Dreaming of San Francisco

Spring is very, very slowly coming to Helsingborg. I'm not in my most creative mood, and - like times before - I'm thinking a lot about life and what to do with it. We'll see. San Francisco and Monterey were totally amazing, partly because of the weather (about 15-20 degrees Celsius, crisp air and sunny, my favourite weather all time), partly because of all fun things we did - sea otters, national parks, shopping (fabric! vintage! food! shoes!), eating, walking - and partly because I was in such great company.

Returning home - while my company stayed in the sun - to a more than busy and stressful time at work and this weather haven't been easy. And I always find this time of year challenging - something about lack of energy.

I've been practicing my idea since last time - just do it! - on my creative work and it's turned out ok. I've made progress on the skirt. I've made progress on the statement-necklace I'm planning. But my heart haven't been it. Yesterday evening I thought I would cheer myself up and finally watch The Dressmaker with my favourite Kate Winslet. A great movie, the clothes are to die for and Kate is so good. But it's not exactly a cheer-you-up-movie, just sayin'...

Perhaps some looking at what I brought home from San Francisco can cheer up? I spent one intense day doing all my shopping, and started at Britex Fabrics when they opened. It wasn't cheap, the dollar-Swedish Krona-ratio is horrible, taxes are added upon the price seen - but it was very fun.

Britex houses four floors of fabrics and notions and I started on the fourth floor and worked myself down. And then up again - the remnants are on top. I bought some pressing tools that are hopeless to find in Sweden and always costs a fortune when you add shipping. A bit heavy to carry around all day - good thing I'm working out! (The needles didn't exactly add to the weight...)

Then I found my first fabric - a silk/cotton faille. I love a faille, and I absolutely love a silk/cotton. It's a dark green, perhaps a bit too dark for the summer dress I intend to make, but I think it'll be lovely all the same. It's about 1,6 meters and I payed $95 (821 SEK) for it.

Then I looked at a lot of silks and wools, and returned back to the remnants and some blue and green silks I'd been eyeing up before. I bought two of them and tried not to breathe while I handed over my credit card. There's not much of each, just over 1 metre, but will be enough for a dress without so much sleeves. One is an emerald green silk crêpe and the other a petrol blue silk faille (from France. A bit silly to buy it in USA, but I haven't seen this one in Paris.).

The green cost about $65 (565 SEK) which was a great price for one of the most stunning fabrics I've seen, but the faille was $119 (1030 SEK) and that's a lot of money. But I really liked it... It had been marked down from $175 per yard, and that's a whole other story.

Then I needed a break and had some gluten-free lunch in the shade - lovely!

I also found a vintage dress that suited me perfectly - the very nice owner of VerUnica (the neighbourhood, Hayes Valley was so nice!) called it a Cinderella-moment when I stepped out from the fitting room. And I have to agree... At $95 (826 SEK) it wasn't a bargain, but it's a really well made dress in great condition and I'll wear it a lot. The cut of the bodice is really special and something I'd like to try; either for a dress or a blouse.

It's interlined with silk organza (just as I thought I maybe should have done with the very simple little black dress!) and rayon binding along the hem and sleeves, and a lingerie guard on the shoulders as well.

I could easily have spent a whole day just looking at and trying on vintage. I visited most stores in the late afternoon and was a bit tired and also a bit aware of what I already bought. The selection was huge, and prices from moderate - like mine - to rather low - and then some really high for the really extravagant ones. And there was a lot of extravagant things!

A tiny thing more.... For the past year or so I've been looking for a cocktail ring and scanned thousands and thousands of rings on internet auction houses and Etsy but not finding The One. But I did in San Francisco, just a couple of minutes from the flat we rented. (Please ignore my very dry hands.)

The suitcase was half empty when I left Sweden, but it wasn't on the way back. Apart from the above, some shoes (2 pairs actually) and some food from Whole Foods. I love that place!

And then, back to real life. Harder than usual.

Sewing in lace part two - threads, silk and more to decide

I guess this week's work with my dark blue lace pencil skirt can be described as one step forward and two steps back. On the forward part - I've decided, bought and had delivered the silk from Borovick! The colour is prefect, and will be just as beautiful on its own as a blouse.

I've also thread traced all the seam lines on both the organza and the lace.

(Yes, I re-traced the lower dart.) Why all this thread tracing? Don't I have anything better to do?

Well, apparently not. I would say there are two reasons for this. One is definitely re-discovering Marina at Frabjous Couture and becoming equally green with envy of her couture sewing and equally hugely inspired to incorporate more couture techniques to my own makings.

