I give you…the Whisky Cowl.  So-called because it will keep your throat as warm as whisky does.  You can buy it (for $3) on Ravelry and on Craftsy.

I originally designed this as a gift to give my bridesmaids.  I had searched online for a good gift and I was thinking of buying them cowls from Echo since two of them live in Colorado and one lives in Massachusetts.  But the Echo one was kind of pricey and actually rather poorly finished.  And 100% acrylic.  So I decided to make major improvements on the design (and some complete changes, like the direction of the stitches) and knit my own.  You know, with all the copious free time I had in the month before the wedding.  Luckily, making them turned out to be relaxing, easy, and quick.  So much so that I even made a couple more for holiday gifts and one for myself.  The great thing about this project is that the provisional cast-on and grafting will make you feel like a knitting rock star (if such a thing exists), but the body of the cowl is easy TV-watching knitting.  Perfect combo of relaxing and self-esteem-boosting.

The Whisky Cowl is a seamless infinity scarf with a 180-degree twist, worked in garter stitch in the round horizontally for double thickness and grafted together at the end. The cowl is worked with two strands held together.  Links to video tutorials for the provisional cast-on and twisting and grafting are included in the pattern to supplement the written instructions.  Those are my hands in the videos.  You will not see my face at all though, because all Amber got for her steadfast efforts to get me to do an intro video was a huge reel of outtakes!  Let’s just say I learned that being on camera is not for me.  I can’t simultaneously look directly into the camera and remember what I’m supposed to say.  Maybe I should have made cue cards?

Like I mentioned, the body of the cowl is very easy to knit.  Here is a list of the quality British-miniseries-viewing I was able to do while knitting the nine (yes, nine) cowls I’ve made so far: Downton Abbey: Season 1, Cranford with Judi Dench, North & South, Wives & Daughters, Daniel Deronda, and Pride & Prejudice (the 80s one).  All in November and December.  This is a great advanced-beginner pattern–the stitch pattern isn’t complicated but you’ll learn some new techniques like working in the round and grafting.  And each cowl took me about five hours to make.  I only needed three skeins instead of the four the pattern calls for, but I knit very loosely.

The two strands held together make this cowl chunky and cozy, and the best part about the yarn is that you can machine-wash it. It’s super-soft and doesn’t have that sticky, acrylic feel that some blends have.

My friends Amber and Tasha test-knitted the cowl for me and helped me make significant pattern edits, so a huge thank-you to them!  Amber also filmed the video tutorials and showed me how to edit videos in iMovie which will really help me in future pattern-writing endeavors.  And Kristen (of Kitsch) took the wonderful photos (she also did my wedding photos) in which Annemarie and Amber modeled their cowls along with me.  Thanks for all the help and contributions, ladies!  I’m so glad to have such supportive friends with such useful skills .

If you make the cowl, I’d love to see photos and hear what you thought of the pattern!  You can find me on Ravelry and you can contact me here too.  Please let me know if you have any questions.  Look for more knitting patterns as well as some sewing patterns and kits to come in the future.  Happy knitting!

Buy it here on Ravelry:

Buy it here on Craftsy:

First, my dress in progress.  I flat-patterned the foundation and skirt and draped the bodice pattern.  I based the jacket pattern on part of Vogue 2979.  I ended up making a ton of changes to the jacket pattern because I wanted to cut it so that the scalloped edge would naturally end up on the center front and sleeve opening edges.  The pattern calls for you to cut the pieces out of the middle of the fabric and then use the scalloped edge as applied trim.  That just seemed like a waste to me and would have caused there to be many more seams, which would have been visible from the outside since my jacket was removable rather than a fake-out jacket-like bodice with underlining like in the pattern.  Starting from a pattern was nice in that it saved me the time involved in cutting a fitted sleeve pattern, though.  That made it worth it.

