Mary McFadden Exhibit at NMWA

The National Museum of Women in the Arts has an exhibit of work by designer Mary McFadden, called "Goddesses," through August 30, 2009. The Museum is not part of the Smithsonian system so admission is not free, which is why I'd never been. I am very spoiled by free museum entrance here in DC. The opportunity to see a fashion exhibition was well worth my $10.

My aesthetic is pretty much the exact opposite of McFadden's. She does plain, neutral colors in (for the most part) very simple designs, but with heavy embellishment either in the form of beading or elaborate hand painting. I prefer bright colors, mostly prints, and the details to be in the designs.

McFadden is sometimes referred to as a "fashion archaeologist." Her collections were inspired almost exclusively by ancient history, from Italy and Greece to India and China. To me, there is a very fine line to be walked between "inspiration" and "cultural appropriation," and for the most part she did an excellent job interpreting history without trying to claim it as her own or rely on the "noble savage" concept.

The collection on display at the Museum is the designer's own, and presumably includes some of her favorite pieces (or else the pieces that didn't sell???). Most of them are of her patented Marii fabric, a polyester blend with a permanent crinkle designed to mimic Fortuny's pleated silk for his Delphos gowns, as at right. McFadden patented the process for creating her fabric, which goes through six steps on a couple of different continents to get its texture. It is lightweight with a nice sheen; the air conditioning in the museum wafted the hems ever so slightly.

Although I appreciate the medium she created, I find it more interesting as a historical artifact than as a viable textile. Having grown up with the ubiquitous, cheap broomstick skirts of the 90s the fabric was nothing new to me and the polyester content makes it seem not very special. However, at the time it was introduced I imagine it was novel and exciting.

While I didn't find much to inspire me directly in the collection, with the exception of a draped white gown similar to one worn by Jackie Kennedy, it is so great to see a fashion exhibition in DC! I can appreciate the workmanship that went into the gowns, and you can get really up close and personal with them. They are not in cases and although you cannot touch them (obviously!) they are not alarmed so you can get very close without worrying anybody.

The collection is well-curated with good explanatory signage. There is a short video on loop with snippets of interviews with the designer and a slide show of some of her creations. The gowns are spaced well, so they are not overwhelming and you can appreciate each piece on its own. While they are clustered loosely by theme, the curator did not feel obligated to group all pieces of a particular collection or season together, which I appreciated.

The exhibit also includes several cases of jewelry, both historical pieces collected by McFadden and her own designs. I was a much bigger fan of her jewelry than her clothing. It's chunky and ethnic without being clownish or condescending. One bracelet in particular, a scrolled/floral cuff about 8 inches long, evoked some covetousness in me.

Here is a slideshow of this exhibition as displayed at Moore College of Art & Design in Philadelphia.

BWOF 03-2009-104, High Waist Pencil Skirt

Back when I didn't have much time to sew because I was a student or working a lot in the private sector I made mostly skirts. They're quick, easy, instant gratification. I made dozens of brightly colored print skirts and bought t-shirts in a rainbow of colors from H&M to wear with them. A print skirt with a (nice) t-shirt was my uniform for many years. Since I have had time to get into sewing more complicated garments, I've not made many skirts over the past few years and my skirt wardrobe has stayed stagnant. It's a little bit of a problem because I don't sew many solid-colored items, so although I own over 50 skirts (a friend made me count once when I said I didn't have a skirt to wear) I actually don't have many skirts that match the tops I've sewn because most of them are prints. Also, most of the skirts are A-line and I've been craving pencil skirts. When I saw the BWOF 03-2009-104, I was smitten--pencil skirt, high waist, yoke pockets, curved waistband princess panels. I loved everything about it.



I first discussed my pocket situation with this skirt in mid-May. When I made the white skirt as drafted, the pocket show-through was awful. I had fully lined the skirt, but most commenters suggested that I needed to underline the front between the fashion fabric and the pockets.




So I ripped some seams and cut out an underlining of a heavyweight stretch twill and pinned it in place. The situation was improved, but not fixed by any stretch. The pockets were not necessarily showing through per se, but the outline of the pocket was clearly visible because of the seam ridge. I had this same issue to a less disturbing extent with the Kasia Skirt; I didn't like it there but decided I could live with it. On this one, I felt the skirt was still unwearable

So I let it sit for a few days. As discussed in the original post, I considered just cutting the pockets out altogether and stitching the pocket opening closed. I really didn't want to lose the functionality of the pockets (not that I am one to actually put things in pockets). Cidell had pointed out on the phone that in jeans the fashion fabric extends about one inch below the pocket line and then the rest of the pocket is a lightweight cotton. So I decided to apply that principal.

