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Today I had the pleasure of teaching Amanda! It's always a treat to spend time with this wonderful young woman, she is soooo humble, intelligent and just an all around good person. She works mainly from home for designers drafting their patterns, I asked how many clients she has and the answer was too many to remember! How great is that! Congrats Amanda! Not many people can say that...
Today's lesson was to go over the drafts she did for homework, the Dolman sleeve in a couple of different applications plus the cowl neck draft. I gave Amanda the choice of trying them on her own then have the feedback as a lesson or do them as separate lessons. She chose to do them on her own. The drafts are always executed very well, very neat, clear work so I was not surprised when there was not much to correct! We did spend the time fine tuning and clarifying the drafts, all 4 of them! Plus going over the pants once again! All in all we covered a lot of ground today, by the end we were both pretty saturated with information so we called it a day. Homework
So I'm not sure why but the time FLIES by in Bradford! It seems that we get to class and 5 minutes later we have to leave! This class covers a lot of material during the 5 minutes we are there LOL!
Today they tried on their mock ups that fit all of them very well, it was a very quick critique, there were some very minor adjustments with the mock ups if any at all. These ladies really grasped the concept of fitting the body, taking the cues from the measurements they created Empire cut dresses that fit their models very well indeed! Continuing in the vein of different measurements, they once again switched measurements so that they would have a whole new set to draft an asymmetrical top with one shoulder. The students managed to draft the whole thing in class during the last hour. Asymmetry really tests the brain's ability to recognize and work with mirror images, basically the front has to be drafted as though it is in a mirror, with the left side of the garment on the right side of the drafter! The back is a bit more straightforward as it sits on the table the way it would be on the body. So the first thing I tell the class is to mark the left and right sides right away on the master pattern on both the front and the back drafts! Also the pattern is drafted on the whole front and the whole back, allowing the pattern maker to treat each side differently. Asymmetry can create the most interesting garments as long as there is a balance and not over-designed. I'm sure the mock ups will fit as well as the Empire cut ones did! For next week we will be working on the cowl neck bodice, it's the second last class for this semester already! Homework is to:
The choices for the last class on December 19, 2019 are as follows:
Start narrowing down a choice for the final exam for this semester, as was stated in the syllabus, there is a graded garment that will be completed over the winter break to be handed in the first day of the spring semester. This garment is to be chosen from one of the patterns that were covered this semester, finished and graded, subject to approval. I have a few projects on the go at the moment, 1 ladies suit that is half done, one man's jacket that is not half done, and one more ladies suit that is not even started! I have given myself a deadline of Christmas for these items. They will be ready by then!
I also had the pleasure of meeting some very nice people on Monday! They found me by accident and called to see if I would work on some garment production for a factory. I declined the line sewing and informed them that my forte is pattern making which led to a further conversation on the subject. I agreed to send them some pictures of garments that I made including the patterns, which I did by email. One day later I received a response from them saying they wanted to meet and finalize an agreement to have me make their patterns, mock ups and initial samples for them! These garments are needed for the end of January for a photo shoot in the Bahamas! How cool is that! I did suggest the pattern maker should be present in case of a wardrobe malfunction LOL!!! The one thing that surprised me most is the fact they had trouble finding anyone who knows how to work with linen! This puzzled me because it's the same as working with any other woven fabric, then I realized that with fabrics having so much stretch these days one doesn't really have to know how to shape the patterns properly to fit the body, so there are less and less people who can draft patterns for woven fabrics. This was confirmed by a manufacturer I contacted on behalf of this company and they said they don't work with fabrics that DON'T have stretch! I was floored! Just thought of something so here is an addendum for homework seeing there are a full 2 weeks between classes!
Homework addendum: record model’s measurements right on the master pattern for future use, draft the Empire cut using personal measurements please. You know what they say; practice makes perfect! Another great class today, Snow notwithstanding! Well it snowed overnight making everything white when we got up, the weather report was for snow later in the day but thank goodness it held off until we got home.
Today everyone was fit with the strapless top and the class did a great job! The tops were kept on for a while during all of the fittings and they stayed up even with no boning or zipper, they were only pinned at the back. I asked if anyone wants to make a corset as outerwear and one of students almost fell off her chair as she raised her hand so fast! I love that kind of enthusiasm! In the end the class decided they would make a corset, it will be in another semester as the syllabus for this one has been set out plus for that project they will get to each draft their own and sew it. I asked what the most important thing the class learned from the exercise of using different measurements and they agreed it was the importance of the mock up to see how the garment will fit. Some thought it was how to address the body issues, in the end seeing the differences in body shapes is the key to learning the fitting process. The second half of the class was dedicated to drafting an Empire cut dress, the students passed the measurement charts they used last week on to another student so once again they are working with a new set of numbers\issues. This is the best way to learn how to address body issues to work with them as a study tool in a controlled environment with no pressure because mistakes are normal and part of the process and a learning tool rather than being frowned upon as a sign of failure. The Empire cut dress tends to bend the brain a bit with the waist moving up to under the bust, the catch is not only is the waist moving up but the bust also has to have enough fabric to be entirely covered with no pulling or gaping so the class needed to take 2 extra measurements; 1) from point A to under the bust going over the apex; 2) from the waist up just below the apex to see where the bottom half has to be separated from the top half. You are probably saying to yourself "what is she talking about?"! Well one can always register for classes to find out exactly what it is I'm talking about! Homework is to sew a mock up for the Empire cut dress to fit the body next class November 21, 2019 at 12:30 pm. We will be drafting the asymmetrical top on page 71 for the second half of the class. January 16, 2020 been agreed upon for the skirts workshop from 9 to 4. |
AuthorMaria Calautti, "Jack of all trades" Archives
May 2020
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