Garment Designer Pattern/Top: finally finished...

Final Garment

Taking Care of Business with Creative Projects
The beginning of the ToDo/NewDo Challenge

Have you ever had a project sit, just waiting for a final step? Maybe it was the hem, or neck treatment.

Here is a top that has been hanging on the door of my studio for an embarrassing long time. I don't know what the hold-up was. Most likely it was life. All that was left was to put in the sleeves, add hems, and neck finish.

So, in support of getting things off of my 'To Do' list, I am completing some of the UFO's (unfinished objects) in my creative life.


This was the pattern for the top, created with Garment Designer software. This style has been around for a long time, but I still like it. 

Garment Designer pattern

For the fabric, I chose a funky knit, and I actually chose to use the wrong side of the fabric because I liked the fringed cut edges throughout. The knit is quite fluid.

My Sewing Order Rule of Thumb
As you might guess, when you create your own patterns, you have to figure out the sewing instructions/order. I have a simple rule of thumb which I often used as a mantra to my students.

Mantra
Sew as small as you can, as flat as you can, for as long as you can.

This means, sew as many things together as possible, in their small state (e.g. pockets onto skirt) before you start joining pieces. It also means keeping things flat (non 3-D) for as long as you can.

In this garment, I adopted the following order.

• Sew shoulder seams
• Attach neck treatment
• Sew side seams
• Insert sleeves (note: I could have done this on the flat also)
• Hems

I love my serger, so this was used in the process. 

The hem is simply a turned 1" hem.

Closeup of fabric and neck treatment

For the neckline, I used my old stand-by, an old Stretch-n-Sew technique of cutting a strip 4x the desired width, stitching it on, and wrapping it up and over, and behind the seam allowance, and top stitching or stitching in the ditch to secure it.














Finally, you can see how that extended side seam drapes and creates an asymmetrical look to the hem.






And so... I can now say that this project is....

This Year's Tree

The holidays have been busy. But, somehow, I manage to make time for the creation of my non-typical Christmas tree. This year, she was focused around a dress form, and the theme of an angel. So, here is the basic progress.








Start with draping some muslin for a skirt... then, add some batting.

Then, add a outdoor screening for the skirt.

about halfway done...

Now, making the wings with my students who came for dinner. Arturo, Anna, and Caroline.

Finished upper

Finished in daylight
Finale... Christmas Morning with my kids.

Valentines Day in the Textiles Classroom

Today is Valentine's day, so, the softie I am for such things, we had to make paper woven hearts. Afterall, it is "plain weave"

You can find the instructions for the heart basket at http://www.weavespindye.org/html/heart2.html

Below you can see the process of cutting the pattern, and weaving it.

Thanks to my Textiles students for sharing.

Fashion Cookies

As another holiday project this year, I invited the Exec Board of our college Fashion Club for dinner. Of course, there was another project... the students cut out and decorated Sugar Cookies. I had made the cookie cutters out of 'Flashing' (found at Home Depot. The images were fashion clothing and accessories. Basically, I took drawings of clothing, etc, and scaled them to the size I wanted. Then I bent the flashing around the outer shape and used duct tape to hold everything in place, and to cover the top sharp edge.

Here are the cookies prior to decorating..


Now... the decorating.. and the results.. and the cast of characters.

From Vogue Magazine to Bows

Every holiday season, I host a creative party for the "Ladies from the Hood", (my friends from two neighborhoods ago). And.. we always do a craft. These year, we made bows from fashion magazines.

The steps are as follows:




1. Choose pages from magazines for their color, and cut strips 3/4 inch wide. The instructions called for three strips at 11 inches, three strips at 9 inches and three strips at 7 inches. Plus, one small strip at 3 inches. (Note: After making the first bow, I decided to use 1 inch strips and five of each size).

2. Then, twist and fold the strips as below, and secure with two-way sticky tape. The instructions called for creating three layers each with three parts. In the end, you roll the last short strip of three inches into a tube and place in the center.

Here are some of the bows.. and the process and the 'girls'.

Wrapping up Projects: Some more 'Done's'

Just before I left for Italy, I completed a couple of ensembles. To the left you see a pattern, for a garment in process. This was printed using Garment Designer software.



The ensemble that I am showing below, will be displayed at Convergence, as part of the Teacher's Exhibit.

I used fabric woven by Robyn Spady for the skirt. It has a beautiful hand and drape. The little shrug sweater is handknit, and the top underneath is sewn. All parts were designed using Garment Designer.

You can see a couple of shots from a fashion shoot we did; one with the model wearing the ensemble, and one with her wearing another cropped-style sweater I knit.






As time was getting tight, I recruited a past student and now friend, Anna Marie to assist me. Here she is. Thanks Anna Marie.

Fashion History Through Doll-Making

In this image, you can see what my Fashion History students do (in lieu of writing a paper). I give them the option to create a marionette doll and clothe her/him in period style.

Here you see Taylor, one of my students, helping me set up a display of the dolls.

Nearly half of my class were non-fashion students (as Fashion History is now offered as a General Education course). I loved to see students from Math, Business, Political Science, Nutrition, Child Development, etc., attempt the needle and thread. I think they did great!

I generally suggest that if they haven't sewn much, that they choose the Egyptian, Greek or Roman time periods, as not much structuring of patterns happened back then either. Rather, cloth was generally wrapped and girdled on the body.

Project: Creating the Shawl..

Last January, I bought a dress in Verona, to wear at a black-tie event here in San Diego. I was to be honored as "Educator of the Year" by the Fashion Group of San Diego. Check my blog dated January 15th, and you will see the dress I purchase. Then, you will see the fabric I purchased to make a shawl to wear with the dress.

The main fabric is an off-white wool boucle (slightly felted). I purchased black silk organza to use as a backing fabric, and to make a ruffle.

Here you can see the final result, the night of the event.

So, how did I make the shawl?

I started by calculating the size of the basic shawl. This was 20" by 54". Then, I cut the same size of the silk organza.

I then experimented with figuring out how deep I wanted the ruffle to be, and I cut and experimented with a sample. I decided that the selvage was 'nice enough' and that I would simply let that be the edge, thus eliminating the need to hem the organza.

After a little 'futzing' with gathering on the sewing machine, I thought I would give my serger a try. So, a quick Internet search took to to a site that had great visuals.
http://everythingyourmamamade.com/2008/03/04/gathering-with-a-serger-sewing-machines-too/


Once I had joined the long pieces and then let my serger do all the work of gathering it, I laid the ruffle on the right side of the wool, and pinned it in place on three of the four sides. I did not want a ruffle on the shoulder edge of the shawl.


Then, I basted the ruffle onto the wool with my Brother machine. I used a longer basting stitch, which is one of the features I love about the machine.

Next, I laid the lining silk organza on top of the entire shawl, and stitched it around all four sides, leaving an opening so that i could turn the piece inside out.

Here you see me wearing the shawl, posing with some of my students from Mesa College.

My sons flew in for the occasion. Below you can see Blake and Danny, plus Danny's girlfriend Isabelle.


It was a lovely evening. I love my new shawl, with its Italian fabric origins.