What I’m Sewing…while I’m waiting

Submitted by Off the Cuff Style

 

Well, dear readers…here’s what I’ve been sewing while waiting for the developers who are building the new e-commerce website for our Interfacing Business, ~Fashion Sewing Supply~, to make all the changes I’ve been requesting ;)  It won’t be long until it debuts…about 10 days…yay !  In the meantime we are still taking lots of orders every day from the Original ~Fashion Sewing Supply~ Site.

So between phone consultations and making nit-picky changes to the design of the new website, and sewing 28 plain white shirts for a music group…..I have been breaking the stress by sewing for 2 darling little girls.
The first top/tunic is made from Amy Butler cotton fabric for 8-month old Brooklyn.  It is #3, Ottobre Issue 01/08. The blue outfit, also for Brooklyn,  is a quick little set made from lightweight cotton woven. The pants are #6 from Ottobre Issue 04/09, Top is #1, from Ottobre Issue 01/08.  I added a “euro-ruffle” to the bottom of the tunic, because I cannot leave well enough alone…just ask my web development team, LOL !

A cute little dress…

Submitted by Off the Cuff Style

I really needed a break from all the paperwork and website work that is covering my desk.  So I decided to make this sweet dress for my little friend Julianna, age 3.

I saw a pattern for a top exactly like this at That*Darn*Kat on Etsy, and first thought “That’s so simple, I can draft it myself!”  Then I had second thoughts. I decided that it just isn’t right for me to copy a designer’s hard work, so I bought the pattern. The pattern is designed as a top, so I just lengthened it to make this dress.  I plan to make many more.  This pattern is very fast and easy to sew, with excellent step-by-step instructions and color photographs.

Back to copying patterns.  I have “borrowed” design details that I’ve seen on pattern photographs many times….never intending for my finished garment to look exactly like my inspiration.  This time I bought the pattern because I wanted to make a garment as close as possible to the original. I also wanted to support an Etsy seller.  And while I think it’s OK to get inspiration from others’ patterns, it is my opinion that it’s not right to try to copy them exactly.  So if you like this dress, the pattern is available as a top at That*Darn*Kat.

Why I will NEVER sew this Shirt…

Submitted by Off the Cuff Style

I recently bought a  McCalls Mens Shirt Pattern that I will never sew.  While I hand-draft most of the shirt patterns I use, when a pattern company comes out with a new menswear pattern I usually buy it to see if it has anything interesting to yield.  However, if I had taken the time to look at the envelope of this one more closely, I would have put it back in the drawer !

 

 Silly me…I didn’t look closely enough at the front sketch or the back envelope pattern diagrams…which would have kept me from spending my money. Let’s take a look at the pattern diagrams, below.

 I know you are already ahead of me here. Yes, you are correct, this shirt pattern does NOT have a back yoke!  The yokes you see in view D and E are merely shaped pieces appliqued onto the front and back. But there is no separate back yoke piece.

So What? 

Well…while omitting the back yoke can be called a design option, in my opinion it is not a good one.  A yoke on a man’s shirt is quite important because it forms the “foundation” that allows a smooth shoulder line, along with supporting the front and shaping the back of the shirt.

A “back” yoke is also important because it is also is part of the “front”.  It extends over the natural shoulder-line and that extension becomes part of the shirt front. This extension is important for the front of the shirt to hang straight, to keep the button plackets from “twisting”, and to add a touch of support to the pocket so that it doesn’t “droop”.

In my opinion,  a back shirt yoke is vital for adding enough ease to lay smoothly over a man’s shoulder blades and so that the shirt does not get “hung-up” at the waist or hips. The back can still look smooth, providing this ease without pleats or tucks. The ease is virtually invisible when the back is drafted with a curved upper edge, and the yoke drafted with a straight bottom edge. The cut fabric pieces are then carefully eased together when sewn. The patterns for a “smooth-but-shaped” back often look something like this, one of my original drafts.

 This is how you can still have a smooth back with no pleats or gathers, because the ease in incorporated into the curved edge of the upper back. When a menswear shirt is drafted without a back yoke, there is no way to add the necessary ease to glide over the shoulder muscle and shoulder blades, aside from making the back wider at the side seams. When ease is added that way, you often see bunching at the armscye and the upper sleeve..never a good thing.

