This weekend is the annual family reunion on my husband's side with 120 or so of our closest relatives!  The picture above is a few years old when a large group came from Italy for a wedding and then joined the crowd for a fun filled day with family!  I am sharing this with you just because I care very deeply for everyone in the photo, this is one very loud, very loving, very large family that I have had the pleasure of marrying into, of course at that time there were not as many of us as in the picture, but God did say to go forth and multiply.... 

All of these people are children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and in some instances great-great grandchildren of two sisters and one brother, some immigrated as children some as adults and most were born here, all proud Italian-Canadians.  There are many more relatives in Italy who knows one day we can make the trek overseas to have a family reunion will ALL  the family!

This is a shining example of co-operation, family unity and hard work on the part of the picnic committee, yes there is a committee that convenes several times a year in preparation for this day, there may be food and wine involved but the work gets done just the same :) games organized, venue chosen, dates, letters etc all are attended to by the committee.  I always marvel at the dedication, unwavering support and all the work involved and yet year after year they get it done.  Kudos to them with many thanks in advance, I know it will be another banner year once again!

We all look forward to this day full of activities, games, food, lots of food, even a food competition!  This year it's banana bread we take it very seriously you know, some even practice different recipes to see which is the preferred one to enter into the competition!  The best part is the connection that is forged not only between the cousins but between the different generations who are present.  In the end family is what counts, they are the ones who will be there for you when the chips are down to help you pick up the pieces, some people say you can choose your friends but are stuck with your family.... well I think I'll keep them, they are stuck with me!!!

This weekend we started the pants class with Karen and Peggy,  What a great weekend we had!  The ladies did a lot of work with the pants draft for the first time!  Seeing pants have traditionally been a men's wear garment they have never really been modified to fit a woman's body properly so it's up to us the individual tailors to make them work.  The key component to a proper fit is the crotch curve, it has to be correct or the fabric will get stuck and show pull/drag lines where it's stuck!  The most confusing part of getting the correct curve is the negative space that makes up the crotch inside the pants.  Key word here is NEGATIVE!  Whatever you think should be done, do the opposite!!!  The only way I could communicate the adjustments is to tell students to sew closer to the body or further away from the body, it's the only way it makes sense to the students so they can accurately assess a mock up. 
The ladies cut the mock up at home and marked it with tailor tacks ready to put together this morning so they completed the mock ups way before noon and we got to fit the body at that time.  There were a few issues with each of them which was a good thing because I could show the students how to approach a fitting and how to read the mock up along with making any adjustments on the pattern.  Peggy did the one mock up and it worked quite well so she was told to draft a new pattern taking into account the findings from the mock up, which she did and then help Karen with her pattern and mock up. 
Karen had a few more issues which took us a bit to figure out the 1/2 knee measurement used on the initial pattern was the wrong one, it was the generic measurement and not the personal measurement, a mistake anyone can make... so patiently went over the pattern draft and made a paper pant to fit which was a good move it showed the correct front curve which needed to be more straight, took into account those findings and did an new draft.  Once that was done we did a new mock up and fit the body, well EUREKA!!  The mock up fit very well!!!  By that time it was almost home time just a couple of things to do and they were off with pants that fit! 

All the hard work notwithstanding, alas there is homework! 
Homework is to sew a new mock up using new adjusted pattern and fit the body.  Double check to be sure all adjustments from the mock up have been addressed on the master pattern and the pattern pieces on the adjusted pattern. 
Find a different person to draft and sew a mock up using different measurements, fit the body and make any necessary adjustments.  The more you draft the better so find friends/relatives/neighbours and keep drafting and sewing once the numbers change the whole thing changes...

Prep for the zipper storyboards with the following:

• 7 pants front cut on folded fabric (2 layers)
• 5 front flys with fusible interfacing
• 6 zippers
• Extra fusible interfacing

Prep for pocket storyboards with the following:

• 4 single pants front all cut in the same direction
• 4 pocket lining
• 1 pocket fabric
• Twill tape (narrow) or seam binding
• Fusible interfacing
  

