Planning for another Camp Couture!

Readers, have I told you that I am going to another couture class with Susan Khalje end of March! It wasn't planned, but in the last minute things just worked out perfectly, and there were/are still couple of seats in the class available. Is anyone from you going as well?

Well, there are a few things I want to work on there:

• a corselet  that I can wear as a separate piece or under sheer blouses. 
• a simple Chantilly lace blouse is also on the list, and, finally, 
• a bias silk slip with lace, which I want to start there

I definitely want to finish two. This time I will need to focus on what I want to accomplish and stick to my plan, so not a single minute of this six-day course is wasted. I am saying this because last time I went to Baltimore I packed a bag full of different projects, fabrics and notions. As a result I had difficulties focusing on a single project... I just didn't spend enough time preparing for the class. I had quite a busy month then and packed without a clear plan.

Ok, I learnt my lesson, and here is what I am going to do! In the week preceding the course, I will

• make muslins for all three projects, and
• fit them, so Susan needs to help with final touches only
• choose the fabric (hopefully from my stash),
• prepare all the notions I need to complete the projects without wasting time for shopping in the neighbourhood Jo-Ann's,
• select only essential tools I need for these projects (I tend to drag along too much - not clothes but all the sewing stuff).

I hope this works, as I still participate in the Sew Colette Sew-Along hosted by the charming Sarah of Rhinestones & Telephones and testing the first pattern by Suzy of Suzy Sewing (you go, girl!). Besides that, I am starting a new and very exciting project which may last as long as one year, but more about it later, once all details are in place. All I can say is that projects made in the Couture School will be part of it.

But back to class planning! Have you attended sewing classes? Any tips on how to best prepare for an outside class, besides zillions of other projects, three demanding kids, a husband and bugs that keep the entire family sick all this time? I would accept all the proposals, including meditation, yoga poses and using essence sticks! Please!.. anyone?!

My Chanel-inspired Jacket: The pics

Readers, I have promised you pictures of the finished Chanel-inspired jacket. I didn't have an opportunity to wear it - so I hope you will forgive me that I am not modelling it and showing it in action. Once the heat is over, I will post the update.  The good news is - I am starting a new one - stay tuned to new updates. But for now, enjoy the pictures! 

I would love to hear your feedback, so please comment!

Day 1: NYC Shopping | Day 2: Show & Tell / Quilting | Day 3: Goodies and Seams | Day 4: Epic Sleeves | Day 5: More Epic Sleeves | Day 6: The Finale |

Classic French Jacket Class: Day 6 (the Finale)

It's my last day, or half a day, to be precise. Tomorrow, I need to get back to work, and so, I need to be back in New York this evening. 

it's 9:00 a.m. I am back to the classroom and join my classmates who are busy finishing their jackets. I am  taking a bus to New York with Rosie today and need to accomplish as much as possible by 2:00. When I try on my jacket, Susan point outs that both center front edges are a little bit too long. I have to take in 1/4" on both ends of the hem. Not happy about another alteration, but I want my jacket to be as perfect as possible, so I unpick, alter and clean up the hem. Also managed to attach another trim section - did I tell you that I didn't have enough trim to run all the way around the jacket hem - M&J had some 3.5 yards only. Finally, on Day 5 I found a way to place it so I had enough. I bought some more needles, pins and sleeve pads from Susan and am now off to pack my bags.

12:00 p.m. I am back with bags. I have accumulated an additional bag over the week - how does it happen?.. Meanwhile, Rosie is checking out pockets on her jacket. Are these pockets supposed to be functional?

12:30 p.m. Before we leave, Susan shows us how to choose and apply the chain.  Rosie's jacket gets a golden chain, while I pick a silver one.

This is a chain from the jacket featured in Threads Magazine, Issue 121.
See, how each link is secured twice with a double-strength waxed thread!

Susan gives us additional tips on how to make a grosgrain waistband for a matching skirt. She points at a section in her Linen and Cotton book, where she describes in detail the technique. I am happy I got the book (it's one of my favourite reference books on couture sewing, by the way).

