Monthly Archives: April 2013

April 26, 2013 · 4:22 pm

What Comes First – the Jacket or the Skirt?

Sewing has lots of decisions with it, some more important than others. One of the decisions I face when making a two-piece suit (my current project) is: which part do I make first – the jacket or the skirt? Instruction sheets are divided on this, as some start with the skirt, others with the jacket. It would make sense, I guess, to start with the more difficult or more complicated half, which would most likely be the jacket. So why do I usually make the skirt first? Here’s what I think:

1) If the skirt and jacket are of the same fabric, making the skirt gives me “practice” with the feel of the fabric. This comes in handy when I’m turning facings or collars on the jacket.

2) I’ve made enough jackets to know that I’m always kind of exhausted when they’re finally finished. I’m not sure I’d want to be facing making the matching skirt, too, at that point in the process!

3) It’s easier and just plain better to make the final fitting of the jacket if it can be viewed with its accompanying skirt.

4) And finally, well . . . I can always wear the skirt if the jacket doesn’t get completed right away, right??

So – what about progress on my emerald green silk suit?

This is the pattern I am using (View B), as written about in a former post.

Yes, the skirt is finished, which allows me to give you a sneak preview.

An interior view of the waistband and lining.

What do you think of that turquoise china silk lining? Failing to find a green lining fabric, which would coordinate or match, turned out to be an advantage. I had to choose something else – and, I must say, I love this combination.

Here is a view of the hand-picked zipper.

The jacket is still in pieces, but very controlled pieces they are! Here they are all ready to go:

The silk organza underlining is all basted, interfacings cut, ready to go!

The silk organza underlining is all basted, interfacings cut, ready for sewing.

I am hoping that this suit will serve me similarly to the description of this green suit in the October/November 1962 Vogue Pattern Book Magazine:

"Colors to go wild about" -n 1962 and in 2013.

“Colors to go wild about” – in 1962 and in 2013.

To quote: “… a pure green with perfect pitch for day or evening, town or country.” This particular design is by Michael of England, but, like the Vogue pattern I am using, it has a fitted jacket with a narrow notched collar, and three-quarter sleeves.

In the same issue of VPB Magazine, a letter to the editor caught my attention. Mrs. B. M. of the Bronx, New York, wrote: “… When I make a suit, I always buy extra fabric and also run up a slim dress. This lets the suit jacket do ‘double duty’ and I have both a suit and a jacket-dress, while having to make only one jacket. This saves me time and expense, and I enjoy having a variety of costumes that I can wear almost anywhere, in a fabric I love.”

Now I wonder what she made first – the jacket – or the skirt – or the dress? I’m exhausted just thinking about it!

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Filed under Dressmaker suits, hand-sewn zippers, sewing in silk, Uncategorized, vintage Vogue Designer patterns, vintage Vogue patterns from the 1960s, Vogue patterns

Tagged as Emerald green fabric, fashion sewing, sewing, vintage fashion, vintage Vogue patterns, women's dress suits

April 19, 2013 · 12:59 pm

Back to the Past

I am finally back in my sewing room, working on my emerald green silk suit. The event to which I had hoped to wear this suit has come and gone (I wore something else that evening and the world somehow kept on spinning – amazing!), but this sewing project was and is on my Spring agenda and I am bound and determined to finish it. Until I have made a bit more progress, with something to show for it, I thought I would indulge you with a book review of the 1956 Claire McCardell (1905-1958) book, What Shall I Wear, re-published in 2012 by The Rookery Press, in association with The Overlook Press, New York, New York.

This book came to my attention by way of The Vintage Traveler blog (thanks, Lizzie!). I purchased it on Amazon last Fall, and then, to my surprise, it was one of five books chosen by Christina Binkley of The Wall Street Journal for her annual list of “Best Style Books”.

This annual feature on "style books" is always one of my favorites.

This annual feature on “style books” in The Wall Street Journal is always one of my favorites. It appeared on December 20, 2012.

Here from Binkley’s review of the book: “This book is a gem. …It manages to be modern more than 60 years later… The designer created chic casual items that we take for granted today, such as trim ankle pants and full skirts that permit comfort and movement. … She demonstrates an understanding of women’s lives. ‘Everyone should have a “pop-over” dress – a sheath that they can just pop over their head and go.’”

Here are some of Claire McCardell’s fashion tips and thoughts which struck a chord with me, especially in relation to sewing and dressmaking:

1) The simple act of changing buttons (or in sewing, choosing the right ones) can make a dress fit your style.

