A month in Paris: the couture dress!

Today marks exactly two months since I arrived in Paris and one month since I departed.  I guess it's about time I wrote about the dress!

The primary objective of this couture techniques workshop was to sew a custom-fit dress in the style of Madame Grès.  Our dresses were based on one of her designs from the 60s, with some slight variation (the original had an exposed zipper in the front--eek!).  Madame Grès is best known for her finely pleated creations, so our version is a "starter" Grès, with a mere 20 pleats!

The fabrication for our dresses was supposed to be viscose jersey, but I made a poor choice and brought modal jersey.  It was a bit too stretchy and much more annoying than the viscose, and mine happened to stain with water, so it was all around a royal pain.  The dress started with 7 yards of fabric, cut into 4 equal lengths and we draped the garments such that the straight grain was along the center front and back.  The only critical measurement was the waist and that was defined by the "bolduc" (twill tape).  Nearly all markings were done with hand-stitching, so we "passed a thread" to mark the edges of our dress, shoulder points, and eventually all the pleating.  Here's my work after a few days, on the dress form, with the pleats placed and marked with thread.

After defining the pleat positions on the front and back sides, the markings were then transferred via pins, then chalk, and finally thread to the second half of the dress. Pleats were then repositioned, sewn with tiny stitches, and eventually attached to grosgrain ribbon on the inside.

First the pleats are secured (this is the inside of the dress, below):

And then sewn to the grosgrain by sewing over the pleat stitches.

The front and back necklines (and shoulder seams) are strengthened by strips of silk organza, attached with tiny stitches along the neckline edges. You can see a bit of that in the image below, with the silk organza in cream.  The second picture shows the nearly invisible stitches along the neckline edge.

A separate underlap was sewn in (by hand, of course) for snaps and some critical hook and eyes to keep the whole thing closed.  

The upper line of tiny stitches along the waistline is secured with satin ribbon in the same was as the grosgrain.

The neckline edges were overcast by hand (no sergers here!). We did use the straight stitch machine for doing the final line of stitching at the center front/ back, side seams, and shoulder seams but only after "passing the thread" on both sides and basting with contrasting thread!

Here's the dress before cutting for the hem. I kind of loved the pooling effect, but it was certainly not practical (whatever that means when you're making a couture dress). 

We had an initial fitting with the instructor--the shoulders had to be adjusted and the waist is quite loose.  I had lost some weight over the month, so the waistline *should* have been adjusted by about 1.5" but I chose to leave it;  I couldn't face whatever ridiculous alterations were necessary with only a few days left!  At the second fitting, we determined the hem length. There was considerable discussion among the instructors about how high the side hem should go and here I am in the "model" dress to check the side length.  The instructors wanted it this high!

I went with something a bit more conservative (whatever that means when your dress has this deep of a vee in the front, back, and sides!).  In the image below, the front hem hasn't been trimmed yet, but the sides are cut.

Once cut, I spent over 6 hours hand-rolling the hem!

In all, I spent about 50 hours on this dress.  It's not perfect (the side seams roll like the devil and the waist is still too big!), but I'm proud and pleased with this dress!  

Here are some lovely photos of some of my colleagues and I in our final product.  This style was universally flattering and all of the dresses turned out stunning.

Here are a few more professional photos (the first three pictures in the post were also taken by the pro):

Finally, I was lucky enough to be able to try on (and fit!) a real Madame Grès dress that I had been oogling the entire month.  Here I am in that dress (made of the finest silk jersey) with my amazing instructor Madame Martine.   

Seriously, look at the pleating of a true Grès dress!

Truly words cannot adequately describe my experience in Paris. It was hard work and not always fun (I cried in class one day!), but I was humbled by the immense knowledge of all of my instructors and to say I learned a lot would be a tragic understatement.  Ah, Paris.  

Tutorial: Covering snaps with thick fabric

I'm making a jacket which calls for non-functional buttons over snaps and since the garment will be worn such that the male side of the snaps may show, I really wanted to cover them.  I couldn't use the standard method for applying the self fabric (gathering the fabric behind the snap with a running stitch) because my fabric (heavyweight water-resistant twill) is way too thick.  As a matter of fact, the fabric was so thick that I couldn't cover both halves of the snap pair, so I opted to leave the female side uncovered, since it wasn't going to show anyhow.   Here's a clean and easy way to cover the male part of a snap if you have some heavy-weight fabric.

So first off, trace the snap half on the back of a fabric scrap.

Use a small punch to create a tiny hole right in the center of the circle, as a place to start cutting with tiny scissors.

