Couture Wool Lace Dress Part One

Burda Style #101B, October 2014

I haven't sewn a couture dress for months, so it is time to make one.  I love the design lines of the above dress, so that will serve as the preliminary pattern.  This dress is street length so it is suitable for wear during the day, unlike many of my couture garments.  My fabrics are cream wool lace and a cream/silver/gray/beige raw silk-type suiting, both purchased from http://emmaonesock.com/ one year ago.

wool lace

beige, gray, silver, brown raw silk suiting

Below is the muslin front.  Fit appears good, but there is a length issue--the bodice is too long from shoulder to fullest part of the bust.

The side view makes the length issue more apparent.

Back view is good.  You can see the bodice length issue on the right side at the waist, but it is not easy to see.

I could feel the bodice length issue when I wore the muslin.  Below you see fabric folds across my midriff.  You also see that the waist seam is a bit too low.  There is excess length, not excess circumference.

I will fold out 1" of length from the bodice front and bodice back, just above the full bust.

The second fit correction is for the bend of the sleeve.  My arms are just regular arms to me, but their natural position is less straight than Burda patterns expect, so I will reshape the middle sleeve panel. 

The Burda Style monthly pattern magazine offers cryptic assembly instructions.  Below is a sample of the information provided for the dress I am sewing.  The directions are not couture construction, so I will not use them much.

Burda patterns are traced off of a master sheet  Below is a view of a master sheet.  The pattern lines for many different styles overlap.  After a while, your eyes grow accustomed to seeing the master sheet, and it's not so difficult to find the lines you need.

Tracing paper is laid over the master sheet, and I use a fine-line marker and ruler to trace off each pattern piece.  The outer edges are stitch lines; there are no seam allowances or hem allowances.

To assemble a muslin, I add 1/2" seam allowances.  If I thought the test garment would be too small, I would use larger seam allowances.  When I cut from the actual fashion fabric, I will use 1" seam allowances.

Below is muslin with the stitching lines, grain lines, and match points traced on.  I find large sheets of dressmaker's carbon paper to be accurate and easy to use.  Susan Khalje sells it at http://susankhalje.com/shop/waxed-tracing-paper/.

I will correct my pattern for fit issues, and then I will cut and mark the fashion fabric.  My plan is to show you pictures of the entire construction process and have a discussion about various construction options.

The Polo Dress Acquires a Jacket/Invisible Separating Zippers

Do you recognize the style of this jacket?  The pattern was used in the Wool Shrinkage post on 11/14/14.  The only differences are the omission of the collar and the replacement with fringe.

The 11/14/14 post discussed my issues with wool shrinkage during the construction of this jacket.

The polo neckline dress was created last fall using the couture quilting techniques taught by Susan Khalje; see the 9/7/14 post French Jacket Sewing Techniques for further information.  I love the dress but I felt I needed a jacket for cool evenings.  The jacket features the same quilting techniques as the dress.

I would have liked to place patch pockets on the jacket, but I felt the hip pockets on the dress would not align attractively with jacket pockets.  The location of the dress pockets is exactly where I want them, so moving them is not a good option. Lengthening the jacket was also undesirable, so no pockets on the jacket.

The bottom of the dress pockets is visible along the jacket hem

The jacket has a deep neckline so I reinforced the curve with fusible tape.

A separating invisible zipper available at http://www.zipperstop.com/product/ykk-3-lite-weight-invisible-separating-3/ was ideal because I did not want the closure to be a focal point.

Invisible zipper installed on the right jacket front

Invisible zipper installed on the left jacket front

The plaid pattern is matched across the invisible zipper

I spent most of 2014 working with fabrics I already owned.  In other words, fabric determined design rather than the reverse.  My thinking was that I had many beautiful fabrics in my stash and I felt guilty not using them.  With the completion of this jacket, I have worked through my fabric stash sufficiently to say it is now a "reasonable size."  When design drives a project, there is usually not an appropriate fabric in my stash and I must purchase the desired fabric.  During 2015 you will see me return to the couture runway and create new garments inspired by my favorite designers.  While budget is always a consideration, I am excited to be able to try occasional new fabrics from my favorite suppliers.

A Classic Black Leather Dress

The value of this leather dress lies in the usage of large leather panels, as well as custom fit.  I frequently see leather dresses in designer shows, with price tags of several thousand dollars.  A high price point is associated with large leather panels and minimal piecing.  My dress has twelve leather panels: six in the bodice and six in the skirt.  The skirt features particularly large leather panels.  A similar dress at a lower price point could have double the number of panels to reduce the amount of leather required.

