Review: Moulage Class with Kenneth D. King

Dear readers, here is the part one of the promised review of Kenneth D. King's Moulage class. The class took place at the Sew Right Sewing Machines in Bayside, Queens, New York. Yet despite the remote location - it takes at least one hour to get there from Manhattan or West Queens - this class was worth every single minute spent commuting.

Instruction was excellent, the only thing that I found confusing was the organization. I dragged way too many things, including my sewing machine on the first day. It turned out we didn't really need the sewing machine on the first two workshop days at all, alas. But let's focus on the essential things: the class itself.

DAY ONE: MEASUREMENTS AND BODICE BACK

When we arrived everyone got a print-out with moulage instructions accompanied by an insight into Kenneth's rich biography. I loved his stories about Simmin Sethna, Kenneth's  patternmaking teacher. Simmin, who "was considered THE ONE to go to if one really was serious about learning", taught him the moulage method.

"When I get done teaching you, you won't need ANYONE - you'll KNOW! You will be able to draft anything," Simmin said to Kenneth reportedely. 

Kenneth was cracking jokes and telling anecdotes non-stop, yet despite this rather cheerful distraction we managed to take about 25 accurate measurements to draft the front and the back bodice block. Kenneth demonstrated how to take measurements on one of the students. We filled out our measurement sheet and proceeded to calculations.

This image was actually taken on Day 3; and, if you are a Threads magazine reader, you can see that Kenneth is wearing sheer jeans he made for the latest issue. He is fun! )

Once we were done calculating fractions (horror, I tell you), the back bodice was drafted. Kenneth demonstrated only a few steps at a time and then let us do it on our own. He regularly checked what we did and pointed out occasional mistakes. I thought he was completely in control. He also encouraged us to ask questions and was happy to answer them in detail.


(By the way, this was so different from the continuing ed patternmaking class I took at Parsons couple of years ago. The instructor just demonstrated the steps and never really explained the 'why' of the process. I just think you cannot learn patternmaking without understanding the link between the body shape, its movement and the flat pattern.)

However, I guess, at the end I was a little too inquisitive because Kenneth told me: "Just trust me". Yet, he did answer that last question later, when the block was drafted and he could demonstrate how that previous step made sense after all.

That's it, readers. I will finish this class review next week - there is more to say about the process, the fit and the slopers we walked out with.

What's your patternmaking experience? How did you learn it? Do you prefer to draft patterns yourself, or would you rather use commercial patterns?

Next Project Started

One more garment off my list this week - more about it later - now I wanted to share with you that I am finally working on the next one. Here are the fabrics, aren't the colors vibrant???

The tangerine is a very nice and fine wool I got a few days ago from Mood; and the blue silk tweed was sitting in my stash for a while now. So, my first project is a dress made with this tangerine wool.

MY NEW PATTERNMAKING ADVENTURE

I am not using any particular pattern this time but creating my own, using the sloper we drafted in the Kenneth King's Moulage class. If you remember, I took this class to be able to draft well-fitted garments myself. I think Kenneth's Moulage method produces very good fit for custom clothes, but more about it in a separate post.

The dress has simple lines, no sleeves, so I just need to add some design elements and draft a skirt. I will be making a muslin, of course, but mostly to check the design. Fitting alterations will be minimal, I hope, because the bodice was fitted, and the pattern we drafted was altered accordingly.

The red and blue lines you see on this picture relate to the dress and jacket sloper, and include wearing ease. I am so curious how it will work. Check in later this week for my work-in-progress update.

What are you working on right now? Any new techniques, methods you are trying?

Learning patternmaking all over again

I am one class away from completing Moulage class with Kenneth D. King, and I feel ready to slowly move away from commercial patterns and conquer patternmaking and integrate it into my sewing.

I must add that I did take couple of patternmaking classes, but to be honest, both the teaching and the results didn't live up to my expectations. It is different with Kenneth's method. I've seen his students using moulage method in their sewing and I know it produces well-fitted garments. Being able to control the pattern and make your own designs is very liberating. So, I decided I will learn this method! What I need is a better drafting foundation and detailed reasoning of the steps. 

Here is my plan:

• Moulage will serve as the foundation for the patterns I will be drafting during the challenge. 
• I will start with skirts.
• Resources I use are Kenneth D. Kings CD-Rom 'Skirts' (as well as other patternmaking e-books he wrote) and 'The Architecture of Women's Clothing' by Suzy Furrer. 

Let me elaborate on Suzy Furrer's book. I am using it because Furrer had the same teacher as Kenneth D. King, Simmin Sethna, and the method she describes is relatively similar to Kenneth's. I like comparing both sources for more reasoning behind individual steps. 


From what I understand, it took both, Kenneth and Suzy, two years of daily study to complete Simmin's course, which was based on couture patternmaking method she studied at Ecole Guerre-Lavigne (now ESMOD) in Paris. There is a good article about Simmin and her students on Soma magazine website if you want to learn more.


I want to learn what Kenneth and Suzy learnt, and classes with Kenneth and the books I mentioned is all I got. I will try to blog about the progress as regularly as possible, and will as well post the reviews of the sources I use. It won't be a draft-along type of posting (for that you need to consult the books or take Kenneth's class), but more of a review, where, based on final results, you will be able to see whether the method works. 


Have you tried making your own patterns, readers? If not, why? and if yes, how did/do you learn patternmaking? Does it work for you?  

Math Challenge: Moulage Class with Kenneth D. King / Day One

To: 

all math geniuses, 

anyone with IQ over 140, 

nerds,

pattern-making experts

Subject: "Why are you still using inches in the US???" or "solve the problem!"

Yes, it is a Moulage Class review. But I won't tell you anything about it before we resolve this mathematic problem.

(Ok, I will talk about the class a little bit: Twenty-four measurements, fraction orgy, foggy brains and five hours later, and we walked out with a custom draft of the back bodice for Kenneth D. King's Moulage Class. The class is great - fitting and patternmaking bootcamp! but...)

Back to inches! Dividing fractions is (to certain extent) masochistic. You disagree? I mean it takes just a second to divide two-digit numbers in metric system! Now do the same in inches... Piece of cake? yeah, right... Now, try to use fractions for patternmaking / calculations. It can't be as accurate as the metric system.

Here is the very first measurement we took: my neck, which, by the way, measures 13" (or 33cm). To draft the moulage, we need to make the following calculation:

1. Neck: 1/6 (neck measurement) + 1/2  = back neck

let's write it out: 1/6 x 13" + 1/2 = 2 1/6 + 1/2 = 2 2/3 (here, try now and get it converted to eights or sixteenths for the ruler units). My calculation was somewhere around 2 5/8 (it is a millimeter more, but there is no way you can get this so precise for inches ruler)

NOW, LET'S DO THE SAME IN CENTIMETERS

neck measurement : 6 + 0.5 

to remind you, my neck measurement is 13" = 33 cm

33 : 6 + 0.5 =   5.5 + 0.5 = 6 cm

Now, look at your measuring band if it contains both, inches and centimeters. You will see that these two calculations differ from each other in slightly more than 1/4" (or appr. 7 mm). 

Or, am I doing something wrong??? Yes? Then, here is your challenge: prove me wrong! (and don't think of me as another arrogant European, please! I am neutral)


EDIT: Reader Jilly B found the missing 7 mm (read her comment after you found the mistake in my calculations). Thanks, Jilly B!

But my question still remains, am I the only one who thinks that fraction calculations are extremely cumbersome in comparison?