Kensington Gardens Shirt - Terminado!/Finished!

Hey look what I finally finished!
Love wearing it too. Great over jeans and fitted trousers.I have not completed a lot of sewing recently, but I have been making a concerted effort to get more sewing time in.  Because I just missed time at the machine, as well as finishing and enjoying new garments. 

I call it my Kensington Gardens Shirt in honor of that wonderful park in London, where you find the Peter Pan statue. The contrast fabric is William Morris Strawberry Thief. The green material is also Liberty of London, but I don’t know what design it is, or if it’s one of the old classics like the Strawberry Thief.

I had this shirt cut out probably two years ago  - from my No. 1 Lady's Detective Agency pattern (much altered B5526). After cutting it out, I tucked it away and more or less forgot about it.  

A few months back, I dug it out because - hey I can't let Liberty of London fabric go to waste! I have been sewing it off and on for something like two or three months. Just tiny snips of time. Finally I pushed myself to put in blocks of time, and finally it is done. Hooray!

This project has really reminded me you have to have confidence about resolving sewing challenges - I had more than one.

I had an awful lot of problems with things like laying the button holes out iregulalrly (yup I measured - but then I did something funny....) - so I added more buttons in between, sewed the right strip on top of the left, and now all the buttons are decorative. I pull it over my head to put it on, and that works just fine. 

I really disliked this shirt for a while. I altered a lot of aspects of the pattern style, and it was cut too big and loose for the floaty fabric-  but now I like it a lot. Isn't that always amazing when a project goes from potential wadder to wardrobe enhancer? I just have to be careful not to wear it over full pants because of the loose cut. 

Part of my other challenges were... the Liberty of London Tanna Lawn material is very fluid so I added quilt batting to the collar (used the collar band only) and the part down along the front facing because even with interfacing it was limp. Then I did some very simple machine straight stitch quilting. 

At one point I considered taking some waist tucks, which looked like they'd work out as well - like I did on the purple check Kaufaman gingham plus Liberty of London Mauverina print contrasts using this same shirt pattern about 2.5 years ago.  But I started to get used to the looseness, and am now happy with it. Can always take those tucks down the road if I change my mind.

Oh - I also changed the cuffs from the original under elbow cuff with placket , to a simple band of the Strawberry Thief that I sewed in print side upside down, then seamed along either (pressed) edge, then ran wide elastic in and turned up. After that I simply sewed the rest of the underarm seam. (I have a feeling I did something more permanent to make that cuff stay in place.....) I always push my shirt sleeves up, so 3/4 sleeves are better for me. And these cuffs hit me just right, a touch below the elbow, or I can push the elastic up just above the elbow,  if I'm in the mood.

Collar and front band are stabilized with both quilt batting and fusible interfacing
How about that pin?
Who knows how long that's been floating around in my costume jewelry collection.
It really helps make the shirt.

Ench By Sew-37: Savage Beauty of Alexander McQueen (Halloween Style)

 

 October is a month when many of us in the Western Hemisphere get in touch with our own emotions and comfort dealing with

mortality. Folks in my neck of the woods celebrate Dia de Los Muertos – Day of the Dead. Dia de Los Muertos is a day for celebrating ritual death tradition- engaging in crafts, creating and eating special foods, and putting out images – colorful, beautiful, and also macabre – that may touch on a connection with departed family members.

Listen directly to this audio/podcast on the web by clicking on this link OR.... to download the show from iTunes Click on this link to iTunes  , 

In our neighborhood we put out beautiful pumpkins, scary dancing skeletons and bright lights. Then we celebrate our connection to another world, by welcoming in the trick or treaters- be they costumed beautifully, colorfully, or gruesomely - by handing out free Halloween candy.

