Fit, or Lack of It

I've been following the Fall 2009 RTW shows, and in general I haven't been too thrilled by much of what I've seen. There are a few things I like, but nothing overwhelming. I was looking at a trend report this morning on how the one-shoulder trend seems to be growing, and I saw this close-up of a Calvin Klein look. I was kind of surprised by the big fold in the front where the piece doesn't fit the model at all. It doesn't really look like it is some great design element either, just a poor fit fold. It may have fallen down from where it's supposed to sit on the strapless side, but that's still poor fit.


I don't know that the full length photo makes it much better.


I've always felt like Calvin Klein depended on having very flat-chested, boyish-figured models as there's not much shaping in evidence, and the people you see successfully wearing the designs generally seem to be that body type.

I did like the L'Wren Scott show. Nice, wearable things; mainly dresses, and mainly with sleeves, which seemed very fresh and very ladylike, especially after the years of sleeveless things shown for winter. Here are a few of her dresses.


Dresses are looking very good to me all of a sudden.

I did one of 3 mini-seminars at the local Sewing Guild meeting on Monday. I showed how to do a hand-rolled hem, (the other seminars were on Hand-Picked Zippers and Tailors Invisible Hems) and I provided little chiffon rectangles prepared with machine stitching on the edges so everyone could try it out. They brought their own needle and thread and shears. It turned out to be fun, and I had decided that instead of doing a swatch with the group, I might as well do an actual scarf, and I am still working on finishing it. It's close to half done, and is a pale gray lengthwise-crinkled chiffon with a tiny dot floral print. The lengthwise edges are harder to roll than the ones that go across the grain/crinkles, which surprised me. Not a big problem, but it just takes more determination. It's nice handwork when I'm just sitting around. I suggested to the group that scarves done this way are a great gift idea.

I gave up on the sweater vest. It's the first thing I've just pitched for a very long time. It was too short, and to make it longer in the way it needed to be longer, I would have had to rip most of it back. I think it should have been done in a much drapier yarn, and so it would have only been marginally good had it been longer. I decided to cut my losses and just give it to the Salvation Army. It will work for someone, just not me. I also think if you're planning to make this, and it is a very nice pattern, you should leave the bobbles off on the back. It just looks kind of silly having all those bumps in the back. I had even found something that looked good under it. A fine-gauge men's polo sweater in cream with a CF zipper about 10" long. Maybe I'll find something else I like over it.

I've also been working on a semi-muslin of a Marfy pattern from last spring. It's been an interesting challenge to do a FBA on it. I didn't do a flat-pattern version, but made a muslin and slashed and spread it. One thing that happened was that the underbust seam is lower on my version, which I think I like a lot, as empire lines give me the shelf effect a lot of the time. I need to figure out what to use for the ribbon/tie next. For the blouse itself I'm using a very thin, printed voile and it looks and feels so summery. I think I'm tired of winter. It's going to be 60F today, but then it's supposed to snow again tonight.