2:00 p.m. just before we leave I take this picture of Peggy's lining. Isn't this fabric gorgeous?

2:30 p.m. Our cab has arrived and everyone helps to carry a bag. We get apples to eat on the way home -  hugs and promises to exchange pictures of finished jackets!

On the way, I am thinking of what else needs to be done until the jacket is finished:

- resew the hooks (yes, again, because I was too lazy and stabilized the eyes only)
- finish the hem
- clean-up the remaining sleeve vent
- attach the trim
- attach the chain
- final press (steam only)

Once in New York, I give Rosie a big hug, while she promises to take me to a new dumpling place in Midtown, where we both work. It feels like a new stage in my life and it's very welcome.

Now, back to you, dear readers. I still owe you images of the finished jacket - please give me another day  - right now my face is red, and my nose is swollen from the flu that doesn't seem to end. And I would like to model the jacket for you!

And, finally, there is another, final post on this jacket and the class that will come some time this week to summarize the experience and to share with you a few great tips from Susan! But more about it later!

(to be continued)

Sneak peek of my Chanel-inspired jacket

Dear readers, I am having the flu (so annoying!) and won't be posting much today. But to compensate for the lack of posts, I am offering you a sneak peek of my finished jacket! Voilà!

Stay tuned for the Day 6 and detailed images of the finished jacket.

Classic French Jacket Class: Day 5 (or why it takes 17 hours to set-in the sleeves)

8:30 a.m. I am already in the classroom – the classroom is almost full again. It’s my last full day and I still have to accomplish a lot.

Yesterday, I finally booked my bus back to New York. Rosie, with whom I will be travelling, insisted I do it because ‘Amtrak is just so unreliable’. I gave in and followed her instincts.

Today, I plan to finish the sleeves and the jacket hem, which is currently pinned every half a centimetre. I also want to finish the jacket edges and start sewing on the trim. The sleeves, however, will take up most of the time.

Remember, I told you that it takes seventeen (17) hours to insert sleeves and finish them? Here is the breakdown of the steps, so You know what I am talking about:

• Make a muslin for the sleeves.
• Fit the muslin, make necessary alterations
• cut the fashion fabric and the lining
• quilt the lining to the fashion fabric
• clean up the sleeves and finish the vents
• insert the lower part of the sleeves (by hand!)
• fit the upper part of the sleeve on the body, pin it, and finish inserting the sleeve by hand.
• Finish the sleeve seam allowances and cover them with the lining fabric (by hand, again)
• Try the jacket on  to determine the sleeve length and finish the sleeve hems.

the upper portion of the armscye still has to be fell-stitched

By 2:00 p.m. I was able to finish all, but the last step of the sleeve

Susan quickly explains how to sew on hooks and eyes (I am not using buttons, because my trim is rather opulent) and how to attach the trim.

03:30 p.m. …after sewing eight hooks and eight eyes…. They are loose – I have to resew them

04:00 p.m. …still loose… Are they sliding out, or what?!  I have reinforced them everywhere!

04:30 p.m. Loo-oose!!!!

05:00 p.m. Damn! I cannot believe it! I went through the entire jacket construction epic without a major glitch, and am now failing at sewing on hooks and eyes?

Dawn, another class participant and an extremely helpful and resourceful person, suggests using silk organza to reinforce the loosely woven bouclé underneath. Did I tell you I had to open the edges of the jacket to resew the hooks & eyes?  Anyway, organza helps!

12:00 p.m. I decide to take the remaining work to my room, but, then, fall asleep in my bed while fellstitching the jacket edge again.

This happened because I wasted two hours complaining about my trim. My eyes are tired of looking at it and I have my doubts… I thought it was too dressy – and I wanted to wear it frequently. Shall I use fringed selvedge and chiffon strips instead?.. finally I am able to make a decision!

(to be continued)

Classic French Jacket Class: Day 4 (epic sleeves)

Summary:
Sleep: 5 hours
Meals skipped: none, yay! (I thing it was related to my happiness level, see below)
Happiness level: ........  I tend to eat more when my happiness level sinks...