The other is I have no idea what I'm doing with this skirt. I can't cut these fabrics with ordinary 1,5 cm seam allowance and think everything would be ok. Crêpe satin is a pain in the ass to work with, the lace is so heavy and every seam will be on show if I don't do something special. Thread tracing at least gives me the knowledge of where the seam lines are - or should be - , from both sides. Marking with tracing paper on lace is impossible, almost impossible on organza and I wouldn't want to risk the crêpe satin (and I would only have the markings on one side anyway).

And you should know by know that I like to sew by hand. So all seams and darts are traced with silk thread from my lovely sewing table.

I do love both the hand and the colour of the final combination - the lace at the top, the inky blue-grey crêpe satin in the middle and the black silk organza at the bottom.

And the going back? Well, as I said, soutache lace is heavy. Will it start to sag and loose its shape? Should I (hand)sew it to the silk fabrics and treat all three as one layer? Another thing speaking in that direction is the insightful comment from Mary of Cloning Couture - won't the soutache fray? Mm, it might. It would help if I could burn all the ends, but the netting is in the way and melts faster than the soutache. So perhaps I have to give up the idea of overlapping... And that leaves me with rather bulky seams, and a bit too many darts...

And the lace isn't easy to press. Agony.

I had planned to do nothing but sew today, but it didn't turn out that way. Both because I was so tempted setting up my new laptop, but also because the sewing spirit's been lacking (I guess because I'm rather frightened of that soutache). Hopefully, I have renewed spirits on Wednesday. Tonight, I'll treat myself with Signé Chanel that I finally bought on DVD.

I saw the first episode with some coffee this afternoon, and I've forgotten how good it is. You are actually there, in their ateliers! I saw it years ago when you still could see a high resolution version on YouTube, (due to copyright it was of course removed). Since then I've wanted the DVD but thought it was too expensive. And it still is, but it's not getting cheaper so... I also found a new - old - book on couture sewing - Sew the French Way.

I've always found it rather strange that most sources on couture sewing are from USA when in fact it origins from Paris. Vintage Couture Tailoring is the only European example I know of. Sew the French Way by Line Jaque is from 1961 but first published in French in 1956 as Le Savoir-Coudre de Femmes d'Aujourd'hui and will accompany me tomorrow on a night away with work (if I'm not too occupied at the spa facilities...)

I hope I wake up on Wednesday morning with a clear plan for the soutache. Now, chocolate and Chanel!

Sewing in lace part one - planning, drafting and deciding

I've started working on my next sewing project - a pencil skirt in dark blue lace. Usually, I show you everything when I'm finished, but this time, I thought I'll write as I sew. We'll see how that goes. I have a clear deadline for this project - shortly after lunch, Saturday 2nd of October. I hope to finish another silk blouse as well - we'll definitely see how THAT goes.

First of all - the lace. I bought it as a remnant in Stockholm shortly before Christmas, and knew from the start that it would be turned into a pencil skirt. It's about the only thing possible to make - there was too little left for a dress or a wide skirt and it's too heavy for a blouse.

It took me a while just to find out what kind of lace I'm dealing with - according to the manufacturer's (Monterossi fabrics) Facebook-page it's a soutache lace. Makes sense, since it really is soutache on netting. The soutache is rather thick and heavy, so I think it'll be more difficult to handle than "ordinary" lace. How do you sew in it, and how to get invisible seams? It's not like a thinner lace, where you more easily can overlap. I spent an evening researching - books, Internet, playing with the lace and finally deciding that my best option is to remove the soutache from one part of the seam, and overlap the other, sew by hand and remove the netting afterwards.

I'll use a silk crêpe satin underneath the lace, and wrote out to several resources in Sweden and Britain to find the right colour match. The silks from Beckford silk and Borowick Fabrics (where I bought a lovely rayon grosgrain when I visited), and also some small samples from SidenCarlson in Stockholm, are amazing and I almost got too many options to choose from .

I didn't want black or dark blue as to really let the lace show, but I didn't like it with a too light background either. Here are the final three, and I've made up my mind a lot of times. But then I see them from a different angle or in a different light, and change my mind again. Satin is so tricky!

I know, the differences aren't huge... I'll pass on the one in the middle, so it's either the slightly lighter and bluer to the left or the slightly darker and greyer to the right. And I need to decide soon, so I can order it and have it shipped. (The samples arrived in no time, so I'm fairly confident I can have it by the end of the week if I just decide!)