As you can see, I am very opinionated about the importance of a shirt yoke. A shirt yoke needn’t be very deep..I often draft them for a finished back depth of only 3″, but this shirt-maker thinks every man’s shirt needs one ! 

_____________________________
———————————————-
Judy asked  my recommendation  for a casual Hawaiian-Style shirt pattern with a back yoke.
 
The best one that I have personal experience with is the 
Men’s Islander Shirt Pattern. I’ve made it a few times, and really like the way it is drafted. Click here to see the one I made from Distressed Silk.
———————————

Ann asked, “…if a pattern I have doesn’t have this [a yoke], is it possible to just cut & draft one from the pattern or is it better to just get out my pattern drafting software and start fresh?“   

That depends on your level of drafting expertise.  You can merely cut the pattern to make a yoke (don’t forget to add seam allowance!), and then expand the back (at CB) to add a pleat for ease (don’t forget to add seam allowance !)…Or if you have more advanced pattern drafting experience/skills, you can slash and spread the back *slightly* to form a gentle curve to add ease to the lower back piece (I know I am a broken record, but…don’t forget to add seam allowance :)  
—————————————-
I sincerely regret that I cannot give complete fully detailed lessons on drafting a pattern within the limits of a blog post. Any pattern drafting book will have this information.

Roger’s turn !

Submitted by Off the Cuff Style

  I took a break from boring business paperwork to sew this shirt for my wonderful husband Roger. He’s been seeing shirt after shirt being sent to my clients,  so I thought he more than deserves a new shirt too !

The fabric is wonderfully unusual…a medium weight cotton shirting with highly textured stripes that vary in thickness. This shirt was a huge challenge to photograph, and the photo does not do justice to the beautiful fabric.

SEWING NOTES:   Collar, Cuffs, and Bias Plackets interfaced with PRO-WEFT Fusible Interfacing from ~Fashion Sewing Supply~, Buttons from ~Fashion Sewing Supply~, Fabric from my personal stock of shirting fabrics collected over the years

A Spade-Hem Shirt from Textured Cotton

Submitted by Off the Cuff Style

 

This shirt is for a client of mine who likes classic styles with a twist.  So I designed this shirt for him from lightweight gray textured cotton fabric.  Its main design feature is an asymmetrical band collar.  Other design features include bright white contrast stitching, an angled Spade Hem, and a Cigar Pocket.  I also decided not to use white buttons, and use “less predictable” dark gray buttons instead.

SEWING NOTES: The Left Front pattern piece was drafted with less of a neckline curve than  the right, so that the band collar falls open.  Pro-Woven Fusible Interfacing and Buttons from
~Fashion Sewing Supply~, Textured cotton fabric from my personal “Shirt-making Stash”.

A Classic Shirt…with Color Contrast Details

Submitted by Off the Cuff Style

This menswear shirt is of my original design, and was so much fun to sew because of its mix of design elements.  This shirt’s main design feature are the contrasting front button plackets. As you can see, the left placket is cut on the bias and the right placket is made from solid white fabric.  To complete the ‘contrast’ design theme of this shirt, the inner yoke, inner cuffs,  and collar stand were also cut from the same solid white fabric used on the right placket. Other design features include Curved Edge Cuffs, Bias Sleeve Plackets,  and a Rounded Pocket.

Before I  get to the sewing notes, let me apologize for the rather poor quality of the photograph. I only had  few minutes to pin the shirt to my photo-wall, snap the pic, then press the shirt again before packing it and getting to the Post Office before it closed

SEWING NOTES: Fabric is Swiss Cotton from my personal shirt-making stash,  PRO-WOVEN FUSIBLE INTERFACING and Buttons 
from ~Fashion Sewing Supply~

Oh…just one more thing. If you enjoy my blog, would you please vote for it ?
Just look to the left, and you will see a small black and red box with a place to “click to vote”. Thanks in advance for your vote…it will help rank my blog a little higher at Seamingly.com…Thanks again :)

Hot Off the Machine…Newest Shirt Design

Submitted by Off the Cuff Style

This “Striation Stripe” Shirt is my latest original hand-drafted design,  made for one of my favorite clients.  This shirt’s design features include a Band Collar, French Front plackets, buttoned “Cigar Pocket”, cross-stripe Sleeve Plackets, and Wood buttons.

