In The Sketchbook- October 2016

Welcome to In the Sketchbook, a monthly look at fashion design sketches that we are working on for ourselves. Sketching garments on a personal croquis is a great way for the individual couture enthusiast to move beyond the use of commercial patterns and into a world of personalized design! It can be intimidating at first, but with a little bit of practice it becomes something you look forward to. Join us for a look of what we have going on In the Sketchbook! Brought to you by Wendy Grossman of Couture Counsellor and Steph King from Siouxzeegirl Designs.

I worked on adding in details to my sketching this month. I took my base pencil skirt pattern and modified it for a knit pencil skirt. This got me thinking of all the ideas that I could make off of that plain knit pencil skirt.

I started by pulling fabrics from my collection. I often times let my fabrics speak to me and tell me what they want to be! This worked like a charm and I came up with 4 great designs. In these sketches you will also see a side view. This is new for me, I really wanted to capture the idea from my imagination and sketching a side view really helped that in several of these. I also find that jotting down notes also help to jog the memory on what idea


Idea #1: Knit pencil skirt with contrasting side panels. Fairly simple design and a take off of the color blocking that is very popular right now. The 2 fabrics I choose are a floral scuba knit for the main front and back and then a deep maroon rayon ponte for the side panels. I could also go with black bit I like the maroon better. Both of these fabrics have been in my collection for a while. The ponte was from an online source and I think the floral scuba is from JoAnn's from when scuba first came out and I just wanted to try it out.

Idea # 2: Knit pencil skirt with a single side front panel with an integrated pocket. The integrated pocket panel would be done with just folds in the fabric to prevent having any lumpiness from seaming. The side and side front seams above the pocket would need to be stabilized a bit to prevent any stretching out from carrying an I-phone in that pocket.

The fabric for this is a lovely scuba knit from Mood fabrics.

Idea # 3: This knit pencil skirt has an overlapping front panel ending in points and has a V like cutout at center front hemline. From the side view you can see that the hemline at the points dip down lower than the straight back. The front pieces are also asymmetrical with the right overlap going deeper than the left underlap. I will need to make sure that I have this asymmetry different enough so that it looks deliberate and not like a mistake in garment construction!
I have 2 different fabric choices pulled for this skirt. The black and white plaid is more of ponte like fabric. The plaid is actually woven in not printed on. This was from my collection and maybe from fabricmart.com. The second fabric is from Emmaonesock and is a rayon poly mix very similar to a scuba knit.

Idea #4: This knit skirt has no side view sketch since nothing special to show from the side. It has a single back piece and the front is split with a diagonal seam that finishes at the hemline with a split. I also really like the idea of using top stitching to highlight the lines of the seams. This fabric is a delicious double knit from Smugglers Fabrics. One side is a silvery grey and the other is black. I think I would use the silvery grey facing out and topstitch with black thread. I will have to do a bunch of topstitch testing to come up with a good combination that wont make the fabric ripple.

Don't forget to hop on over to see what amazing designs Wendy Grossman of Couture Counsellor has come up with this month!

A Tale of Two shirts- Cynthia Guffey T2025

First off... a quick apology for the lengthy time between posts. I was sick again, in the hospital again and it just sucked all the energy from me, again.

I have been sewing, just not quite at the pace that I would like. I don't have as many pictures as I would like. Mostly due to the energy thing. However, if I wait until I'm all better we may never see another blog post! SO without further ado

You saw a peek at these two shirts in my last blog post In the Sketchbook- September 2016.

My green floral silk top with ribbon V neckline and vintage green buttons.

This shirt has history!  I first posted about this shirt back in June 2016 in this post. You can see pictures off all the pattern changes and how they compare to the original pattern. Since that post I have been in the hospital 2 more times, each for a week and each time losing more weight. I first made my first muslin of this shirt almost exactly one year ago. Crazy to think that the very first muslin I made of this shirt was done almost exactly one year ago!

This shirt has some very lovely details and I really wanted to re-create this shirt on me! The actual original pattern was drafted quite well and went together easily. Well, as easily as any Cynthia Guffey pattern. Her patterns are not for beginners, these are geared to advanced sewists who are looking for more advanced details and construction techniques. The problem with this shirt on me is that is was not drafted for my body shape. Basically Sarah and I redrafted this pattern on me to fit me. I think that every single seam  line has at some point been altered for a better fit on my body.