2) When putting together your clothing (or pattern and fabric) budget, consider carefully where you want to put your money. Make one major purchase a year, something classic and timeless is always a smart move.

3) Use color extensively and don’t be afraid to stretch from your normal palette.

4) Coats should be a large part of your wardrobe. Indeed, she recommends compiling a “Coat Collection”. That’s advice sweet to my ears!

5) Learn how to tie a scarf! In her words: “You miss all the fun if you can’t tie things.” “If you really care about Fashion, sit down right now and learn to tie. An ascot, a bandanna, a neckband, a bowknot. This means knowing how to fold first, knowing how to loop next, knowing how to get the knot straight, knowing how to make the ends even – or uneven – on purpose.”

6) Like all the great fashion designers and couturiers, she emphasizes the overwhelming importance of fit. All those muslins/toiles we make are worth the time they take!

7) Accessorize your outfits with the appropriate jewelry, shoes, and bags. Restraint is better than opulence.

8) She was a big fan (and proponent) of the “American Look”: meaning comfortable clothing with clean lines, displaying elegant simplicity.

The final chapter of the book is appropriately entitled: Fashion has no last chapter.

You can read here for yourself her Essential Eleven. Pay particular attention to #2!

As a preface to this list, McCardell states: “There is a great deal in common between the woman who designs clothes and the woman who knows clothes.” (Click on the photo for a close-up).

Earlier in the book on page 103, she relates her first experience with dressmaking: “Miss Annie … came to the house to make clothes for mother and me. The process fascinated me from the start – selecting the pictures of dresses in the Vogue Pattern Book, the fabrics to be bought at the dry-goods store, the cutting and basting and fitting, the pockets and buttons and buttonholes…”

Surely sewing and dressmaking have no last chapter either: What will you wear? What will you sew?

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Filed under Buttons - choosing the right ones, Coats, Scarves, Uncategorized

Tagged as American designers, Choosing buttons, Claire McCardell, coats, fashion sewing, quotes about fashion, scarves, Wall Street Journal Fashion coverage

April 9, 2013 · 4:35 pm

Fifty little dresses!

Can you guess?? It’s a girl!

Our dear daughter and her wonderful husband have given us our first grandchild. Little Aida was born on March 19^th in the middle of a last-day-of-Winter New England snow storm. She weighed 6 pounds, 12 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. Of course, she is beautiful and dainty and looks like she will wear little dresses with delight!

Aida – one week old

I had the wonderful opportunity to spend three weeks with my daughter, Susanna, son-in-law, Jon, and baby Aida to help them over the initial hospital stay and adjustment to home. I cooked and baked and cleaned and shopped for groceries and did laundry, and cooked and baked and cleaned and shopped for groceries and did laundry, and cooked and baked and cleaned and . . . did all the things my daughter could not do. (Aida was persistently in breech position while in utero and, despite heroic efforts to get her to turn, remained so, necessitating a c-section.) Sewing and blogging went unattended, but such is life in all its sweetness and toil.

I also sang silly songs to Aida, whispered in her ear about Christian Dior and Cristobal Balenciaga and about sewing from pretty Vogue patterns, and we planned tea parties and dolls’ fashion shows. No time like the present to get these things started, right?

Aida’s birth brought back many memories of the birth of her mommy – my daughter – almost 32 years ago. Before Susanna was born, I bought this book as a gift to myself and took it with me to the hospital.

This beautiful book by Kitty Benton was published in 1981, by Hearst Book, New York. It is extensively illustrated, with explicit instructions for every project. It also has a complete section on Sewing Techniques, including smocking, embroidery stitches, hems, sewing on buttons, etc., etc. The book is an invaluable guide for heirloom sewing. Copies of it are available on Amazon and through a few Etsy shops.

This beautiful book by Kitty Benton was published in 1981, by Hearst Books, New York. It is extensively illustrated, with explicit instructions for every project. It also has a complete section on Sewing Techniques, including smocking, embroidery stitches, hems, sewing on buttons, etc., etc. The book is an invaluable guide for heirloom sewing. Copies of it are available on Amazon and through a few Etsy shops.

Of course, I didn’t know we were having a girl (neither did Susanna and Jon). Then I found myself so busy and overwhelmed with my growing family (Susanna’s brother was born less than two years later), that somehow I never used the ideas in this book, preferring commercial patterns for all the sewing and smocking I did for my two. But I never stopped looking at it, and never gave up hope of making some of the lovely clothing and gifts.

The blue gingham dress, adorned with a spray of embroidery flowers, is my favorite dress in the entire book. Yes, I think Aida would wear this dress well!