Fashion designer Alexander McQueen focused on designing beautifully romantic, avent garde fashion. He also had a strong interest in the macabre. His masters fashion exhibit “Jack the Ripper Stalks His Victims”, was a hint that this emerging designer was not going to be run-of-the-mill when it came to setting his artistic tone. Other chilling exhibits followed. “Highland Rape” and “The Widows of Culloden” , among others, carried McQueen’s historically inspired fashion artistry farther into the dark side of the human soul.

Morose? Yes – often- but his work was also drop dead gorgeous. Many of McQueens materials, embellishments design lines, colors, technology and elements inspire my arty-romantic sewing nature, even as I am frightened by other aspects of his work.

As you accompany me in the show, I’ll share the beautiful, and the colorful as well as the scary.  Because that’s what this time of year is all about, where I live.

Ench By Sew-33:Back in Town

Back in Town - A Summer State of Sewing 

Victoria and Albert had their own ideas about what made for a happy couples vacation in the U.K., Just like we do

Listening Option 1: Download from iTunes
Click on this link to iTunes  to download this and other Enchanted by Sewing shows to your mobile device (iPhone, Android, etc.) free from iTunes

Listening Option 2: Direct Download/Listen on the Web
 LISTEN RIGHT ON THE WEB (while sewing perhaps?)  http://traffic.libsyn.com/enchantedbysewing/CastFINALBackInTownSummerJune2015.mp3

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Hey!  If you could sew only one garment this summer season, what would it be? 

- Answer the Poll here 

- Post your thoughts below

 or

 -Email me at EnchantedBySewing@Gmail.com

~ ~ ~

After three weeks vacation in England and Scotland, I'm not yet caught up and engaged in my sewing projects. I am, however, reflecting on historical and travel sewing inspiration from my trip, putting some good hard thought into planning sewing projects, and continuing to learn about working on my sewing pattern skills, using my sloper and moulage patterns.

Quick Fashion: When it comes to a summer state of sewing sometimes I just want to zip zap up 3 tees in a tried and true pattern and never mind about careful seam finishes or hems – maybe a deconstructed neckline or too. Other times I want to focus on slow careful pattern work, practice my sewing techniques and create a garment that I expect to see me through a number of seasons.

Slow Fashion: I also like to put time into developing patterns with personally crafted fit, carefully finished seams and well-thought techniques.

Planned Sewing: Other times I need to step back from sewing and give my fabric and pattern inventory and choice of sewing projects a good solid overhaul.

This Month:
1) Field trip to England and Scotland 
(7 days London, 5 days in Lake District (2 travel/3 self-guided walking holiday, 2+ days Edinburgh)

In and amongst our activities,  I encountered textile and sewing information and inspiration.

For travel to use with audio books and in flight movies, and tired evenings, I took along hand embroidery, and practiced stitches on a piece of natural linen scrap. I took this lovely little book,
Embroidered & Embellished: 85 Stitches Using Thread, Floss, Ribbon, Beads & More • Step-by-Step Visual Guide along on my iPad.

                                                 

Many Wonderful Large London Museums are free: Victoria and Albert (free) (Fee for special Alexander McQueen exhibit – Savage Beauty) 

~ ~ ~

Laurel Loves London  (2013) http://enchantedbysewing.blogspot.com/2013/06/ench-by-sew-009-laurel-loves-london.html
A Tour of the Victoria and Albert Fashion Gallery with Laurel (2013)  http://enchantedbysewing.blogspot.com/2013/07/ench-by-sew-010-v-fashion-gallery-tour.html

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Imperial War Museum (free) – Fashion on the Ration 1940s Street Style exhibit http://www.iwm.org.uk/exhibitions/iwm-london/fashion-on-the-ration

Museum of London (free)

The Queens Gallery (Moderate Cost - worth it) – painting paradise became scavenger hunt for pooches (get your ticket stamped for free return for a year)

Conversation Starters - Greeting friendly pooches and their people.
On our treks between museums and scenic places, we enjoyed greenery, statuary and ornamental waters, not to mention horses, dogs, people and kids, in the big parks Holland Park, Kensington Gardens,  Regents Park, St James Park.