I'll underline the silk with silk organza to give it some more stability and be able to carry the heavy lace. It will also make seam finishing, hemming and sewing all the darts so much easier. A wide Petersham ribbon will give support to the high waist (I hope! I am thinking about boning, but...)

Speaking of darts; I really liked the way both the double darts in the back and the split bust dart turned out on the sky blue dress, so I decided to make double darts in the front as well. At least in the silk parts, we'll see about the outer layer of lace.

I made a toile as usual, and after making some minor changes to the pattern, I spent an hour or so finding a good way to match the side seams - and most importantly the scallops at the bottom - and to find a good solution for the split in the back seam.

I put the lace over the front pattern piece, and marked centre front (in the middle of a scallop) and then where the side seams will be. Then I put the back pattern pieces under the lace, with the side seams starting at the same place on the scallop as where the front piece ends. Is that comprehensible? I also made some tweaking in the back pieces of the pattern to be able to get a nice seam line centre back. I do have a plan - let's hope it works out!

Now I'm going to have another look at the silk crêpe - brighter/bluer or darker/greyer? What do you think?

Saving a dress

Well, I identified three dresses needing more than their share of tender, love and care. It really isn't my favourite task, but this Saturday, two hours before heading out for some cocktails and wine (and cheese, as it turned out) I felt that I really needed to wear the one with torn sleeves. Not wanting to actually wear the torn sleeves, I started with ripping the seams.

(See the old stitching line and a rather sloppy seamstress (not me! The original seamstress!) who didn't follow it? I love seeing things like this!) I had some acetate bias binding that I made ages ago - to bind the seams of the grey Christian Dior dress I think - that was a good match. I sewed the first round by machine (one from the inside instead of the outside, a bit stressed as I was. Just to un-pick and do over again) and then turned them in and secured by hand. The fabric was torn in the vent as well, but I didn't have time to make it proper; I just secured it and went out.

But I did finish the vent the day after, to my great surprise. I removed the placket that was torn beyond salvation, reinforced the slit with silk organza and moved the crease where the fabric was all in threads. I also lengthen the slit a couple of centimetres and shortened the skirt with about four centimetres. It's still well below the knee, but not as much as before.

I really love the dress, especially the draped front. I should try to copy that sometime - along with three quarter sleeves. I do prefer sleeves, but I'm glad that this dress can be worn again.

By the way - can any of you read what it says on the label (except for Wien (Vienna) that is)? I've seen several beautiful made dresses from this label, but can't find any information on the lovely internet no matter what combinations of letters I use.

Vintage clothes from the inside

As some of you may know, I am obsessed with the inside of clothes. Vintage, couture and home sewn clothes that is - they are exciting. Modern insides of ready-to-wear is just plain boring. (Evidence of this obsession can be found here - here - here for example - and In the atelier & inside the clothes on Pinterest.) So imagine by delight when my sister told be that there's an exhibition on Landskrona museum with focus on the inside!

So I made a little trip to Landskrona. Had some rather boring lunch near the castle (no duck...) and then went to the exhibition. It was small, but good, with clothes from late 1700's to the 1970's. There were no signs telling me not to photograph, so I did (without flash. Don't worry.). The clothes were either behind glass or netting, making it rather difficult to see the details in the photos, but I'll try to explain.

This rather simple evening gown is from the 1970's and made by Märthaskolan. (Märthaskolan was a school and fashion house in Stockholm, Sweden between 1927 and 1975, named after princess Märtha and founded by countess Marg von Schwerin. The school educated seamstresses and tailors in high fashion for ladies, and the fashion house was one of few in Sweden sewing couture. They had a French department, sewing original French designs on license from for example Christian Dior, Chanel and Balenciaga.) The dress is underlined with - I presume - silk organza. It's a metal zipper, the seam allowances are wide and overcast by hand. The dress was also fully lined in something thin and white (as you can see in the photo below), with delicate laces along the edges. Very neat!

This is a vintage cocktail dress in pink-brown duchesse. The hem of the skirt is shaped with stiff underlining (some sort of non-woven, non-fusible paper-like thing). It's sewn to the hem, but hanging in straps from the waist to avoid stitches in the skirt. I've never seen anything like it - it seems rather uncomfortable with those straps? Wouldn't it give better support if the whole skirt was underlined with silk organza, and then the very heavy backing could be attached to that? The upper back is supported with what looked like cotton, and then dress shields under the arms to avoid sweat stains.