SEWING NOTES– Fabric provided by the client. Pro-Woven Fusible Interfacing from ~FASHION SEWING SUPPLY~

 

Tick Tock, Time Running out !

Submitted by Off The Cuff

Over 1700 yards of DESIGNER QUALITY INTERFACING already sold…most products are still in stock but selling VERY Fast….sell-outs possible.

Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.

3 Shirts in 3 Days

Submitted by Off The Cuff

For me to sew 3 shirts in 3 days is not an unusual thing. Usually I can sew at least 3 shirts in a day, but with all the business duties on my agenda these days,  it’s extraordinary that I had the time to squeeze these into my schedule at all!  However, DH Roger needed a few more shirts, the fabric was there, so now there are 3 new shirts in his closet…

• Jalie
• Kwik Sew 
• Islander Sewing Systems

The styles and design features vary, but all the patterns are well drafted and each company provides good instructions.
Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.

New York Fashion Week Fall 2010 - Day Eight

Submitted by The Fashion Informer

So the last day of New York Fashion Week has come and gone, and with it shows by Ralph Lauren, Isaac Mizrahi and Calvin Klein, where they had real models (of the individualistic Stella Tennant/Kristen McMenamy/Freja Beha Erichsen variety), along with the usual interchangeable modbots.

We were also supposed to have attended the Vogue & Norsdtrom Quicktake: Rodarte art opening party at the Cooper-Hewitt last night, as well, but inertia and exhaustion took over once we got home and, well…next time, Kate and Laura!

The good news is, our camera was recovered (from, errr, ummm, right under our desk where we’d dropped it last night).  So new blurry photos are yours to enjoy!

Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.

New York Fashion Week Fall 2010 - Day Seven

Submitted by The Fashion Informer

And on the seventh day, you-know-who created style. And so it was at Michael Kors, Oscar de la Renta, 3.1 Phillip Lim, Reed Krakoff, Anna Sui, Brian Reyes and Proenza Schouler.

And had we not lost our camera (nooooooooooo!) we would have photos to share. But, alas, we did. So, alas, we do not.

We do, however, have a chic new manicure, thanks to Ginger + Liz at Robert Verdi’s “Future of Fashion” Luxe Laboratory, a Fashion Week swag-fest designed to relax frazzled editors by plying them with food and free shit. We’re here to report that it works.

Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.

New York Fashion Week Fall 2010 - Day Six

Submitted by The Fashion Informer

Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.

New York Fashion Week Fall 2010 - Day Three

Submitted by The Fashion Informer

More, more, more fashion shows!  From who, ask?  From Nima, Karen Walker, Alexander Wang and Boy/Band of Outsiders, I answer. And my favorite image of the day (courtesy of Boy/Band, who always does one of the most clever presentations of the week).

Photos © The Fashion Informer/Lauren David Peden

Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.

New York Fashion Week Fall 2010 - Day Four

Submitted by The Fashion Informer

Some really great fashion today from, well, actually, everyone we saw. For real.  There wasn’t a dud in the bunch, from Tom Scott and DKNY to Juan Carlos Obando and Camilla Staerk.  And who new Victoria Beckham was such a sweetheart?  It’s official:  I have a new girl crush.  

Photos © The Fashion Informer/Lauren David Peden

Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.

New York Fashion Week Fall 2010 - Day Five

Submitted by The Fashion Informer

And they keep on coming.  Today’s line-up:  Zac Posen, Zero + Maria Cornejo, Donna Karan, Thom Browne, Yeohlee, Halston and, of course, Marc Jacobs.  Which was your favorite?  

Oh, and don’t forget to check out the hot new fashion magazine/social network site, Vevant, which officially launched today. You’ll be seeing a lot more of The Fashion Informer on Vevant in the weeks and months ahead and,in the meanwhile, we invite you to become a charter member of the Vevant Network, which was designed exclusively for fashion industry insiders. If you join now, you’ll get a 45-day free trial period for V-Folio, the state-of-the-art portfolio management tool that allows you to upload images of any size to create a look book or portfolio, which can be shared online or printed and bound in a gorgeous leather-bound book.

Photos © The Fashion Informer/Lauren David Peden

Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.

