Famous Last Words ...

I think I mentioned recently that i've been making a corset for my friend Ms E.  Its been taking a while because I discovered upon fitting her first corset toile, that she is asymmetrical!  I'm quite pleased about this because sooner or later I was going to get a client with this characteristic, and so it's nice for me to work on it with a friend first.

Her left (as you look) shoulder drops down and left hip goes up - I am not sure which causes which but the whole scenario causes the corset to be squint as you can see - it leans to the left..

This means that while the left side fits perfectly at the top under the arm, it is too tight at the bottom around the hip but on the right side, it fits beautifully all over - except at the front where both sides are too big at the front bust.  This is because I added ease to the bust to account for "squish" .. It was unnecessary.

When you put a grid on the picture you can see the problem clearly.

The orange lines are where the current seam lines are.

I should point out that when I wear this corset (we are the same size), it is perfectly straight on me.. This pattern is drafted from scratch and I know it's straight!

Here I have drawn how the corset should LOOK.

The purple lines are drawn agaist the grid, and are in the 'correct' place for the eye.  They are not symetrical  but they LOOK symmetrical to the eye.

Here are all the lines together ...

Green is the shape  i'm aiming for

Orange is where the current seam lines are

Purple is where seam lines would look right

My plan was to let the left side out where it was too tight and take the right side in where it is too loose in the hope that it might straighten out.  It worked to a point BUT it meant that the corset, still a bit squint, looked odd, in that the seams on one side were in a different position to the seams on the other side.  However, it did fit well and looked alot straighter (notwithstanding that waist discrepancy that has now appeared).

The next step was to draw in 'eye correct' seams on the left, then chop the corset up along those fake seam lines on the kooky side, and chop the right side along it's true seamlines, and use all of those separate pieces to make a pattern for a new toile.

Here are the peices all laid out - there are 14.

And the resulting pattern which is also 14 pieces because none of the pieces match.  Infact, it's quite scary to look at, but corsetry is all about maths in some ways, so I had faith that this very wonky looking pattern would work in the way I had determined.

Here you can clearly see the difference between pattern pieces.  The 'wonky' pattern pieces are laid on top of the paper pattern for the 'correct side' pieces.

It worked!! Here is the new toile where the seams more or less match.

BUT

(and there is a big but)

You can see that the corset LOOKS more symmetrical, and Ms E infact looks much more symmetrical  - but...

Houston, there is still a problem.  

And the problem is, that for this toile, I used a very thick Cotton Duck fabric - artists canvas.  I have found that it is unstable when used on it's own like this - even though I pre-shrunk it with steam.  I was very pleased with the shape of Ms E's new corset toile, but look at the baggy boobs!!  In this pic, she is wearing a bra.  The corset is designed for no bra .. when she takes her bra off, I fear that her boobage will slip into the void around her rib cage never to be seen again in that corset! 

I couldn't imagine why this bagginess had appeared, and so I measured each of my pattern peices against each of the corset pieces at 4 consecutive points - the bust line, the underbust line, the waist line and the hip line.  That's allorralorra measuring!

There was a FOUR INCH discrepancy ... FOUR INCHES!! For heavens sake!!  The pattern is completely correct, but the corset is 4 inches bigger.  After much consternating, cross measuring, head scratching and hand wringing, I braved  telling my corsetmaking friends over at Live Journal with the fear that they might laugh at me, but instead  received a couple of lovely and very heartening responses the upshot of which said:  Different fabrics act in different ways (well we all know this to be true), but it seems that Duck Canvas has a nasty habit of stretching when in use ... 

So...

It's back to the drawing board for me where I will have to cut one more 'final' toile but this time in corset coutil (as per the black one i'd been working with previously).  It's more expensive, but what cost floppy cavities in your corset?!!  For further reading on the perils of working with canvas, read this Cautionary Tale.

2 Skirts in 2 Metres

More of my seasonal sewing exploits ... here are 2 skirts I drafted and made from 2 metres of lovely 100% wool suiting fabric.  It was an absolute dream to work with,  but very difficult to photograph when one is on one's own!  Because it's wool, the fabric can be pre-shrunk by steaming it with the steam iron.  Steaming after completion can also help with making the darts nice and smooth so that they are barely visible on the finished garment.  

