Draping Digital Journal #3 - Couture Sewing Techniques

DRAPING DIGITAL JOURNAL #3 - COUTURE SEWING TECHNIQUES

This class, we focused on couture sewing techniques that required a lot of delicate handling and handwork. We worked on a fitted bustier with decorative bias strips, a half sized circle skirt, as well as hand sewn button holes.

BUSTIER WITH DECORATIVE BIAS STRIPS

Here is an example of a corset that someone decorated with bias strips in different colours. Bias strips can be used to achieve a pleated/layered effect, as well as ruching that resembles small florals.

This is the sample bodice that our instructor showed us of the work a student did. Here, the strips were used to create shapes and sections in the bodice to give it the look that the bodice is two separate panels that overlap to create a design line.

Each bias strip is hand sewn onto the bodice with 'x' like stitches that firmly secure the strips to the body. Because of the amount of hand work required to achieve this look, it is a couture sewing technique that we will explore.

These examples above are both quite intricate and would take a long time! For the purposes of our in-class exercise, our final products will likely be more simplified.

First things first, we draped a bustier front with princess seams on a mannequin (see Draping Digital Journal #1 for additional tips on how to do this). The neckline shape is self-determined, and the bustier cuts off at the waistline for our purposes. Draw in the seam shapes, side seams, waist, and neckline, then remove the bodice from the mannequin.

Tip: when forming the princess seam, don't immediately pin the fabric flat across the bust line. Instead, displace the fabric to create a bubble across the bust point so that there is enough fabric to pinch into a seam.

Note: for better fitting in the bust, it is recommended to form a dart across CF to take away the excess material in the cleavage. This will ensure a closer fit with less revisions needed later after the first fitting.

I decided to take half of my draped bustier and mirror it to achieve the other half, instead of draping a full front. Another option is to drape a full front and take an average of the measurements you achieved.

I drew in the seam allowances on all sides, including in my princess seams. As you can see, I didn't quite have enough room near the bust point to draw in a full 1 cm seam allowance. Not to worry, just divide the front and side front pieces in half first, then draw in carefully where the actual sew line around the bust point is so that you can follow it when sewing.

The bustier body pieces require interfacing so that the fabric is stiff enough to hold the bias strips that we will be putting on afterwards.

Here is my first fitting on the mannequin after sewing it up. I had some excess room at the top of the chest and I also wanted to lower the dip on my neckline, so I made these changes before continuing onto the next step.

You can see here that there was quite a bit of excess to be removed (close to 1 cm on each cup) in order to achieve a closer fit.

There is a noticeable difference in the fit after making the above changes! It is important to consider that as the neckline becomes more dipped, the more it will want to spread outwards towards the sides and create unwanted excess fabric.

Tip: a way of keeping the neckline shape at its best is to insert wires or boning into the dipped area in order to stabilize the shape (the designer for Monroe's dresses did this for her famous outfits).

The neckline needs a facing, so I created one by physically walking off the neckline to a piece of fabric that I had put on fold. The width for the facing is 5 cm including seam allowances.

I sewed the facing onto the bodice, trimmed the seam allowance in half to reduce bulk, made some clips in the areas that were extremely curved, and also under stitched the facing to help it sit nicer against the body. After a good press, the base of the bustier is now finished!

For the bias strips: cut 4 - 6 bias strips of your desired colour that are 6 cm wide (I did 4 strips because my fabric was wide, 2 white and 2 black strips). These strips will be used for decorating the bodice as shown in the first 2 reference photos of a finished bodice.

Note: the bias grain is easy to skew when drawing and cutting these strips, especially if the piece of fabric you are using has been previous cut by many other people. Be sure to check that the bias is still true and not too off as you make each consecutive cut!

This is as far as we got for the bustier front in this class, the decorative portion will be continued next time!