New York Fashion Week Fall 2010 - Day Two

Submitted by The Fashion Informer

Hope you’re having as much fun at the shows as I am.  Today, I took in the shows at Yigal Azrouel, Jason Wu, Preen, Cynthia Rowley, Doo.Ri, Rag & Bone, Julian Louie, Costello Tagliapietra.  Here’s a sneak peek at Louie’s very clever presentation and you can find much more New York show coverage at VOGUE.COM.

Photos © The Fashion Informer/Lauren David Peden
Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.

HotPatterns Princess Shirt, revisited in wool tweed.

Submitted by Off the Cuff Style

This is my first version of the up-dated draft of  HotPatterns’ Plain and Simple Princess Shirt.It was designed for shirting-weight fabrics, but because I wanted to make a simple “shirt jacket”, I used a lightweight wool tweed instead. And since I plan to wear this over another top, I added 1/4″ of ease to each side seam and the sleeve seams. I wanted to add pockets to this shirt jacket, but unfortunately did not have enough fabric.

Sewing notes: Facing and Collar interfaced with PRO-WEFT FUSIBLE from ~Fashion Sewing Supply~.

Denim Shirt…with Bias Sleeve Pleats

Submitted by Off the Cuff Style

This Distressed denim shirt features deep bias pleats on the sleeves and pocket.
Its slightly rumpled look is entirely intentional.

———————

SEWING NOTES: This shirt is interfaced with PRO-WEFT Fusible,
a unique professionally quality interfacing found exclusively at ~Fashion Sewing Supply~

____________________________

Adding a pleat to any pattern piece is very easy 
when you use this method:

1.  Using the any pattern paper you like,  fold a pleat.  I folded a 1″ pleat.

2. Just place your pattern piece on top of the pleated paper, with the pleat where you want it to be on your garment. In this case, I placed my pattern so that the pleat (the pre-folded paper) would be on the bias, then I merely cut out my “new” sleeve pattern.

3. This is what my sleeve looked like cut from the fabric. I took the photo after the upper pleat fold was pressed, so you could more easily see how the pleat is formed.

4. This photo (#4) shows the completed pleat, with the folds edge-stitched. In this photo, as viewed from the right side, only the upper fold’s edge-stitching is visible. The under-fold (back side) of the pleat is edge-stitched too.  I like to edge-stitch pleats on shirts that I design not only because it is a nice decorative detail, but also because it makes pressing the shirt much easier after it has been laundered.

————————-

How to Control a Pleat…Invisibly !

When there is a bias or horizontal pleat on a garment, the weight of the fabric below the pleat will tend to pull it down, and the pleat will sag and gape open. When the pleats are small and/or the fabric is lightweight, this is often not a problem. However, with pleat depths of one inch or more on medium or heavy fabric, this sagging can be quite an ugly problem. But as you can see in the photo of the finished shirt (above), the deep pleat is not gaping or sagging. That is because the pleats have been “controlled”, by span-stitching done on the under-fold of the pleat (back side), as shown in this next photo–

To control this bias pleat, I made a series of  3 wide “V” shaped stitch spans on the inner pleat fold (that I highlighted in blue pencil so that you can more easily see them).  Each extend from the edge of the pleat to within 1/4″ of the first pleat fold. While it may be a little distracting to understand, if you make up a quick sample of any pleat from scrap fabric, and do this “V” stitching as shown, it will become clear how it works to control the pleat.  Please note that these pleats are NOT functional pleats..they are decorative only. So restricting how much they are allowed to open will make no functional difference at all. As you can see from the photo of the completed shirt, the pleats still appear to be quite deep. They are just “not allowed” to gape open because of this inner, invisible/hidden stitching.

Japanese Shirt Journey….the “Fitting Muslin” Results

Submitted by Off the Cuff Style

Oh how I wish I had better news….

The tracing of the pattern was uneventful , as you would expect.  Cutting the fabric (oxford cloth), was equally uneventful.  The good news is that all the pieces of the shirt fit together beautifully, quite easy to sew…even with the unusual seam allowance widths. However, that said, I have sewn hundreds of shirts over my many years as a Shirt-maker. Perhaps some less experienced sew-ers would need to constantly refer back to the pattern and sewing diagrams to understand some of the sewing methods.  For instance, these patterns are drafted to use a version of the felled-seam technique that I showed you last summer in this post,
Felled Seam Technique.

