Onto another project

 I haven't really been neglecting posting here on purpose, honestly!
I have been very busy finishing up the one project while getting onto the next one at the same time. It wasn't supposed to work like that, but it did and it was a bit crazy at the studio.

I have 9 suits and 5 tail suits to make and I had to get all the patterns made and everything cut into fabric and basted up for fittings in Toronto on Monday of this week.

So, I had Denise, Lela, Emma working on the first project and had to bring in Jennie to meet the deadline, with Silvia putting suit jackets together for the second project. As the first project wound down, the others joined in, and we got everything ready to fitting stage by Friday afternoon.

It is always a bit nerve wracking going into fabric based on measurements that you didn't take, and that can be over 10 years old! Really. It sometimes happens that a dancer is measured when they join the company as an apprentice, then as they mature, adjustments are made on the fly, but the measurement sheets aren't updated. I know it sounds like an easy thing to do, but it is often crazy busy, and well, it happens.







So sometimes I luck out like I did in my first fitting here, where the dancer was pretty close to the numbers on the sheet, just a bit bigger in the hips. I just have to take in a bit in the upper body above the waist and move the shoulder line in marginally. I have to tweak the trousers a bit for size as well.
Everyone of these guys noted how long the jackets are, which they are not for 1920, but in comparison to today's fashions they are.
I have to say that it is a pleasure to fit dancers- they have incredible posture and pretty ideal shapes overall. They usually have built up their trapezius muscles and lats, full seats and substantial quads, but even amongst those similarities there are still differences.
For instance I have a two dancers, both 6'2" one with a 35" chest and 27 1/2" waist and 37" hip,  the other is a full 42 chest with a 34" waist and 44 hips.
It makes for interesting and challenging pattern making.


Now that I am home from doing my fittings, I have to regroup, look at the measurements I took and go forward from here, taking things apart and remarking and getting all the linings cut.

 I plan to have Silvia, Denise and Emma back to sew next week so there is a lot to do in the next few days to get ready for them to return.

For tonight though, Happy Hallowe'en!

 Friday.
 The contract is done and shipped.

 I feel exhausted. Could be the wine.

 Could be the weather- we suffered through the cold before the  boiler turned on in the building and as soon as it did the   weather warmed up. Now we are too hot. Running the a/c in October!

What is it about small versions of things- they are too cute! This was the smallest size waistcoat. I hope they send me some photos of whoever they cast to wear it!
















I think I will take the week-end off since I can hardly stand to make another pattern right now. I think I have made patterns for 8 suits and cut them out in the past week and a half while supervising the finishing of the project that just shipped.
One more week to prep for 11 or 12 fittings on the 29th and 30th.
I am not going to think about it now.
I'll try to get back to some kind of regular posting soon.

My busy week

I have had a very busy week. I am going to try to take as much time off as I can this week-end but I know I should get into the studio tomorrow to keep the ball rolling. I got back from Boston last Sunday night, went in Monday morning and started in on my week.

Boys tailsuits:

I have to finish altering my patterns for these tailsuits, so I can cut them out and get them going.

I was very happy with how they turned out. 

I basically made four sizes based on heights that I was given. 

All the body length measurements were spot on for the sizing, it is just that I made everything a bit big through the chest and waist for these guys. Well, better a bit big than too small I say.

It is so much easier to pin excess in than rip things apart to let out or worse, to guess how much more you may need. This is important because often the fittings are very short, I think I didn't have anyone longer than 25 minutes. It felt a bit crazy, but that is what we are up against sometimes.

I cut all the trousers on Monday and Tuesday and Denise has most of them together already, I have Lela on board cutting shirt dickies, then she and Denise will switch to making coats next week while I then cut the waistcoats.

For Mr. B: 

I fit his suit on Wednesday.

Here is the trouser pattern to go with the suit jacket that I was drafting here.

As you can see they do not require a lot of fabric, just a metre is enough.

This gentleman prefers to wear his trousers under the fullest part of his belly and you can see that I have cut the front waistline down to accomodate this.

He is definitely not and easy shape to fit and I have to make some more adjustments now that  we have had a fitting. I think I should make the legs a bit narrower now that I see the pattern with fresh eyes.  I still have to mark the alterations on the jacket for Silvia, who is making this. 

I also went in to Toronto on Thursday for a fitting with a 1920's suit on another project, which I was very happy with. I managed to shop there for linings for the boys tailsuits and waistcoats, buttons for the suit above and his next suit to come and dropped off fabric for covered buttons as well. I got caught in rush hour traffic on the TTC, and just barely made it to the train station for my trip home.

Friday was spent altering the tailcoat patterns, shipping fabric (which is a mound of paperwork), shopping for more supplies, and then updating and doing work on the computer.

Next week looks about the same. I think I will go and put my feet up and have a glass of wine.

Home again, home again

Margaret and I just got back this evening from our fitting adventure in Boston. It is always so interesting to go to different theatres and wardrobe departments and meet our fellow costume makers.
We even managed to see a few sights such as The Boston Public Library in the morning before our fittings started. In a city full of amazing architecture, I found this building and its decorative elements to be one of the highlights of the trip. I wish I had had more time to explore the city, but we were there to work, and work we did!                  
                                                                                                More about that later.
It is going to be an intense few weeks getting this project together and sent off all the while overlapping with  the next one and a private contract too.

