Thursday, January 16, 2014

Madeleine Vionnet




When I was considering innovation in fashion, I thought of how fast the industry adopts new technology today. I work with knitting factories on a daily basis, am constantly learning new techniques and new ways to put a sweater together. One of the reasons that I love what I do is that I get to see the evolution, one idea building off of another to create something unexpected, familiar but different.

Madeleine Vionnet was one of the great innovators of the 20th century for this very reason. She took inspiration from ancient Greek and medieval sources, but used a new technique of draping to achieve a more sophisticated but similar effect. I have always wanted to try to recreate one of her garments (if you have ever seen one of her patterns, you know why!), and thought this might be a great time to test my ability. Luckily, a friend of mine let me borrow his copy of the Vionnet book by Betty Kirke, which is a massive volume abundant with great background information and some meticulously recreated patterns from extant garments.

The most interesting thing I learned from reading it was that her technique of draping was made possible by textile innovation. Before WWI, most fabric was yarn dyed, which made the yarn lose some of it's twist in the process. With the development of larger dye vats after the war, it was possible to piece dye fabric after it had been woven - resulting in tighter twists. This led to the invention of fabrics better elasticity and suppleness, such as crepe, which has alternating S and Z twist yarn that balances warp and weft- thus creating a better bias.

Anyway, this book is full of illustrated patterns to show how each garment was constructed. I could make this book my only sewing to-do list for the next few years if I was crazy enough! The only issue is... there is absolutely no guide for measurement. So I'll be slowly working on trying to scale up this pattern to fit me. Wish me luck!





Monday, January 13, 2014

Making do and Mending

This morning I was finally able to replace the covered button on my dress! Unfortunately, I couldn't get it done professionally as the woman who usually makes them wasn't in, but I was able to get a DIY covered button kit. The dress is fixed and wearable! My first project of the year is complete, and I'm so, so excited to start planning the next one. 



The top button is a new addition!

I love how the back looks a bit Medieval


The Challenge: Make Do & Mend

Fabric: Velvet

Pattern: Vintage garment 

Year: c. 1937

Notions: Thread, covered button 

How historically accurate is it? Passable.

Hours to complete: 1

First worn: Tonight, for photos! 

Total cost: about $3


I love the long line and the cut of this dress, so when I saw it my first instinct was that it dated from the 1930s. When I tried it on, I was super surprised to see shoulder pads inside! I had always associated shoulder pads with 1940's fashion. So I did a little research and found that Elsa Schiaparelli was one of the first designers to make shoulder pads popular... in 1931! A little more digging showed that styles similar to this dress, with the front panel, gathers under the bust, and ruched sleeves were popular in 1937. 




September 1937 via Vintage Stitches
                
McCalls July 1937 via Vixen Vintage




Sunday, January 12, 2014

Vintage Finds



Last month, I found myself in this cute vintage shop called Seven Wonders while waiting for a friend. I wasn't quite finished with Christmas shopping, so I knew I shouldn't buy anything for myself, but then I spotted this dress...


Everything else in the store was 70's - 90's vintage, but this dress looked like it was from the 1930's. I asked the owner about it and she gave me a deal I couldn't refuse. I brought it home with me to start my collection of (now numbering 2) 30's dresses. Unfortunately, the dress has quite a bit of damage and is missing the top covered button, but the details and construction are just wonderful. 

I've been following the The Dreamstress blog for a while now, and this year my resolution was to join in on her Historical Sew Fortnightly. It's a great sew-along where you complete a themed historical sewing challenge every two weeks. The first one of the year is "Make Do and Mend", and I thought my new dress might be the perfect candidate for the challenge. 

Now, I know it might be a little controversial to mend or sew a dress that is this old, and I normally wouldn't. I have a few 20's dresses in my collection that I would never mess with even if they have rips and stains. But in this case I think I can mend it well enough (and discretely enough) to make it wearable without losing integrity as a lovely piece of costume history. I am going to reinforce some of the seams that have ripped open and see if I can find a little extra seam allowance on the inside to cut off and make into a new covered button. 

Tomorrow I'm going to run over to Steinloff and Stoller in Manhattan to see if they can make me a similar button. I'll share the results as soon as I can!