So here we are with a 6 and an 8 year old making shorts they can wear under skirts/dresses so they are feeling more covered and comfortable.  We started off by drafting a pattern, that was Nonna's job while the girls watched then they had to trace the pattern pieces for the front and back labeling them properly and mark a notch as well.  The shorts have no side seams making them very simple to make! 
Once the pattern pieces were traced they pinned the pattern to the fabric, stretchy fabric at that!  Anyone who is afraid of stretch take heart, if a 6 and 8 year old can do it, you can do it too!  They then got to add seam allowances to the pattern pieces using a measuring tape and chalk, mission accomplished with a bit of help from the teacher :)
After that came the cutting, check out the scissors they got to use!  No fear!  Cutting was a bit choppy but no matter was going to be trimmed anyway....
Their favourite part of the whole process was the machine stitching starting with some plain paper to understand how to use the sewing machine they sewed some straight lines and some zig-zag, stitches they would be using to sew.  The only thing I did was add the elastic at the waistband figuring it would be too hard for their first attempt at a project, did not want to discourage them with work beyond their means.  As you can see they did a great job, the pants fit very well, they were consulted along the way and had their preferences taken into account giving them creative freedom and some critical thinking too! 
ALL THIS AND NO PINS!!!
They both agreed that they want to do a next project, a pencil case and wallet!  Makes me very happy! 

What a student!  This wonderful young woman created mock ups for the bodice, pants, skirt and sleeve without any instruction on pattern draft at all until this class on Monday!  She followed the graphics in the book and did  phenomenal  job, the mock up for the bodice fit very well, a little issue with the shaping lines and that it!  The skirt was PERFECT!  The pants were the only garment with an issue but it would have been an issue regardless because it has to do with the negative space inside the crotch and how to curve the crotch for women's wear that has seemed to escape most if not all manufacturers, so that was expected. 
I showed Amanda how to correct the crotch curve plus how to figure out exactly how to measure the distance between the waist and hips for a more perfect pattern. She seems to have a really good grasp on the pattern draft so I am not concerned at all about her studies.

Homework is to make the necessary adjustments on the pants keeping the tissue taped to the master pattern, scoop out the back crotch, add to the front crotch to make it sit closer to the body, add small dart to centre back to avoid gaping.  Create a new mock up of pants to show next class reflecting the changes made from fitting.  This part of the homework needs to be done before continuing on to the next part. 
Draft capris on page 13(15) with the yoke using personal measurements and incorporate any necessary changes as seen on previous mock up.  
Also re-stitch the bodice princess seams to smooth out the lines as discussed in class. 

Hello all I had an interesting evening yesterday, I tried to connect with Amanda, my new student a George Brown graduate. She is quite a gal understood the basic blocks AND drafted them all on her own!  We tried to connect via Skype last time and I sounded like a robot on her end so we ended the conversation with a promise to try and find the source of the sound problem.  Well last night we tried it again and the same thing so we went with Facebook Messenger and it worked very well!  So going forward we will be connecting by Fb. 

Amanda also got to meet 2 of my granddaughters who will be here for the week and guess what their project of choice is; to sew a skirt each!!!  

It is with a heavy heart we say a final good-bye to my mother's older sister, she passed away peacefully in her sleep on Thursday July 5.  She had long suffered from heart issues, now she is not suffering any more.  My aunt was the most gentle, strong, loving person I had ever had the pleasure of knowing plus the privilege of calling her "aunt" was a true blessing. Over the years I learned a lot from her gentle nature, strong sense of family unity, caring personality things I will forever carry with me, being forever grateful for having her in my life.  A mother of 3, grandmother of many and great-grandmother as well, she had a long life, good life that deserves to be celebrated.  We will mourn her passing and cherish the wonderful memories she has left behind a person who will be missed terribly leaving a huge void in her absence all the while filling us with love and kindness at the same time. 

Today is the first visitation I am not looking forward to it she was like a second mother to me and a third grandmother to my children.  In the true Italian tradition whenever we went to visit the first question was always "did you eat?" and trust me if you were a tiny bit hungry guaranteed you would be over full by the time you left!  And could she cook!!   I don't think there is a chef around who could hold a candle to the spaghetti sauce she used to cook on an old wood cook stove at their place in Oro-Medonte, I can still smell and taste it to this day! 

My dear Zia Lillina I will miss you, I love you very much. 

Sunday June 24, 2018
The ladies came in still in shock they had completed all the work on Saturday!  I told them I had all the confidence they would complete the task with flying colours!  Then they saw the board with Sunday's tasks:

Learning objective is to finish the dress. 

• Once the body is fit properly make any necessary adjustments if any
• Press the adjustments
• Sew the basted seams in place
• Press
• Prepare sleeves for installation, press seam
• Hand baste sleeves to dress
• Try on again
• Machine stitch sleeves to dress from the body side of the garment
• Prepare facings for neckline
• Install facings
• Finish hem

They looked at me like I had two heads LOL!!!  I said they would get through it without a problem!  Still they had doubts but once they got working it went by very fast, by lunchtime they had the sleeves installed or basted ready to go right after lunch.  Of course they don't make life easy for themselves by creating dresses that are a little more advanced but in the end they both had a beautiful garment each that fit perfectly as you will see in the pictures below. They went even above and beyond my expectations by serging the inside of the dresses! As a reward I let them use my blind hemmer to finish the hem.  Karen ended up opting to do it at home with her own blind hemmer.... 