Mid Week break for More Green with Country Feel, easy access from London
Osterly Park (free estate/park area and/or paid access
to Neoclassical Robert Adam (Regency Era Architect/Designer) historic house and formal gardens) A good mid-week break - 30 minutes from Kensington by train -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osterley_Park
Robert Adam ‘one of the most fashionable architects in Eng’ also designed furniture to match the rooms at Osterly, which they still have!

A Place Like Home - Agency we've used repeatedly to rent flats in London

Mickeldore - Self-guided walking holidays in England. They setup up the B&B, schlep your luggage and give you maps and directions. Well worth it. We have used for two or our three walking trips in the U.K. (They don't have a Cornwall trip or we would have used them for all 3!) http://www.mickledore.co.uk/

Wool  - Lake District - We stayed at Askhill Farm B&B (http://www.loweswatercam.co.uk/Askhill_Farm_Stay.htm ) There, I learned a little something about current challenges in English wool market chatting with my hosts

Tartan Weaving Mill: Edinburgh On the Royal Mile, just down from The Castle Tartans /Plaids Weaving ( http://www.royal-mile.com/interest/tartanweavingmill.html) Sure, it's primarily a gift store, but there are tidbits for the fabric savy on more than one floor. Working looms.

Jaquard Loom and other Looms are on Display - National Museum of Scotland (Wonderful Museum) Extensive Exhibit area on textiles


2) Technicos: Fitted Tee Shirt – Sloper/Moulage to Pattern, Nibbled that Tee

Damson Plumm Private Eye Tee Shirt - Creating Pattern from Moulage
http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2015/04/damson-plumm-private-eye-nibbled-that.html

3) Purging – Pains and Pleasures - Please post your own thoughts

Is it worth it? You tell me
http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2015/06/purging-fabricpatternssewing-books.html

Terminado! Lilacs and Liberty - New Shirt for a New Year

This shirt symbolizes my plans for 2014. It's one of several projects, sewing and otherwise, that  I've been wanting to complete.

Finishing Lilacs and Liberty in time to wear it out to a movie on the last day of 2013, gave me a good feeling about starting the new year out right.

The lilacs part comes from the lilac gingham. The liberty because the accents are from one of the smaller pieces of Liberty Tana Lawn I bought on a trip to London. I wrote and podcasted about that trip in June. This Liberty print is named Mauverina (the link is for another color variation).

The pattern I used for this shirt, B5526, is the one my friend Susan altered for me. I've sewn it twice since. The first time it was my No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency shirt. This time I altered it by adding tucks in the front and fish eye darts on either side in the back. I also used the pocket in the pattern but made a little kind of heart shaped tuck in the front I'm really happy with.

I interfaced the pocket, color, cuffs and hem with silk organza, that's a new thing for me to try.

I'm really happy with the way I grouped the buttons in groups of threes (except the top button stands alone, and it can also be left unbuttoned) - one every inch apart and then a space of 3 inches between each grouping.

I'm also happy that this long shirt is flattering over the jeans I made in the fall.

Knowing this is a piece I'll be reaching for again and again in my closet, keeps me....

Enchanted by Sewing

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Resources

I like to pin swatches of Liberty's Tana Lawns 
http://www.pinterest.com/lrshimer/gorgeous-fabric-liberty-of-london/

Antique Threads - Up to Dating Ruffles and Teacups (Historic Inspiration)

If you listened to my July podcast from the fashion gallery of the Victoria and Albert (V&A) in London, you'll recall that I was in sewist heaven when it came to studying fashions in the V&A's collection.

I haven't even finished blogging about some of my ideas from that trip yet - thoughts on creating new looks based on gorgeous antique and retro garments I talked about and photographed in the V&A - before a new book purchase, Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century Fashion in Detail: The 17th and 18th Centuries by Avril Hart and Susan North,  got me heading out to search the free on-web collection at the V&A museum, to look up more details from several historic beauties mentioned in this delicious book.