These are pictures I took of the BPL, the ceiling of the reading room is amazing, and the other is a photo of the inner courtyard of the library- how perfect!

Absolutely stunning. Also stunning are the John Singer Sargeant murals on the third floor, the marionette display and room after room of the most stunning decorative architecture.
Well worth a follow up visit if I get the chance.

Luckily I was also able to squeeze in a visit with my brother too. It was a very busy but enjoyable time.

Tomorrow....onward to pattern alterations and a bunch of cutting.

Boy's tail suits are together!

Whew!
It has been quite the week around the studio.
It seems that the fabric shipment I was waiting for had a month long vacation around the USA and it finally made it to Canada Customs on August 22nd where it was kept for a week because of a paperwork issue.
I was ready to give up, by then, but lo and behold, it arrived on August 29th, where it was quickly unwrapped and organized.

Luckily I had all my patterns ready to go, so I started cutting the next morning and I recruited Denise and Lela to help put things together so we could ship them back to be fit. Four tail suits for boys, and four shirt dickies too. Pretty good for a weeks work. I saved some time by just making mock-up sleeves, as I'd rather get the body fit first and not waste fabric.

That shipment went out yesterday afternoon at 3pm and has arrived safe and sound at its destination.
A big sigh of relief when I saw that.

Next week I follow, to do the fittings and then I will be tremendously busy making pattern alterations and then cutting and stitching all the rest.

     Today I managed to get the studio tidied and worked on the pattern alterations for the suit I drafted  here in the previous post. The fitting went very well, I was really pleased with the overall fit. Still needed a bit more length through the front to the hem, needed a bit more through the waist too, and an alteration for his shoulder that is distorted from a surgery.
Updated his trouser pattern too. Then I cut the coat out. I'll have to finish that tomorrow so I can get it to Silvia on Monday. I must remember to take a picture to post.
     On Monday I should be starting onto another project for another ballet company, and this time it is suits, yay!
     As I was in the midst of the rush this week, I had one of those moments where I stood there and realized just how much I enjoy the process of what I do. I like figuring things out -like that suit pattern- and that I can work with people I like and we work in a way that pleases us. We could spend time figuring out how to do things faster or with more shortcuts, or with less handling, and in some situations we do, but mostly we work the way that makes us feel gratified with not just the final result but with the journey of getting there.

suit pattern drafting

 Well, I am still waiting for the shipment of fabric to arrive and I'll tell you, it is causing me stress!  It is also messing with my carefully laid planning ;-)
So I have started on another project or two while I wait.

Since I have just spent time making boys patterns, I was getting used to the small nature of the patterns compared to what I normally make. Then I made a shirt pattern for a friend who has a size 50 chest! It made my head spin to go from a boy's size 8 to that.
Once that was finished I started this project pictured here. It also took some adjusting to as it is almost boy's size but made for a difficult figure.

A few years ago I was asked to make a jacket for a client, which I did, and he now is asking for another jacket and trousers as well as a two piece suit. He cannot purchase anything off the rack with good fitting results. His height is 4'11" and he has had some surgeries that have resulted in a very pronounced belly.

I remeasured him and found that he was smaller all around now, so I thought it would be a good time to try a redraft.
This time I used a much more conventional approach rather than my usual draft and cut and tape style.
The draft is mainly based on my own system, but I read through the drafts in a German cutting book I have, and applied the drafting techniques there for a big bellied figure.
In the second picture you can see it cut out and laid out on the table.
Once I had it to this point, I still needed to apply the balance measurements I had taken, and I needed another inch and a half in length in the front, based on the nape to CF waist measurement I had.






I opened the front in a wedge as you can see in the bottom picture, and taped in some paper and corrected my lines.
Off I went to the local fabric store for a toile fabric, and I have sewn a mock-up and I am ready to fit it. I like the look of this pattern better than the old one, but fittings are what really reveals what works. I hope to get this fit next week sometime, before my shipment arrives.
If it arrives next week.
It better arrive next week.

More pattern drafting

Well, I haven't meant to be so uncommunicative lately, but it is summer and I am busy trying to enjoy some down time as well as get a start on the next project.
I've been making patterns and more patterns as you can see here hanging on the wall, and this morning I finished the last sleeve pattern for the boys tailcoats, and then went on to other things that have been waiting to get done.
I am still waiting for my fabrics to arrive from the US, and last week I spoke to a freight forwarder in Mississauga who will handle the customs portion of the delivery. Textile shipping is very tricky! I know this from my colleagues various experiences, and the customs broker himself said it would probably be easier to import booze and cigarettes than textiles. I'm not sure of the whys of it all and maybe I don't really want to know. I just want and need the fabric to get here, so I can make up my 4 sample outfits, dickies, waistcoats, trousers and tailcoats, and get them sent back to the US for fittings.
I have to package the toiles up and freight them back so I am betting that is a week of transit and border delays. Believe me, I don't want to be flying with unfinished toiles in my luggage.
I also don't know what the fabrics are yet, so I can't even order findings and interfacing or even thread until the fabric arrives.
I am betting the fittings won't happen until mid September now, which only leaves a month of work time to get everything finished and sent back again. My other upcoming project is huge and I was hoping to get going on it as well, so that darn fabric better get here soon.

I must be delusional in thinking this was going to be a relaxed and comfy process since we started talking in May!
Breathe.......