The bodice and foundation (built in) with gathered skirt (not yet attached)

The foundation is made of white muslin and is completely built into the dress.  You pretty much just slip the dress over your head and go.  It’s very comfortable for a heavily-boned bodice.

back view of dress before zipper insertion, waistline piping detail

There is piping at the waistline of the dress to define it a little bit more.  Also, there are five tiny bars under the piping across the back–that’s where the train attaches with little hooks.

inside view of the finished dress

detail of the bodice pleating

the fitting for the muslin of the lace jacket

Now, here are photos from the day of.  Most are from the ceremony, when I had the lace jacket on.  All the photos from the day of were taken by Kristen Runberg and her accomplice Renee.  They did a wonderful job, as you can see!

my dress, jacket, and veil ready to be put on

The dress has a weighted hem (done with weighted cording like you put in curtain panels).  You can see that I re-hemmed it between the jacket muslin fitting and the day of the wedding.  The silk taffeta, from Mood, was so lightweight that it looked like a cream puff without it.  Also, you could see the 2″ traditional hem through the fabric, so I wanted to switch to a hand rolled hem, which I did around the cording.  The light weight of the fabric worked well at the waistline because it made the gathers stand straight out from the waist.  I also wore a store-bought crinoline (to avoid having to gather hundreds of yards of netting), to which I added a waistline net ruffle to support the gathers.  The lace edging on the veil is from Lacis and I already blogged about it here and here.

the Alencon lace for the jacket is gorgeous!

I bought the lace for the jacket locally, at Fabric Hut.  They have a great selection of bridal fabrics!  I also bought all my notions there, including the button loop trim and some pre-covered 3/8″ bridal buttons that were made in-house and coincidentally matched my dress perfectly.  Those items were both huge time-savers for me.  The jacket had 48 buttons (and loops) altogether.

my mother attaching my train just before I went down the aisle

This is kind of a fun photo with a different view of the veil.  My mom was an expert at attaching the train because she did all my fittings for me.  That’s my dad and my matron of honor in the background.

the full outfit

The ceremony flowers were so gorgeous–they were done by Studio Posy, as were the wonderful manzanita branch reception centerpieces.

a good view of the train, the chuppah, and everyone in the wedding!

Jeff breaking the glass (and a good side view of the dress)

Jeff really crushed that glass!  He gave it the death stare before stomping on it very forcefully .  I should never have doubted that he could crush it!

a close-up with my beautiful bouquet

without the jacket, during our first dance

There aren’t many full shots of the dress at the reception (without the jacket), but this is one where at least the dress doesn’t look wrinkly.  The taffeta kind of started to crumple after a while, especially with all the sitting, dancing, and hugging!  It was very comfortable and breathed well though.  All told, I think my dress cost about $600 to make.  A total bargain for a silk and lace dress–and I really enjoyed the process too!  I never get to make ballgowns anymore now that I’m out of the costume world.

the chuppah, being blocked on my guest bed

The chuppah is this pattern by Kat Coyle, from an old issue of Interweave.  I remembered seeing it and it’s actually one of the few knitted chuppah patterns out there.  I need to upload photos to Ravelry and write some notes.  It took months to knit, as it’s very large (mine was 60″x60″ and I used a thinner yarn, smaller needles, and extra pattern repeats to get the look and size I wanted).  I had never really knitted lace before but I really enjoyed it.  There are repeating patterns of flowers, leaves, horseshoes, hearts, and diamonds in it.  You definitely have to focus on the chart at first but I got pretty good at it by the end.

the view from under the chuppah

Jeff, the best man, and the matron of honor’s husband built the frame out of 2x4s and some birch poles I ordered from a company called Nature’s All.  The frame worked perfectly and kept the lace taut.

the chuppah with beautiful flower arrangements

The table runners were made from cut-up belgian linen curtain panels from IKEA.  We were able to make twelve 18″x90″ runners for $100.  And they were the exact color and texture I wanted.  Now I have to figure out how to make them into something else I can use and give them a third life.  Maybe quilt sashing.  I bought the birds for the centerpieces at Mendel’s when I was in San Francisco.  That’s where I usually order oilcloth from.  They have a great selection of all kinds of craft supplies.

table setting test-run

I got to keep all the succulents from the centerpieces and bouquets!  I gave some to bridal party members but I still have about 12 at home.  There are all different kinds.  I need to find a terrarium to put them in.