My original concept for the black leather dress was a princess seam bodice,short set-in sleeves, and a skirt with deep pleats along the princess seams.  The muslin is below.

First muslin design was rejected

The muslin dress was boring, even frumpy.  I realized that a more narrow style was required.  I found an interesting pattern in the Autumn/Winter 2014 Burda Easy magazine.  The pattern has an inverted triangle inserted into the bodice center, and a triangle inserted into the skirt center.  Darts are incorporated into the seams that join the triangles to the fronts and backs.  The shaping was not fitted enough for my taste, and the photo below shows pins removing excess fabric from the bust to the waist at center front.

Sheath style dress with triangular insets is interesting; pattern #4G

In the above photo, I pinned out excess fabric in an angled manner because I was tired and not thinking clearly.  The next day, I straightened the excess fabric into vertical darts below.

I added front darts to define the garment waist more

The dress back needed a sway back adjustment as evidenced by the row of horizontal pins at the waist back.  I didn't add darts to the garment back.

Sway back adjustment is needed

The sway back adjustment caused the side sides to no longer hang straight.  They noticeably swung to the back. 

Side seams are swinging to the back rather than straight down

Here are the  #4G pattern pieces:  Front, Bodice Front Inset, Skirt Front Inset, Bodice Back Inset, Skirt Back Inset, and Back.  Later I added a narrow, one piece short sleeve with zero sleeve cap ease.

Burda 4G pattern tissue

As recommended by the University of Fashion leather sewing series, I applied fusible tape along all garment edges to control stretch during sewing. The triangular insets are fully interfaced, but the rest of the leather pieces have fusible tape only along the seam and hem allowances.

3/4" fusible tape, 1/2" seam allowances, 2" hem allowances

To control bulk, I used lapped seams for the triangular insets.  First I chalk marked the stitching lines on the fashion side of the leather.

Dress Back

I used Sobo Glue, but other people like Barge cement.

Glue basting for precise panel placement

The triangular insets were glued in place, then edge-stitched and top-stitched in place once the glue was dry.

I let the garment back dry before top-stitching the triangular inset panels

Below is the bodice front.  I made sure that the glue process maintained a curved shape over the bust line.  There is a dressmaker's ham underneath to help shape the garment as the glue dries.

Glue curves into the garment as needed

Detail of Skirt Back Inset

Detail of Bodice Back Inset

After this project and the silver leather jacket sewn in September, I feel that's enough leather for a while.  I am looking forward to sewing Fall jackets and a coat with woven fabrics.

What Did I Learn about Sewing with Leather?

Sewing with leather was exciting and rewarding, and a little challenging.  Here is my finished lambskin leather blazer:

Silhouette pattern #1912

Here are a few points I learned during the project:

1.  You can make mistakes when stitching into leather and the garment will not be ruined.  Machine stitching into leather does create permanent holes.  However, pressing reduces the size of the holes significantly.  I made a few errors on the collar due to the fabric bulk.  I carefully ripped out the stitching to not tear the leather.  Then I pressed and restitched.  Perhaps thicker skins will not press as nicely, but soft, supple lambskin presses beautifully.

2.  Four layers of interfaced leather is the maximum thickness my machine can handle, and there will be some skipped stitches and seam ripping in these areas.  The areas along the zipper teeth (both the collar and center front edges) have four layers of leather plus the zipper tape.  I used a size 18 leather needle, heavy thread, and a long stitch length.  I was able to stitch these areas to my satisfaction, but it was time consuming.  If you have access to an industrial sewing machine, the jacket construction would be much quicker.  My next leather project utilizes a heavyweight black cow skin.  I plan to lap the seams and stitch through no more than two leather layers in any seam.

3.  When you reduce sleeve cap ease to one inch or less, it is easy to set the sleeve, and cotton batting makes an ideal sleeve head.   The sleeve fills out the cap so nicely and is an ideal amount of "bulk."

Detail photo of cotton batting sleeve head

My sleeve head is two inches wide and cut on the bias.

4.  Sewing with leather is very expensive, so your design should reflect unique styling and fine fit.  It is possible to purchase leather jackets at outlet stores, sales etc. so it would be a disappointment to spend time creating a jacket that you could have purchased as ready-to-wear for the same or lesser amount of money.  I don't think I could have purchased this jacket as ready-to-wear, and especially not a pearlized gray leather jacket. 

