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Everyone Deserves Pretty Knickers week is here!

knickers

I cannot say just how excited I am to be kicking off Everyone deserves pretty knickers week. It’s going to be so exciting!

Honestly sewing your own knickers leaves you with this amazing feeling of accomplishment and triumph and I want everyone to be able to experience that.

Over the week we will be covering 2 sewalongs, inspiration and design.

The first sewalong will be for The Charlotte Knickers but the same construction method applies to The Georgiana Knickers and The Lydia Knickers so you can choose the style that suits you best.

The second sewalong will be for The Jane Knickers. These are a super sweet knicker than can be worn as pyjamas or for lounging about in hot weather.

Sunday – Inspiration

Monday – Sew along 1 – Bias cutting and gusset construction

Tuesday – Sew along 1 – side seams and attaching elastic

Wednesday – Sew along 1 – top stitch elastic

Thursday – Sew along 2 – cutting and crotch construction

Friday – Sew along 2 – yoke, hem and elastic

Saturday – Design

Some other fun things will also be happening during the week so keep checking back in. If you use bloglovin you can follow us using the button in the sidebar.

Be sure to use the hashtag #everyonedeservesprettyknickers on all your makes for the week.

Cut and paste the code below to add the pretty knicker lady to the sidebar of your blog

<a href="http://www.measuretwicecutonce.com.au/2014/04/everyone-deserves-pretty-knickers/"><img src="http://www.measuretwicecutonce.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/knickers-website-button-190.jpg"/></a>

 

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Green

green

Green as grass, green with envy, Kelly green, Kermit green. There are a lot of ways to describe green. It can be show stopping. We all remember the green dress from Atonement, even if we haven’t seen the film.

I’d like to see green get all grown up, less of the national sports colour (Australia, Brazil, South Africa, Green Bay Packers) and more sophisticated. From Emerald to grass and all it’s varying shades I want them to become fashion forces in their own right.

They are universally flattering, look good in a silk or a cotton and have a lighter less harsh sense than Black or Navy but can still be savvy and businesslike.

How about you? are you ready for green to have it’s moment in the sun?

Katie Ermilio via Moda Operandi, Zac Posen dress via The Chic Department, Ellie Saab via Style Bistro, Green Skirt via Harpers Bazaar

As always more inspiration on our Green Pinterest Board

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Fabric a Brac – Sydney

What a great day! I’m exhausted but it was so much fun.

Fabric a brac brings sewers wanting to reduce their stash and sewers who want some fabric together.

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This was my first time either attending or being a stall holder and I was glad that I had set myself strict rules on not buying fabric as there was so much that was so tempting!

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It was fantastic to see so many friendly faces with Catherine, Melanie and Amy all dropping by to say hello as well as meeting plenty of new people too.

I came home with less than I went with, so I was extremely happy about that.

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This little guy might have been my favourite customer of the day.

sausage dog

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Problems with downloads

Hi Everyone,

Over the last few days we have had an issue with some orders not downloading correctly.

If you have had any problems at all, and not been able to access your order can you please let me know so I can send you an alternative link? We don’t want anyone missing out on having pretty knickers!

We’ve also fixed the problem so all new orders should be fine. Sorry for any problems caused and thank you so much to the customers who let me know so we could fix it.

Thanks,

Susan

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Red

redRed, a pure bold statement colour. The colour of love, the carpet of Hollywood and a rich statement of style and confidence.

I really like red, it takes on an almost fluid inky like depth when worn on it’s own but it also makes a denim outfit pop with the combination of indigo and red.

It seems harder to find when searching for fabrics. Somehow pink in all it’s shades has become easier to find than red. Is it because it’s so hard to perfect red? Too much yellow in the base and suddenly you are into an orange red territory which only those who favour Autumn tones can wear. Add some blue to the base and you get a richer more vibrant red. One that I find is more flattering as it goes with more colours.

Within the stash there is a few metres of a wonderful sandwashed silk in a perfect blue base red colour. It was given to me as a present and I’m yet to find a style special enough to cut into it. But every so often I take it out, give it a pat and put it back in the box. It will be a statement dress so I want to ensure I get the statement correct before I cut into it.

Zac Posen Dress red cyclist via PopBee Red Dress via The Sartorialist Alexa Chung in red lace from Net-a-Porter magazine

As always there is a Red board on Pinterest for you to take a look at for more inspiration

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Designer Inspiration – Galliano

Galliano

Galliano has long been on of my favourite designers. I loved the sheer over the top, put as many influences as we can into one outfit and then make it bigger type of style that he has. Naturally along with everyone else I was horrified to hear the dreadful things he said and his downfall. I did debate not adding him to this series but I thought that would be disingenuous as he really is an influence to my work.