Isn’t it funny how the wedding craft projects are just spawning more projects?  Quilt sashing, terrarium, find a use for my chuppah, maybe dye and/or hem my dress.  Jeff got kind of upset when I suggested the last idea.  I think it’s sweet that he’s sentimental about my dress!  He was the main person I wanted to impress with it.  Mission accomplished.

The wedding day was absolutely beautiful and we really enjoyed ourselves.  It went surprisingly smoothly (except when we realized that I forgot to bring the marriage license–oops!  Thanks to Erin and Daddy for fixing that for me!).  And it was wonderful looking around at everything I worked so hard to create.  That made the day even more special.  I hope you enjoy the photos!

We went to Paris for our honeymoon and anyone who knows me knows that you can’t keep me away from crafts, even on my honeymoon!  Before we left I read this fabulous book called Paris: Made by Hand by Pia Jane Bijkerk that Jane Brocket recommended somewhere in one of her books.  I didn’t want to spend the entire honeymoon dragging Jeff around to craft stores, so I carefully selected my top two choices: Le Bonheur des Dames and La Droguerie (a Jane Brocket favorite).  It would be a huge understatement to say that I was not disappointed.  They were both super-inspiring.  Luckily I have a wonderful husband who doesn’t mind visiting these types of places with me even though they aren’t your typical romantic Paris honeymoon-type spots (just like I don’t mind going to La Maison du Whisky with him.  Yes, that is a real place; I’m not making it up).

Le Bonheur des Dames

This very aptly-named store (the name means “the happiness of women”, “women’s happiness”, or along those lines and is the titular department store in an Emile Zola novel) is an emporium of embroidery, primarily counted cross-stitch.  Now, before you start thinking musty, dusty, old-lady crafts, look at this:

They gave me a catalog that I’ve been drooling over ever since I got home.  I spent a lot of money there and yet I’m already planning another order.

The store is in Le Viaduc des Arts in the Bastille neighborhood.  It’s this cool elevated stone train track (viaduct) that has arts and crafts shops in each arch underneath.

Inside the shop is a wonderland of patterns, kits, and linen by the yard.  They also have a loft space upstairs where they give classes and workshops.  I could have stayed here for hours looking through patterns, examining the embroidered tablecloths on display, and picking out fancy embroidery scissors and hoops.

I bought a tablecloth kit (which will most likely take me about 5 years to complete!) and an embroidered hand-sewing kit (to motivate me).  Their tablecloth kits are divine.  They are so French and they make wonderful heirlooms.  They are counted-thread cross-stitch on linen and you can get all different colors of borders.  I wanted three or four, but I figured I would start with one and see how far I get!

La Droguerie

La Droguerie is a knitting/fabric/notions store.  It’s so narrow and tall that I didn’t get too many good photos, but I loved wandering around in there.  They carry their own yarn line with many weights and fiber combos in beautiful colors.  Their fabrics seem to be exclusively Liberty prints, which are beautiful and perfect for Frenchy clothes, but I can get those much more cheaply in the US so I didn’t purchase any fabric.  The notions (beads, buttons, flowers) are displayed in giant jars like in a drugstore (hence the name, I guess) and they have just about anything you could want–half the store is devoted to notions.  But the thing that interested me most was their store line of sewing patterns and pattern books.  They apparently have stores in Japan as well as in France, and their patterns are a delightful blend of French and Japanese styles.  The children’s patterns are especially adorable but they were out of the ones I wanted.  Here’s what I got:

Versailles

One other thing we did (actually, my favorite thing) was visit Versailles.  It’s obviously not a craft store, but everything there is handmade and completely inspiring.  If you go to Paris, you have to go there; you will not regret it.  It’s mind-blowing.  I grew up looking at photos of Versailles and learning about it in French classes, and although everything really does look just like it does in the photos, it somehow feels different–grander, more inspiring, more real–when you see it in person.  For some reason, it also made me want to redecorate my house.  Not in the style of Versailles–I guess it was just inspiring to see so much effort, labor, and care put into one residence.  It did take, like, 100 years to build though.  I’m aiming high.  Here were some of my favorite rooms (clearly most of them involve rich fabrics).

