Ah, where to begin....that was such a fun week!

I'll do all the fabric, construction details and a review of the jacket next Monday when its (hopefully) finished but this is how it looks right now - it needs a collar, three zippers, a hem and a lining.

I was thinking back to my first class this morning before I sat to write this, and remembered how nervous I was about walking into a room full of strangers, having no idea if my sewing was good enough, my project appropriate or my muslin "correct".

You soon learn however, that Susan has no such pre-conceived notions. She can make anything work... nothing fazes her.....ever.

and this project was no exception, I wanted to make a motor cycle jacket of all things, in a delicate cotton/silk cutout, quilt it, pad it and literally change the entire hand of the fabric to make it work..... and we did!

I finally feel that I am learning who I am as a sewer, I've found fabrics I love to work with (silk, lace, tafetta, matelasse and boucle) from Alice. I've fallen seriously hard for Marfy which are not only drafted beautifully and challenge me, but also fit me to perfection (although this Style Arc was pretty good!) and Susan continues to give me the skills and confidence to try these unexpected combinations I dream of.

Its a nice place to be.

So onto some fun pictures of the week......

I'm going to hound people for their finished garment pictures, as believe it or not most were using Marfy, which was seriously awesome, (and I admit, ever so slightly embarrassing that I was not!)

Beware ladies, the emails are coming!

and to start.....Is this not the most beautiful garment ever? look at those tiny delicate straps!

It was made last week by Norma of Orange Lingerie. She designs and sews the most amazing garments, and the above pattern was drafted by her.

She is in the process of launching her first bra pattern in June, and wants to release a camisole pattern towards the end of the year, so we all had the pleasure of watching her develop this as the week progressed. There is SO much involved, I had no idea....pattern research, drafting, grading, endless refinement of techniques, bias, bias trim (eek) lace, instructions....

I also got to see the cover art for the bra pattern, and its gorgeous, I am really really excited for her...

I'm going to try one (or five!) bra's when it is released as it fits nicely with my RTW pledge....and I think it will help me understand bodice fit so much more.

and serious result! she traced her drafted camisole pattern for me, so you know, there will be some of those made through out this summer, although don't expect them to look like the one above.. that takes mad skills!

Courtney was making a vintage dress out of ten yards of silk, ten of underlining and ten of lining!! I truly can't wait to see this completed as its so incredibly her, very feminine and beautiful...and Tracey was making the most amazing Marfy dress, which I really hope to show off soon!

Nel was sewing for a specific evening event, and had bought some incredible Valentino velvet for Marfy's 3027 jacket and a complimentary Valentino striped silk for a dress (both from Alice of course!!)

It was amazing to watch the construction of the jacket. The velvet was so lofty and the fabric in the pattern so distinct that hand sewing all the seams became the only viable option. A machine stitch would have crushed and distorted the square imprint design and made the seams stiff, but Nel's tiny back stitches preserved the hand, the fall of the jacket and look of the fabric.

and she has so kindly offered to do a full review when it is finished, with lots of pictures for anyone interested in making this pattern...

Cissie bought the most exquisite guipure lace I have ever seen from Janssens that she found on her trip with Susan to Paris last year .... apparently only a few yards were every made and she has the last two yards in existence... talk about a couture dress!

Its hard to describe the depth of the colours in this fabric, every flower was almost three dimensional, the colour saturation was so deep. It was heavy but soft to touch and the more you looked at it, the more intricate the designs became.

It screamed for a simple silhouette to showcase the lace, this dress is going to be so stunning .....

Diane was making a dress with a fitted bodice and full skirt from this Matelasse....I can't wait to show this one! pretty please Diane :-) !!

and the lovely Wendy, I went shopping with her last year in NYC after class finished, and she bought a couple of laces from Mendel that are so beautiful a photo cannot begin to do them justice.

She then took them home to Perth, spent the year gazing lovingly at them and bought one back for this years project, talk about well traveled!

Again the simplest of silhouettes for a lace this spectacular, the base dress is a Marfy....

and as I was lucky enough to sit next to her, I got to see this evolve step by step.

Interestingly, she said it sewed beautifully, was easy to manipulate and that the lace pattern was great for placement......but removing areas for seams and shaping was time consuming and complicated.

The entire piece was hand sewn to a organza backing, the ribbon attached using a chain stitch...so every millimeter was connected...every bead sewn and tied off, every flower stitched in a continuous round with tiny tiny hand stitches, which if you think about it is mind twisting...just how long did this take to make?!

So to remove anything on the lace was a process, as it had to be folded back and each tiny stitch snipped one by one by one. High class problems!

and just before we left, Wendy put it on for us.

Its now boarding a plane and is on its way back to Perth again!

and it was just lovely to see Sarah of Goodbye Valentino ..although as we were saying it should be Hello Valentino now...her dress is a stunner, head over for a look!

We also celebrated Cissies birthday with champagne and cake...and had a really good meal that evening.

Alice come down for a visit - and joined us for Cissie's b-day dinner, which was so much fun.

Although she ended up not getting quite the break she had planned as we talked her into filling her car with fabric, but it sure was nice for everyone to shop in such leisure!

I added a Prada lace to my stash.... so pretty!

and thats that, until I get my hands on more pictures! (Jean, Diana, Mary you know who I am talking about) :-)

So, its back to realty or as Cissie likes to say re-entry is hard!

I'll start my collar tomorrow and the slow process of finishing everything up on my jacket, I'd like to get some wear out of it before glorious summer arrives....

Have a great week everyone!

Leisa