Now, the not so good news.  While some aspects of the way the shirt fit were happy surprises, some important ones were not.  Take a look at the shirt muslin from the front–

Before I go any further, it’s plain to see that I only did a very light pressing of this fitting garment…a full press was not necessary for me to evaluate any broad fitting issues. Had the garment fit better, I would have given it a proper press and done another fitting.  This shirt is a size X-large, straight from the tracing, without any changes. Now a few words about my ever patient model. Roger is 6′ tall, about 178 pounds, and wears a size 15-1/2 neck, 34-35 sleeve sized shirt “off the shelf” from a store. He has a long torso.

Interestingly, the shirt fit perfectly at the neck, and the shoulder length was good. The fit through the chest was close, but with enough ease for him to reach forward and back without straining the fabric. Also, the sleeves were a perfect length. They may look long in the photo, but that is because I forgot to trim the seam allowance from the single-layer cuff…sorry about that. But take my word for it, the sleeve length is perfect.

But unfortunately that is where “perfect” ends.  As you can see in the photo above, there is a drag line at the armscye, and the sleeve is twisting.  It was twisting more before I fiddled with a a bit for the first photo. But my fiddling was futile (lol), as you can see in this next photo, showing the shirt from the back.

Talk about major fit issues !  ..and such a shame when the neck fits so well…sigh.  First of all, the yoke is not deep enough for a man of  Roger’s height, as you can see from the drag lines.  The sleeve is twisting because the armscye is not deep enough, and the curve of the armsyce is wrong for the width of Roger’s upper back.

These problems can be resolved by redrafting the yoke and reshaping the armscye, redrafting the sleeve to reflect those changes, and then making more fitting muslins to check the changes.  Am I going to bother doing that? No. Why?  Because I already have several shirt drafts that fit him perfectly. I also will not use this book to make shirts for my clients…unless they are very slight men. And even then, quite frankly it is easier for me to just hand-draft a pattern from scratch using their measurements.

What I might do is use some of the collar-stands, collars, cuffs, and pockets from this book, altering them a bit for size to use on my hand-drafted styles. But again, it is easier to draft my own than to “retro-fit” another designer’s draft.  And after comparing the collar style, stand, cuff, etc options in this book to David Coffin’s book “Shirtmaking”…well,  if you have David’s book there really is nothing much new to be found in this Japanese book.

So…should you buy this book?  Well, I bought it because I am a collector of books on menswear pattern-making. Perhaps if I read Japanese, I would be able to get more from this book.  The sewing-sequence diagrams are good, but a bit confusing since for 20+ years I’ve been professionally constructing shirts differently. There are no “A-Hah!” moments regarding collar construction, etc, in this book. So for me, it’s just nice to have among my collection of menswear sewing books. However it’s not one I am likely to use often, if ever again.  No doubt others who have this book will have different opinions. But for me this book will likely remain a novelty and nothing more…it’s going back on the bookshelf as soon as I finish editing this post.

The “Japanese Shirt-Making” Journey Begins…

Submitted by Off the Cuff Style

 

I finally have time to make a shirt from this book, as I first mentioned several weeks ago in these 2 previous posts-

Exploring a Japanese Shirtmaking Book                                                                                        

Fabric and PatternChoices                                                

Having just spent an hour studying the dizzying sheet of traceable patterns and comparing them to various American shirt drafts, I have made some discoveries.  First of all, the Japanese Extra-large size in this book seems to compare to a close-fitting 15/15-1/2 neck Medium size American draft.  Secondly, the seam allowances vary in width from a bit less than 1 cm to about 1.5 cm. By studying the drafts and the very precise sewing instruction diagrams, these variances eliminate the trimming we are used to doing after stitching when using American patterns.  The seam allowances of these patterns may frustrate me a little bit, because when I draft my own patterns I use different seam allowance measurements. In fact, my first inclination was to just trace the pieces on the stitching line, and add on my own seam allowances. However, I am going to trace these “as is”, so I can truly evaluate the entire sewing method of this book.