The Petit Trianon was my favorite part.  You’d never call it “petit” if you weren’t seeing it in contrast to the Chateau.  But comparatively, it’s adorable.

Here are some small details from the Chateau that really impressed me.  All the doors had gilded details and were this sophisticated grey/gold color combo.  And the door latch is just a tiny piece of metal that the french door hooks into to keep it open.  I can’t believe how much thought and artistry went into even the smallest functional piece of the house!  It really makes you want to pay attention to the level of quality and beauty of each item you put in your home.

I hope you enjoyed my crafty tour of Paris!  I definitely did.  There are about 40 more places I need to go the next time I visit.  If you have any tips on other stores or sources of inspiration in Paris, please share!  And I’ll be posting wedding crafts soon, I promise.

I just wanted to let you know that the Studio is closed until January 12th.  As some of you know, I’m getting married Saturday and then I’ll be on my honeymoon.  Woohoo!!!!  I promise lots of pictures when I return–of the wedding dress, of other projects I’ve been working on lately, and of craft supply stores in Paris!  I will be out of touch, so sorry if you can’t reach me to sign up for classes and lessons.  I’ll definitely get back to you when I return and in the meantime, it’s pretty easy to sign up online.

See you in 2012!

Kristin

If you’ve never dyed anything at home, you should.  It really isn’t that difficult, especially if you have a top-loading washing machine that you can continually reset to agitate.  But even a front-load washer or a pot on the stove will work!

So, remember that lace I bought at Lacis?  Well, it was white and my wedding stuff is all ivory, so I needed to dye it.  I could tell that it was either cotton (most likely) or rayon, so I knew I could dye it at home.  Little-known fact: rayon is a natural man-made fiber.  Sounds like an oxymoron, I know, but it is made from cellulose, a tree fiber, and it’s made into thread through some sort of chemical process (therefore, it’s man-made).  Natural as opposed to synthetic–funny how that works, huh?  Anyway…I mostly have experience dyeing natural fibers–cotton, wool, rayon, linen, silk.  You can get dyes online that will dye synthetics (polyester, acetate, etc.), and I’m sure they also work well, but here I’m going to show you a natural-fiber dye project using iDye, which is a product made by Jacquard that is similar (but in some ways superior) to Rit.  I have used Rit many times in the past and it usually works perfectly.  I just happened to be at Fabric Hut and they carry iDye and I was curious.  Plus the packaging is cool-looking.

Here are the supplies you’ll want to have on hand:

-salt or vinegar (these are mordants, which help the dye stick to the fabric permanently).  I used pickling salt because I had a ton of it and it contains no iodine.  Not sure if that makes any difference, but I figured it couldn’t hurt.

-rubber gloves.  I honestly didn’t use them because iDye comes in a convenient water-soluble packet so that you don’t ever have to mess with the powder and get it everywhere like with Rit.

-paper towels or rags.  Duh.

-a measuring cup (for the mordant).

-I also used scissors (to cut off swatches of lace), a bowl (for rinsing said swatches to check color), tongs (because I was rinsing in a bowl instead of in the washer), and a timer (to get the right shade).  Normally the item you’re dyeing will stay in the washer through the rinse cycle but for a very light color you need to be able to remove and rinse it after a few seconds so you need a bowl or pot and tongs.  If you’re doing a dark color, leaving the item in the dye for one or more wash cycles isn’t a problem because you want it to absorb as much dye as possible in order to get dark.

Here’s the basic process:

1.  Open the package and read all the instructions.  OF COURSE!

2.  Fill the washer with enough hot water (unless you’re dyeing wool–then use cold) to cover the item and give it a little room to swim around.  But the item is not in the water yet.

