I Need Your Help

November 1, 2024

Happy All Saints Day.  I went to All Saints School, so this became a huge day for us at school, and I got very used to hearing this wonderful hymn.  

So back to sewing...

The biggest quandary for a teacher is engaging the student as fast as possible.  Once the curiosity sets in, it's a piece of cake for the teacher (and the student).  Without that curiosity, it's a difficult row to hoe.  

The teacher doesn't know what the student doesn't know and, therefore, is at a loss where to start.  A teacher's best perspective is their own experience:  what they learned first, what made the most impression, and the penultimate, what hooked the teacher best and fastest.

I think my "hook" moment was when I figured out that I could do anything - all I had to do was learn it.  I had spent a summer making six corduroy-tailored jackets with notch collars, and after that, I knew I could do anything.  This was probably the most empowering moment I can remember from my tutelage under my mentor.  My learning came so fast that I can remember little lessons, like pad-stitching and tying a knot in my thread, but the big moments passed right by me.  I always had questions to ask immediately after learning a big lesson - just boom... boom... boom and I was onto another lesson.  

The second pivotal moment was when the economy went to pot, and I had to go back to work to save  my home and what I had saved up and invested in.  I could go back to being an office manager which I was great at doing  Or...I could start my own design company. I knew this is what I really wanted to do.  Imagine working where every day was doing what you wanted to do.  I mean, how much fun would that be.  I didn't know if I would make it but I would give it my best effort because I loved sewing so much.  During that time I took a trip to Chicago with a friend to take a Kenneth King class who as everyone knows is a fabulous teacher.  As we headed back to the airport, my friend asked me if there was anything I learned, and I said, "Yes, I know a lot more than I thought I did!"  

There comes a time when you finally figure out you know a lot more about sewing than you think you do!  And that's what I'd like the library to offer.  Not every technique in the book about sewing, but enough for you to satisfy your wardrobe whims that you feel you can make up and look smashing in without having to be trapped by the RTW industry and all its minions!

And the sewing I had to compare with was what I bought. 

So here are two problems:

• What to teach first
• What to compare it to (store-bought clothing), which can be anything from sloppy, lasting one washing, to the costly couture work costing hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Then enters the fitting problems

• What's a good fit
• What do to compare a good fit
• What's the fashion now and what in that fashion makes for a good fit
• Is that fashion fit a good fit for me and my shape

Holy Cow - That's a lot of variables to consider when a teacher is trying to work up curriculum for students.  
 

If I were starting all over again and didn't know anything about sewing, but knew I wanted to learn, it might go something like this:

1. Emphasize that knowing how to make most types of garments (and, more importantly, the techniques used in making all those different types of clothing) is empowering, but simply knowing more may not serve your sewing needs.  
   1. So what do I mean by that?  The knowledge is empowering, and I can understand being infatuated with the techniques and even wanting to perfect them.  
      1. Confession:  I  don't like going to balls and formal events.  My Barbie went to the opening of an envelope, and that's why she needed so many formal clothes!  But I do love making them.  They are a blast for me.  Thank heavens, I have clients who like that sort of thing.  Otherwise, I would have ball gowns around here that I would never even consider wearing.   
   2. So it's essential to know these techniques exist, but you don't have to use them all the time to be an outstanding sewist.  You don't have to know all those techniques and perfect your skill in those techniques to provide your clothing needs.  The problem is that with age comes wisdom, and my life has changed considerably from that of a social butterfly to that of a diver and an adventurer.  So you can see there was a considerable wardrobe change there!  
   3. Just know that you don't have to learn everything to fulfill your sewing needs.  
   4. Know also that once you've learned a technique, if you haven't used it in a while (like a couple of decades), once you know it, all you need is a little practice time to get back into the swing of that technique.  Think of this as an artist:  they learn various methods, techniques, and ideas in school.  They may not use all of them immediately and may use some decades into the future, but they do not forget those lessons and ideas.  
2. Jump-starts are essential.  So many students today are bogged down with either mindless classes on doing this or that one technique but not learning that it's something they will rarely use, or worse, not knowing how to use the technique.
   1. For example, if you're devoting your time to learning high-performance tailoring techniques but hardly wearing suits or those types of clothing, is that time well spent?  Yeah, it might be nice for your pride in sewing to say you know these techniques, but if you mostly wear knits and flowing garments, those techniques might not serve you well.  Taking a look at your lifestyle and your needs from there can provide a lot more insight into what you need to know in sewing than learning a whole cadre of skills that won't be what you need to know for the sewing that serves you best.
3. I had a good, strong hand from my mentor, and she was a hard taskmaster.  She knew I would go into business from the onset even if I didn't realize it.  She made me remove a collar on a notched-lapel jacket and put it back in cut with a different nape.  I was skeptical about this, but she had me do it anyway.  Later, she told me that she never would have gone to that much trouble, but it was good for me to know how to do that in case I had to do it someday.  She knew I needed the exercise of a major un-sew and re-sew lesson.  That strong hand helped a lot - I wanted to skip around from a shirt to pants to jacket to shirt to coat, which probably contributed to my breadth of knowledge, which I appreciate her for today.  
   1. Unfortunately, I'm not as a stern taskmaster with my students as I try to keep this on the enjoyment, fun, and rewarding side.
   2. It's also important to realize that my students aren't going into the business of designing and sewing for clients.  When we are sewing for ourselves, we don't need to become a compendium of knowledge for every technique in the world.  We simply need to know those techniques that will serve us best.  

