Ench By Sew-31: Historical Bathing Beauties

The April Enchanted By Sewing, Episode 31 Audio Show is Up !

Option I) Listen to the Audio right on the web by clicking on this link - No need to download 

~ OR ~

Option II)  Click on this link to iTunes  to download this and other Enchanted by Sewing shows to your mobile device (iPhone, Android, etc.) free from iTunes

Bathing and swim wear has certainly changed from the cover-em-up days!

 Have you ever sewn your own swim or bathing suit? I created a couple of bikinis way, way back in high school, but since then, frankly, I’ve been happier to buy my suits. I do however often stop off at various sewing blogs to sample bathing fashion creations that other sewists have created, and daydream a little at trying my hand at another suit one day.

I also get a kick out of hearing and reading about how bathing suits have changed over time, and thinking about what a shock people must have had to suddenly start seeing others, especially women, revealing so much of their flesh on beaches! The big changes in swim suit styling around the 1920’s seem to have been about the time when the  sport changed from ‘bathing’ to ‘swimming’ in the English speaking world. It wasn’t enough just to immerse ourselves in water outside, as we did indoors anymore. Now more people wanted to get some exercise when they went into a pool, river or ocean.

This month I’m sharing a walk around an historical bathing suit exhibit I saw at the Vancouver Maritime Museum in the fall of 2014. Won’t you let me know if this show gets you in the mood to sew your own modern day or historically inspired bathing or swimming suit, by posting below?

Babes & Bathers: History of the Swimsuit
http://vancouvermaritimemuseum.com/press/babes-bathers-exhibit-opens-maritime-museum.

Here is the promotion for the exhibit, from the web link at the museum. Please note that the show is no longer running.
‘
"In a city surrounded by water, swimsuits have always been an essential part of our wardrobe as Vancouverites. From swimming costumes to bikinis, bathing suit styles have fluctuated from the modest to the more revealing, all in a desire to make us fashionable by the water’s edge. Drawing on the private collections of celebrated fashion historian Ivan Sayers, you can now see the modest suits, revealing bikinis, and sometimes outrageous costumes that have been spotted on Vancouver beaches since the 1890s. "  http://www.vancouvermaritimemuseum.com/

The Woodland Fairy Queen's Bifurcated Dress Form - Even Titania...

While hiking Windy Hill this past weekend, I was amazed to see that the Woodland Fairy Queen had gone off leaving her bifurcated dress form behind.

It seems, even Titania wears trousers these days.

(co-published in Postcard From California, and  Me Encanta Coser/Encanted By Sewing)

FLARED Skirt - Parlez Vous French Pattern Drafting? Moulage Class Pay Off

   
The second of three skirt drafts, I leaned about in the French Pattern Drafting/Moulage class I took from Lynda Maynard.

To create a flared skirt from a sloper. This example shows a back sloper. The changes are the same for both front and back.

* A - In the beginning, it's like what we did drafting the straight skirt * 

 First, trace a new copy of each sloper piece, back and front,  on your pattern paper of choice.

Second, Cut away above* the Waist Balance Line

*Leave some seam allowance above that waist balance line. You may want to face the skirt waist or you may want to add a waistband. Better to leave a little extra for now....

Third, Extend down 26"** from the Waist Balance Line at Center Front 

** 26" was suggested by Lynda, maybe a longer or shorter length works for you. Play around with your muslin version. I measured a knee length skirt I made last summer, and this length was about right for me. 

* B - Now... the pattern changes from what we did for the straight skirt *

Fourth,  
i. Cut down one of the dart legs (red dots)
ii. Cut UP from the hemline to just below where you cut the dart leg, leaving a hinge point there

 

                                                                          

Fifth,  Move the cut dart leg over beneath or on top of the other dart leg. This opens up an area in the skirt. You may choose to leave a bit of the dart in place, if you want less of a flare. Tape your dart legs together.

 Sixth, i. Cut a piece of tissue that would fill in behind the newly opened part of the skirt pattern with paper. This is the insertion. Then add another 1/4" to the insertion.

ii. Create an extension that is the same size as the original insertion.  Tape your insertion and extension onto the back of your pattern.

Seventh - Make a nice new pattern piece with no tape. You may want to go ahead and add seam allowances to the new pattern. Since I draft my patterns from my sloper, it doesn't have seam allowances already. A 1" seam allowance is great, the first time you draft a pattern. It gives you a lot of wiggle room. 

Don't forget to date your new pattern pieces. You'll be glad you did.

