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May 5, 2023
What most entrepreneurs do is keep about 4 or 5 balls in the air, and that way when one comes down you handle it and it supports you for a while, then another comes down, and supports you for a while, and so forth.
Every once in a while, the world goes completely wacky and all the balls come down at once - there are classes - back to back, a lovely long-time client has an emergency, and then a car runs into the front glass window of one of the stores in the shopping center. The insurance paper work is amazing on these things, and my dear sweet client with the "little" problem is like this gorgeous piece of vintage Oscar! Not only can I not turn her down, but it's a pleasure
to work on well-made clothing.
Alas, time comes to a premium and as I sit here about 2 am Thursday night still working through insurance documents and the beautiful garment, I'm doing a re-run of one of my more popular and helpful posts. Back to life as normal when all the balls are back in the air and not being tossed at me!!!
From: December 10, 2021
Why do top coaches look forward to the hard games more than anything. They say they love the competition, but as a fan (a life-long fan that has undergone a lot of heartache with a lot of joy), I feel that my team needs to supply the older fans with heart pills and O2 tanks to get us through game day cause there's a lot of heart-stopping moments. For the young kids, it's a blast. For me, I need my heart pills!!!!
But I think I understand more about that, cause I love those clients who have really hard figure problems to solve and particularly in looking fitted and well-dressed.
I LIVE for these contracts. Why? Because it allows me to really show my stuff. So like the coaches who LIVE for those really difficult games, I live for those clients who can't or don't find clothes very often that flatter their figures and make them feel special.
The very first thing I do is sit and have a conversation with them. We discuss the problem areas, and I address them up front. But there's a way to do this that's delicate, understanding and yet frank and talk about ways to solve these figure problems.
Take Away #1
We all know our figure problems, and living in a la-la world of thinking we're going to look like a waif-thin runway model when we have 4 plus decades under our belt is not the best way to start flattering our figures. Knowing your figure shape (Apple, Pear, Rectangle or Hourglass) and your size (from 2 to 42), is the first step toward a great look for your garment.
When I take measurements of my clients, two final questions are, 1.) what's the favorite part of your body, and 2.) what's the least favorite part of your body. Notice here that I has for most and least favorite. This is not about body-shaming. It's about discovering what my clients wants hidden and what she wants accentuated. Sometimes that's as simple as their bright eyes, or the smile on their face. Sometimes it's as fun as their silhouette and their long legs. It always amazes me though what some clients consider the worst part of their figure, but it's key for me to know that. Most of the time, my clients come to me cause
they've been recommended to me by past clients, so most of the time I don't know them personally nor their likes or dislikes, and often I've never heard of them before, so I need to know some details about their likes and dislikes.
This also includes their lifestyle. If they come to me for a formal gown, what's the occasion, when is it and how formal or casual is the event. But I also want to know their lifestyle. If their style is such that they attend formal events often, then I can make their gown something that is in separates, so they can move it around with tops or bottoms in their closet to make more use of the garment during their life. If their lifestyle is less formal, I
can design something that is long now, but can be cut off and used again and again. The point is that I want to design a gown that can be used again, not a one-off gown.
Additionally getting in touch with them on a personal level such as "What is the most and least favorite part of your body?" is a personal question that asks my clients to participate in the design process so that I can better understand my clients.
Take Away #2
Decision-making about your garment design is more than simply saying - I like this color, I don't like that pattern. It's about how the garment is going to be used, how you can make your design more useful in your closet - making for the special event, but also making it so you might make minor alterations to it and wear it again - wear it as a top or a dress in the future.
By this time, I have a pretty good idea about what the garment is going to look like and how to solve a lot of my clients' figure problems. The next step is for me to translate that into some sort of communicative form so that my client understands what I see so that they can see if they like or not. This involves the sketching and as I've mentioned in the past, this solves all sorts of design issues that might not ever come up otherwise until I'm drafting the
pattern pieces. The sketch is a preliminary muslin. So the same way a muslin is a cheat sheet for the actual garment, a sketch is a cheat sheet for the muslin, and you can draw out and solve a lot of design issues, where the muslin will work out the fitting and flattering issues.