Carefully cut around the starting circle to expand it to just smaller than the "male" part of the male snap. This might take a trial or two--you don't want it too big, and too small is no good either.

Apply Fray-Check liberally to the back and front side of the hole edge keeps it from fraying to bits. 

Then, cut around the original drawn circle.  The amount to cut beyond the drawn circle will vary a bit, based on the size of the snap.  A good place to start is about half the diameter of the snap.  This snap is a bit less than 1" and I extended the circle by about 3/8".

The male part of the snap can then be pushed through the hole, even before the Fray-Check dries, since Fray-Check stiffens the fabric.

Flip the snap over and begin cutting triangles out of the edge of the circle, stopping 1/8" from your drawn circle.  More triangles means a smoother edge around your snap when you draw the fabric underneath, so don't be quick to finish!

Apply Fray-Check around all the cut edges of your little gear :)

Once the Fray-Check dries, begin sewing the fabric underneath the snap.  Start by inserting your needle into one "gear tooth" from the underside.  Then, insert the needle through a gear tooth on the opposite side of the snap.  

Continue going from one side to the other drawing the teeth together (kind of like a corset), pulling the threads tightly as you go.

Done!

This method is more time-consuming for sure, but results in a beautiful finished snap, without a huge amount of bulk underneath.  As I mentioned, I didn't cover the female side of the snap, but a similar method could be used.

Thanks for stopping by!  In the next few days, I'll reveal my lovely green jacket with half-covered snaps!  

P.S.  I wanted to share one of my Christmas gifts--an adorable punch felted pin cushion from Foxtail Creek Studio.  How sweet is that?  Those trees remind of the truffula trees from The Lorax! Thank you to my family for finding such a gorgeous addition to my sewing room!  

Fancy holiday skirt in silk taffeta

If you're coming from Britex, welcome!

With the holidays coming up, surely there are a few parties to attend, right?  The iridescent magenta-black color of this stunning silk taffeta is so joyous and opulent that I knew it had to be a sassy, swingy skirt for an evening fête! When the fabric arrived, I was surprised by how stiff, yet light, the taffeta was. My experience with taffeta is pretty limited, so I knew I had a challenge on my hands!

For the pattern, I used Sewaholic's Hollyburn skirt really only as a jump-off point.  First off, I removed the pockets.  This is the opposite of what I typically do, but I knew the style wouldn't look quite right with pockets (the sacrifices we make for fashion!)  Second, I increased the circumference of the skirt hem by about 18" by slashing and spreading the front and back pieces.   With the stiffness of the fabric, I felt like more weight would help it drape and increase the drama.

Finally, after attempting to insert the self-fabric waistband, I realized it simply wasn't going to work with the amazing stiffness of the fabric (at least in my inexperienced hands!).  Instead, I applied wide elastic to create the waistband.  This provided the needed give, and allows me an ounce of wiggle-room for all those party hors d'oeuvrs!

Even after significant pattern changes, the construction of the garment was a bit different than normal. I bound all seam allowances with hug snug, but chose not to press them open; the unusual shape of the skirt is accomplished by allowing the seams to fold inward.  For the hem, I eased the fullness and finished the edge with lace hem binding before hand-stitching it in place.  I worked on each section of the skirt independently (instead of continuously around the circumference) to maintain the in-folding of the seams.  

I channeled fellow Britex Blogger Laura Mae by pick-stitching the zipper--a first for me!  It was way easier than I expected, and while not perfect, I think it looks lovely on this garment.  I tried to make the stitches on either side match up, which makes a big difference, I think.

There is no crinoline or structure under this skirt, so while the rounded shape is due to the nature of the fabric, to keep the shape consistent while I move around, I utilized hem weights at each of the seams.  I have to say, it was kind of fun walking through the hardware store knowing I was shopping for a fashion project!  I used 4 (four!) stainless steel washers at each seamline (two stacked on each side of the seam).  

Did anyone else go to the Legion of Honor in SF to see High Style this past summer?  Clearly, the most amazing dress of all was the Four-Leaf Clover gown by Charles James--stunning!  My little skirt was greatly inspired by that amazing creation.   

Truly, I was thrilled (and a little scared!) to have the opportunity to work with this silk taffeta, so thank you to Britex for the drop-dead gorgeous fabric.  While it had some unique properties, it was surprisingly nice to work with and wasn't nearly as finicky as I had feared.  

My husband helped me with all my photos for this post.  I didn't use these pretty fall foliage shots for the Britex post, I still love them! While it looks pretty safe, between the heels and lack of peripheral vision with my glasses on, I almost tumbled from that fountain more times than I care to admit!  

2015 Resewlution, November garment #1