DRAPED CIRCLE SKIRT

A circle skirt is a partial, full, or more than one circle that creates a flared, full, and draped look. It can vary in length, fullness, number of layers, and fabric used. If a stiffer fabric is used, it will create a more structured and fuller look with less layers required. If a lighter fabric is used, the drape will be softer and multiple layers are often required to create a fuller effect.

Here are the formulas that you can use to calculate the circumference of a circle based on the radius or diameter measurements. It is important to figure out how large the radius/diameter of your circle is for the waist in order to draw it in, with the addition of seam allowance. In this case, because the slit opening for the skirt will be finished in a bias strip, additional seam allowance won't need to be added for that portion.

Here is the pattern for the half scale circle skirt based on the calculations we did.

The fabric we used was a very delicate chiffon, being difficult to work with form the get-go. It was very thin, very drapey, delicate, and also translucent. The fabric is easy to get runs in, difficult to cut, sew, and mark.

I marked the pattern onto the fabric with permanent marker. However, instead of sawing in the lines of the pattern, I used small dots all around the circumference so as not to drag the fabric as I marked it.

For this fabric especially, it is important to cut out the fabric with the full pattern instead of folding it into fours. This is because the fabric will shift too much and result in the skirt piece being skewed.

For this fabric, it is important to staystitch the waist with a 2.5 stitch length so that the waist will not stretch out as we work with it.

I also cut 2 bias strips from the excess skirt fabric, one is 4 cm by 25 cm, the second is 4 cm by 35 cm. The shorter one will be used to finish the slit, while the longer one is for the waist.

The determine the location of the slit, stretch the fabric both way to find the straight of grain, which will be the less stretchy side. The slit will go along the straight of grain, 10 cm down from the waist seam.

Sew a box that has a total width of 0.5 cm on either side of the marking for the slit. This step was quite difficult for me due to the constant shift of the fabric and how difficult it is to manipulate something so delicate and precise. It is important to stay patient with the fabric and work slowly to avoid mistakes!

Slice down into the box on the marked line, all the way to the end by not through the stitching.

Here we attach the bias strip to the opening. The strip needs to be displaced from the sewing line to stick out a total of 0.5 cm. Sew the strip in right beside the original line. This step will be quite frustrating as well because of how the two layers of fabric will keep shifting and not want to sit together properly.

After pressing the bias strip in place, hand sew the inside edge of the strip down with an invisible ladder stitch. Be careful to take tiny stitches on the right side of the fabric so that the thread will not show.

After this, sew the bottom corner of the strip down in an angle to help it sit flatter and to prevent it from turning out.

The waistband for the skrit is attached in a similar manner to the slit, except it has a double fold like a facing so that no hand sewing is required.

The most challenging part about this class for me was handling the delicate fabric and finishings of the circle skirt. I battled with snags, accidentally cutting holes into the fabric, and the shifting of the fabric as I cut and sewed it. However, I am quite satisfied with the finishing of it considering how difficult it was at first. Patience was definitely key to battling this skirt!

Next class, we will straighten out the hem of the skirt, attach a hook and eye closure, and put an applique on the skirt!

HAND SEWN BUTTONHOLE

Here is an example of hand sewn buttonholes, which are a tailor's touch added to coats and other garments that stands out as a couture finishing. When done properly, hand sewn buttonholes are an expensive level of detail, but can also ruin the look of a garment if done poorly.

We only started the preparation for the buttonhole this class, where we sewed a corner to a piece of wool to mimic a jacket corner. We will continue with the buttonhole next class!

CONCLUSION

One thing I found interesting about this lesson was the discrepancy in fit that the bustier had from the original drape to the first fitting. This really taught me to consider how draping does not guarantee an exact fit the first time around, and that things such as pins being in the way, incorrect markings, fabric bulk, or shifted sewing can greatly change the intended fit of a draped garment.

For the circle skirt, I had no idea that the hem would have to be trued again after finishing the waist and slit. I had thought that the hem would be even because the original pattern was correct, but the reality of it is that the bias will stretch out and alter the hemline drastically.