Clothes worth Wearing

I started sewing with all the girls in my grade 7 class. We walked to the local high school and took the home ec class. I loved it, the sewing part not the cooking, and continued with the program all through high school. In grade 10 I entered a sewing competition and won a Vogue Sewing book. I like to call it the sewing bible. After high school wanting to continue with my sewing I went to Humber Collage and took Fashion. After that I went to Georgian College and enrolled in the textiles and weaving coarse. Many years later (I won't say how many) I borrowed a serger, bought a new sewing machine and ordered fabric. My pattern making skills were minimal but I bought a book and taught myself. The surface design of fabric, the sewing skills and the manipulation of fabric have stayed with me. I have come full circle and am glad to be back.

I start my fashion process by getting back to the Humber College idea of looking at fashion magazines. I looked to see what the trend forecast is and what Marc Jacobs is up to. Favourite pictures of colour combinations, textures, and anything else of interest are ripped out of the magazines and pasted into my sketch book. I find it's best to buy the magazine from the Quicky Mart first before ripping out pages. Initial drawings are done in the sketch book. Ideas are interpreted on the table using my basic block pattern. See home schooling is good. Patterns are drawn, cut out, sewn together in muslin and tried on by Judy. She's such a good model. Always there ready to help. No yelling when I stick a pin into her. Patterns are altered as I go until I like it. I cut out and sew up the final fabric piece and get feed back from Cait. Once everything is a go I size the pattern and I'm off to the races.