What's the appeal? Not only are were the
edges of these silk strips left raw, the gathered band
was also twisted in a sinuous pattern.

As a result, I have fallen for a dress. 

It's one of those sewing danger things, right? Bad enough when the inspiration garment is something I might wear only once to a wedding or a performance at the opera, but I had to get knocked over by an embroidered silk doozy from the late eighteenth century. 

We're talking here about twenty or thirty yards of silk. We're talking about major ruffles and teacups. We are talking about something that would not even fit through the door of the mini van!

It's the pinked and scalloped strips of silk on this gown** from the late eighteen century that have me itching to come up with a modern way to use this style of embellishment. But I haven't been able to see past the style of this lovely, but totally impractical for modern times (!) sack-back gown. I couldn't see it in a vest, jacket or skirt. OK, I could but the look would have been waaayyyy too fussy. 

.

I had forgotten, however, about this outfit*** I pinned on my Pinterest Historic and Retro Sewing Board. Me oh my, it gives me ideas for deploying that really cool ruffle. 

Can't you just see that snakey, raw edged, twisted, ruffle in a very light weight denim? I can. It's slithering along the edge of a nicely flowing denim shirt or jacket. Perhaps it's just a touch narrower. And in combination with something like this floral skirt in a lovely, fluid voile - or maybe a homespun style check or plaid like the trim on this skirt -, it would really hit the spot.

I bet you know how it goes. Historically inspired, modern fashion is the kind of sewing daydream that keeps me....

Enchanted by Sewing!

~ ~ ~
Resources

Search the V&A Collections http://collections.vam.ac.uk

** Details on and photos of the glorious gold sack-back gown at http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O127134/sack-back-gown-unknown/

I have several Pinterest sewing theme boards at http://www.pinterest.com/lrshimer/ You don't have to join Pinterest to look at them.


*** I'm not sure of the original context for this garment. I saw it on someone else's board. The only link that comes up for it is 
http://p7.storage.canalblog.com/76/26/647625/85282790_o.jpg

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* Thanks Sponsors! *

* Thanks so much, to readers who sponsor the work of this blog and the Enchanted by Sewing Podcast, by purchasing books, ebooks and other products through links in this blog.

Vintage Threads: Elsa Schiaparelli's Roses Get me Dreaming

Elsa Schiaparelli created this gorgeous design
for her autumn 1937 collection

I encountered this evening coat, designed by Elsa Schiaparelli, in the Victoria and Albert (V&A) fashion gallery, when I visited London in late May. If you come along on my audio tour of the exhibit, you'll hear a discussion I had with a Londoner about these lovely details, and the trompe l'œil urn design ... Is it an urn or is it two women facing in?   You may already recognize this famous double image created by artist Jean Cocteau designed to fake the viewer out. If you want to read more about the art movements that inspired Miss Schiaparelli's work, as well as more details about the garment, follow this link (http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O117953/evening-coat-schiaparelli-elsa/ )  to the V&A.

I've never really been that all taken by trompe l'oeil, but I do love roses! Don't you want a bevy of these beauties? I know I do, and of course the fact that I'm caught up working slowly and carefully through my denim skirt project (learning jeans-sewing skills without yet encountering the challenge of fitting jeans) gets me dreaming about switching horses in mid stream. Best to simply dream and plan these roses, and get the skirt finished, don't you think? 

You can check out other views
of this coat at
http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O117953/evening-coat-schiaparelli-elsa/ 

How will I use these blooms on that great come-and-do-it-day when I sit down with needle and a mass of silken ribbons? Well.... despite the beauty of this sumptuous evening garment, I know that I wouldn't get a lot of use out of a similar long flowing garment. It wouldn't be too practical  in a software Meetup, on a walk to the grocery store, a bike ride or trip to class. Sure, I might wear it to the ballet, opera or theatre but those aren't places I go everyday. In fact I have a pretty hooded black velvet coat I've been using for special occasions since college, and it still works great. That was a lifetime purchase (I found it in a low-key consignment store), so I won't be creating another special occasion garment with these.