I cut the pocket bag off one inch below the pocket line, and then I cut out replacement pocket bags of batiste. I cut them shorter than the original draft because if they were *still* going to show through I didn't want them to show through at the widest part of my saddlebag. The big thing was that I cut them on the fold so that the bottom edge is a fold and not a seam. I put the first one in sideways (don't ask me how) and panicked when the skirt was too distorted even to put on until I figured out what I had done, but then finally installed them both correctly and FINALLY had fixed the show through situation.

But of course, all was not well with this endless project of doom. Now I put on the skirt and saw that the side seams above the pocket edge and below the waistband were bunching horribly. It was still unwearable after all the work. I'm not really sure what caused this problem; it could have been the addition of the heavyweight underlining to the front. I think part of the issue is that I stabilized the pocket opening edge with ribbon, but I might have eased the fashion fabric too much onto the ribbon and shortened the pocket edge. I also think I might have gotten the pocket placement on the side seam wrong, and placed the pocket below where it should be.

At any rate, there is certainly some kind of problem in the pocket area. But I was absolutely not ripping up the whole thing again. So I decided to go slapdash. I sewed boning into the side seams. You can see the dramatic difference this made. I haven't yet worn the skirt and I don't know how the boning is going to be while I'm sitting at my desk for long periods of time. Hopefully it will hold. I hand-sewed it into the side seam allowances so my hand stitches will pop if there is too much pressure, rather than shredding the side seam (at least that's the plan).


You would think I'd be done with this pattern after that trauma, but I wanted to try it again without the pockets. I went into stash and pulled out the last piece I bought at PR Weekend 2007 that was still in stash. I have now officially completed sewing up all my purchases! The maroon knit was a horrible wadder I may or may not get around to documenting, and let us not speak of my disastrous velvet skirt, but everything else was more or less successful.

I didn't have exactly the right color of thread (which is sort of surprising, considering how many colors I *do* have). I liked the idea of doing a dressier denim-skirt substitute, so I topstitched using a light gray. For the curved seams on the waistband, I clicked the needle one click to the right or left and ran the foot down the center of the seam. This worked perfectly as a guide. I used a twin needle on the top and bottom of the waistband and the hem.

The blue version is a lot less fussy, but does not fit perfectly. I carefully walked the tissue to make sure that the yoke pockets did not include a rotated dart and they did not appear to. I don't know if I missed something, but the front does not fit smoothly. There are wrinkles just below the waistband from the center radiating toward the side. Said wrinkles basically form an arrow pointing to my tummy (I meant to take a picture standing straight but forgot; it's really obvious when I'm standing straight). As I cannot stomach (har har) the thought of doing a full belly adjustment, I'm going to let this pattern go. But I actually do like both versions of this skirt and look forward to wearing them this summer and beyond.

Some notes
-I did my usual BWOF sizing--36 at the waist, 38 at the hip and in this skirt it is rather snug. Had I not used fabrics with lycra, I doubt I could wear them at all. With the lycra they have a nicely hugging fit. I have been feeling bloated lately but I think objectively my measurements are the same as usual. The magazine calls for fabric with stretch, so I think it is designed with extremely minimal ease. Keep this in mind when choosing your fabric; size up if you don't have lycra.

-Rather than calling for lining, the original design is just for a waist facing. I think that would look chintzy in such a structured style and I fully lined both of mine (love the surprise maroon lining in the blue).

-This calls for a side seam zip. With the pocket, I felt that would definitely be too much going on at the side seam, so I moved it to the back for the white version. This allowed me to add a CB seam, which I needed for swayback adjustment. After the weird side seam crumpling issues in the white version, I kept it in the back for the blue version.

-I used heavy interfacing on the outer waistband pieces, and the waistband has no issue staying up or crumpling.

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.

June BWOF Podcast

Cidell and I were so excited about the June BWOF that we had to podcast about it right away. You can listen to the player below, download it here, or catch us on iTunes.

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I did a major photo shoot over the weekend--nine different looks--so I have some projects to review in the coming weeks!

In the "you know you're obsessed when..." category, last night I had a dream that I was on vacation with my family. We stopped at a Pucci outlet (????) where they had remnants of fabric. Many of them were small, 1/4 yard or less, but there were a few larger pieces. Even as remnants, they were in the $30+/yard price category, but there was a sign on the table that everything was $1.99/yard. I found a gorgeous white and orange cross-woven silk dupioni with a Pucci border print. I wasn't quite sure what I was going to make with it, but I had to have it. There was also a piece pre-shirred fabric, such as that sold at Joann, but it was silk jersey. There was only 1/4 yard, so no way to make a dress out of it, but I thought maybe if I picked out the elastic shirring I could make some use of it. But when I looked more closely I could see that the fabric was kind of disintegrating and there were tiny holes all over where the shirring was.

