Experimental Dress Making part 3

Sewing without a pattern.

Chitose Abe, the Japanese designer responsible for the brand Sacai, is renowned for her unconventional combinations, reworking traditional notions of what a garment should be through intriguing reconfigurations.  The Spring 2015 collection included numerous skirts all of which combined layering, shaped inserts and contrasts in colour and fabric.

With that in mind I took three different fabrics all in royal blue and combined them together to make a wrap skirt.  
 
The pattern was marked directly onto the cotton voile lining using chalk, three large curved rectangles in the shape of a smile.  These pieces were then used to cut the outer panels; enzyme washed linen for the back, waist band and ties with silk voile for the fronts.

Once again the stand was invaluable in working out the configuration of the waistband and the tie lengths.  Heavy top stitching was used to define the seams and waist.

So it's not a Sacai show moment but I love it all the same.  The skirt is shown here with THE LONG SKINNY for which the sewing pattern is available through my Etsy shop.  All the fabrics used came from Tessuti in Melbourne.

The shape has become something of an obsession since watching the 1955 Agnes Varda film La Pointe Courte.  Wearing a long flared skirt a young wife walks about the fishing village of her husbands youth contemplating her dying marriage.  The serene femininity of the garment as she moves seductively about belies the underlying turmoil.  Exquisite costume detail throughout and well worth watching.  

Experimental Dress Making part 2

Sewing without a pattern.

A second remnant only 108cm wide featured graduated elastic panels.  I'm guessing It's been designed for making tube skirts with centimeter wide stripes woven into the fabric to mark out the length.

With right sides together I formed a long tube the full length of the fabric piece.

Using the stand I worked out the armhole depth in relation to the overall length and...gulp, cut two identical openings down into the fabric.   These were then bound with bias binding and threaded with elastic.

The shoulder/ neck was then finished with french seams, hems were double folded and top stitched.
 

Mary Jane c/o Prada

Experimental Dress Making part 1

Sewing without a pattern.

Inspiration c/o Celine Spring 2016 rounded sloping shoulder, full cropped sleeves, wide elasticized waists...relaxed modern shapes you just want to wear immediately.

For this project another little treasure uncovered during a house move, a black floral jacquard with 18cm wide elasticized panels placed 68cm apart.

 

The fabric was folded in half width-wise and with the selvedges and elastic panels aligned, stitched together from the top of the elastic to the ends.  The side seams were left open above the elastic and cuffs created through a series of wide inverted pleats held in place with some ditch stitching.  Working out the shape of the neck and then cutting a hole along the fold was mildly panic inducing but it's ok.  I added some ties in grosgrain ribbon and the waist was reduced further by adding wide side pleats.

The end result is more Molly Goddard girly than Celine sophistication but I like it anyway; makes you want to pull on some gum boots, swing your arms and jump in puddles.  Susie Bubble on Molly Goddard

The Back

Backs by Bottega Veneta

An ever expanding collection of inspirational backs...