Today's class was great once again! The drive to and from Bradford no so much... It was snowing on the way down and traffic on the way home, a fact of life when living in the snow belt area of Ontario. No matter how bad the drive these students always lift one's spirits with their optimistic outlook, hard work and being generally good people! Today we covered the cap sleeve, tried on cowl neck mock ups and then I did some demos on sewing techniques.
I wish all the students a great Christmas and an even better New Year together with their respective families may they all be blessed with good health and happiness. In the end that is what's important... We will have a full day class in January to complete the skirts section in one day! They will do it after all they survived this semester that was full of new material and we marched on to complete the section with minimal time and much effort! All the students got approval for their design to use in the exam garment due at the beginning of the first class in March, date to be determined. Fabric is to suit the garment with no stretch, it must be a woven fabric, points will be deducted for any stretch in the fabric or a mark of 0 will be given if the design is converted to suit a knit fabric. The best way to learn how to fit the body is with absolutely no stretch in the fabric. Don't say you weren't warned! Some have really challenged themselves which is great, I agreed to their designs because I felt they could execute the task without a problem. I have much faith in this group!!! Alas there is still homework!!! Homework is this:
Next class is January 16, 2020 at 9 am for the skirts drafting section starting with the basic skirt block on page 21, from the block we will be varying the hemline. Next we will add pleats/wrap to the front only followed by the godet skirt. The gored skirt will also be covered along with the circle skirt and volant. The only fabric required will be for the volant which will be the width of the forearm plus enough for a couple of pleat variations in miniature. 2 metres of fabric will suffice. Have a great Holiday Season Everyone!! See you in 2020!!! Last night we had a class with Amanda on the Raglan sleeve, did you know the raglan sleeve was invented for the Earl of Raglan in England in the middle ages? The story goes that he lost his arm in a battle so the tailors of the time had to figure out a way of fitting him with something that hid his battle wounds. The came up with a sleeve that was a part of the bodice, no shaping, no armhole (there was no arm) and it is very easy to assemble! I am not a fan of Raglan sleeves even though I have numerous tops, a dress with shaping (book 2) and an overcoat I can wear on it's own or over a jacket. Amanda said to me "it seems you actually like a raglan sleeve LOL!". Perhaps waaayyyy down deep there must be a very little part of me that does, I will vehemently deny this with every breath I take!! Perhaps I am in denial or delusional, jury's out, but I don't like to draft raglan sleeves regardless.
Having said that, I will teach the raglan method because it's necessary to know how to draft and sew it, that means new clothes I have to make as examples and will wear if for no other reason than I hate to waste anything.... Amanda was actually very pleasantly surprised at the simplicity of the draft, when I was finished my demo all she could say was "that's it?" I'm sorry I couldn't make it more difficult, like 55 easy steps to the raglan sleeve LOL! It's a very fluid pattern, mostly visual to make sure the lines are the right curve etc. this is what throws most people off, the lack of structure, in the end the pattern fits very well and is very comfortable. I guess that's what matters... Amanda did a great job on her draft but there is homework! Trace pattern pieces complete with markings, grainlines etc. cut a mock and sew it together in order of
Have a great day! The importance of proper patterns was evident today at a model fitting for production, the mock ups were exactly how the principles envisioned them! Thanks to the Le Grand Chic method of pattern drafting I was able to bring their vision to life in a way they did not imagine was possible! I listened to what they had to say, took copious notes and got to work with THEIR vision not mine. I'm just the general contractor "respecting the clients' wishes is the most important part of the job description" is what I tell my students. One will have clients for life especially if one delivers on time and on budget.
There are minimal adjustments/fine tuning to a few of the mock ups, the others were perfect! All I have to do now is finish the garments in linen for a photo shoot in at the end of January... A few pics were taken today and even though the mock ups were done in drapery fabric, the styles looked amazing. This makes me very happy, didn't mind driving through a couple of snow storms on the way home LOL! Anyone who is interested in taking courses don't put it off any longer, the satisfaction is so worth the expense and effort. Imagine having creative freedom to make your own clothes PLUS the ability to make them a perfect fitting reality! There is no greater feeling of accomplishment and you will love to wear your clothes because they FIT!! Conversely, making clothes for clients is just as satisfying and one can get paid too! Don't hesitate to contact me like a person from California who is calling me on Friday for classes :) Enjoy your day! Hard to believe this was the second last class of this semester! Where does the time go?
Yesterday everyone was a bit giddy I think, the giggles and laughter in the class was contagious! I merely asked a question on the cowl neck; what are the benefits of this style? Well it turned out to be a loaded question! Some of the answers were, um, different that I expected leading to much laughter and more interesting answers... This class is so much fun, I love teaching! We covered the cowl neck style, how to transfer the fullness from the base dart to create the drape at the centre front in two different ways, some did it with less drape, some did it with more drape just to keep things interesting. So far everyone has had different measurements to work with, they have passed the measurements charts around until they are going to get their own measurements back during the last class! Took a bit of planning but it worked very well because once the numbers change, everything changes, the body issues are different making the drafting more challenging. The added bonus is that the students learned more about the basic drafts that maybe they were doing incorrectly because they were so comfortable using the same measurements all the time. In any case all the mock ups so far have fit very, very well every time! Very proud of this class! Now for.... Homework
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AuthorMaria Calautti, "Jack of all trades" Archives
January 2021
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