Saturday, December 20, 2014

45: WINTER 2015 CLASSES

Thinking of starting a business?

Or maybe you need some nice new clothes and are tired of trying to make due with whatever you can find in the stores.

Rose Christopher,
owner of Victorian Vanities
models a mourning dress
she made to present information
about Victorian mourning customs.

Now is the time to learn the skills you need to make clothing that fits
and that you will really enjoy wearing. Janet, who has since finished
this certificate program, models her blouse in progress.

Now is the time to learn the skills you need to make exquisite clothing like that sold on Madison Avenue and/or to start your very own fashion business. Learning these skills will give you a wardrobe everyone will admire. Do you know that the sewing methods used in industry are different than the sewing methods used by home sewers? The professional skills taught in this program will help you start that fashion business you have always dreamed of.

Two courses are offered in January: Drafting & Fitting Pants and Skirts and Grading & Fitting a Blouse and Jacket. Drafting & Fitting Pants and Skirts is open to new students. Grading & Fitting a Blouse and Jacket is open ONLY to students who have completed the prerequisite, Fitting Home Sewing Patterns/Grading to Fit.

Here is the link to the course order form. Information about these courses is below.

The sewing in the program is
demonstrated on this
Feather-weight made in 1941,shown above, a machine
that only sews forward and back.

You do NOT need sewing experience. When you begin this program you need only to be able to sew two plies of fabric together on your machine at home.

You do NOT need expensive equipment. Whatever sewing machine you already have will be more than adequate. In fact, the higher-end the garment, the less complicated the machinery needed to make it.

You will need some simple drafting tools, the same drafting tools used in the industry to draft patterns.

Each student drafts and sews to her personal fit.

Each student drafts and sews to her personal fit, learning in the process how garments need to be drafted and sewn to fit real human people.

Laurel explains a drafting procedure to Kathy

All procedures are demonstrated as many times as needed for students to learn the work. All procedures are hands-on. All procedures are as done in high-end designing departments.

Drafting & Fitting Pants & Skirts
10 three-hour classes on Saturdays

Custom fitting a correctly drafted
pant pattern produces a muslin
that fits.

Preventing pulls under the
crotch requires expert drafting,
as taught in this course.

Drafting & Fitting Pants and Skirts

is offered in the afternoon from

1 pm - 4 pm on Saturdays

January 17, 24, 31,
February 7, 14, 21, 28,

March 7, 14, 21

1 pm - 4 pm

$350 for the 10 week course

Classroom testing over the past 20 years
ensures that the formulas work.

Students also need to buy Drafting & Fitting Pants and Skirts and Sewing Pants and Skirts, a 2 book set. that enables the students to draft their pant patterns to fit in 10 weeks.

Grading & Fitting a Blouse & Jacket

Prerequisite: Fitting Home Sewing Patterns/Grading to Fit

No exceptions

10 three-hour classes on Saturdays

In the prerequisite course

students developed and

tested personal slopers.

Here Laurel checks

Cheryl's sloper.

First session - winter:

January 17, 24, 31, February 7, 14, 21, 28,

March 7, 14, 21

9 am - noon

Second session - spring:

April 11,18, 25, May 2, 9, 16, 30, June 6, 13, and 20.

No class May 23 - Memorial Day weekend

Price: $350.00 for each session

9 am - noon

$350 for each 10 week course

Because this is two courses taught simultaneously,

most students will need to take this course twice.

This classroom tested book
contains 384 fully diagrammed pages.

This classroom tested book
contains 304 fully diagrammed pages.

Textbooks
Students also need to buy either Grading & Sewing a Blouse $75.00 wholesale, plus $4.50 tax $79.50, or Grading & Sewing a Jacket, $95.00 wholesale, plus $5.70 tax $100.70.

In the Fitting Home Sewing/Grading to Fit course students developed personal slopers. Slopers are basic patterns from which style patterns are developed. Stephanie models a muslin bodice that was cut from a pattern drafted from her custom sloper. A skirt has just been draped and pinned onto the bodice. A strapless neckline has been marked on the muslin. The end result will be a gown she will wear to a costume convention.