Did you know that it takes freaking 17 hours to complete sleeves for this jacket!!!!! Now I know what Susan meant when she said we would freak out if we saw the instructions before the end of the class.

9:00 a.m. I am in the classroom, cleaning up and fell stitching the seams on the sleeves. This is a three-piece sleeve. One seam runs as an extension of the shoulder seam, and two other under the armpit, so the vent has a very pleasing placement.

11:00 a.m. fell-stitching...

12:45 p.m. Still fell stitching....

Susan's tip: use pins as a stitch: insert a pin at the very edge of a fabric fold for very accurate marking

My sleeves are quilted as well, and we are waiting for instructions on the sleeve vent.

01:45 p.m. Susan shows me how to handle the vent and sends me back to my table to finish up the other.

06:00 p.m. Still working with the sleeves. Susan tells me to finish all the remaining work to prepare the sleeves for fitting.

11:00 p.m. I am done with my homework, but decide to stay in the room and keep company to my fellow couturiers and work on other things.

01:00 a.m. I am exhausted  - time for bed. It seems there is no end to these sleeves. I am so looking  forward to the next step. Today, I worked 12 hours on sleeves only....

(to be continued)

Classic French Jacket Class: Day 3

Summary:

Sleep: 5 hours

Meals skipped: 2

Exercise: A trip to Jo-Ann's

Happiness Level: 5 (out of 5)

Optimism about finishing the jacket by the end of the class: rapidly sinking

9:00 a.m. everyone has gathered around Susan's table, where Diane (the lady in the center wearing a black and white graphic top) has arranged her treasures: a piece of couture lace and two Chanel-inspired jackets made in previous classes.

The jacket is one of Diane's previous creations.

This French couture lace (by Lesage) adorned with beading, sequins and ostrich feathers
was bought at Mendel Goldberg we were told.
Mendel Goldberg has beautiful laces, but this one is very unique even for this exquisite store.  

This is the back side of the lace - beading, sequins and feathers are arranged on delicate netting

Look at this workmanship! Can you imagine how many hours it took to make it?

10:00 a.m. Enough fun! We are sent back to our tables to get on with quilting and sewing up the seams.

I am happy I stayed late yesterday and finished my quilting, so instead of working and enjoy cakes and coffee brought by Diane (it was really generous of her to treat us to her couture possessions and food). I catch up on my skipped breakfast and get back to my jacket - I still need to stitch the seams on the bodice.

Look at the seams on this image. We haven't basted them. Instead, we pinned them into the seam with regular pins, making sure that the pattern on both layers matches and then reinforced the seam with so-called fork pins - those double pins you seen on the image. Susan recommended them for any matching job in future - it saves time with basting and is pretty accurate. We later drove to Jo-Ann's and bought more packs for everyone. But you can also order them from Amazon, for the same price - Susan said Clover has better quality than other brands.

 

11:00 a.m. Seams are done and we are queuing again to be fitted.

12:30 p.m. I end up with tiny alterations on five seams, auch! All the new seamlines are traced and I am stitching the seams again. Well, that's another three hours for perfecting the fit - absolutely worth it.

4:00 p.m. (or around that time) we are ready to clean up the seams. Susan shows us her method, and that's what we are doing for the rest of the day and the evening.

(to be continued)

Classic French Jacket Class: Day 2

All I can say about this one is that it was a long long day...

Summary: 

Sleep: 7 hours of undisturbed sleep! (no kids around)

Alcohol intake: 2 glasses of white wine.

Meals skipped: 2

Exercise: none

Shopping: Michael's fabrics (what did I want there, again?)

7:00 a.m. I am wide awake before the alarm goes on! This is what children do to a normal person. If someone told me fifteen years ago that I would wake up around 7, on my own, I would have laughed... 

I put on the TV and tune in to CNN ... ? ... The first thing I hear them say is that New Zealand is still there! Right... of course, it's the Judgement Day today and by the time I woke up, New Zealand was supposed to be gone, right? 