Sewing a Leather Blazer

Pattern has unusual double collar piped with metal zippers

Last December I visited the garment district in New York while on a tour hosted by Peggy Sagers, owner/designer of Silhouette Patterns.  I picked up several couture fabrics and two leathers in New York.  This month I am creating a blazer with the gray/gold pearlized calfskin.  The calfskin is very soft, supple, and lightweight.  The photo does not really do justice to the incredible color of the leather, but hopefully the finished garment photo will help.

Pearlized gray calfskin

I began the project with a test muslin which fit me similar to how the red leather jacket on the pattern cover fits the model:  nice in the body, sleeve too full, armhole too low.  There is nothing wrong with the sleeve pattern; it is simply a matter of personal fit preference.  The jacket back fits well, and the back of the sleeve is fine.

Back fit is good.  Back of sleeve needs no adjustment, unlike sleeve front

The jacket front fits smoothly.  However, the armhole is low, almost near the bust center.  The armhole restricts my arm movement which makes the blazer uncomfortable to wear.  In addition, the sleeve has horizontal folds or wrinkles at the elbow.

Fit is good except for horizontal sleeve folds at elbow

In profile you can see that the sleeve needs to bend more to match the position my arm naturally hangs in.

Jacket sleeve needs to bend at a sharper angle to mimic my arm's natural position

Here are the pattern changes:

Raise armhole 1 1/2"

My armhole now measures 19" at the stitching line.

Front yoke armhole needs to be raised 1 1/2"

The outermost collar is actually part of a front yoke which needs its armhole raised to match.

Reduce cap height 1 1/2", dart out fabric at elbow to increase "bend"

The sleeve now measures 20" at the stitching line.  I will ease the 1" difference (20" sleeve - 19" armhole) when setting the sleeve.  I do not believe it is necessary to have more than 1" of sleeve ease, and I always draft out excess beyond 1".  Many patterns are drafted with 2" - 3" of ease which I find difficult to set well, and I don't find a benefit to 2" to 3" of ease.  Clotilde was a major personality in the sewing industry, and she explained to me once that during her years designing costumes in Hollywood, she drafted out all the sleeve ease and set the sleeve to the armhole with a 1:1 ratio. 

My interfacing, thread, and stitching techniques are based upon information available from two sources:

#1 Leather is for Every Body by Silhouette Patterns (http://silhouettepatterns.com/html/media/m_vidleather.htm).  This one-hour video makes working with leather approachable and fun, and it is particularly useful for an intermediate sewer.

#2 The University of Fashion Sewing with Leather Series (http://www.universityoffashion.com/).  This four-part series provides extensive information about sewing a leather jacket in the garment industry.  The videos take several hours to watch, but they are invaluable.  I took several pages of notes which really helped when it came time to start the project.  Without these videos I would not have felt comfortable sewing this gray leather blazer.  The information is primarily for an advanced sewer. 

Following the advice of Silhouette Patterns, I decided to interface all garment panels with fusi-knit rather than the partial interfacings and cold tape utilized by the University of Fashion.  The reason for this decision is that my leather is soft and thin, suitable for a blazer rather than a coat. Non-interfaced panels would not have maintained the desired garment shape.  Stitch length and thread types are important, and the University of Fashion had me sewing with four different spools of thread!

Blazer is Progressing

The blazer is progressing well, and the leather sews beautifully.  I am so glad I did my research on sewing supplies and techniques for this project.

Leather seam allowances press open well, but I wanted a crisp look so I am top-stitching with heavy thread (similar to buttonhole thread).

Topstitching detail

I hope to finish the jacket in the next day or two.

French Jacket Sewing Techniques Applied to a Boucle Dress

I am back!  After almost eight months of no time to blog, it feels great to be sewing again.  Many of you contacted me to inquire where I was.  In short, I began graduate school last January which has been enlightening and time-consuming.  I have finally mastered balancing homework, family life, work, and sewing.  I hope to be blogging regularly again.  Graduation is expected June 2015; we'll see how this goes!

Susan Khalje teaches a traditional quilted french jacket class.  The course lasts six days and is offered in various U.S. cities.  Threads magazine has also featured traditional french jacket techniques.  In this dress, I used wool boucle, a traditional french jacket fabric, to create a polo neckline style dress.  What is unique about the dress is that it is sewn using the french jacket quilting techniques.  While it would require many pages to explain the construction, I thought you would enjoy seeing the inside of the dress.

Fringed collar, polo placket, and pockets

Inside of garment is very smooth and bulk-free

Lining is smoothed over the darts rather than stitched

Pockets were machine stitched and are visible on lining