2.  Dip the item in the water to wet it (and pull it back out; this is just to wet it so the dye takes evenly later).

3.  Add the dye and the mordant (salt or vinegar, according to package instructions) to the water.  Agitate to mix, using the wash cycle.

4.  Add the item.  Agitate (again, unless it’s wool, then just soak it so you don’t felt it).  Agitate again and again if necessary to get the color you want.  This will make it darker (to a point).

5.  Depending on how dark you want the item, switch to the rinse cycle at the appropriate time.  If you’re dyeing fabric yardage (or trim like I was), it’s nice to cut off some swatches and dye them for different amounts of time first to see how long you should leave it in for.  If you’re dyeing a garment, you may need to pull it out of the agitate cycle and rinse it in a bowl or pot every so often to see how dark it’s getting.

6.  After the rinse cycle, wash it again with detergent on cold to help set the color.

7.  Machine-dry or hang-dry depending on the care instructions.

8.  Run an extra-large hot-water cycle with a cup of bleach through your empty washer.  If you used a dark color dye, do this twice.  You don’t want to dye all your clothes that color!  Err on the side of paranoia.

from top to bottom: first try, second try, original color

The most basic thing to understand is, the longer you dye something, the darker it’ll get–up to a point, based on the color of the dye.  If you use light blue dye, it’s never going to make something navy.  But if you use navy dye, you can achieve a light blue if you dip the fabric in for a split second and immediately rinse it.  The amount of water will also affect the color.  The more diluted the dye is, the lighter the potential end-result color.  I originally filled the washer to the small load setting, so the dye was very concentrated and even though I was using a light color dye (ecru) and I dipped the lace swatch for only 20 seconds, it came out too dark.  So I filled the washer to extra large and tried again and it came out perfectly.  Of course, I only dyed the yardage after getting the swatch exactly right and looking at it in natural light.

the first swatch in the sun with my other fabrics, on the lower right--too dark

The color of the dyed item may also change after it dries.  In general, fabric looks darker when wet, so keep that in mind.  If you are able to do test swatches, dry them to see the true color.  When my lace was wet it looked almost reddish, but it was perfectly ivory when it dried.

my second swatch (more diluted) in the sunlight, lower right

I also had a complete dye fail recently!  I have this pair of jeans I love that are a discontinued style and are now a size too small for me, so I bought a pair in my current size off eBay.  I felt so smart.  But the photo lied.  They looked like they were a classic, distressed blue jean color in the photo, like my old ones, but in reality they were that weird solid light-blue color.  You know, that kind of aggressively blue color, like 1970s Wranglers.  But not in a good way, more like the jeans your grandpa used to get at KMart.  The ones that your grandma always ironed a crease in…you know what I’m talking about.  Bad.

So I thought, I’ll just dye them a dark indigo and they’ll probably fade down into the right color after a couple months of wear.  The dyeing went pretty smoothly, but my big mistake was trusting Rit’s color classification.  NEVER buy “Denim Blue”.  It’s the same grandpa color that my jeans already were, not indigo.  What I should have done was use color remover first and then combine one package of navy with a half a package each of black and gray.  I think that would have done it better.  And I would have done that as my next step to correct the situation if Loft hadn’t just reissued a very similar pair of jeans and had a 50% off sale.  Maybe I’ll still correct the dyed ones when I have time this winter–we’ll see.  Let this be a lesson to you.  When in doubt, blend your own color; it’s safer.

The dyeing experiments actually took place two or three weeks ago and the veil is all done now.  I have been a busy bee and have finished quite a few projects in the last month, so I’ll update you on those with pictures in a few days.

Here are some more great resources for home dyeing–it’s amazing what you can do.  The Lucky Magazine one includes leather dyeing and the Rit one has hundreds of non-fabric projects too.  Enjoy!