Peggy decided to put pockets on her dress and make the skirt part gathered which she did on her own at home so by the time she got to class she was very familiar with the design.  The fabric was a fine linen which had to be underlined with a cotton sheeting to breathe and not be transparent, worked like a charm!  She can choose to wear a belt with the dress at the Empire cut or not for a more casual look, and Peggy LOOOOOVES the pockets!!!
Karen opted for something different, also advanced with pleats at the neckline and to be consistent, pleats at the sleeve cap as well.  The fabric for Karen's dress was a denim look rayon with a gorgeous drape to it so the pleats sat perfectly.  She can also choose to wear a thin belt at the Empire cut to finish the dress beautifully.  Both can match the belt and new shoes to them, great reason to get new shoes!!! 

Hello all it's been a while since my last post, too busy it seems that June barely started and here it is almost Canada Day!  Will someone please take their foot off the gas pedal and slow us down a bit the speed as to which time flies by is making me dizzy!!
This weekend was a very fun weekend for everyone especially the students who went home with a brand new dress to wear!  The task was to cut, mark, sew, fit and wear a dress home by Sunday and guess what they did it! 
I pulled a fast one on them by not sending a syllabus to them beforehand as is the norm, I told them that (insert any lame excuse) for this reason all they need to know is they will be cutting and sewing.  In fact I knew exactly what the learning objective and work was going to be but felt if I sent them the syllabus they would be stressing over it and in the end be paralyzed with fear.  So I sprung it on them at the beginning of class, this is what I wrote on the board not mentioning the fact they also needed to cut the dress out that day as well!:
Sewing sequence for Empire cut dress part one

• Mark pattern pieces using tailor tacks
• Sew darts first
  • In the event of no darts sew princess seams
• Press darts/seams
• Sew bodice and skirt together at Empire cut – pres
  
• Install zipper at centre back
• Hand baste sides and shoulder seams
• Fit the body
  

Tee-he-he-he!!!  When they saw this they were like... UM.... we aren't going to do all that are we????  We can't possibly finish all that??  I told them to give it a try and see how far they would get on Saturday, even if they had to stay a little later that was fine they could go home early the next day.  Guess what!  They did it!  They only went 20 minutes over and got all the work done so no homework was the reward. 

A great big welcome back to Denise B.!  A former student from Georgian College who did the intensive program about 3 years ago.  It was so nice to catch up with her and to see exactly how much she remembered and how much she needed to learn :)

The objective was to create an asymmetrical design to use with recycled T-shirts, mission accomplished!  Denise actually remembers more than she thinks if she would not overthink the method and let her muscle memory kick in.  Just like any other class there will be homework! 

Homework is to create a mock up of the pattern made in class plus draft a new pattern with the same design using the following measurements:

• ½ bust 52
• ½ waist 44
• ½ hips 54
• Front neck to waist 44
• Skirt length (length from the waist down) 27 cm

Plus an additional asymmetrical pattern using personal measurements in a different design, I will need to see some pix of the mock up or bring it to the next class.  Please let me know when you are ready to proceed with more work, my recommendation is to have a class every two weeks if that is possible...  but it’s your decision. 

Hello all I hope you are all doing well and looking forward to a great summer ahead!  I have a new project on the go my daughter's birthday present a new suit with blazer, pants and skirt! 
I fit the mock up on her the other day and it fit like a glove, literally like a glove I need to let it out a bit... someone wanted it a bit small on purpose, she said she does not want to close the blazer so rather than arguing with her I chose to do it her way and make it too small on purpose!  Well she loved the look and finally agreed that it would be better to close on her than not LOL, "told you so" was what I felt like saying but did not, saying instead that it's a great idea I'm glad she thought of it!! 
The pants really did fit like a glove with very little in the way of adjustments, only the rise had to be shortened a bit but the rest was PERFECT!  The skirt also needs very little done to it before I cut the fabric.  So happy with the outcome especially because my "client" is happy too. 
So I got the pattern pieces all finalized yesterday, this is why I like to make the master pattern and only the main pieces before I make all the lining, canvas, stay, facing, upper/under collar etc that way if there are any adjustments I only have a few pattern pieces to adjust and can trace the rest with all the adjustments already done.  Must work smart not hard :)
Below I have some pix of the progress so far, I will try to remember to take pix as I go and post them, usually I get so involved that it's only when I'm finished that I remember to take a picture!