A very handsome coat for the gentleman from the 1930's. Look at the piping around the edges! I can't even imagine how to do that! The coat was a really heavy wool, and than lined with this lovely silk.

This is a rather simple, unlined coat from the mid-1930's. It's in wool, but you can see silk finishing the sleeves, and that the armscye is bound in silk as well.

The outside was a rather strict suit in dark purple from the 1910's. But on the inside, it's those lovely stripes! I would say that the clothes from early 1900's to 1930's had the most elaborated insides. And of course, there was a huge difference between clothes for the upper class and for the working class and farmers. The latter was a sad - but interesting - story, with patches upon patches to keep the clothes together.

At the same time, the insides were rather like each other through the decades. Rather wobbly straight seams, first sewn by hand and then my machine and almost exclusively hand overcast edges. It was only on some of the finest garments the sewing was straight and neat.

Speaking of exhibitions; before I picked up my new old sewing table I visited Bea Szenfeld's exhibition at Dunkers here in Helsingborg (again. I was at the opening night as well). She really is amazingly creative. I love the bathing suits that weighs several kilos and are too heavy to swim in and the clothes from the white collection (all in paper). Lady Gaga likes it as well.

(It's very popular to put clothes in exhibition behind black netting obviously. I wonder why? It's rather annoying. But sure, there's no reflexion like when you have them behind glass.) Bea held a lecture a couple of months ago as well, and it was fabulous. As usual. For instance, about creativity, she said that it's one big mess spinning around in the head and sometimes some of it comes out and becomes something. She also spoke lovely about craftsmanship - to be able to see the hands behind the work.

Spring is flying by

Ouch. Time flies. When I wrote the previous post I had a feeling that I would take a week or maybe two to re-group and get back on track. It's now been four and I don't know if I can say I am on that track.

However, it's not like I've been feeling bad - I've been feeling great! But all my thought, creativity and energy has been used for starting up a rather grand project at (my regular day-to-day) work. I'm simple not capable of being creative with dresses and fabrics after 10 hours at being creative with words and project management - and I do love the beginning of a new project!

But yesterday, I was back at some Stina P-activities, visiting Malmö vintage fair for the last time (you have found me there in 2012 (here and here), 2013 and 2014.) Last time because the organisers says it is their last - but maybe someone else takes over? I do hope so!

It took me about four minutes to decide on my first buy, a lovely vintage fabric. (Yeah, I really need more fabric since I've been sewing so much lately...)

A very pale green (sometimes a pale pink) shimmering satin weave acetate. It will make a lovely dress (of course).

The next trio took a bit more time. I tried it on, thought about it, was able to put it on hold for an hour, thought some more about it, called my sister ("you only regret what you don't buy"), thought for two minutes more and then bought the lot. A black silk faille 3/4-circle skirt that fits perfectly, a dark green and black 60's little number and an AMAZING French black silk faille dress with draping from the 50's and as close to couture that I have ever been.

Black always photographs so bad...

Lovely detail on the boat neck on the black-and-green one (and of course there are lingerie guards in the inside!).

And some details of the silk faille dress. The draping is interlined with silk organza, then the viscose lining and finally a firm cotton to hold the shape. The zipper is put in by hand, there are lovely gussets in the kimono sleeves and I actually don't think it's ever been worn. (Neither has the green one, part of the original tag was left.)

Elyane - Rue de la Paix, Paris. That is one fancy address! I can't find so much information, but it seems like they made lots of hats in the 1950's. And some very nice dresses.

So what else have I been up to these past weeks? Well, looking through my photos; eating a lot.

Chocolate for Easter. The pralines actually cost five times more than the hen...

Roasted sweet potatoes, fillet of pork and home made Bearnaise sauce. And cava. And season three of The Great British Sewing Bee. Neil is amazing - I hope he wins (I have two episodes left, so please, no spoilers!)

Enjoying spring, sun, being outdoors, some shrimp salad and the horizon that I love so much. Some days there is no question at all about why I live in this town... Also, trying to decide on the colour of my bedroom walls (I've only been trying since I moved in. In 2010...)

I think I've made my mind up - this lovely sea green shade actually goes very well with the more yellowish green of my screen.

I do hope that this is the beginning of getting back on my regular track. If not, please have patience with me!

Hardy Amies Coat - a piece of vintage heaven

Let's continue our journey in the archives of V&A with this fabulous red coat in full New Look style. It was designed by Hardy Amies in 1947-1948.