Lucky Magazine | The $2 trick that will change your wardrobe

Rit Dyeing Techniques

Jacquard

1.  The Gentle Art of Domesticity by Jane Brocket.

No shocker here, I’ve already told you about this one.   But I can’t not include it on this list because I probably pick this one up more often than any other book.  As I explained before, this book does not contain any patterns at all but it will cause you to gather your crafting supplies of choice and go to town, or at least to pick up a classic book or movie.  It does contain recipes which are very tasty and British, but check the errata before baking!!!!  Can’t stress that enough–otherwise they do not work because the measurements were converted wrong.  The main thing this book contains is completely inspiring photos and beautiful writing, both focused on the domestic arts and why and how we do them.  I can never quite figure out how Jane Brocket manages to be so old-fashioned and so modern at the same time.  And I really think that’s why I like almost everything I like in life (and on this list).  Things that manage to be both are so satisfying to me.

2.  The Bombshell Manual of Style by Laren Stover.

And now for something completely different.  This is not a crafting book!  But it is very inspiring to me–it’s another one I’ve had on my bedside bookshelf for years.  It describes and explains the habits and inner workings of a bombshell.  You know, the classic movie kind.  But it links the bombshell persona up to modern women too and I’m telling you, it could not be a more fun read.  The illustrations by Ruben Toledo are beyond inspiring too.  Somehow this book is linked in my mind with the movie Down With Love.  They both make it look so easy to be brainy, a little naive, and sexy, all while wearing fabulous color-coordinated outfits complete with opera-length gloves and patent pumps.  Totally makes me want to stitch up a sheath dress and matching swing coat.

3.  The Way We Live In the City by Stafford Cliff, photos by Gilles de Chabaneix.

The entire The Way We Live series is wonderful, but this is my personal favorite.  I’ve always loved small spaces.  And spying into other people’s homes!  When I was little, my mom and brother and I used to drive around rich neighborhoods at Christmastime at night to see all their fancy holiday decorations, but to me the best part was seeing into the lit-up houses’ interiors.  I also always spy into people’s homes when I walk the dog at night.  It’s not because I’m a creepy stalker; it’s just because I love seeing real, lived-in interiors.  And this book gives you that in spades.  This book shows how people artistically put things together when they live somewhere over a long period of time.  I love how the author picks out themes and patterns in things you never would have thought to connect up.  This one will make you want to pick up a paintbrush, sew curtains, and go to a flea market.

4.  The entire Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

I read the nine-book set over and over growing up and I recently read them all again for the first time in about ten years.  I enjoyed them as much as ever.  For the record, my favorites are (in this order): Farmer Boy, Little House in the Big Woods, The Long Winter, and These Happy Golden Years.  I used to skip Farmer Boy when I was little because it wasn’t about Laura, and therefore I thought it was boring.  But it actually has the most fascinating descriptions of the daily working life of Almanzo’s family’s farm and how they used everything and nothing went to waste.  I really love (in all the books) how they made do with what they could get, used all their survival skills, and were truly appreciative of any treat or extra they ever had.  We take so much for granted nowadays, but Laura’s loving descriptions of the smallest things (like her corn husk doll, Christmas candy, or Ma’s china shepherdess) bring me back down to earth and to appreciating the simple things in life.  I always marvel at how environmentally friendly they were, too.  These books make me want to quilt, knit red socks and mittens, and make calico dresses.

5.  Vintage Notions by Amy Barickman.

This book came out about a year ago and I’ve been obsessed with it ever since.  It’s another nightstand staple.  Amy Barickman is the founder of Indygo Junction, but I did not know this when I bought the book.  All I knew was, hey, that book has vintage crafting stuff in it!  Buy it, quick!  It turns out that the author has a fabulous collection of vintage notions and embroidery as well as newsletters published by Mary Brooks Picken, a 1920s authority on the domestic arts.  The newsletters are fittingly entitled Inspiration and selected passages on home life, style, sewing, and cooking are reprinted along with “Magic Patterns” for sewing items (that you will actually want to make) from repurposed menswear or one yard or less of fabric.  Each section is peppered with gorgeous photos of vintage notions.  This book is just chock-full of old-fashioned but sweet and smart ideas.  It definitely gets sentimental at times, but I like that about it.  It reminds you (like most of the books on this list) what’s so nice about the comforts of home and the domestic arts.