The real kicker here is that I'm still not happy with it. It needs a slight bit of tweaking at the back armhole and across the back. In the green floral it just pulls ever so slightly. However, it is quite evident on the orange silk twill shirt. I can feel the tightness and you can see the pull wrinkles after being worn all day. The issue is much more more pronounced on the orange version which leads me to believe that it is directly related to the the sleeve. On the orange version I have 3 layers of sleeve with  one of them being a stay of silk organza with no give.  The green floral only has 2 layers ( the outer sleeve and the facing) and it only has a slight pull and much more give.  A definite question to ask during a mentor session with Sarah Veblen.

You can see the in the top Green/floral version that the pull lines are only when I bring my arms all the way forward. In the bottom photos of the orange version you can see the bad pull lines from the bottom back armhole. Not pretty!

 It also need to be lengthened just a tad, maybe about an inch. If i were to stand and put my arms up say to reach an upper cabinet or to put a bag in an overhead bin on the airplane you would be able to see my tummy and I do not like that. So for these two shirts it is just something that I am aware of and I can always wear a bodysuit underneath and not worry about any indecent exposure! I really wanted to make a version out of a piece of liberty of London fabric that I have been saving but. However, i need to add just a tad more room to the CB in the mid-upper back for this next version along with a little more length.

Just a tad more length needed!sorry for the baggy jeans...

I also changed the neckline. Many of Cynthia Guffey's patterns have quite a modest jewel neckline that does not look good on more nor am I comfortable in. I have re-designed the neckline into 2 different versions. The orange version is very similar to the original design only the 'U' neckline was deepened by almost 2 inches. keeping the relative same shape allowed me to use the same type of collar design that Cynthia drafted for this pattern. The green floral shirt I changed to a soft V neckline. This is one of my favorite types of necklines, very flattering on my body.

Even though this shirt has taken quite a while to get done, and sometimes caused me to lose patience, I am glad that I stuck with it! It was a good learning experience.

For the green floral V neckline I choose to use a gathered ribbon for the neckline treatment. This broke up the floral expanse and gives the eye a place to rest. I am in the middle of constructing a ling green wool pencil skirt to pair with this top. It also goes quite well with a casual pair of jeans. My husband likes this shirt but thinks my floral fabric choice is a little old fashioned. pfft. I disagree.

I always like to give my necklines the bend over test! Especially if they are a garment that I am considering to wear for work!

The orange shirt was born out of the idea that I needed to make a garment for the Chicago Chapter fashion show and Luncheon fabric challenge entry. We had a small amount of the challenge fabric and I happened to have the pattern sitting out waiting to be made up again with the neckline changes.

The 8 garment entries for the ASG Chicago chapter annual luncheon and fashion show.

This was the perfect opportunity to practice the pattern again while combining several fabrics for the challenge. I started by sketching several ideas and this was the final outcome. I must say that inserting flat piping between to ruched layers was so very much not fun. I used quite a few creative words and gained valuable one on one time with my seam ripper. sigh. I decided that each piped seam only got 2 chances. After that I just made up my mind to be good with it and allow it to not be perfect. I even hand-basted those suckers and it still was off...

Final details of the orange shirt. The challenge fabric was the print and I used orange silk twill for the main pieces and blue silk for the flat piping. The buttons are vintage plastic from my button collection. I also finished the facings with a hong-kong finish using the challenge print fabric.

Anyway, I realized that I now had this nice top but literally nothing to wear with it. I mean nothing. My fabric collection had this lovely deep maroon rayon ponte that went with my color scheme perfectly. I used my straight skirt master pattern, for wovens, and went about creating a master pencil skirt for knits. At the center front and center back I placed the fold off the edge at half an inch. effectively reducing the circumference by 2 inches which was perfect for a knit. I also pegged the side seam in an inch at the hem.I basted the side seams and tried on for fit. I may have taken in the side seams about an additional 1/4 inch for a total of 3 inch reduction in circumference, This worked great for a stable knit pencil skirt. I serged all the seams and topstitched all my seams in orange to coordinate with the top.

The green shirt with the wool fabric currently being turned into a skirt.
The orange shirt with the new maroon ponte pencil skirt. pay no mind to the awkward pose and face!!

Happy Sewing!!

