The creation of this ensemble required much more problem solving than might appear. The fabric is a lovely designer boucle from Mendel Goldberg Fabrics and the contrast color stripes, both vertical and horizontal, presented a challenge in matching.
I constructed the sheath dress first. The darker navy stripe looked too dominate when placed on the center front. A better placement was to have the more muted blue stripe at center front. Placing the same at center back resulted in two dark navy lines next to each other along the side seam which didn’t look so wonderful. The solution was to move the center back just slightly and also shift the side seam towards the back.
The jacket was to be just below the waist with 3/4 length sleeves. My goal was to have the dominant stripes line up when the jacket and dress were worn together. A classic French jacket design has princess seams ending at the shoulder. While cutting the fabric as per the pattern fit my client’s custom padded mannequin, the extreme mismatch of the fabric design wasn’t so great.
My customary way of dealing with this is to shift the princess line closer to the neck and use steam to manipulate the fabric into shape. Anyone who has taken a French jacket class with me has experimented with this technique. Unfortunately, the fabric just wouldn’t cooperate. This boucle was mostly cotton, which doesn’t yield as easily as wool, to heat and steam. I might have been able to get away with putting in a dart, but the converging lines on the upper chest didn’t look great.
What worked best was to rotate the princess seam into a horizontal bust dart. I created a new princess seam which was shifted closer to the side seam and away from the bust point. Waist shaping was incorporated into the seam. Cut along the new seam line. The part of the dart closest to the side seam can be joined while the remainder of the dart forms what’s known as a Dior dart. Apply the same alteration to the back pattern by relocating the princess seam to start in the armseye. Waist shaping gets moved to the new seam lines.
Finished result of all this careful pattern work and attention to stripe placement. Vertical lines on both the dress and jacket match!! I was careful to place the horizontal pink stripes away from the fullest part of the bust. The Dior dart was also placed midway between two pink horizontal stripes so not not to appear awkward when sewn. Keeping the spacing between pink stripes consistent between the dress and jacket also needed to be taken into consideration. It probably looks effortless but if you’ve ever matched plaids, know otherwise.
The lining is a Pucci print chiffon underlined with pink silk crepe de chine. Yes, the lining was underlined. The chiffon print was such a perfect compliment to the boucle it had to be used but too transparent to hide the inner construction. Interestingly white underlining didn’t make the chiffon as opaque as a light pink.
Finishing details were handworked buttonholes with the reverse side of buttonholes finished with very narrow faux bound buttonholes. I used a variety of coordinating yarns plus a few fibers pulled from the boucle yardage as trim.
So much thought went into the creation of this and my client is thrilled with the result. Thanks for reading.
Amazing work!
Thank you
Just stunning.
Thanks
What a phenomenal project. Truly inspirational. Thank you for sharing what is possible. Wow.
Thank you
You’re pride in your work and attention to detail is evident, but your hard work and struggle aren’t because you’ve again achieved perfection. You’re truly amazing at your craft.
Thank you for generously sharing your methods.
Thanks so much for your glowing compliments and for reading.
You are a talented artist Mary. The suit is exquisite and flawless.
Thank you. She’s thrilled with the look.
That is so good! No wonder your client is pleased, it’s true haute couture.
Thank you. Loads of details to figure out.
Wow! Phenomenal job with the pattern matching and the placement of the light/dark lines. Really well done!
Thanks. It took some thinking but got it done.
Amazing Mary!! The owner of this garment is extremely lucky!!
Thank you. Yes, she’s thrilled
Mary, You are an absolute genius and wizard of pattern matching and I am in awe of all you do.
Your client must be totally thrilled with such an exquisite ensemble.
Thank you for the glowing compliments.
Mary, as usual this is outstanding. You stuck through all hiccups and produced a beautiful ensemble. I love it and agree with your thought process on the strong vertical lines. That’s one of the main things I’ve learned from you—stay the course, figure it out!
