Why Should You Snoop Shop?

Before I begin, I need to clarify that I don't sew or dress to look like I just walked out of WalMart, a sports store or Goodwill, so why would I want to sew or emulate what is sold there?    That may sound snooty to some, but I know my style and appreciate quality and taste, so I don't waste my time inspecting or sewing things that aren't unique and elegant.    As such,  the only snoop shopping I'm interested in is at high end stores, boutiques, or consignment shops. 


Every serious fashion sewer should snoop shop the high end stores from time to time to check out the fabrics, the styles, the details and the techniques used by the different designers and labels.   I notice that a lot of women have stereotypes about which fabrics to use for certain styles.   I hate stiff and heavy fabrics and they are rarely used in good ready to wear.   Don't use cheap poly home dec or cotton quilting fabrics  - leave them for people who sew pillows and quilts, and kids clothes.   Open your mind to be inspired by good fabrics and the details, if only how a button is used,  so you can incorporate them into your sewing.    I look at details but also look at overall trends, especially in lines that Neiman Marcus calls "Modern Mix" and designers who are minimalists.    This includes lines like Donna Karan, Elie Tahari, Theory, Vince, Lafayette 148 and others.  Many web sites allow one to zoom into details, but you can't touch, feel, look inside or try it on.   


The high end  store clearance stores are the best places to snoop shop, try on and explore what's new and interesting.  I've actually seen designer pieces from current collections in those centers marked down for some reason.   There you can try on the garments without feeling any pressure, and even afford to buy that great piece with details you love that probably costs a lot less than it would for you to sew plus where would you ever find the fabric?   Try on things you never thought you might wear - take chances.  Take your digital camera and take photos of details (turn the flash off) and of you in that mirror that doesn't lie.  Download and study them when you get home - you might be surprised.   If you are over 40, don't even think about shopping the junior department or make anything that girls who shop the junior department would wear.   Take a tape measure and a notebook to sketch and write down measurements and details or you'll forget the smorgasbord of ideas you found on that visit.


The hotel we stay when we go to Baltimore for my Johns Hopkins visits is near the airport and near the big Arundel Mills shopping center.   Before now I had neither the energy nor the ability to go there, but last week I felt good enough to be able to walk in and spend an hour or so looking around the Neiman Marcus Last Call.     So what did I see?


An elegant Lafayette 148 short swing jacket with wide, cut-on sleeves in a curly gray boucle.    It had a jewel neckline and big snap closures.  The jacket was unlined but the facings on the front and hems were lining fabric to minimize bulk.   Seams were bound with the same lining fabric.     This was a simple jacket that one could easily layer.


On the NM website,  I saw this current Lafayette jacket in a textured cotton/silk blend with a shape and sleeve similar to  Louise Cutting's new A Cute Angle jacket pattern.   Here are two photos of the Cameron Jacket on the Lafayette 148 website that gave me ideas of fabrics and how to style and wear this type of jacket.   Note that the lapels of this RTW jacket are finished like Louise's Of the Moment jacket and have the interesting large button closure.   I saw lots of big buttons and big snap closures in my snoop shopping.

   

A Cute Angle Jacket

Of the Moment Jacket in soft woven cashmere

I took notes about seeing lots of soft textured fabrics like matelasse.   One very high end designer dress was not lined but the fabric was completely fused with soft interfacing and then finished with satin stitch/serged roll edges at the interesting neckline and edges.


I examined a 3/4 length coat by Tahari with a cream/black/gray brushstroke design woven into a textured rayon/wool woven in gradations from less to more at the lower edge.    It also had a simple jewel neckline and closed with large snaps - no buttons.   That coat shape reminded me of Louise Cutting's Pure and Simple Coat pattern with the collar left off.   If you've gone to one of the recent Expos, a workshop or a trunk show, you probably saw the Pure & Simple coat where she overlapped the pattern pieces to eliminate the horizontal seams on the front and back, and left the collar off - same shape and look as the Tahari.    Make the coat the length that flatters you!   I know my style and am drawn to simple and elegant designs that show off fine fabrics and coordinate with simple shapes.   See how the jackets above work with slacks, a dress or the top and faux wrap silk/wool paisley skirt the model is wearing with great statement accessories. 

Towards the end of May update

My last major sewing project was the Burda cardigan in April.     The bad news is that I have been deteriorating and am not doing well.   The good news is that I will be traveling to Johns Hopkins medical center in June.  I only got the call from JH yesterday morning so I had to hurry up and make reservations to stay somewhere in downtown Baltimore.   I found that many of the hotels are booked up already.  

Michael and Sherri Bearman of Michael's Fabrics in Baltimore are two of the loveliest people I know. I've known them for years since living in Charles Co MD for many years before moving to the Asheville NC area.  I remember talking on the phone to Michael the week their son Phillip was born.  With them you are a person not a credit card number.

Sherri and Michael have been aware of my health situation.   Since I will be traveling to Baltimore I called and told Sherri what was going on -  she was delighted that I got into JH,  then hearing about the hotels and logistics, she offered to check to see of they could help in locating/recommending a hotel perhaps where they are located.   They don't care if I buy anything or even if I'm well enough to come by, they just care about me and those are the people who will get my enduring business forever.