Take Away #3
A sketch is more than a drawing - it solves many of the design issues that you might not otherwise see till you're knee-deep into your design and in a mess that is not easily recoverable.
Here's my sketch for my client. This allowed me to particularly work out the placement of her medallion that she would wear that night, and the lace around her neck.
But here's another benefit of sketching for this. This client sews. She's taken a few classes from me, but this is the first time she's had anything that fit that was professionally designed for her shape to flatter her figure. So I asked if she wanted a copy of the pattern. Her eyes went very wide, cause she knows how to sew, but she doesn't know how to fit herself, and here's where the fitting is already done. As a
suggestion I drew up an idea for what she could use this pattern for and I could see the remarkable ideas churning in her head!!!
Designing and fitting this client in a flattering comfortable way was the real challenge here. I had one issue in this area after the muslin and that was because this was a ponte knit, it did show some ripples and wrinkles in her dress, which had to be addressed. This called for an inner "garment" that was stabilized with boning. Boning is not only for supporting a strapless gown, but it is the best solution for rippling in the world. So I made an inner
corset out of the fashion fabric with the boning attached to the seams and a waistband to keep the inner garment in place. This allowed for that smooth look on the outside AND a comfortable stretch so that when she sat, it looked and felt fabulous.
Here she is all decked out at the event and looking totally smashing. I knew she had a great time when she texted me at 11:56 that Saturday night saying she LOVED the dress.
 
The final challenge on this gown was the medallion and using a beautiful Petersham ribbon, I was able to curve the medallion ribbon enough so that it was a flattering placement on the gown.
Had this lady been left to only what's available in stores, she most likely would have ended up with some too-large top and some skirt that would have disappeared into nothing. Even though this gown is a strong statement on her, she will wear it again and again. She has a very strong but positive personality and serves her community in a number of leadership positions, so this gown will never over-power her. It meets and compliments her strong nature and personality.
The techniques I used on this gown to make it were very similar to what every sewists uses to make most projects. Amazingly enough these techniques don't change that much. As Yves St. Laurent used to say it's all in the cut of the garment, the line and the design. And it is.
Take Away #4
Learning the basic techniques of how to assemble a project work for almost any garment. Yes, there are some expert techniques, but even those, once learned don't change from one size to another. What's key is to know those techniques and be at least enough familiar with them to know they exist so that when you need them you can use them.
Here's a perfect example of this in this little video!
Everyone deserves to look beautiful, no matter what size, shape or style she is. Working with clients like this who normally don't find clothing that's flattering or fitted in RTW, is such a treat as it makes for a beautiful evening for them, hopefully one of the most special of her life, as it should be.
I love working with these clients as they do pose a challenge, but also an invitation for me to show my skill and a designer for no matter what size or shape. Some of my most favorite designs have been for a dwarf bridesmaid, a scoliosis debutante, a Fen-Phen, dieting deb who gained 30 pounds before her presentation, an anorexic deb who was under the care of a professional therapist, a double mastectomy mother of the groom, and this wonderful recipient of a civic award. They
all gave me the change to show my stuff!
Final Take Away
Everyone can look beautiful. I know this cause I've dressed some of the most difficult figures out there. Not only can they look beautiful, but they can also be comfortable. Don't forget that when you're designing and sewing for yourself.
As a sewists, you have way more choices and certainly more options available to you that can be had by most of the population who must rely on the buyers' selections, the retailers' editing and the designers' whims. Take those choice and make something splendid for yourself!
Take the challenge and see what beautiful work you can do. And if you have questions along the way - well, that's what I'm here for! There's always a solution out there and there is never a figure that I can't tackle or make flattering.
The SewingArtistry Resource Library is designed to contain information to not only make your sewing better, but to aid you in fit and flattery of your shape, size and style. Check it out.
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