I leave you with the Princess blowing her nose (actually pretending too) then wading up the tissue and pulling out another. Wash, rinse and repeat until the entire box was empty! 

In the Sketchbook- September 2016

Welcome to In the Sketchbook, a monthly look at fashion design sketches that we are working on for ourselves. Sketching garments on a personal croquis is a great way for the individual couture enthusiast to move beyond the use of commercial patterns and into a world of personalized design! It can be intimidating at first, but with a little bit of practice it becomes something you look forward to. Join us for a look of what we have going on In the Sketchbook! Brought to you by Wendy Grossman of Couture Counsellor and Steph King from Siouxzeegirl Designs.

Hello everyone! Please don't forget to leave a comment or email if you would like us to link up to your blog or photos of sketches.

This month I have really concentrated on wardrobe building and using fabrics and swatches that I own to design around. Fall has finally arrived in Chicagoland and I am wanting to sew up so many cozy clothes and warm colors and textures have me so excited!

I also need to get sewing since I have lost almost 55lbs since last fall. I really have no wardrobe to speak of and I can only stand wearing pajama pants for a limited time. For me, it is important to look and feel nice in my clothes. This doesn't mean that everything has to be super fancy or fitted. Rather fitted and comfortable and things that make me happy to put on! 

To start off with I have designed a pattern hack to one of Sandra Betzina Vogue patterns #1336. I made this up twice last fall in ponte and now I have this super soft knit tweed and and am going to add a hood and other green accents. The green is a very soft and light knit that feels like a dream. A perfect fall/winter cozy dress or rather athleisurewear.

Next up is 2 new versions of the Cashmerette Appleton Dress. I have 3 versions of this dress and due to weight loss they are a little too big on top. Great thing about this dress is that I can wear a tank top underneath and just pull it closed a little tighter! For the 2 dresses I have planned I will go down a size or just take out a closed wedge diagonally across the bodice to account for the loss of weight.

Both of these are a slight hack on the original pattern. The first is a dress for the holidays out of a beautiful burnout knit velvet that I will make into a midi length. On me that means extending the length by 8 inches. The second dress in the black/white print is the original length but I want to slash and spread the skirt to make a fuller, more playful skirt and use a solid black knit for the band and ties.

This fun black and white dress is a winter version of my 'Corner dress' design. One of the segments in the Haute Couture Club of Chicago 2017 fashion show is 'black and white'.

The dress in the center is sketched with 4 fabrics. I ordered about 20 swatches from Mood and Emmaonesock and these were the four combinations that spoke to me. I am going to go with the version on the right. It is a black and white cotton/lycra woven  checkish print and the smaller check print is a silk with applied silver dots. I love the contrast of the print sizes. I'll order the fabric from mood and put this on my to-do list later in the fall!

The next 2 are mood boards of wardrobe ideas. Some I have already made, some are in progress and some are just fun ideas! Both mood boards revolve around the same blouse, Cynthia Guffey T-2025, made up in different fabrics. There will be full blog post coming about these shirts soon!

The completed shirt is in the phtot with the skirt.You can see the swatch of fabrics. It is made up of this lovely silk floral with a base of green. The long skirt has been muslined and hopefully started on soon. It is a beautiful blue/green wool that will have a long zipper detail at the front. I started thinking what else could I make with this? Like a mini-wardrobe... I cam up with 2 pairs of grey denim jeans. One plain and one with embroidery on it. Also another shirt, modified version wwith no ruching on the sleeves, slightly longer and a different collar.

Here is the completed shirt with the ribbon neckline.

This mood board also started with a completed Cynthia Guffey T 2025 shirt. That will be entered at the ASG Chicagoland fashion show fabric challenge. From the shirt I designed and sewed the maroon ponte skirt with orange topstitching. Next I thought what other shirts/tops could I make to go with this skirt. I came up with a knit surplus type shirt from this orange and white knit. From there it went into a winter corduroy skirt also in a shade of maroon. This one a-line, button down with pockets built into the panels.

Here is the other completed shirt with the ponte maroon skirt. Please excuse the tightness of the clothes on my dress form! Making my shirt look a little funky!  She has a good 15lbs on me and needs to be adjusted.

Don't forget to hop on over to see what amazing designs Wendy Grossman of Couture Counsellor has come up with this month!