I wanted to see some real New Look items, and it didn't occur to me until the coat was there in front of me how much it resembles the coat I had just finished... Well, great minds think alike. In this case, me and Hardy Amies. He was a very handsome man, starting out at Lachasse in London in the 1930s and then, after the war, opening his own couture salon on 14 Saville Row, the of  home of bespoke tailoring. And that's what he did for both men and women - and Queen Elisabeth II. You'll still find them (Amies, not the Queen) there; it's the only couture salon in London surviving from the post-war era, continuing dressmaking as well as men and women's tailoring for private clients.

The coat is made of an amazing crimson red wollen cloth, with a huge shawl collar (there must be something fluffy in it to keep the shape. Tulle?), a slim waist and a huge amount of fabric in the skirt (I would estimate about 4 or 5 metres at the hem). I actually think I could wear it; it's not at all as tiny as the suit. It's double breasted with shiny round silver buttons, and hand sewn button holes that actually didn't impress me at all. They were rather messy - I've made better myself (that's strange to say...).

To help with the volume, the entire skirt is interlined with hair canvas. Since the lining wasn't attached to the hem, I was able to see it from the inside - and it looked like a big puzzle. Obviously, they used all little pieces of hair canvas they could find... The wide hem - about 5 cm - is catch stitched to the hair canvas. The lining is a red silk crêpe with Hardy Amies woven into the fabric - very elegant. As I suspected, there was a lot of small hooks and eyes to keep everything in place, and also a waist stay to help support the skirt. What I found rather surprising is that the last button hole, in the waist seam, wasn't a button hole at all but just an opening in the seam. That's something I would consider, and then think, nah, it's cheating. Obviously not.

There's no need to say I would love to wear it - I mean, I made one for myself!

All in all, there will be seven parts about me in vintage heaven (also knows as the archives of the V&A at the Clothworkers' Centre).
Part one: Charles Creed Suit

Sources: apart from the shown links, The Golden Age of Couture (V&A 2007)

Charles Creed Suit - a piece of vintage heaven

As I said, when I was in London I had the magnificent opportunity to be centimetres away from fabulous 1950's couture. As I also said, it's quite painful not being able to show you my photos. But I can at least share my thoughts and direct you to the V&A online collection! First off is a suit, made by Charles Creed in 1954.

I selected this suit because I really wanted to see some nice 1950's tailoring and a classic suit for ladies who luncheon. And this really was the perfect example! It's a very strict yet very feminine suit in dark blue fine wool. I would wear it in a heartbeat if I had the chance, but since it's A in a museum and I wasn't even allowed to touch it and B it's made for someone a lot smaller than me, that's not gonna happen. Yes, the suit is tiny. I estimated the waist on the skirt to about 60 cm.

Charles Creed was born into the world of fashion, the tailoring house of Henry Creed & Company in Paris (although the family was British) with roots going back to the 1700s and having both the French and British courts as clients. Creed was educated in Paris and Vienna, but when Paris was taken by the Germans in 1940 he went to London and started working for Fortnum & Mason, before opening his own label in 1946. After closing his couture salon in 1966, he donated some garments to the V&A, among them this suit. Creed was a specialist in tailoring, and was influenced by military uniforms.

And now on to details about the suit for us sewing and vintage nerds: The jacket is fitted, has a small collar, a single row of buttons (and hand sewn button holes) and wonderfully accentuated hips - both from the cut and from the pocket flaps. The jacket is lined with dark blue silk - crêpe de chine according to V&A - while the skirt is unlined. The shoulders are very rounded (so much more Christian Dior New Look than wartime square shoulders!) and the sleeves are cut in one with the bodice. The bodice has a front piece and a side piece with two darts, ending in the pocket. There's a centre back seam and back side piece; without darts but tapered from the waist. I couldn't see what happened between the wool and silk, but there must be some hair canvas giving the hips the perfect shape.

The skirt is a simple pencil skirt with seams centre front and back and at the sides. Each piece has a dart. There's a white petersham waist band and some hooks, eyes and snap fasteners under a placket - no zipper. All the seams are hand over-cast and the darts are opened and hand-overcast (which is really interesting since the wool really isn't fraying. At all).

One of the most elegant details in the suit is rather hard to see from the photos, but very evident in person. A thin black braid is inserted in the skirt's side seams and the arm seam (that's on the outside of the arm) from the collar to the cuff. (Note that it's inserted in the seams, not sewn on afterwards! Oh the work to do this!) The braid is most noticeable on the pocket flaps - very neat.

Sources: apart from the shown links, The Golden Age of Couture (V&A 2007)