 I hope you enjoy these books as much as I do.  Please share if you have favorites of your own!

My actual bedside bookshelf!

What is draping?
Draping is a pattern-making technique in which you drape muslin (or another fabric similar in weight to your desired fabric) directly onto the dress form to make a pattern.  The dress form has to match the exact dimensions (like 45 different measurements, not just bust, waist, hip) of the wearer so that the pattern will be made-to-measure and the garment will fit.  You can pad out a dress form with foam and polyfil to achieve this.  The muslin pieces must be blocked so the grain is squared-off and stable and you make pencil lines on the fabric before draping that will help you keep the straight grain where you want it as you work.  After you get the fabric draped the way you want it on the form, you make markings all over the muslin to help you transfer the shape as well as seam intersections, darts, pleats, and other details onto paper.  You then transfer all your markings to a piece of pattern paper and true up the markings (make them regular with curved and straight pattern drafting rulers).  Then you have a paper pattern and can cut out your pieces from the actual garment fabric (and re-use the pattern if you want).  Or, if you’re being really careful you make a muslin test garment from the pattern and then the real deal.  It would be sad to screw up the garment after all that work!  Draping is what you usually see them doing on Project Runway (but they probably do take shortcuts due to time constraints).

padded dress form with style tape

Is draping the only way to make patterns?
Nope.  You can also flat-pattern-draft.  For that, you have a detailed measurement sheet on hand and you use rulers and *MATH* to create a pattern based on drafting/anatomy principles that you can learn from a book, in a class, or by experience from using store-bought patterns.  Personally, I find flat-pattern-drafting way harder than draping and I like draping better because you can see the garment right in front of you and play around with the details.  But I’d say pattern-makers are 50-50 split on preference.  Some people are just math geniuses with amazing spatial skills and can visualize the garment as they flat-pattern.  You definitely need to make a muslin if you flat-pattern something because if you screwed up any of the math, the pattern could be completely wrong and you want to test it out on a real body before cutting into your nice fabric.  I usually only flat-pattern rectangular-ish items like purses because then it works out ok for me.

draping with muslin

Why can’t I just start with draping now?  Why are you making me do all these store-bought patterns first?
The biggest reason is that when you make your own pattern, it doesn’t come with instructions.  If you haven’t done a lot of sewing, how are you going to know what construction order you need to follow or even be able to think through the where, what, and why of the garment closures?  Rome wasn’t built in a day.  I’m not trying to depress you, make you hate sewing, or lord my expertise over you.  I’m just trying to help you have an enjoyable sewing experience.  You shouldn’t take sewing lessons because you want to become a brilliant fashion designer overnight.  Take them because you want a satisfying hands-on hobby that might become a serious boon to your wardrobe (or home decor, or children’s wardrobes, or whatever).  If you end up getting really into it and go to Parsons and change careers (one of my students actually did that!), marvelous.  But don’t stress yourself out from minute one.  Sewing takes time, and if you give it time it can really be rewarding.  What I recommend is to make at least one of every type of garment before you start drafting clothing patterns or draping.  Then you’ll understand what shape a sleeve is and how it goes in, how to work with bias, facings and linings, etc.  If you’re only interested in home decor or quilting, you can skip ahead a bit since those things are mostly rectangles.

draped pattern transferred to paper

But store-bought patterns are boring and ugly!
They don’t have to be.  Try to look past the fabric and design choices they made on the front of the envelope and see how cute that dress could be if you made it in silk charmeuse, or left off the sleeves, or shortened it five inches, or changed the neckline.  Altering a pre-existing pattern is the gateway to pattern-making and it’s much easier than having to create the whole pattern yourself.  So if you’re itching to make your own design but don’t have much sewing experience, start there.  I promise there are many cute patterns out there.  Just look back at some of my old blog posts, here and here.  Also, try sources other than the big fabric stores.  Colette has some great alternatives to the run-of-the-mill stuff you see in stores.

