are you waiting for!