That still doesn't answer my question about what I should be teaching. I wanted to learn everything.  Most of my students are here for relaxation, expression of their creativity, and to fit and flatter their figures as best possible.  Of course, private lessons are excellent, and that's the idea behind the library—to house techniques and skills that would help students make clothes that work for them. 

I live a life of comfortable clothing that's flattering.  Those are my priorities.  That means I have to know about all sorts of stretch fabrics and the techniques used to work with stretch fabrics - overlock stitches, cover stitches, stretch stitches, anchoring/stay stitches, adding woven parts to knit garments, and all those sorts of things.  I also have to know which ones are the easiest to take out but offer the right amount of stretch because I think that way!  I'm always un-sewing!

But I like doing teeny-tiny spaghetti straps, and I like doing shoulder straps that face themselves and neckline in one piece for a gorgeous formal bodice.  I like doing full skirts that billow and sashay when you walk.  I like bustling up wedding gowns in new and unusual bustles that provide ease and comfort at the reception.  I like working with lace.  But none of that is into my lifestyle at all.  Thank heavens, I have brides!  If I didn't have brides and my company, I probably wouldn't be worried about what silk makes for a beautifully fitted/sculpted bodice and more about what knit would drape beautifully on my out-of-proportion hourglass figure.  

So, after thinking through my experience and knowing that not everyone wants to learn how to apply lace to a wedding gown, I'm left with the question: What do students want to learn?

This is what I come up with:

Beginning-jump/start garment.

• This would be similar to what Weight Watchers used to do:  their "Quick Start" program that drops about 5 lbs off you instantly.  This is so that you can see instant progress, which always gives you a boost to learn more.  A white shirt is an excellent example of this for several reasons:
  • Learning how to set in a sleeve
  • Learning how to set in a collar on a collar band
  • Learning how to do a placket on a sleeve (which this lesson can translate into using for a front placket)
  • Learning how to finish
    • Front button up center front w/buttonholes and button placement
    • cuff finishing
    • hem finishing
  • Learning how to fit the shoulders to create an excellent drape from the shoulders and why it's so vital for a well-fitting garment
  • There's always a need for an FBA in a woven top and how to create that, why, how much, and the demonstrate what that simple alteration does.

This type of garment would cover a lot of sewing techniques that are considered hard but aren't that time-consuming to learn.  It also becomes a pattern that has many uses: dress, shell, tunic, top, shirt and almost anything except a jacket and a coat.  So the end garment is useful - white blouse, but also the techniques in the class are  useful.  

Sewing with Knit/Stretch Fabrics  

• Different types of  knit
  • Jacket or structured top - with stable knits
  • Softer top - with jersey knits
  • Activewear top  - with Spandex, Lycra or Elastane
• Standard techniques on Knit fabrics
  • Needle types
  • threads
  • stretch stitches vs non-stretch and when to use and where on the garment
  • Cutting rolled-edged fabrics
  • Measurements
  • Ease allowances (yes, knits have to have ease)

Bottom Garments

• Skirts are a piece of cake
• Pants are probably the most valuable thing the student can walk out of the class with.  
  • NOTE:  Because of the drape and fashion of pants today, I've stopped teaching the woven pants class.  More on that in a couple of weeks, as I've found a wonderful student through which I can share the dilemma in the pants fitting process - only there's more than one dilemma in this process!  
     

That's a lot of information, and as a teacher, I wouldn't unload all that at once on a student. But there's enough there to give a jump start. 

As I prepare to redo the library online, these are some of the ideas that come to mind.  I would like to know if these are suitable or even plausible so that you all can have a say in what's in the library.  If something appears too simple - speak up.  If it looks too complicated, LMK.  

• The White Shirt - with a woven core top pattern
• The Knit Top - with a knit core top pattern
• The Ponte Jacket - with bespoke tailoring techniques.
• The Ponte Pant - with a pattern for using again.

Other classes, like the French Quilted Jacket, which is way more complicated,  might have to be later.  When I do that in person, it's usually six classes of three months divided like this.

There are other shorter classes as well

• Then infallible buttonhole.  Techniques to use on a zig-zag, reverse/forward sewing machine that doesn't have a fancy buttonholer
• Setting in a sleeve - for velvet, leather, knit, and any other sort of problems - you tell me - what other problems do you have in setting in a sleeve
• Off-setting seams - make for an ever-so-gentle curve in the area of the off-setting.  What is this?  Why does it work?
• Pressing - the solution to so many problems and why
• Time - where to find the time to sew
• Space - there is a right and wrong way to arrange your sewing space.
• Figuring out your style and needs

And here's something else - rate me on these and tell me which ones you liked or didn't like:
□  Theory - like Elements and Principles of Design

□  Color Theory - projection, hue, value, saturation

□  Sewing Directions-why sewing from large to small works

□  Fabric Grains - widthwise and lengthwise

□  4 Main Figure Shapes - Definitions & Flattering them

□  Drafting from Scratch - that's from a point on paper - including sleeves heads to insert in sleeveless garments

□  Draping 101 - why they teach draping in design school

□  Pattern Drafting - the easy way (not the way above)

□  combining patterns - matching points

□  What's your problem, question, or puzzle to solve?

So many of you have been generous with what you're working on, the brick walls (stops), and the yellow brick roads (goes).  Tap into those and let me know what would be worth having in a sewing library.  

The SewingArtistry Resource Library is designed to contain information to not only make your sewing better, but to aid in you fitting and flattering your shape, size and style.  Check it out. 

Look for future classes coming in 2024
The Core Pattern Shirt, (one of my favorites for woven core pattern that you can make into a myriad of different garments), 
Basic Knit Top (core pattern class for knit basic tops, shells, tees, dresses, and tunics)
 

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