In the upcoming blouse/jacket course Stephanie will grade a blouse pattern to her custom fit using the grading coordinates she developed in Fitting Home Sewing Patterns/Grading to Fit. Read about Stephanie's activities with costuming,

Laurel

Course order form

Books are available for sale.

Visit www.Laurelhoffmann.com - to order published books,

e-mail, or phone 215 884 7065.

Visit www.ContemporaryFashionEducation.com for more information about the school

Facebook: Contemporary Fashion Education, Inc.
http://contemporaryfashioneducation.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/LaurelHoffmann1

All material on this blog is copyrighted by and is the exclusive right of Laurel Hoffmann.

If you decide to buy any of my books, please consider the following:

Illegal copies of books are often offered on the net as used, like new to avoid the copyright laws. Priced slightly below the author’s book prices, customers are unaware that they are buying what may be an inferior copy. All of my books are constantly being classroom checked for accuracy. Any of my books, sold as used, like new, are out of date and may be illegally copied.

All of my books are printed in-house, by my business. To receive the latest, updated book, please purchase my books from any of the websites listed below:

The books are available from either of my two websites: http://www.laurelhoffmann.com/order-books.html or http://contemporaryfashioneducation.com/order-books.html

Two companies on the net are also authorized to sell my books.

The books can be purchased from Inside Fashion’s bookshelf at http://www.insidefashionlive.com/Bookshelf/tabid/94/Default.aspx.

Fashiondex sells Design Room Techniques at this link: http://www.fashiondex.com store/proddetail.php?prod=125&cat=34

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

44: BEAUTY SECRETS

Here are some inexpensive products that REALLY and TRULY work, all of which I've tested, use, and recommend to my students:

CeraVe Moisturizing Cream, $14.99 at Walgreens
Size/Count 16.0 oz. Huge bottle, lasts all winter

Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula with Vitamin E
Sold everywhere for just under $10.00

Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula with Vitamin E heals & softens rough, dry skin. Amazing how much difference this product makes, especially in the winter. I prefer the plastic bottle with the pump, shown here.

For removing make up

Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser - For all skin types, this mild, non-irritating formula softens as it cleans. Priced at just under $10.00 for 16 fl oz (473 ml) A bottle lasts forever.

Glycerin soap is an all purpose soap that is gentle to the skin.
Cruelty-free, biodegradable, natural, no artificial colors.

I buy 10 or 12 cakes at a time. I use it not just in the bath, but also to remove stains from clothing, including ball pen ink. It's one of the best kept secrets around. Find it at Whole Foods.

Pregnancy safe, formaldehyde & Dibutyl Phthalate free,
this is the nail polish to use if you have problem nails. For nail care visit the company's site.

Although this nail polish comes in every color of the rainbow, my all time favorite is the color, Protect Plus Color (Pink) Ref# 1071, that you see here. $16.00 and worth every penny!

Not sure of what color lipstick is the best color for you?
Tangee is the answer

Tangee Lipstick $14.95 is the Original Tangee Lipstick that changes color to complement your skin. Visit the Vermont Country Store for that and many other products from long ago that really work.

AVEDA foundation

inner light™ mineral tinted moisture broad spectrum spf 15

This is the best foundation I have ever used. You will need to go online to find a store to learn where to buy it the first time so as to determine the right shade for your skin.

Available at CVS and the Acme among other stores for approximately $1.50 for a 32 fl oz (1 QT), TRESeeme' MOISTURE RICH conditioner is the solution for preventing winter dried out hat hair.

Glop it on after shampooing. Use plenty, at this price you can certainly afford it, and you'll be overjoyed to find the difference in your hair..

One last tip. Buy a pair of gloves to match every winter coat you own. Put the gloves in the coats' pockets so as to have them available every time you are outside.

Laurel

www.Laurelhoffmann.com- published books
www.ContemporaryFashionEducation.com- school
Facebook: Contemporary Fashion Education, Inc.
http://contemporaryfashioneducation.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/LaurelHoffmann1

e-mail

Phone: 215 884 7065

All material on this blog is copyrighted by and is the exclusive right of Laurel Hoffmann.

Monday, October 6, 2014

43: BARBIE’S PROM GOWN

Barbie, dressed for a 1958 high school prom

What does one do when visiting Cape May on vacation? Why make Barbie a prom gown, of course.