Here is the Extra-Large Japanese Yoke laid over a Medium Yoke from an American pattern that fits a bit loosely.  I am encouraged that the Japanese draft has the same shoulder slope as the American pattern, and that it is only scant 1/2″ shorter in the shoulder length….because when this American pattern is sewn, the shoulders drop slightly. The back width of the Japanese pattern is almost exactly the same as the American pattern at the point where the bottom of the Yoke meets the Shirt-Back.  Note that the Japanese yoke has a center-back seam, and the American pattern does not. That is why you see the white Japanese Yoke pattern extending beyond the American Yoke pattern at Center-Back.

So here is my plan: Within the next day or so, I plan to trace an Extra-Large size pattern, then cut and stitch together a quick “fitting” muslin.  That way I can give you accurate “finished” measurements of the neck-edge, body circumference, and sleeve length.  If the draft is true and accurate (if all the parts fit together well), I’ll be going on to make a wearable shirt…along with showing you how to enlarge the pattern for bigger sizes. If not, well there are some nifty collar and cuff shapes that I can re-size and use for my hand-drafted patterns, so the purchase of the book will not be a total loss. But now, I am going to start to trace the pattern then sew the muslin…with a positive attitude!  

Draft a Fast and Easy Flounce !

Submitted by Off the Cuff Style

 

I made this velour tunic for my niece this morning.
It is a variation of an Ottobre Design pattern (from issue 4-2006, #25),
and the pattern already included pieces for the flounces.

However, you can easily add a flounce to any pattern by drafting it yourself !

I’ll be using a sleeve pattern that includes seam allowances in this example of how to draft a flounce. First, make a copy of the sleeve pattern  to which you will be adding the flounce. Next decide how wide you want the flounce to be, and shorten the pattern from the bottom by that amount then ADD on a 1/4-inch. This extra 1/4-inch is what you’ll need to sew the flounce to the bottom of the sleeve.  Now, using the newly shortened bottom of the sleeve as a guide, draw a simple rectangle that measures the length of the sleeve bottom by the width of the flounce you want PLUS a 1/2-inch (This rectangle will become your flounce pattern after some manipulation). Again, this extra 1/2-inch is what you’ll need to sew the flounce to the sleeve with 1/4-inch left-over to hem the flounce itself.   The photo below shows these steps already completed.  It may sound a little complicated, but all that’s been done so far is to…
Shorten the sleeve length and add a seam allowance to it.   Make a rectangle and add a seam and hem allowance to it.

Now take your rectangular piece, and draw lines on it  that are about an inch apart, as shown below–

Next, cut along these lines, leaving a “hinge” of uncut paper along the top edge like this–

Place this slashed piece on top of another larger piece of blank paper. Now spread the slashes apart by about 1/4-inch, holding them down with tape as you go, as shown below-

Now trace over your newly formed flounce pattern, truing the curves as you go. Now we have a fast and easy flounce pattern…with the seam and hem allowances included…ready to add some design flair to the bottom of a sleeve !

Of course, you can repeat the same steps to add a flounce to any edge, like the bodice hem in the sewn example of the velour tunic at the beginning of this tutorial.

The Power of Personal Appearance

Your clothing and grooming affect the way you think, feel, behave, and the way others react or respond to you. A positive personal appearance allows you to think more positively about yourself and other people. You can’t afford to feel self-conscious or full of self-doubt. A positive personal appearance is a fast, effective way to boost self-confidence and overcome anxiety regarding ability or acceptance. When you appear attractively dressed and groomed you feel more comfortable, confident, and productive.

An image consultant provides image management services that help individuals understand the impact that their appearance communicates to themselves and others. Your appearance is the only thing immediately obvious to other people, you can’t hide it. If you want to change your life or the relationships in it, you need to do an honest assessment of yourself and the image your project. Don’t hold yourself back and take the necessary measures to project a powerful personal appearance!

Eco-Friendly Fashion: Fab or Drab?

The eco-friendly trend is important to the fashion world because it is helping to preserve the environment we live in. There’s a growing concern about toxicity from PBDEs (flame retardants) and other chemicals in clothing and products, organic and renewable materials, such as bamboo, silk, and linen are becoming more admired as alternatives to conventional fibers, produced with pesticides, herbicides and defoliates.