I wonder what Freud would make of such dreams.

BWOF 07-2008-107, Yoked Tunic Dress

This dress, BWOF 07-2008-107, hadn't really caught my eye in the magazine. The voluminous tunic is not really something in my style lexicon, I think because of my height I worry it won't suit me. But several people have made several cute versions and when I saw the one Christina made recently it pushed me over the edge. I absolutely loved her hem trim on the dress version. When I visited Anthropologie in Miami, I was really drawn to their use of embellishment and trims. I love them in theory, but rarely find a way to incorporate them into my garments. I always fear that it will be too cloyingly girly. But a lace trim on a simpler, edgier, less girly garment really works. And since I really can't figure out how to use trim on my own, I had to completely copy Christina. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?

I bought the blue print fabric last July as a remnant at G Streetf for $3. It's a lovely, airy lightweight cotton woven and the print is perfect--graphic and bright but very on trend. I had thought to make it out of Simplicity 4589 with a white contrast yoke (from the G Street $2.97 table, of course), which I made several years ago, but just wasn't enthused about the pattern. Then when I saw Christina's dress, a light bulb went off and I knew it was destined to be this pattern.

The first step was to grade this down two sizes at the top, from a 38 to a 34. I haven't done that before and found it more difficult than grading down one size. Now, this would probably be remediated if I were more precise and used a ruler instead of eyeballing, but I'm pretty good at eyeballing and the final fit is good. It's good that I have this experience because there are very few pieces in the May 2009 BWOF that start at a 36 (and almost none at a 34).

I needed to fully line this garment because the blue was rather sheer and lining seemed the easiest way to finish the yoke. Christina and others observed that this doesn't really need the back zip (it pays to take almost a year to get to an issue!) but I kept the center back seam on the yoke so that I could attach the lining to the fashion fabric at the neck and armscye edges by machine with no hand sewing, as I did for the Tracy Reese Dress and, with illustrative photos, Vogue 8386.

Sew the shoulder seams of the fashion and lining fabrics, leaving the side seams and center back seam unsewn. Place right sides together and stitch the neck and armscyes seams. Turn right side out, and then sew the side and back seams of fashion and lining each all at once, stopping at the seam line for the dress part. Works a charm, easy, and creates a really nice finish.

Once the yoke was completed and turned, I sewed the front and back of the dress to the yoke and lining. This is why it's important to stop your side and back seams on the finished yoke at the seam line. I eliminated the back seam on the dress, so I couldn't sew the dress to the yoke before turning. Then sew the side seams of your dress and lining. As you can see, this creates a nice clean finish on the inside.

I was pretty sure I wanted to use the white lace, but I pinned it on before just to make sure. I didn't want to cut the length off until I was certain I'd use it, so I just flung the long tail of the lace over my shoulder to get it out of the way. And what a lucky accident, because I saw that it looked so cute hanging off the sleeve! I really love the extended drop shoulder sleeve shape the wide lace creates. I was thrilled to have my serger for this project, because it was the perfect way to trim the lace to length and keep it from raveling.

As I presumed when I first saw the pattern, I don't think that the unbelted style really suits. It's hard for a pear to wear this shape, because it doesn't take advantage of a smaller top and does nothing to hide larger hips. Although you lose the trendy shape with a belt, I think it's a much more flattering look for me. And the belt is so perfect for it! I got it at the Target girl's department with Cidell a couple of years ago and I'm not sure I'd ever worn it before I finished this dress. This reinforcing of my pack rat, doesn't like to get rid of anything tendency is bad! But I'm glad I kept the belt around.

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.

Four Projects in Four Days

So on Friday I mentioned that I had a four day weekend (I work 9 hour days and get every other Friday off), and I made an ambitious plan of Four Projects in Four Days. I hadn't had an orgy of sewing in quite a while (I'm thinking all the way back in October???) and I was in the mood for a good solid stretch of tracing, cutting, sewing, and closet replenishing.

I didn't catch up on the sleep I desperately needed, but I finished my four projects, plus a "wearable" muslin (the garment is fully finished but the fabric is so grody) *and* a bonus accessory. Whew!

The photo above gives teaser details of what kept me busy. You may recognize some of the fabrics from my lists of planned projects, but some just demanded to be made even without being put in a formal project queue.

I did not, alas, engage in an orgy of photography, but I did get my friend to take a picture of me in what I wore to happy hour on Friday. More on that tomorrow.