I am in no way excusing any of what he said by saying I admire his talent and design. What he did as a designer was breathtaking and innovative and often moved me to tears just from it’s sheer beauty and majesty, it’s that spine tingling expression through fabric that I celebrate.

From the slinky bias cut dress to the cinched waists and full skirts of the styles above, I loved it all. Fabric became architectural, multilayered and embellished to an inch of it’s life and then it was shown with more precision than a broadway show.

Sometimes I just want to capture just a tiny bit of all that drama and harness it into an everyday piece. Something that becomes an icon around which a wardrobe and style can be built. Until I can make that happen I will continue to admire the drama of the clothes.

Image credits pink dress Photo by Chris Moore/Catwalking/Getty Images) found via Yellow Paper Dress Maroon Dress via Zimbio Lemon Dress via TeaCupsandCouture Green Ombre Via Telegraph UK photo by Stephen Look

These designer influences are in no particular order and as I really did debate if I should add Galliano or not I figure I might as well get the controversy over with at the start.

 

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White

white

White clothes can get a bad wrap, too pristine, too hospital, too clinical. but therein can lie it’s deceptive quality. A clean slate with which to shine.

It always looks so crisp and perfect, a wonderful foil with which to play with textures and layering or to make accessories stand out.

Personally I would love to add more to my wardrobe but have a massive issue. Cat hair. I’d leave the house looking like I’d rolled in lint and I’m sure it would only get worse from there. Perhaps white is best saved for those without kitties?

1 white coat via Coffeewithnaima 2 white outfit via Stylabl 3 white dress via Stealthestyle  4 white top and shorts via The Petticoat

More white inspiration can be found on our Pinterest board.

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Designer Inspiration

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There is a wonderful Stella McCartney quote that I read years ago and has always stuck with me. In an interview Stella was asked what other designers does she wear. Her response was if I’m wearing other designers pieces it means I’m not doing my job right.

I love that. Because if as a designer you are spending all your time wanting someone else’s designs then you aren’t working hard enough.

As a sewer though, I love seeing others ideas. How they translate different fabrics and trims into garments. Not to copy them but to get ideas on going the extra mile to make garments really interesting.

For the next few weeks I’ll be sharing one designer a week who has had an influence on me. I’ll talk about why I like their style and what they taught me. As a designer I feel like it is all interconnected in the establishment of my own personal style. Many places I have worked I design to a specific brief or client so it’s not what I would wear or want but about the ability to see what the customer would want. Which is a great ability to have, to see what others want. When I flip it around though, I want to see what exactly it is that I want and how to translate that into the styles that I sew.

I hope you will enjoy the series of posts I have planned and perhaps even find something that inspires you too?

Image credit left to right: Motti – Tokyo, Marc Jacobs Photo by Chris Moore/Catwalking/Getty Images) found via YellowPaperDress

 

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Technical drawings of garments

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Many of you have asked about the technical drawings included within the pdf patterns. Where did I get them, how are they done etc etc

They are all my drawings done using Adobe Illustrator.

I have a number of blocks I’ve developed over many years for swimwear, jeans, jackets, dresses or pretty much any style of clothing. I use these over and over to create all the various styles of technical drawings I need to produce. When necessary I just draw new ones to suit my needs.

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These are all drawn proportionally so they look like what the actual garment will look like. And they include all the correct stitch lines, types of stitching, dart placements etc. If it is on the final garment it will appear on the drawing.

Very occasionally I will be asked to do fashion drawings, which I will do using either hand drawing or a combination of hand and computer illustration. These drawings are not technical, they can have distorted proportions and instead of being an aid to construction are seen as a way to capture the feeling of a collection or individual garment.

While they are beautiful and often very fun to do, the standard within the industry is a flat technical drawing that is easy to interpret and shows the details of the garments.

Using Illustrator I draw using either my mouse or a pen and tablet combination. I like using the tablet with the pen as it feels more like natural drawing and helps me to get curves to run smoothly.

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When drawing instructions I use the actual pattern pieces shrunk down so it looks just like what you are looking at when you are sewing. Sometimes I need to distort the drawing to make it look more like the fabric, especially when showing seams that have been joined. As this is when the garment goes from flat panels to taking on a dimension so the drawings need to relate that to you.

I hope that helps explain the drawings, if you have any more questions please do not hesitate to ask. Oh and I am available to hire should you need any drawings done?