There are a growing number of designers and fashion consultants paying attention to this development and expressing it in their current and future fashion shows and client’s wish lists. Calvin Klein produced a hemp-based pantsuit for the “Future Fashion” show, while Michael Kors designed a dress made of recycled cashmere, and Donatella Versace made a hemp-silk gown. A designer named John Patrick launched “Organic” in 2004, when eco-fashion wasn’t a well known trend. His designs consist of sophisticated looking embroidered coats of organic Vermont wool, recycled silk scarves, vegetable tanned leather jackets and eyelet dresses from recycled cotton. Raina Byler used hemp and soy-cotton blends when she began her 2005 clothing line. Spring 2005 of New York’s fashion week saw big designers such as Oscar de la Renta present apparel made from corn, bamboo, and organic cotton. A new line by Linda Loudermilk consisted of fanciful couture made from organic materials like recycled bottle caps and wood.

Hemp has been around for decades and is part of the eco-fashion world. It can be used to replace many potentially harmful products, such as tree paper (the process of which uses bleaches and other toxic chemicals, apart from contributing to deforestation), cosmetics (which often contain synthetic oils that can clog pores and provide little nutritional content for the skin), plastics (which are petroleum based and cannot decompose), and more. The industrial hemp textile market is increasing quickly with new interesting fabrics being developed every year.

Snow and Sewing

Submitted by Off the Cuff Style

Much of the 14″ of snow that fell last week has melted, but we still have enough (with more falling) to make for a pleasant winter landscape.  I just love snow !   …but perhaps that is because Roger does all the shoveling

This is the view from my front door, taken this morning as more snow was softly falling…

This is the view from my side door. The pine trees are so tall, there was no way to get their tops into the photo.  Oh, those thin “sticks” you see are driveway markers. We need them so that when several inches of snow falls, we know where the driveway is!

Now about sewing.  There hasn’t been much of that going on during the past week or so.  The sale we had at Fashion Sewing Supply generated 100’s of orders, which we are still diligently cutting and packing. The last packages will be going out in a day or so. For those of you who ordered…as always, thanks again for shopping with us. Your patronage is more appreciated than you can possibly know.

Another situation that has stopped me from sewing and bogging as much as I would like to, is a lingering injury to my hip.  I am going through some painful treatments, and it is just not possible for me to accomplish everything I need or would like to do. So please bear with me….I’ll be back with more sewing information as soon as possible!

Oh…one more thing.  If you “do” Facebook, feel free to add me as a friend. I am there as Pamela Erny.
Often my quick sewing projects that do not warrant a full blog post end up on Facebook, rather then here

Gathered Sleeve or Puffed Sleeve? …it’s All About the Seam Allowances

Submitted by Off the Cuff Style

First…Since many wondered what I’d be making with that luscious striped Japanese knit (shown in a previous post) , you’ll see it pictured above, made into theHotPatterns Riviera AnnisetteTop . The Riviera Annisette Top has gathered sleeves, but I chose to alter the sleeve pattern and make long plain sleeves instead. Why? I just felt that there was enough interest in the fabric itself, and didn’t want to muddy it up with more details.

Now to begin this discussion of gathered sleeve caps, take a look at the blue top, above. It has gathered sleeves that are very subtle. When you make a top, dress or blouse with sleeve cap gathers, you have a choice to make them “puffed” or simply gathered into soft folds. It’s all about the way the sleeve cap seam allowances are pressed.
When the seam allowances are pressed towards the sleeve, you have puffy sleeves like the example to the right. In my opinion, puffy sleeves are usually better suited to the very young…but to each her own

Pressing the seam allowances towards the “body” (neckline) of the garment, results in sleeve cap gathers that lay “flatter”, and present more subtle folds. It’s a small detail, but one that is usually kinder to a mature figure.

Directing the seam allowances of gathers one way or the other can make a difference in other areas of a garment. For instance, pressing the seam allowance of a gathered skirt of a dress “up” towards the bodice will encourage the gathers to lay more flat, in smooth folds. Pressing those same gathers “down” (towards the hem) , will encourage the gathers to puff-up. It’s all about the look you prefer…and now you know you have a choice.

Sewing Notes: Yokes on both of the tops shown interfaced with PRO-SHEER ELEGANCE Fusible Interfacing from ~FASHION SEWING SUPPLY~