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Category Archives: Sleeves

January 5, 2020 · 7:03 pm

The Last Dress of the Year Past

Little did I know when I found this “end-cut” earlier in the year at Mendel Goldberg Fabrics that “classic blue” would be chosen as Pantone’s Color of the Year for 2020. But so it was, which makes my last dress of 2019 the perfect transition into the new year and the new decade.

This an Italian silk charmeuse, in a dotted and printed jacquard.

I am one of those people who rarely goes looking for a particular fabric. I think fabrics find me and when this fabric found me, I really had no plan for what I would make out of it. But as soon as it arrived, I knew immediately I wanted a sheath dress with three-quarter length sleeves and a V-neck. I tucked it away, happy with the thought of making this dress, and knowing I had the perfect pattern to make it a reality.

View C, of course! And look at those lovely shaping darts.

This Vogue pattern is from the early 1960s, a little tattered and worn, but very versatile and beautifully engineered.

After finishing my granddaughters’ December dresses, and then my pink Parisian Jacket, and then some cute little flannel blouses for gifts for my little girls, I envisioned finishing this dress to wear to holiday parties. What was I thinking? First of all, after tweaking the pattern one last time (I had had the pattern fitted a couple of years ago while in a class with Susan Khalje), it took two full days – yes, TWO – to figure out how in the world to lay out my pattern pieces. Truth be told, I really did not have enough fabric. I should have reconsidered, but I am stubborn and tenacious when it comes to my sewing “visions.” I finally decided that I could exactly match the print on the back center seam and make it sleeveless – OR I could have sleeves and not match the back. I really, really wanted sleeves. It had to have sleeves. So I did the best I could with making the back seam look okay, and I got my sleeves.

Fortunately the all-over placement of the floral motifs lent itself to imprecise matching better than many fabrics would.

And what lovely sleeves they are! When Susan fitted the pattern, she elongated the top curve of the sleeve to accommodate my prominent shoulders. She also added a dart at the shoulder of the sleeve (actually slightly forward from the marked shoulder of the pattern to accommodate the roll of my shoulders). I added a slight amount to the width of the sleeve, about 3/8”. I have found these vintage patterns are often narrow in the sleeves.

The purple lines are the changes to the muslin.

The double elbow darts in the sleeves make a lovely fit and are placed precisely where they should be.

It’s a little difficult to see the double darts, but they are there!

When it came to the V-neck, I knew I would need to use a facing of some sort, but I did not have enough fabric to cut a full facing. So – I cut a partial facing instead, just enough to be able to turn the V and have it stable. (The first thing I did when I started sewing the dress, was to reinforce that neckline with a strip of silk organza selvedge.) Well, this worked like a charm, much to my delight.

The partial facing extends up from the bottom of the V about 2.5 inches, and then the turned- back seam allowance takes over.

Then I brought the lining fabric right to the edge of the neckline and understitched it to secure it in place, just as you would expect a couture dress to be finished.

I chose a “mushroom” colored crepe de chine for my lining. Blues are very difficult to match as you know, so I decided a contrast color would be best. The lining fabric is from Emma One Sock Fabrics.

I used blue thread for the under stitching.

I used a lapped application for the hand-picked zipper. The more I use the lapped insertion for zippers, the more I like it. And I especially like it in a center back seam.

I’m feeling quite pleased with this dress!

There is not much more to say about this blue floral dress, except that it was not finished in time to wear to any holiday event. Which was fine! Once I realized this would be the case, I was able to really enjoy the process of making it. It was a delightful way to end the year – and the decade, which has had such a profound effect on my sewing.

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Filed under couture construction, hand-sewn zippers, Linings, Mid-Century style, Pantone Color of the Year, Polka dots, sewing in silk, Sheath dresses, Sleeves, Uncategorized, vintage Vogue patterns from the 1960s

Tagged as couture construction, Emma One Sock Fabrics, fashion sewing, Mendel Goldberg Fabrics, Mid-Century style, silk, Susan Khalje Couture

November 11, 2019 · 1:27 pm

Making a Parisian Jacket, Part 1

Another title for this post could be “Sewing with Professional Instruction – the Parisian Jacket.” One of the advantages of having a subscription to Susan Khalje’s online Couture Sewing Club is exclusive access to videos which take the viewer, step-by-step, through the process of making one of these jackets.