I promise I’m just trying to help you get good results.  I’m a very careful stitcher because I used to sew for a living (in costume shops) and when your job’s on the line you don’t want to take any chances and mess up a gorgeous, expensive garment.  It doesn’t sound cool, but careful yields excellent results.

taffeta bodice cut from draped pattern

And now, I also want to update you on my wedding gown progress.  All the pictures above are of the bodice in various states.  It’s getting there, though more slowly than I’d have liked because I was in and out for the month of September.  I finished the bodice over the weekend after these pics were taken, so I’ll have to post another update soon!

It’s located in Berkeley and it’s both a museum (of lace and antique dresses) and the most comprehensive textile arts supply store I’ve ever been to.  It’s not a fabric store, but it has everything you could ever want in the knitting, crochet, lace-making, millinery, embroidery, tatting, needlepoint, corsetry, bridal veil, and craft book departments.  They also carry vintage patterns (uncut for $2-$20), a gorgeous selection of silk tulle, antique textiles and garments, and gift items.  I can’t even list everything they carry!  Their website does have an online catalog you can order from (and free shipping).  Bask in the fabulousness…(antique dresses hanging from ceiling)…

I got some vintage Irish lace with which to trim my veil!

Rachel, my cousin Christiana, and I stayed there for about three hours and I probably could have stayed there for days.  It’s so inspiring and beautiful–looking around Lacis just makes you want to try every craft there is.  In that way it’s similar to Purl Soho; it’s not as meticulously organized and presented as Purl, but it’s about ten times as large and has antique stuff.  I leave it up to you to judge which is better.  I always thought moving to Berkeley and living in a little craftsman bungalow would be great, but now I’m actually scheming ways to move there so I can go to Lacis every day.  Check out Christiana’s house.  How dreamy is this?

If that combined with Lacis doesn’t make everyone want to move there, I don’t know what will.  OH–I also found a perfect picnic basket, complete with green gingham lining and wine bottle compartments, sitting out for free (slash trash) outside her neighbors’ house.  Obviously I took it.

Travel always inspires me, but this was way above and beyond what I expected.

Have you ever visited a craft-supply or fabric store that completely inspired you?  Please share!

(I, meanwhile, will only be working on my wedding dress!  I wish I had extra time to make some of these too.)

This one (McCall’s 6433) is absolutely gorgeous!  It totally plays into the 1930s/1970s thing that’s happening this fall.  I’m still not sure about the squared-off-V neckline, but it does kind of go with the shape of the pleating.  Maybe I would change that detail, though.  (See Basic Pattern Alteration.)

I haven’t used New Look patterns much before–most of my experience with them has been helping students use them.  I think I did make one shirt from them.  So I can’t speak to the quality of their fit or their instructions, but I’m going to give them a whirl because they are a major treasure trove of Mad-Men-esque 60s-inspired patterns!  Who knew?  I’m not sure if these came out recently or if I just never noticed them before, but wow!  (PS. These would be appropriate for the Dresses class this fall .)

Shifting to casual closet mode…this pattern isn’t new, but it’s the best-looking blazer pattern I’ve seen.  The lapels on most jacket patterns out there are just aggresive.  Not so here.  I like View B with no trim.  Classic.  (Maybe this will be my demo for the Winter Coats class–jackets are ok too!)

And two jeans patterns to round it all off.  I’ve used the Jalie pattern a lot and it’s well-known and -loved in the online sewing community.  I’ve also had multiple students make it with great results.  The only thing I’d say about it is that the leg opening needs to be smaller to look modern (slim or straight leg).  I make mine about 14″.  The Butterick jeans pattern just came out and looks interesting.  I haven’t tested it yet but I’ll keep you posted.

And last but not least, I just had to put these in for fun.  Can you believe how quickly they knocked off Kate and Pippa’s dresses and got the patterns in stores???  And believe me, they are displayed prominently in every fabric store right now.  I love it.  The models could not look more like them.  Shameless.

So, what are you going to make this fall??