The Couture School Day 4

Sew bodice to skirt except over the pleats.  Pleasts needed to adjust a bit to lay flat.

Fine tuning my shoulder adjustment as follows:

I needed to tuck in the neck a little.  I took out the shoulder seam, aligned the princess seams and basically created a dart at the neck line.

  

Stitched my shoulders and here is the end result below.

I adjusted my pleats so they lay flat as possible.  Added width at my hip area was the last thing I wanted to do so my waist actually curves down a bit at Center Front.  

I basted my pleats down with basting thread and large X's.  Steamed not touching the fabric, and basted my waist seam to bodice front and back.  I then made any final adjustments and fell stitched the yoke to the upper skirt.

The amazing Leisa from A Challenging Sew.  She is an amazing, hard worker!

The Couture School Day 3

I have neglected my blog but wanted to give this portion some thought.  The fitting process for my shoulder area is not for the faint at heart, and I am forever grateful for Susan's patience and skill.  

  Many years ago (more like 15) I was fortunate to have a class with Elizabeth Liechty and Della Pottberg, authors of one of the best fitting books I know of.  The book deals with a flat pattern approach to fitting issues and is very good with lots of pictures.  I had my measurements taken and found out that my right shoulder rolls forward.  Yes, I was not very organized back then but at least I have kept the original measurements stuck in the back of the book. 

To simplify this a bit, the measurement from my Center Back to left shoulder tip (boney knob at the shoulder) is approximately 1/2" longer on my right side.  It may not sound like a lot but because of my shoulder rolling forward it creates a real fitting problem for me.

 

                                                                    The above right shoulder measures 1/2"                                                       longer then the left shoulder.

To solve this problem I have to add to the Right Back Bodice at the shoulder tip 1/2" and add a small amount of ease along the armseye, as a rolling shoulder creates more width in the back shoulder area.  The white areas show my adjustments.

 Because the right shoulder rolls forward 1/2", the Center Front to right shoulder measures 1/2" shorter then the left shoulder.

To solve this problem I drop the seam 1/2" at the shoulder.  I also have to scoop out the armseye a bit as I need to take up a bit of fabric to avoid gapping.  Hopefully, you can see this in the picture.  

This is my cheat sheet of changes I make with illustrations.

I may do a tutorial on this for more clarification but hopefully this is helpful.

On day three I made my shoulder adjustments stitched the bodice seams to the organza underling.  Worked on the neckline clipping around the neck edge and catching only the organza.

Check sleeve widths.  Since the sleeves were dropped sleeves I didn't need to make any further adjustments.  Hand baste sleeve in, sew sleeve seam.  Pin bodice to skirt.  Sew skirt side seams.  Sew back darts.  Evening Homework:  Transfer changes from the garment onto my muslin.  Trace changed muslin on lining with white tracing paper.  This is important as the tracing paper I use does not come out really well.

The Couture School Day 2

Had to take some time out for family matters and getting children situated in schools out West, but I am back to continue sharing about my experiences at The Couture School, held by Susan Khalje.

Cut out my dress pieces with decent seam allowances.  Not as wide as I would have liked as I barely got all my pattern pieces onto my fabric.

Hand basted my dress together for a first fitting.  Made adjustments primary to my bodice pieces.  I have one shoulder higher then the other so my shoulder seam was adjusted.  Some shaping went on and added subtle darts to the side.  

Added ease on the sides as well.  Without Susan's help I would never have thought of these adjustments.  Can not talk enough about taking advantage of a Susan class if you can.

Machine sewed the bodice front and back pieces together except for the shoulder seams.  

Adjusted the bodice to get my shoulders correct.  Could even pad the right shoulder but it turned out well.  Balanced out all my pieces. 

The Couture School Day 1

               

Here is a day by day run down of my experience at the Susan Khalje Couture School.  Going off my notes from class but I think it will give a basic idea of the process.

First got together and shared fabric choices and pattern.  Here is just a sampling of students and their projects. 

 Wendy did a lovely dress in a fabric I can't quite describe except for exquisite.  The color was a gray/green so beautiful.

 Sarah (of Goodbyevalentino.com) worked on a dress for her daughters wedding.  Must go to her blog and see how beautiful it turned out.

 Nel shared some of the most unique and gorgeous fabrics with us.  She worked on a few projects, my favourite being a purple velvet jacket.

 Had to show this fabric.

 Diana decided to work on two French Jackets.  One for herself in this fabric and one in black for her daughter.  Really perfect.

 Leisa (achalengingsew.com) here showed the fabric for her motorcycle jacket.  It turned out so nicely.  A little peek of Norma (orange lingerie) with silk on her lap for a camisole. 

 This was a fabric Leisa gave to Cissie who made a beautiful outfit.  Check out pattern review for the finished product.

The majority of these amazing fabrics came from Mendel Goldberg Fabrics, NYC.  

This is the pattern and the fabric I used. 

    

Put on my muslin for a first fitting.  My left hand side was fit by Susan as you can somewhat see in the picture.  I then transferred the changes made on the left side to the right side of the muslin.

The waistline was adjusted for sitting about an inch above my natural waistline.  

The skirt fit seemed pretty good, though we worked with the pleats in front so they would lay flat.  

Traced the muslin onto my silk organza using large sheets of tracing paper.  Susan Khalje has the tracing paper in multiple colors.

Then thread traced organza to my fabric.

I used every last inch of my fabric.

The Couture School

When I came across this picture of the muslin fitting for this dress I made from Susan Khalje's Couture School I was so amazed at the metamorphosis (large word for process of change!).

Muslin

To this!

Final

Ivory to White Lace

I had to share a find here.  I have been dying lace since, forever.  This piece of lace was ivory and I wanted some white lace.  With what I had on hand I knew that I would never be able to get this piece white.  As a whim I tryed out this Rit whitener, and wha la!  It worked as this lace is really white.  Wish I had taken a before picture, but I really didn't think it would work out. 

A Fun Read!

This book was recommended to me by Sally, as a very interesting look into the making of the Pink or Raspberry (Chanels words) suit for Jackie Kennedy.  A very enjoyable, light read, for the summer with interesting details of the making of this unique garment.  Once again Sally you educated me on what I thought was an original Chanel Suit.....     

chanel jackets

 I thought it would be fun to see these finished jackets from the beginning to the end.

 


Joanne's beautiful jacket!

 


Sherry looking elegant!

       


Check out Karen's blog:  fiftydresses.com!

 

Holly, young and beautiful!

 

Myra, stunning!  The pearls make this outfit complete.



All of these women look like they stepped out of a showroom.  Knowing the work involved they all deserve lots of credit!  This jacket is universal for all women.  

Chanel

This is a book that I have really enjoyed.  I got this from LintonTweeds.com who have supplied Chanel and other designers for years with beautiful fabrics.  It is very interesting and goes into a lot of history, which I enjoy.  It will make you appreciate all that goes into couture garments.  

Pressing Supplies

I was so excited to get his package in the mail from Stitch Nerd.

 While at the last Susan Khalje class I saw two of the largest hams I have ever seen from Cissie and Leisa.  It was so nice to use and I decided to order one.  I liked this Paris fabric so much that I sent in two of my pressing tools to be recovered and added a mitt and extra long pressing sleeve.

 Here is the reverse side.  I am very happy with my little pressing family here and will show how I am using them occasionally.  Stitch Nerd does a great job and I would highly recommend their products.
    

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