le mani d'oro

Who knew that sewing could be addictive

21 h 41
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My first black tie party

DH tuxedo from Classy in Montreal
My top Eva dress patterns - Kimono blouse
Skirt - Vogue 2607 (out of print)

Am I wrong or a black tie party is always good news for a passionate sewist. My husband and I were invited to a "birthday" party. I am putting the word birthday between brackets, since it turned out to be some other kind of party...

My friend Josée was turning 50 and the invitation precised that it was a black tie party. Great, I had never been to a black tie party. Black tie or not, I am always an advocate of simplicity. What I had in mind was a black and white outfit. I surfed the net in search of inspiration. Many key words were used to gather pictures and create a mood board. Two pictures inspired me.

First inspiring look

Who does not like Monica Belluci ? Here on Cannes' red carpet with ex-husband Vincent Cassel. This picture is from 2006. She is wearing a magnificent silk chiffon skirt with large sequins with a special knotted white shirt. I did not find on the net who is the designer. The skirt has an exquisite flamenco flair and the Cartier alligator necklace is the "pièce de résistance" as we say it in French. Or if you prefer the necklace is the focal point of this evening outfit.

Bohemian bourgeois, why not

The second picture that inspired me is a little more Bobo type of looking.

If I remember correctly this is Jenna Lyons Been the designer form JC Crew... at her best here with this ballroom skirt worn with a mannish tailored white shirt. I love the styling on this picture.

From there, I selected a pattern from Eva Dress for the top. This pattern is attached at the waist by a long tie knotted on the left and tiny snaps link the left front to the right side seem. The back pieces are 6 inches longer than the front so that you can stick the back in your skirt and avoid back skin showing when you bend. Very clever design.

Eva Dress' pattern are most of the time available in only one or two sizes. I chose the smallest size which turned out to be very big on me.

Eva Dress kimono blouse - muslin #1 too big

Those pictures were taken with my phone. I apologize for the poor quality. Nevertheless, you can appreciate the surplus of fabric in the front and in the back. The kimono sleeves made the task easy to grade down the pattern. I took off 2 cm in front right and front left by drawing a vertical line from shoulder to lower hem passing by the apex of my breast. I made a similar correction in the back on both sides. I used the book Fit for Real People as a reference. I also added a bit of length in the front, 1.5 cm to be precised. I was afraid to have my belly exposed.

I ended up taking off 4 cm in the front and 4 cm in the back (in width). I also raised the armscye of 1.5 cm and made the sleeve narrower. It looked much better afterwards.

Eva Dress kimono blouse - muslin #2 perfect size

Eva Dress kimono blouse - muslin #2 sorry not front view

The final result pleased me enough to wear it ;-)

Eva Dress kimono blouse in ivory duchess satin

It was the first time that I sewed duchess satin. Ho my, it was not as easy as I expected. The fabric is light-medium weight. It has lots of body and it is on the stiff side. No fluidity here. The weaving is very, very dense and fine. Even silk needles had a hard time going through the fabric. I used a very fine silk thread to sew - Gutterman 120. The one I use for bra making.

Duchess silk satin needs to be ironed without steam or else the fabric looses it's shine and body. Seams lines will mark if you make mistakes. In brief, not an easy partner to work with.

Do I recommend this pattern ? Yes and no. The collar would require a good pattern drafter to be corrected. The little notch linking the back the collar does not fit perfectly so it makes the facing fall strangely. I mean, no one would ever notice, unless you sew. But as I am a keener it bothered me. This is why I wore the collar up. My friend the Sewing Lawyer also noticed it as she commented on my FB muslin #1 post. I did not know how to correct it. So I left it like that

The tie and the hem required 2.1 meter of invisible hand stitching. I strongly suggest that technique if you use silk. It make your garment so chic.

Compare to the top, the skirt was a piece of cake. No darts. Pure simple effective lines that were perfect for my silhouette. I love that !

Vogue 2067 OOP

close-up of the superb Italian silk satin from Couture Elle

As you can see the skirt is as easy as 1,2,3. For a beginner this skirt is an excellent choice. The pattern fitted without any modifications, or almost. I cut a size 8 and simply had to make the waist a tiny bit smaller. The Italian silk satin used here is medium weight, very supple and with drape. Jean Grayeb form Couture Elle said that it surplus fabric form Prada... ho la la. It was pure pleasure to use that silk. Hemming required to gather the excess of fabric like on a circular skirt. Lots of tiny hand stitches here again. precisely 2.2 meters of hand hemming.

Voilà !

Vogue 2607 OOP for the skirt and Eva Dress kimono blouse for the top.