Over these past months of medical hell, wonderful people like the Bearmans in Baltimore, other sewing professionals around the country, and many caring individuals who read this blog and a sewing board have commented/written or called or sent notes to check on me.   Incredibly,  I have had absolutely no support from any of the sewing community here in Asheville - none of the people at a certain local fabric store where I was a great customer for years, nor anyone who lives in the area has ever contacted me - actually it's just the opposite,  I've been shunned. 

I also got an e-mail response from Sharon Lyon of Casual Elegance Fabrics last week.   My reason for writing was that with their emphasis on cap sleeves I was thinking about sewing an updated French Country Dress.   I have the pattern and was looking for some fabric advice.    Since reading the latest newsletter,  I was thinking linen but she said that she "really didn't think linen would be a good choice for that dress, although a really light weight linen/blend would be a possibility.    Since there are just a couple of tucks on both sides on front and back, a heavy fabric would not do well with the tucks.   A stable knit, as long as it wasn't heavy, would work great.  I really like that dress. One summer, a few years back, I lived in that dress!"    I think the design is really interesting, especially how Loes maintains the structure using the pockets.     I would make it knee length since the length in the pattern photos look frumpy looking on me.    I also attached a photo of the Bergman Jacket tweak (previous blog post) with how I used the mesh from CE.   Sharon wrote that she almost forgot about my fabric question since her attention went to the photo of the jacket that she loved.    How nice of her to say that.

So what about sewing?   With all my problems I had to do something Monday to see where I was in all this so I cut out a simple cowl neck tops - same pattern I used in the black and tan coordinates I sewed for my sister last summer.   This time I used the same black and white dot/stripe knit I've made the tops/cardigans from.    It's so easy to make.   I left the hem raw and did pretty well in terms of stitching down the seam allowance on the neckline and armholes.    I made it for my son's GF who got the Sewing Workshop eShrug in the same knit and the lace one.  I gave it to her yesterday and she was thrilled.   I'm going to lengthen the pattern and do a knit dress.    Won't that be a great look!

And so it goes.  To think about not being able to do the things I enjoy the most is devastating.  I wish I had the sensory capability to do more sewing, not because I have to, but because I enjoy it.   I have plenty to wear and I still give a lot of my things away.   Fortunately I sew coordinating groups and new pieces that coordinate with others so that I have many choices when I walk into my closet, no matter the weather.   Unfortunately that black and tan group of coordinates I sewed and sent to my sister in Texas last summer went up in flames with everything else in April, and I have not been able to be as productive as I was last summer to replace them.     My plans are to stick with the simple designs like the Shapes patterns.    I'm thinking a Shapes Four Good Measure top in a sheer fabric.   Louise Cutting and Linda Lee were way ahead of the fashion game when they published that line a couple of years ago.  The Four Good Measure silhouette is everywhere from Neiman Marcus to Anthropologie and more this spring.

A Loes Hinse Bianca Top

Thanks to everyone for your good wishes and continued prayers.  Your comments mean a lot to me and I need all the help I can get.   I hope the good Lord, who has looked over me and mine all these years, has other business left for me to do.

I enjoyed possibilities of the double black and white cotton knit (from MyVogueFabrics swatch service) that I used for the Sewing Workshop eShrug, so I decided to cut out (did that earlier in the week) and sew a Loes Hinse Bianca top (she calls it a sweater) using the striped side on the bias for the neckline and hem.

Sewing is a tactile endeavor, so when the feeling in the fingers can't discern the correct side for fusible interfacing,  you have to punt.    So here's what I did when I applied some soft fusible to the shoulder seams.    I used some left over pattern paper that I keep around and sandwiched the fusible and the fabric between it and pressed.  If I applied the wrong side to the fabric, the fusible would stick to the paper and not the iron, and this also protects your ironing board cover.   Turns out my guesses were good on both shoulders.    Perhaps this trick will help you keep the sticky off your iron and ironing board as well!   More about this on the Bianca Flickr Set.

Fusible applied to shoulder -- I just cut off the excess

Fabric/fusible sandwiched between paper

The Bianca pattern neckline is too high and tight for my tastes, so I cut one inch out of the neckline.  The new neckline measured 23" at the seam-line, so I cut the bias 20 inches to lay flat like this.   I doubled it, and then sewed/serged/ and then stitched in the ditch the outside, using Marcy Tilton's instructions in her Easy Guide to Sewing Tops & T-Shirts (Taunton Press) page 92.    I made the 3/4 inch sleeve version and just did a blind hem.   This top is boxy but the sleeve is fitted.

For the hem, I cut the garment with the wide hem allowance, then applied a doubled raw bias band of the knit around the bottom.   So this Bianca top is longer than one that has the wide hem.

Oh yeah I made some mistakes because of these fingers but ripped them out and happily continued.    I'm just happy I can still stand/sit/press and use the presser feet --  going through all the motions required to make a garment.