The first is just a regular pencil skirt, on the knee so that it's compatible with my boots, and with a split on each side.  This skirt is an exceptionally easy adaptation of the basic skirt block and as you can see, gives a lovely 'tailored' look.  I love it, and it took only a few hours to run up.  It isn't lined which is a mistake as with certain tights (and not others, curiously), it does ride embarrassingly up the legs while walking so i am going to have to make a slip to go underneath it.

The second skirt isn't very clear from this picture .. it's a semi fitted/semi flared 2 part skirt which joins together with an inverted 'V' at the front and back.  This was actually a mistake! I meant to put the "V" on the side, but completely forgot about the rules of symmetry when drafting the pattern, and by the time I'd realised the error of my ways, I'd cut the fabric out!  I know! .. Well in my defense, it was near Christmas, I had probably had one sherry too many or something ...

Now bear with me while I try to figure out how to draw a clear and concise diagram on Illustrator, so that I can show you the skirt block and how to make it ... or maybe the best thing is just do draw it and photograph the drawing!!  I will be working on that over the next few days.

Lillipution Marmalade

Now that I have finished Mrs P's dress, it's time to turn my attention towards a birthday present promised to my sister-in-law back in July! To open on her birthday I slipped inside her card, a tape measure and measuring sheet with diagram and strict instructions on how to measure. She sent the measurements back to me a couple of weeks later, but I could see in an instant that they were wrong. Upon her next visit, I found out why. She is very tall - 6ft I think - and because of that, has a longer body than the average "standard" measurement. I measured her properly, and we picked out some fabrics which I knew she would like, and discussed the design which was to be 'A-line' - she trusted the further details to me..

So today out came the two fabrics we had picked together - a creme linen/cotton blend, and green Kaffe Fasset. Then, as a pile of other fabrics fell out of the cupboard, I thought "oh what about the green linen"? ... And then I was in a quandry as to which fabrics to combine - use them all, or just two, and then which trims, and how to combine them all (or not) etc., etc., you know how it goes.

After consternating for a while by draping every co-ordinating fabric and trim I could find over Madge the material girl, I still couldn't decide upon which fabric to use but it did help with the design. I decided that a wrap-around skirt with covered buttons to fasten might be nice...

I remembered that I have some 1/4 scale blocks - I could make a mini version of the skirt and decide what looked best! Then I remembered that I have a little artists model which would be perfect for 'modelling' the design. Here she is - Mini Madge!

I drew a tiny pattern, cut out the fabric pieces and stitched them all together by hand - can you believe that this 1/4 block is actually 1/4 of a full size 12?! Hard to believe, I am only 4 times bigger than this!!

This mini experiment was a very very useful exercise because not only did I find out exactly which pattern pieces I would need to cut for a wrap around, but I could play around quite nicely with the design components to find out what would work ...

And what wouldn't work..

I think 'no' to the green linen .. don't you? Here is the cream ensemble ..

I wondered if it would work if I cut a diagonal front, in order to show off the lower fabric better ..

Hmm.... still not sure about this one .. what do you think? For now, I stuck with the more simple design, and pinned it to Mini Madge..

And then I discovered, that if you look at her side on, it is apparent that when she walks, the green Kaffe Fasset Fabric shows up a treat!

So I think I will leave Mini Madge posing on the desk for a while before I make my final decision.

WIPCrackaway!

I have so many things to sew!  I'm really going to have to crack on with all of them.  I still haven't started my 'costume' blogged last month, I've got to make a start on the V&A stays, have another pencil skirt or three in my head,  and I've a dress to make for a friend in time for a July wedding.  I have at least made a start on that as it's been worrying me a little, not least because I wanted to make the pattern myself.

This is what I've got to 'copy' 

- really it's the fabric and style which Miss L (as we shall call her) likes.  After a long search I have finally found the fabric.  It's 100% silk with a lovely drape, and at £13.99/metre, not too expensive either.  Miss L, because she is wearing it to a wedding, doesn't want it quite as flared as the picture.  So, after a hefty dot & cross session, I came up with a pattern, and have completed the toile which is now being modelled by Madge who isn't quite the right proportions and has big feet which are distorting the flow.