Gloves from Dent in London, UK, Ivory satin with buttons

The gloves are from Dents in London, UK. Ordered by mail. They have a super service and reasonable prices.

I invested efforts into this outfit. I wanted it to be perfect. For many reasons I suspected that the party would end-up to be a surprise wedding. And so it was. What a great idea!

Next post will be on a men's jacket. One huge exception for me.

Patterns - Fabric - Notions - Accessories

Patterns: Eva Dress Kimono Blouse in size A bust 32" to 36" - Skirt pattern from Vogue 2067 OOP (out of print)

Fabric: Satin Duchess in ivory for the top and medium weight silk satin in black for the skirt both form Couture Elle on St-Hubert Street in Montreal.

Notions: YKK zippers and Gutterman thread from Club Tissus.
Gloves: Dent in London, UK

19 h 25
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One pattern, two dresses

Burda

For the past six to seven years Burda Style magazine has been my main source of sewing patterns. I find their style to be up to date with current fashion trends and mostly they correspond to my taste. The ones I have sewn where very flattering.

The October 2012 number is one of my favorite. Though it was issued 5 years ago, many patterns featured in it are still trendy or "à la mode" as we say in French. The following dress pattern had been in my mind since then. Often, I was looking at it imagining the dress in wool for winter or in cotton for summer. I liked the cowl neckline, the gathered side and the fact that the front is cut on bias. The pattern has texture and movement and yet this is a classic dress.

Burda 2012-10-118A

Those shoes, I tried to find them on the net... but did not succeed...

Here is the technical drawing for this dress, taken on the Burda Web site

Burda 2012-10-118 technical drawing

While measuring all pattern pieces and after correcting the hip curve, waist size and length of the back ( I have a swayback); I was under the impression that the dress would fit like a glove... and it did.

Denim is not only for jeans ...
The first version I have sewn is in dark denim with a grayish wrong side, similar to the fabric used for old 1950's jeans. Here are the piece placed on the fabric.

pattern pieces Burda 2012-10-118.

As you notice the front piece (top right) is curved. The top part is on grain line while the bottom ends up on bias. This is a tiny detail that really pleases me. As you gather the left side, the piece straighten up. It also features a self facing neckline.

Since the front piece was to big to cut on my regular cutting table (the kitchen island) which measure 75x180 cm or 30x72 inches, I decided to cut on the floor... My back does not think that this is a good practice... This is a nice, non stretch, medium weight denim I bought at Tonitex in Montreal. It was 7.65 $ a meter. With the zip, thread and taxes, I have a 10$ dress. No made in China clothing beats that! I haven't asked DH to take official picture of this creation. The only pictures I have are the ones taken at work during an award ceremony prior to the graduation party we hold every year.

At work wearing the denim version of the Burda 2012-10-118 dress.

The students, Sophie and Pierre-Luc look so serious ;-) and I have a goofy mouth... typical of speech-pictures. I let the neck line flow naturally. It is large and can be place in many many ways.

Front view of the Burda 2012-10-118 dress with Sophie and Pierre-Luc.

I love those two students, their energy, joy and commitment enlighten all moments I had the chance to work with them in the past 5 years. Sophie is now working as junior architect and Pierre-Luc is still pursuing is master in landscape architecture. On that they I had gorgeous royal blue suede shoes that add a touch of fun to this serious outfit.

A passion for red
I like to wear red clothes and shoes, I wonder why I do not sew clothes in that color more often. The second version of this lovely dress was sewn in 100% Italian linen. This linen was left form a previous red dress project sewn some 8 years ago. Time flied and I realized looking at pictures that my hair was a little less silver back then. The piece of fabric left form the first dress was a little small, so I made the dress 5 or 6 cm shorter then the denim one. It was the only way to fit that funky front piece on it. I also forgot about the sleeves, I had enough for them... well barely but I could fit sleeves that would have been above the elbow. I change my mind at the last minute. And still kept the shorter length.

Burda 2012-10-118

Funny I wear the same shoes I did in 2009 with the other red dress. I love them and since I am very careful with my shoes, they still look new... they might be out of style, but I like them. I am wearing the dress with a silver brooch holding the cowl neckline in place.

The back is super simple. Not fuss here

Ta da ! My expression on the following picture says it all. I am in love with that dress.

Not bad for a 50 years old woman.

I also wear the dress with flat beige suede Frye sandals or black heals.

Voilà, that's it for today. I have to review polka dots pants next. I found one funny Moschino cotton to make them. My boss thinks that they are a bit psychedelic, but I don't

haaaa yes, one last picture goofing around with my friend Josée's Easter island statue... she has an amazing back yard, I just cannot stay serious too long.