Anyway I am ready to have my breakfast!

8:00 a.m. Breakfast in the hotel, at the Northern Lights restaurant. Does anyone know why would a hotel in Baltimore call its restaurant 'Northern Lights'? I was thinking about it as I entered our sewing room at

8:40 a.m. Whoa, Susan is already here and my fellow couturiers are already queuing to get fitted! I thought I was early...

11:00 a.m. we all gather around Susan's table to marvel at each other's fabrics and trims! Susan comments on our choices.

That's Becky's fabric and trims. She was telling us that even though this jacket is quite expensive, it would amortize over years, costing just $10 per week. Whoa, I note it down - it's a great reason for taking this class after all. 

see my fabric on the right, with all the sparkling going on?

Susan demonstrates the jacket she made for the Threads feature (Issue 121). She shows us all the typical characteristics of this jacket, including quilting, seam allowances, abut lining, pockets, trims, buttons....

Jacket seams are open at some places offering a peek inside. We all ooh and aah as Susan explains us that these jackets are a completely independent subcategory of couture.

We quickly grab our notebooks and start taking notes. Susan stops us saying she got seven-page instructions for us. She will send them to us after the class, she says. "You would freak out if you saw them now," she explains. That's a comforting thought, right?

12:00 a.m. or close to this time we are all sent back to our tables to true our muslins and to start cutting fashion fabric and lining.

Those of us who bought fabric that needs to be matched realize that we are going to spend our evenings in the sewing room! Sleeves for jackets that need matching are not cut yet, we will fit them on the finished bodice to be able to match them precisely.

Phew, all bodice pieces are matched - we can now cut fashion fabric get on to the next step: quilting. Susan shows us how to prepare the fabric for quilting.

Look, my table is in the back, next to the window :-)

Lining is cut right after fashion fabric

Meanwhile, I decide to join a few of my fellow classmates on the way to Michael's fabrics - I am still not sure what lining to use and decide to buy 3 yards of crepe de chine. I get a handful of new coat weight wool swatches there and end up buying a beautiful off-white tropical wool suiting... Nice! I see some Chanel bouclés at Michael's as well.

7 p.m. Susan gives us some 'homework' - we need to finish quilting. With a couple of classmates we stay up until 2 a.m. next day...

(to be continued)

Classic French Jacket Class: Day 1

I hope you will forgive my week-long absence after reading my diary about the making of my Chanel-inspired jacket, dear readers. It was one of the best classes I have had, and I spent about 15 hours a day sewing - this is the reason for not updating my blog during this time! Did you know that the jacket, which is constructed using couture methods, takes 70 to 80 hours to complete?... Unbelievable, but I will try to prove it here. In addition, some of you asked me about the class, its structure and the work involved, and, so, I will try to give you as accurate account as possible...

So, here is the Day 1: Friday, May 20.

SUMMARY:
Sleep: 2,5 hours
Alcohol intake: 2 glasses
Food intake: one breakfast bun, maccaroni and cheese (lunch), and a huge pizza at 10:00 p.m.
Exercise: carrying Eve and 3 more bags, four blocks in total.
Shopping: 5 hours
Happiness level: 5 (out of 5)

1:00 a.m. I am still working on my muslin. Of course, I should have done it much earlier, but until the last week I was still playing around with the style, pattern choice and the fabric. So, now I am sitting here thread-tracing the Vogue 7975, which was one of the recommend patterns for the class. We were to choose a simple style with princess seams and any length.

4:00 a.m. Bodice is done, traced and assembled, but I still need to assemble the sleeves. I decide to leave them as is and hope to get a few hours of sleep. The group is traveling from Baltimore, where the course takes place, and is arriving in New York at 12:00, so I will be meeting them at Mendel Goldberg.

6:30 a.m. All three kids are up and I got to join the family for breakfast, say good bye to everyone and start packing. Will miss the little mischiefs....