Damson Plumm Private Eye - Nibbled That Tee

Damson Plumm Private Eye is, as you might imagine, inspired by bounty hunter Stephanie Plum

Remember when I blogged about Lynda Maynard's French Pattern Drafting class starting to pay off? Yes, I am indeed mighty happy with this plum purple tee shirt I created from a pattern I drafted myself. It was based on nibbling away at  the moulage fitting pattern that came out of Lynda's class. I also really like the royal plum-purple rib knit that I used to make the tee. Can you believe I found this material in my fabric inventory? ( Fabric inventory sounds so much better than fabric stash.)

What did I learn while creating this tee? 1) Don't fit the front and back first and then add the sleeve. I thought this top fit so perfectly, after mocking up just the front and back, that I sewed over the basting stitches in the side seams and then went on to
a) Redraft the sleeve pattern- making it much narrower
b) Cut out the reduced size sleeve
c) Sew those nice narrow sleeves in.

Uh oh....Taking in those side seams would have been fine, if I'd wanted a sleeveless tee, but I didn't.

Hardy har har - you should have seen my arms looking like sausages, unable to move. And we all know how fun it is to pick stitches out of knit fabric!
2) So, good thing, I had already learned to  ... cut super wide seam allowances when I'm playing with new patterns I draft myself. Thank goodness I had made my seam allowances 1 and 1/4 inches wide. I wouldn't have had enough fabric to rework the underarm seams on my sleeves otherwise- because of course I'd redrafted the sleeve to be so much narrower, after I'd fitted the front and back together, taking in the side seam allowances by quite a lot (smaller than the original moulage indicated).
3) Even though I wasn't in the mood, I measured all the changes I made on this tee and prepped a complete new pattern, all ready to try out on another tee project. Because another thing I've learned is that I don't always remember what changes I made, and I can't always find the last garment I made from a pattern when I go to use it.

  ~ ~ ~

Damson Plum is, as you might imagine, inspired by bounty hunter Stephanie Plum. Stephanie is younger than me, even funnier than me and has a grandmother who drives a hard-working gal crazy, but I still identify with her.

Damson Plumm Private Eye is inspired by bounty hunter Stephanie Plum.

Way back when, I created a Damson Plumm Private Eye label for my home made plum jam (using my home grown damson plums). And now, thanks to my new pattern drafting skills, I've drafted the pattern for, and sewn, my own Damson Plum Private Eye tee shirt. I'm sure it's the plum-purple that Damson always wears, that helps her crack those tough cases.

STRAIGHT SKIRT: Parlez Vous French Pattern Drafting - Moulage Class Pay Off

                                                                
The first of three skirt drafts, I leaned about in the French Pattern Drafting/Moulage class I took from Lynda Maynard.

To create a straight skirt from a sloper. This example shows a back sloper. The changes are the same for both front and back.

First, trace a new copy of each sloper piece, back and front,  on your pattern paper of choice.

Second, Cut away above* the Waist Balance Line

*Leave some seam allowance above that waist balance line. You may want to face the skirt waist or you may want to add a waistband. Better to leave a little extra for now....

Third, Extend down 26"** from the Waist Balance Line at Center Front 

** 26" was suggested by Lynda, maybe a longer or shorter length works for you. Play around with your muslin version. I measured a knee length skirt I made last summer, and this length was about right for me.

Fourth, Extend out 3/4 of an inch from the side seam at the hem

And Finally grade back up from the extended hem to the full hem balance line. If you (instead) draw the side seam straight, the skirt will read as a pegged skirt and not a straight skirt line.

Pattern Work:Parlez Vous Tee Shirt? French Pattern Drafting Class Begins to Pay Off

Moulage Pattern - a fitted tee, Sloper - looser fit

I have  created a moulage, sloper and sloper sleeve patterns in Lynda Maynards "The Art of French Pattern Drafting" class at Cañada College.

Now all my time and effort look like they are beginning to pay off. Using my moulage pattern, I've begun work on a  pattern for a fitted tee shirt. This tee will be no-dart. We've learned to do that by the 'nibble-away' process. Here is an example of a classmates moulage back being nibbled away. Had she used her sloper pattern the tee shirt would have included more wearing ease, and been a little bit looser. 

The red nibble-away lines show where the fish eye and shoulder dart take-up is being removed from the far edge. In the case of the fish eye dart, you can see that the take-up is removed from the side seam. This creates a pattern that reflects the shape of the curves that a dart, necessary in wovens but not in a knit fabric.

I'm looking forward to showing off my first tee test garment, hoping to have the basic construction (without neckline band) done in time for class this coming week. Yes, I already have plans for several more!