I'm planning to create and use my roses in a rather different way. I wrote about those plans in a posting I wrote in Stitcher's Guild/Artisan Square, when I visited to ask a few how-to questions. 

~ ~ ~ 

Pausing briefly, giving you a chance to sponsor this blog 

and the Enchanted by Sewing Podcast:-)

Resources*

I highly recommend the lovely, and informative, book, Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution. It's a lovely read about what  Marie Antoinette actually did wear to masquerades (like our modern day Halloween), grand balls, or just toddling around Le Petit Trianon with the dear little daughter, she nicknamed Mousseline, a fun allusion to the fashions that Marie herself made popular at the time. 

Since I like to keep my iPad happy, I bought the Kindle version of Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution.

BTW, I recently purchased the Victoria and Albert collection-based book, Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century Fashion in Detail: The 17th and 18th Centuries, and can't stop leafing through to enjoy all the wonderful details, dear to a sewist's heart.

~ ~ ~  And now, back to our content ~ ~ ~

I think they (the roses) would look nifty as an embellishment on my denim jacket, placed in a similar way to the ones that Elsa designed.

I know there are a lot of ways to make fabric roses. I'm partial to spider-web roses - but I think these are made differently. They almost look like origami- and maybe some kind of folding technique would be best. Another woman touring the gallery wondered if maybe when they were originally made, did they perhaps stand up a little more 3D, and over time they've flattened out. If so, a little iron steam might do the trick, though the flattened origami-kind of look looks good too.

As you will see, if you visit the forum and read this posting (http://artisanssquare.com/sg/index.php/topic,21274.0.html ), I'm not an expert when it comes to ribbon embroidery. But I got a lot of pointers from the folks in the group. No, the life of a creator just wasn't the same before we had the power of the web, was it? (In fact we used to depend on family members, classes, schools, clubs, neighbors, groups and our local libraries. We weren't that all deprived.)

Some of the basics I acquired reading different people's answers. (Though you will get more ideas when you visit the forum). 

Folks Suggested...

* Either silk ribbon or a strip of heavy bias silk--folded, draped, and layered into a rose shape similar to ribbon embroidery. 

* Intense pink at the center of each rose may be a brush dipped into dye.

* The leaves and golden bits perhaps crewel embroidery.

This gorgeous vintage camisole has
roses similar to the embellishment on the Schiaparelli Evening Coat

I loved reading the different ideas and discussions about antique ribbon work. And what about the beautiful camisole photo that emerged from the question? Yes, another distracting garment!

With the resources and ideas collected in this discussion, I'm expecting it won't be too long before I have my own bouquet of ribbon roses. 

You may also enjoy....

Stitcher's Guild Artisans Square, Forum Posting - "How Would You Create Elsa Schiaparelli's Roses?" http://artisanssquare.com/sg/index.php/topic,21274.0.html


 The Enchanted by Sewing Audio Tour of the V&A http://enchantedbysewing.blogspot.com/2013/07/ench-by-sew-010-v-fashion-gallery-tour.html

 ~ ~ ~ 

* Thanks Sponsors! *

* Thanks so much, to readers who sponsor the work of this blog and the Enchanted by Sewing Podcast, by purchasing books, ebooks and other products through links in this blog.

Antique Threads: Miss Firbank's Pink Linen Cuff (Victoria and Albert Fashion Gallery)

One hundred of
Miss Heather Firbank's
garments can by found by
searching the V&A collection

In the Enchanted by Sewing Podcast for July, I took my listeners on an audio tour of London's Victoria and Albert Fashion Gallery. There I described numerous historic garments, as I encountered them. (You can listen to this podcast on line, or download it to your iPhone, Android or other mobile device http://www.enchantedbysewing.blogspot.com) You'll recall that several of the fashions I mentioned in the show, were from the wardrobe of Miss Heather Firbank (daughter of M.P. Sir Thomas Firbank and sister of the novelist Ronald Firbank). She wore them in the early part of the twentieth century (Edwardian  Era 1910-1920).

