CoudreMODE » sewing couture

Vogue 1073 – Chado Ralph Rucci, Parsing the Pattern Pieces

coudremode — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 04:17:07 +0000

Here is a photo of the center front piece pinned to my dressform; as you can see, the darts wrap around the body and they are hidden in the tucks.

Last night I cut out my pattern and began to study it in more detail, but first let me share with you some interesting information I received today about how this dress is constructed. Gail (who is certainly in a position to know) has confirmed that the construction method I’m investigating for the pin tucks is correct. She also offers more insights into the tucks that I’ll excerpt for you:

“…. I thought I’d offer some comments to let you know that you are on the right track. I have not seen the commercial pattern that you are working with, but I can tell you how the samples are made in the (Rucci) workroom. The pattern allows 3/16? for a 1/8? pin tuck. You are constructing the pin tucks correctly, and you are right, there is no stabilizer or cording in the pin tuck. The knit that was used for this dress is not jersey, it is actually interlock, which is a different knit construction. If you are a knitter, you will recognize jersey as having a flat side and a bumpy side, like stockinette stitch. Interlock is a double knit construction, it makes a beefier, more stable cloth, it is flat on both sides…. “

Needless to say I panicked and immediately inspected my sample to determine the type of fabric I have, and this wool knit is indeed interlock, albeit one that is very lightweight, but it does have the stability that Gail references. Whew.

So now we know that Vogue’s fabric recommendation is wrong: you need wool interlock, not wool jersey. It also must be 60 inches wide because the front needs to cut single layer (and I suspect this is also why Vogue does not offer this pattern graded higher than Size 16.)

Now that I know the exact fabric this design requires, I need to hit Jo-Ann’s to find an inexpensive interlock to use for muslins, which brings me to my pattern observations.

After giving it some thought, I cut off the seam allowances because I’ve decided to thread trace the pattern seam allowances onto blocks of fabric in a single layer layout. Why? Because that’s how it’s done in haute couture, and also because basting the pin tucks by hand onto flat laid fabric will require a single layer layout anyway. The seam allowances also just made it too difficult see the finished lines of this dress

A quick observation on petite and FBA adjustments in general:

I’ve decided to go down one size to a 12 for the 1^stmuslin. Vogue slopers have linebacker shoulders, and I have narrow shoulders.
This dress really hangs from the shoulders and bust. Fortunately, the shoulders and sleeves are simple, there is no set in sleeve, just a kimono-like shoulder with a single seam that runs runs down the top of the arm from the side neck to the wrist. Ease is supplied by the knit fabric and under arm gussets. To determine your own size match the pattern as closely to your bust size as possible because the skirt portion is a very simple A-Line shape that skims the body and will be easy to alter; the fit through the bust however is crucial.

Next post I’ll pin the upper bodice front and back to my dressform so you can see how those pattern pieces relate to the body.

Thank you Gail! To say I was a little verklempt when I read her comment is putting it midly. You can read all of Gail’s comment here (scroll to comment 16.)

Next post: How I’ll tackle the muslin and more photos of the pattern pieces.

Vogue 1073 – Chado Ralph Rucci pintuck samples

coudremode — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 00:47:29 +0000

Today I spent the afternoon with Ann at the Gorgeous Fabrics Studio; we had wonderful time together. Ann worked on a muslin for Burda 3477 (a pattern with a really great draft BTW that is obvious even in a flat pattern stage) that I helped her fit, and she helped me figure out how to make the pintucks for my Ralph Rucci dress.

Mentally I’ve been going back and forth between two techniques to figure out how Rucci does these. The obvious choice is a pintuck foot, and another idea would be pintucks basted from the right side and stitched with a walking foot. I made a sample for each technique, and one came out a clear winner over the other. Both samples were marked on the right side with a water soluble marker in a zip-zag shape much tighter than the tucks on the Rucci pattern.

Pintuck Foot Tucks

This sample started off well, however as soon as I started to turn my wool jersey into the curves disaster struck: the fabric got sucked into the feed dogs, which ripped a hole in the jersey.

What a mess

Nice

This idea was clearly problematic and while it occured to me that I might be able to avoid this problem with a light stabilizer; I had to ask myself, “What would Rucci do?”. Based on what I know about his construction methods, I have a hard time believing he would use something as mundane as a pintuck foot and stabilizer, so this idea was scrapped.

Hand Basted and Sewn with a Walking Foot

This method, along with a consult with Ann, gave me the result I was looking for. Here the tucks are hand basted from the right side, and then carefully sewn with a walking foot.

Laid Flat and Hand Basted From the Right Side, Not Yet Stitched

Not bad, but not quite the right effect. As I looked at it on Ann’s ironing board I noticed her new gravity feed iron quietly heating up next to me. Eureka! Steam shrink it!

I removed the basting and steam shrunk to remove the ripples. Ann agreed this must be what Rucci does and she added a final steam blast on her ham to set the ridge of the tuck. I think we got it!

Stitched, Basting Removed and Steam Shrunk - the Winnah!

Stream shrinking is used quite a bit in bespoke and haute couture , and the fact that the pattern envelope recommends wool jersey offers an additional clue that steam shrinking is part of making the tucks; this process can only be done with wool fabrics or silk/wool blends. One last clue in the pattern itself covinced me that this is what Rucci does; the shaping bust darts are hidden in the edges of the bust pintucks, and I believe it would be impossible to sew those shaping darts if the tuck was stitched with a pintuck foot.

A last consideration was whether or not the tucks are corded, and I don’t think they are; the original runway version of this dress is really drapey, and corded tucks would add quite a bit of weight. I also don’t think Vogue Patterns version uses cord, rather that fabric just happens to be a much heavier wool knit than the one used by Rucci (and I think my fabric actually comes pretty close to the weight he used in the runway version.)

So – I need to practice this technique a bit more, and then proceed to the question of whether this pattern can be adjusted via a vis an FBA and/or for a petite - I think it can, but not in the usual way we might think.

Stay tuned!

Armani Prive – A Better Bubble Skirt

coudremode — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 18:00:33 +0000

I’m sure like most of you; I’m not a huge fan of bubble skirts for a host of obvious reasons. But the spring 2008 Armani Prive collection has several that are a tad different from what we usually see, and I think they are also much more flattering. Here are my faves:

One thing interesting about this skirt on all three designs is the separate hem band along the bottom, and of course I had to see if I could replicate it! The first step was to find some detail photos, and these two of the pinstripe design were really helpful:

Notice the side seam, and also the pinstripes tell us that this skirt is bias cut. So we know for this style there are two side seams on both the skirt and the hem band. I drafted a quick pattern for my daughters 18 inch doll dress form:

Nothing fancy, just a basic A-line shape. I drafted the skirt on the straight grain, although most in the Armani collection appear to be on the bias. There are also a few tulip skirt shapes here and there. The hem bands appear to have fashion fabric facings on the tailored designs, and I’m beginning to think there are also fashion fabric hem band facings on the dress silks.

Oh and I think Mary 9821 is perfect for the jacket on the tweed suit – all you need to do is change the center front closure to the Armani curved lapped front, lower the neckline, add the petal edges at the bottom of the princess seams, flair the sleeves at the wrist, and build out those classic YSL-style shoulders.

This Armani collection is inspiring and very beautiful, so definitely check it out on Style.com and also see the video on The Thoughtful Dresser. It’s an utterly wearable collection that any of us could see in our wardrobes (well, maybe without the funky embellishment!)