Monday Morning Inspiration/Manipulating Darts

Good Morning All!!! 

Playing around with darts is something I have enjoyed from the first moment I began to learn anything about pattern drafting. I'm sure you've seen pictures like the one below, interesting, but intimidating for sure. The picture gives ideas, but no instruction about how to actually move the darts around. It also seems rather dated. 

But, take a look at the picture below, a lovely vintage Vogue pattern, right out of the 1940's. The dress was lovely then and now.

 

Now take a look at this dress. Same idea as above, but with a very modern take.

Here's another idea on creating dart interest. Notice that the darts are actually sewn so that they show on the outside of the garment. The middle dart radiates to the bust point, but the other 2 are above and below the bust.

Here's another idea of creating interest with darts. Once again they are sewn to the outside of the garment, and extra interest was added by inserting leather.

To create the skirt below, the darts were incorporated into the princess seam lines. The darts along the outside panels offer nothing more than interest.

The dress below shows how the darts of the bodice were divided and then formed to radiate from the waistline over the bust. The design was repeated in the skirt where the skirt waist darts were rotated to the side seam and then flared out over the hips.

Here's another lovely example of radiating darts creating interest with this Decades of Style pattern.

With the dress below, all of the darts were rotated to the shoulder and developed into tuck of flange, which works beautifully with the draped back.

Below is a wonderful example of darts that create an illusion of fit. The top is a Marcy Tilton pattern. There is a slight amount of fit at the waistline, but the darts give the illusion of more fit than there actually is.

Here's the flat drawing of the blouse. Just a lovely use of dart manipulation. You can find the pattern HERE if you are interested. It's a style that would look great on just about every body type.

Here's another fabulous use of dart rotating. Darts were rotated to create the princess seam line and then moved into the neckline. A dress that at first looks very simple is really quite complicated. Great design! The dress is from the Reem Acra Spring 2013 collection.

The entire collection, although 2 years is old, is lovely wand well worth a look. 

If you would like to give rotating darts a try, just google "dart manipulation" and you should be able to find how it is done. It's basically quite simple. Get a basic bodice, draw in a line where you would like a dart to be, cut on that line and then close up the existing dart. Like magic a new dart will open up!
Hope your week is off to a lovely start!
Rhonda

Sunday Night Reflections

How many cares one loses when one decides

 not to be something,

 but someone.

                                                                                                   Coco Chanel

Boundaries, Blogging and The Future

After a very quiet few weeks, I'm back :) To say I'm back denotes the possibility of having been away, I have not. 

A couple of years ago, a friend recommended a book to me entitled Boundaries. The first chapter was very difficult as it resonated all too clearly. Rather than read on, I put the book down. A few months ago, I once again picked it up. It has been a slow read as I can only digest so much at one time. If by chance you have difficulty with setting boundaries in your own life, I do recommend the book. But be warned, it is from a Biblical point of view. 

Two and a half weeks ago, I received an email asking for something more than I could physically do. My initial reaction was to try and figure out how I could make it happen. The more I thought about it, the angrier I became. I had not established boundaries and more and more had been heaped upon me without any consideration for me or my time. After taking a few days to contemplate what I should do, I sat down, wrote a letter stating the facts and that I could no longer continue. As difficult as it was to write the letter, I was amazed by how free I felt once the note was sent. 

A week ago, someone whom I greatly admire was suddenly killed. He simply took one step off of a curb and within an instant, his life came to an end. In recent years he had written some of the most poignant and thought provoking plays I have ever seen.  Had he known that one fateful step would be his last, what would he have done differently? Not taken that step of course, but what did he leave undone?

So, I've needed to be quiet in order to give myself time to think and decide what I want and how I want to spend my time. What I know is that I want to spend more of my time, digging in my garden, painting, writing, and most importantly, spending time with my husband. 

Over the last 3 1/2 years, I have poured my heart and soul into this blog. There have been wonderful things like the pillowcase project. What an amazing journey it was and I so appreciate the effort of so many of you who helped to make it come to pass. I've loved receiving notes from those of you who have been inspired to take the plunge into a little pattern drafting. The Free Pattern Friday and the Sleeves on Saturdays posts are a passion for me and I am happy that I have been able to pass on a little of my knowledge. But it has also been a frustrating journey. The little bit of success I have had does not begin to compare to the rejection that I have also received.   