Cape May beach in September

I had taken my daughter on vacation, but she needs a lot of sleep, so as she slept I made the Barbie dress I had promised to bring to my high school reunion’s silent auction. The gown is layered with tulle, the style in 1958 when we graduated.

As I worked this is what I saw out my window. No better place to sew.

Fortunately the motel room had a plaid floor covering
making it easier to cut the fabric on grain.

Ironing the mussed tullenette
was difficult because the iron
was pretty awful.

Fortunately the motel room where we were staying had a plaid pattern in the floor covering, allowing me to lay the fabric out on grain for cutting. The tullenette was mussy from being packaged, so I pressed it with the motel iron, without question the worst iron I have ever used.

To make the skirt as full as possible, two circles would be sewn together. Since the easiest way to make Barbie clothes is to self-line, that meant cutting four full circles of the satin. The tullenette would not be lined of course, but to give body to the skirt 2 full circles of tullenette would form the underskirt, and to produce the 1958 styling, 2 full circles of the tullenette would form the over skirt.

The skirt pattern's circle at the waist has a 1/4 inch diameter.
The length of the skirt pattern is 9 inches from the center
of the circle.

The skirt pattern, shown here in the process of being cut, is slightly longer than the doll from her waist to the floor. The skirt pattern's circle at the waist has a 1/4 inch diameter. The length of the skirt pattern is 9 inches from the center of the circle.

I’m using a different Barbie then will wear the finished dress. This is my fit model Barbie that I use to check the fit when I make Barbie clothes.

The skirt now cut, its time to sew the side seams together and then sew the hem.

Thank goodness for my little featherweight. Manufactured in 1943, it sews just like the industrial lockstitch machines (sewing machines that use bobbins) in the industry. A little slower, perhaps, but this machine has the same accuracy and the same beautiful stitch as the industry's workhorses. And it’s light and easy to transport.

.

Sewing the lace to the sewn edge of the hem.

The hem and side seams sewn, the lace is now being sewn around the edge of the hem

The bodice pattern. Eliminating the side seams
eliminated fraying.

Eliminating the side seams from the bodice pattern eliminates fraying and makes the sewing faster. It's often easier if one side of the pattern is cut on the selvage as that provides a natural seam finish which can lie under the other side in the back, but that wasn't the case with the satin.

Cutting two plies of the bodice pattern so as to self-line is the
easiest way to sew the bodice.

Cutting two plies of the bodice pattern so as to self-line the bodice is the easiest way to sew Barbie doll clothes. The darts are sewn separately, the neckline then is sewn and raise-stitched.

Before sewing the bodice to the skirt a slit was cut in the center of the back circle of the skirt. It was then bound with satin.

Sometimes one has to take a little time to determine
how to finish a dress. Here lace is draped over the doll
to try and determine how best to finish trimming the dress.

It was obviously impossible to sew the bodice to the waist on the sewing machine. So first the outside of the bodice was hand sewn to the skirt, then the lining was hand sewn to the skirt. Then very small metal hooks and loops were sewn to the back opening.

The dress was supposed to be strapless, but Barbie proved to be unable to hold the dress up. So hand crocheted straps were added to the dress.

Not sure of how to finish the dress the excess lace is draped over the doll to see what would look the best.

Then went off for a little dolphin and whale watching while deciding how to finish the dress.

We saw lots of dolphins, because they mate in the bay at Cape May.
Bit unfortunately, even though we went way out in the ocean, we
saw no whales. Turns out the whales come up to Cape May to feed.
They live on that food while wintering in the Caribbean Islands.

Time to take a break. After all, we are on vacation!

With no bobbin or safety pin to pull the tie through the casing,
a presser foot was used and proved to work just as well.

How to transport the doll and dress home without snagging the satin? The only solution was to make a bag with the excess fabric and lace. But then how to pull the tie through the casing? Simple answer, thread it through an excess presser foot. Worked like a dream.

Here’s Barbie at the silent action, waiting for bids. She's sitting on her carrying bag.

What could be better than a happy
grandfather with a new Barbie, dressed
for the prom, to give his little granddaughter?

And here’s Bob, my high school classmate with his prize

that he won for his little seven-year-old granddaughter.