11:00 a.m. All packed: Eve (my Bernina 1008), a sleeve board, a box full of sewing notions and tools, and my latest project - silk charmeuse tunic for some additional evening sewing, and all the usual travel stuff. Eve is carefully snugged in a quilted jacket and tucked from all sides in a sturdy suitcase; another bag for the sleeve board and sewing notions.... I end up with four bags!!!! Auch! Well, never mind, now it's time to get a cab and drive to Chinatown - I am so excited!!!

11:15 a.m. Hmmm, the streets in New York are not made for rolling super precious Swiss sewing machines - Eve is being carried three blocks where I am getting a cab and enjoying the ride to my dream - Classic French Jacket!... On the way, I am texting Susan (Susan Khalje - our celebrity instructor!) that I am on my way. She is texting back that they will be arriving soon as well, and that I will probably meet another three New Yorker participants there... How great!

12:00 a.m. I am at Mendel Goldberg! Alice, owner's daughter and store manager, is there to greet me and is keen to show me her treasures. Her father and her daughter are there as well - they are all set for a busy afternoon. I have to disappoint her - I already bought my fabric - but I would love to see what else is on offer there. I meet Rosie (if you decide to take a class with Susan, make sure Rosie is one of the participants - you won't be disappointed!) - she is one of the veteran participants and a few minutes later I have a feeling I know her for ages!.. The group arrives, and I am somewhat relieved that the attention of the store owners and sales assistants shifted toward the newly arrived -  just want to look at fabrics quietly....

some of the summer fabrics suitable for Chanel-like jackets

Alice (left), Alice's daughter (center, with her back toward the camera, Cheryl (right)

Center: Diane (she has made three Chanel-inspired jackets) talking to Susan, who helps her to choose fabrics
Right: Becky (another class participant) talking to Alice (left)

These gorgeous fabrics range from around $85 to $500 per yard. You may be lucky to find end of bolt or out-of-season pieces for less, but, still, expect to pay from $300 to $900 for both, fashion and lining fabric for the jacket. 

The lining choices are charmeuse, georgette or crepe de chine, we were explained.  The latter two are more suitable for a lighter version. I was not able to make up my mind, so I had both, charmeuse and crepe de chine, which I bought at the Mood. However, I must say, you cannot compare the Mood to Mendel and Goldberg when it comes to printed charmeuse! The store carries amazing prints from Valentino, Roberto Cavalli, Dior and others, which sometimes cost more than bouclés we chose for our jackets. In fact, many of the class participants did chose printed charmeuse as lining. 

At the end I decide to use charmeuse. The thing is, charmeuse felt sooo good on bouclé that I almost felt like making a 'snuggie' out of this combination, cuddle up and spend the rest of my life in it. Seriously, you will never want to wear a fused ready-to-wear jacket after this. 

Rosie with Susan's husband

2:30 p.m. After a brief lunch in the neighborhood we head toward M&J Trimming in the Garment district and spend close to three hours selecting trims and buttons for our jackets. I am skipping this whole experience, since, by the time I had my trim and made a decision not to use any buttons on my jacket, I was exhausted! I must say, Susan was there to help everyone! So, despite the fact that I hate extended shopping and was in a desperate need for sleep, I was very happy to be part of the group. Only one single day separated me from getting my hands on my own 'Chanel' jacket. 

3:30 p.m. Everyone is in the van and we are all set to go back to Baltimore! It seems that excitement are over for the day, and it's time to relax, when Rosie unveils, as by some magic, a box of super delicious macaroons from the Macaron Café. We all Ooh! and Aah! and then slowly settle in in our sits exchanging our stories and personal backgrounds. Amazing group of people! I think of the coming days and doze off.

9:00 p.m. We arrive at our Hotel. I check in and half an hour later join Diane and Sue for a late dinner at a close-by restaurant. Two glasses of wine, a pizza, and an interesting conversation with my fellow couturiers...

11:45 p.m. (in my bed) I am so relaxed... apparently, tomorrow is the Judgement Day, and I think it's quite alright to be sewing a 'Chanel' jacket on this significant date. What can be better than that!

(to be continued)