Even though it is a very simple strapless style made up of 4 panels, I am VERY pleased with it, and myself for that matter!  Who'd have thought it!

Two Gifts, one for Her and one for Me

Christmas comes early in the MarmaladeKiss household because Mr and Mrs MK Senior always travel over midwinter . So today we have the family get together and exchange gifts. Mrs MK Senior is a snappy dresser, but her job requires long periods of time spent outside in all weather - she is an Oxford tour guide, so I made her a smart, but warm scarf. Originally, it was a silk chiffon offcut from The Cloth House. I whipped the edges with my overlocker, et voila!

And last night while facebooking, a friend pinged to ask if I would mind making a dress for her. Like this one.

Just when i'd been wishing for an excuse to make a posh frock!! This style will use exactly the pattern drafting skills I've been learning recently!

Desperate Measures

Today I am almost hysterical with excitement!! Just as I was leaving work earlier feeling rather deperate and despondant about ever being able to make my own clothes from my own patterns, and even resolved to put a desperate plea for private tuition in the Post Office window in the hope there might be a local dressmaker watching, I was introduced to a lovely lady who not only lives in the village but is an ex teacher .. of PATTERN CUTTING and DESIGN!!!!!! I have arranged to call her tomorrow to set up a session or two with her so she can "point me in the right direction" !! I wonder if she noticed the tears of relief in my eyes!! (I am now deciding which offerings of thanks to leave for which gods now that I have discovered that there really is someone up there listening to me ! Or was it the wish I made on the chimney sweeps brush last week?)

You see, after months and months of web searching and site trawling, looking for a course where I can learn Pattern Drafting and Cutting - so that I can design my own Corsets and make custom made ones for other people, and perhaps the odd dress or two, it seems that the only course within commuting distance for me which is part time and seems to do everything I want it to do, is at The London College of Fashion. Next Summer! Boo HOO!

This isn't much good to me really, so I ordered some books from the library and resolved to teach myself.


I made my first ever Block yesterday. Here it is (apologies for the photo-quality. easiest option when alone is to take it on the trusty mac cam). As you can see it's not a brilliant fit which is fine, since it's the first ever. BUT the most frustrating thing is that after I made it, there was nobody to consult regarding the problems - not least because the instructions I followed weren't that clear. Now you see why I was so relieved today!

I've been glued to the programme British Style Genius on BBC2 (iplayer), and not so glued but interested nevertheless in Twiggy's Frock Exchange which led me to this handy BBC site which is all about green and recycled clothes. You might not like the re-styled garments (I didn't), but there are lots of handy little sewing tips in the watching - like using a safety pin to turn through bag straps etc.,

It's Me on Paper!

Sometimes torrential rain and stormy winds are a good thing. So undesirable is the thought of braving the elements outside by going anywhwere - even to the car, that staying in and doing what one pleases is entirely guilt free and so I found enough interupted time to indulge in sofa oriented and indoor types of things that I always put off until the evening, and then am too tired to do. Things like hand sewing, cake baking, reading, looking through my lovely sewing book collection, and finally resolving to attempt, after 2 years of procrastinating, to make myself a French Block.

It started with this book, an industry standard, by Robert Doyle a leading costumier. It was a Christmas present the year before the one just gone, and contains precise instructions on how to make a French Block, which is what the couture world uses to create a basic pattern made from carefully taken measurements which when fitted presents a "copy" of the wearers "skin". This pattern is then used to manipulate measurements into various styles. With good foundation work, ANY garment can be created with it. I am using it mostly for corsets (hence the title of the book). For this I needed some brown paper, a pencil, a ruler, a set square, a curved ruler, and a calculator.

Oh ..... and someone to help measure ... if you can find a like minded female friend for this job so much the better. Husbands are best avoided if you want to do things quikly, as they get too easily distracted when measuring female bits as opposed to planks of wood and other DIY things. So after (eventually) noting down the prescribed measurements, and then following the instructions to the letter whilst employing more mathematical skills than i've used since leaving school, followed by lots of dot joining with lines and curves ... VOILA!!! A pattern which should match my skin ... I haven't tried it yet ... actually, this is just the back. I haven't got round to the front. But actually, once done, it's a lot easier than it looks.

I will keep you posted on progress ...