When this pattern was released a few months ago, I was immediately interested in making one. There are several details in this jacket which I find especially appealing. The first – and salient one – is the cut-on sleeve, also called an all-in-one sleeve. This is a design feature which was prevalent in the 1950s, but no longer often seen. Usually sewn with an underarm gusset to enhance moveability, this sleeve forms its own crease lines below the shoulder at the front and back. You can see that detail in the diagram on the pattern envelope above. Take a look at this magazine cover from November 1956. You can see both the crease line and the coat’s gusset.

I suspect at least one of the reasons this particular type of sleeve fell out of favor is that the pattern pieces do take a sizeable amount of fabric to accommodate the width of the attached sleeve. I also suspect sewing in those gussets demanded a certain expertise to be finished successfully, adding time to both home sewing and to ready-to-wear. But I love the look of the cut-on sleeve. It really is a classic style, and one which I am happy to have the opportunity to incorporate into my sewing. It is worth mentioning here that this sleeve is similar to a “kimono” sleeve, but it is not cut as full under the arm. (This seems like a good time to show the pattern piece for the jacket’s gusset. Rather than diamond shaped, it is a triangle with a curved top edge. Pretty clever!)

Another design feature of the jacket which appeals to me is the prominence of the buttons. The jacket is shown with just two buttons, although certainly a third one could be added. However, with two larger ones, it is really possible to use showcase buttons, if desired. And if you follow my blog, you already know that vintage buttons – and unique new ones – are one of my weaknesses. I am always looking for opportunities to use beautiful buttons.

A third construction detail I find appealing is the center back seam. This allows the opportunity for lovely shaping and more precise fitting than if the back piece were cut without a seam.

With all this in mind, I was anxious to get started on this project. As I already had several lovely woolens waiting for their turn, I decided to use one of them rather than buy new fabric. And my attention kept coming back to this vintage piece of Linton wool which I purchased from an Etsy shop about a year ago.

It is entirely coincidental that the jacket Susan is making in her instructional videos is also pink! Of course, I love pink. I would describe this particular hue of pink as a “Winter pink.” It has a bit of a dusty appearance to it, making it ideal for a November project. The best thing is that I have enough fabric to make a matching sheath dress to go with my jacket. (Although I feel sure that particular project will have to wait until after the new year.)

Well, back to Susan’s video instruction… She is very thorough in what she includes, so much so, that those of us who have taken classes from her already, are able to whiz through the early lessons for the most part. However, one suggestion she made was to use pins rather than machine sewing to fit the muslin together. Here is what I mean by that:

The seam lines are pinned together horizontally throughout, and then the muslin is ready to try on. No stabbing occurred during the process!

I found this method far superior to putting the muslin together by machine. It was much easier to make changes and alterations, and I felt like the “seams” laid flatter, enabling me to ascertain the fit, on me, more precisely.

Once I had my muslin perfected (as much as possible), I transferred all the markings onto white silk organza, to be used as my underlining and also as the pattern pieces from which to cut the fashion fabric. I had to move to my dining room table to accommodate the expanse of the wool.

It is easy to see here the amount of fabric needed for the cut-on sleeves. (I use my candlesticks as weights to keep the fabric from slipping.)

Once I started assembling some of the jacket pieces, I realized I had not perfectly matched the facings. Although the wool is solid pink, there is that very distinct weave in it which needs to be matched. Fortunately, because I had left such wide seam allowances, I did not need to cut a new facing. I just needed to readjust the organza on the one facing which was a bit askew.

You can see the organza adjusted on the righthand facing, before I had re-basted it.

I still have a long way to go on this jacket, but here are two “work-in-progress” shots, with the seams sewn but nothing trimmed, ironed or catch-stitched yet. It is fun to see it taking shape, however.