Well of course that bodice lace is
gorgeous. And we always get a kick from
the s-shaped bodice that made fashionable
gals look like pouter pigeons.

One of Miss Firbank's garments was a beautiful pink linen day dress. It's got a very Gibson Girl look, and reminds me of several of the photos from Agatha Christie's autobiography. You can read more about this dress yourself, by following this link to the V&A collection . That link also brings up other views of the dress and more about the garment. Don't get me started on the pouter pigeon/S-Shaped look and the kind of corset a woman had to wear to create that shape under her clothes. Let's just say that her inner organs were possibly affected and leave it at that.

What most struck me, other than fact that I am particularly

Love the way the round shape of the
self-fabric covered button
draws attention to the squared off tabs
and rounded half circle rising up to meet it.
The lace is pretty,
but don't you think it distracts from
the cuff?

partial to pastel shades of linen, was the cuff.   I'm glad I snapped some detail showing the cuff, because whoever took this part of the collection photograph for the V&A, went mainly for the whole-garment, with some images of the stand-out bodice as well. I know that photographer's not a sewist because he/she didn't include a special photo of the cool cuff.

Don't you love those tabs, cut whole as part of the cuff? And how about those big self-fabric covered buttons and the topstitched edge? Hey, we're sewists! Could we not recreate that? You betcha!

Yes, I do like the waistband too
Don't even get me started on that!

I'm envisioning a loose linen jacket, maybe duster-style, something like what Miss Heather would have worn motoring, except mine would be mid-thigh length and I'd wear it over trousers (no I don't think this fashion forward lady would have been shocked). I'd make my sleeves 3/4 length, like I do my shirts. Because otherwise I always just roll my sleeves up and the beautiful cuff would be lost. I'd love to make a cuff like this up in a shell pink or pale lavender linen. The lace is pretty, but I think it distracts from the shape of those tabs and the nice big buttons. I'd scrap the lace.

Might it also work in a mid-weight dark blue wool jacket or coat, with a red silk lining or piping that just peeked out from behind? I'd cut the cuff lining just slightly bigger than the outside part of the cuff so that it brought up an edge to highlight the tabs. And definitely the topstitching would add the right kind of finish. But blue or red topstitching.... not sure. Would need to test that out. I'm sure I'd find some beautiful buttons to draw attention to the cuffs too - metal maybe...

Or how about one of those polyester (or real silk) brocades that have the pretty wrong side in contrasting colors? Again, cutting the lining side a big longer - and making the wrong side be the right side for the lining - would draw attention to those tabs. And of course then I'd cover the buttons with that wrong side of the fabric too.

Dreaming about how I might incorporate ideas from this gorgeous antique cuff keeps me... enchanted by sewing.

~ ~ ~ 

Here's your big chance to sponsor this blog 

and the Enchanted by Sewing Podcast :-)

I highly recommend the lovely, and informative, book, Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution. It's a lovely read about what  Marie Antoinette actually did wear to masquerades (like our modern day Halloween), grand balls, or just toddling around Le Petit Trianon with the dear little daughter, she nicknamed Mousseline, a fun allusion to the fashions that Marie herself made popular at the time. 

Since I like to keep my iPad happy, I bought the Kindle version of Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution.

BTW, I recently purchased the Victoria and Albert collection-based book, Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century Fashion in Detail: The 17th and 18th Centuries, and can't stop leafing through to enjoy all the wonderful details, dear to a sewist's heart.

~ ~ ~ Thanks for helping out, by buying products through direct links from this blog! ~ ~ ~