So incredibly beautiful! And exquisite workmanship! I’d love to know how many hours it look to create these couture pieces.
Thank you. I didn’t keep a record of time but guessing about 50 hours.
Thanks. Absolutely correct: I don’t have it all figured out from the start. I often step back, analyze the issues and figure out how to solve it.
Mary, this ensemble displays superb workmanship! You make it appear so effortless and I know otherwise.
Beautifully executed and I’m sure your client is thrilled. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you. Appears easy until you start analyzing.
Thank you. We are both very happy with the final result.
This is just stunning Mary!
Thank you
Oh Mary I can just imagine how thrilled your client was. This is amazing. Your persistence and patience to get everything right is inspiring and it certainly pays off. Thank you for sharing in such detail.
Bernadette
If something isn’t perfect it bothers me. I probably see things that the client wouldn’t notice. Thanks for reading.
oMG it gives me a headache to thinking all that matching and guesthouse you think stripe placement . I am very impressed . I think that maybe you are the most accomplished dressmaker I have come across in the internet . Thankyou for sharing Mary
Glad you enjoyed this and hope it wasn’t too complicated. Thanks for reading.
All I can say is WOW!! Absolutely spectacular
Thank you.
Genius! It’s a work of art.
Thank you.
A work of art, as always!
Thank you.
Beautiful!
Thanks
This is truly extraordinary— such a beautiful ensemble. Thank you for all the great sewing and patternmaking lessons contained in your post—so much to learn here, no matter how much experience one has. Thanks for sharing your work and your ever so thoughtful process.
Penny Hanstein
Thank you. Yes, loads of info in this post. It was an involved project. Thanks for reading.
Such a beautiful garment and generous sharing of your technique, especially the dart manipulation. Lovely! –MaggieO
Thanks. Glad it was clear and helps.
Wow beautiful
Thank you.
I love seeing the ingenuity that went into this. It’s fantastic.
Thank you.
What an extraordinary thought process! It is a privilege to learn from your expertise. Thanks for taking the time to photograph and write so clearly. You have a very fortunate client!
Thank you. Always enjoy working with you. Glad you enjoyed this.
Always in awe of your work. Just fabulous!
Thanks
Your work with this ensemble is exquisite.
Thank you
Thanks
I am in awe. It is beautiful…looks like it just ‘grew there’ but it took your special talent to pull it off. I love and appreciate all of your talent and are so willing to share it with we sewists out here.
Thanks. I think details may look effortless but take more thought than might appear. Thanks for the compliments
This is stunning and clearly a lot of work! Where do you source the Chanel buttons?
Thank you. Look at vintage auctions. I’m continually searching.
That is beautiful and thank you for sharing this with us!
Thank you and thanks for your compliments
Stunning as usual with all the lines matching and all facets of construction prefectly planned out! Love the lining and braided trim…magnificient Mary!
Thank you.
I loved your beautiful Chanel inspired suit with the braiding of the different threads. That customer is very lucky to be getting that suit. She will receive many compliments I am sure. Donna Kiley
Thank you. The custom trim looked much better than anything pre made
Thank you.
Hi Mary, your suit is beautiful. I like all of the techniques you use. I love using those spools to keep track of the yarn when making the trims. The wearer of that beautiful Chanel sui5 is a lucky person. Donna Kiley
Thanks. Yes, the bobbins make it much easier and no tangled up yarns.
Absolutely stunning, and I really appreciate the step by step photos and description of your thought process.
I am starting my own Chanel inspired boucle jacket and have a very large, and high bust so the information provided is really useful.
I have one question; when you 1st cut the pattern, did you leave the front and side attached, and pin or baste the seams? I am wary of losing fabric due to waste if I have to redraft the pattern as you have shown.
Thank you again for sharing expertise, if I was closer I would be knocking at your door for help 🤣
Thanks for reading. I will often thread trace garment sections onto the uncut fabric and pin together to assess what the final look will be. That way you haven’t cut into expensive fabric and been unhappy with result.