I am not saying goodbye, I'm just slowing down, slowing down and allowing more time for other passions. I still plan to do the Fabulous Free Pattern posts, in fact I have one ready for this Friday. I also plan to do Sleeves on Saturdays and I will check in with other projects, but it just won't be at the same weekly pace I've had in recent years. 

Thank you for the inspiration that you have been to me and in turn, I hope that I have been able to touch your life in a positive manner and inspire you.

Sincerely,

Rhonda    

Sunday Night Reflections

Kindness

is the language that the blind can see 

and the deaf can hear.

                                                                                                          Mark Twain

Monday Morning Inspiration/Haute Couture Fashion Show

Happy Monday!, and I hope that all of you who are mothers had a lovely Mother's Day.
For this week's Monday post, I thought I would post a few pictures from the recent Haute Couture Club of Chicago's fashion show. Each year we host a fashion where we showcase garments that we have made and we also award a scholarship to a fashion design student. The first 3 pictures are pieces that were designed by this year's scholarship winner. The pieces are modeled by a couple of our members. I thought this student was especially innovative and I thought that you too would enjoy seeing what she submitted.  

Now, for my garments. Most of them you have seen, but I thought I would go ahead and share the pictures. The cape in the picture below is from THIS Fabulous Free Pattern Friday post.

 You may remember the top from THIS Fabulous Free Pattern Friday post.

The jacket below was made for a post I did for Sew News on drafting a sailor collar. You can see it HERE.

One of my favorite t-shirts :) The sleeve is from THIS Sleeves On Saturdays post. The pattern for the t-shirt was featured on THIS Thrifty Thursday post.

The skirt below is from THIS Fabulous Free Pattern Friday post.

 As you can see, I went all out with the black and cream two-tone theme!

The show was titled, Through The Looking Glass and it revolved around the story of Alice in Wonderland. One of the segments was dedicated to over the top fascinators. Not the best picture of the fascinator, but it was fun. The dress was also made for a Sew News post on drafting dollars. You can see that post HERE. And the sleeves were done for THIS Sleeves On Saturdays post.

You may remember this trench coat from the Sew News Sewaholic Robson Trench Coat Sew Along. You can see the posts HERE.

And finally, my zebra dress. Fun to make and fun to wear. 

I had a couple other garments in the show, but the pictures weren't worth posting and you've seen them before, so you aren't missing anything ;)

A little shout out to Joan of http://jonadelefashions.blogspot.com/. I was so honored, she actually came all the way from California to see the show! What a delight it was to meet her!  

The show was such fun. It's a major effort to put it all together, but it's worth it. We already have our theme for next year's show and it's great! As soon as I know a date, I'll be sure to let you know.
Hope your week is off to a great start!
Rhonda

Sunday Night Reflections

We teach others how to treat us 

by what we allow,

what we stop,

and what we reinforce.

                                                                                                         Tony Gaskins

Give The Tongue a Treat with This Lovely Appetizer

After a bit of a hiatus, I'm back! Last Wednesday, I flew down to Texas for a short whirlwind trip and I had a wonderful time. It was great to see friends and just do fun things for a few days. On Thursday night, I was invited to have dinner with friends. Her daughter had taken a cooking class at Sur La Table and made the most delightful appetizer. She made it for me and, oh my goodness was it ever good!!! In fact, I could have just had it as my dinner and been completely happy. It's super easy to make, just the perfect last minute appetizer. Since I enjoyed it so much, I thought I would share it with you as well. Sadly, the recipe is not on the Sur La Table recipe page, but it's simple enough, so you can just print it out and save it if you think you might like to give it a try.

Baked Feta

8 oz. Greek Feta sliced into 1/2" thick slabs
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
1 teaspoon chopped thyme leaves
1/4 cup olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
1 jalapeno(or pepper of choice)sliced thin
Juice and zest of 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Place sliced feta in oven proof serving dish. Crush herbs between fingers and sprinkle over feta. Season generously with black pepper. Top feta with sliced jalapeno and drizzle over the olive oil.
Place dish in preheated oven and bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with lemon juice and zest. Serve with crackers or toasted slices of french bread.

This isn't the healthiest dish, by no means, but it is so good, and appetizers are not something we eat on a daily basis, so it's good to allow the tongue to have some fun from time to time!!!!

Enjoy!!!
Rhonda