Photo: www.metmuseum.org
This week, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, USA, opens a new exhibition about fashion "Over time: fashion and duration". It shows fashion trends from 1870 until now. It is amazing to notice how fashion has developed and yet the past and present are looking very similar.
The performance presents itself in a timeline of two galleries. A clock indicates 60 minutes and works symbolically. Every minute represents a fashion trend over the past 150 years. The present is placed next to the past and indicates 'Duration' (the duration). The garments are very similar in structure, shapes and concept. The present and the past have been perfectly matched. The clothing is black so that the emphasis stays on the silhouette and you are not distracted by color and fabric design. At the end a white dress from Viktor & Rolf, 2020, made of patchwork and upcycled materials appears. This symbolizes the future: sustainability as a concept.
Enjoying the exhibition at home
Due to the corona restrictions it is impossible for most of us, to visit this exhibition in New York. Nevertheless, we think it is worth mentioning and offer an alternative by enjoying the above video for a few minutes. And do you want to continue to support art? Then you can always order the accompanying book in the museum shop. Not a bargain, but a unique book for the real fashion lover and book collector. 
 'In the Bubble: Fashion's Cocooning Shapes Stage a Spring 2021 Comeback '. We are a bit shocked by the new trend spotted by Vogue. Vogue has an article about the new spring fashion. The trends of the catwalk are discussed which are often translated in the mass market fashion for the general public a few weeks later. The bubble is becoming a trend. Living in a bubble We hear more and more about this term. People are feeling like the live in a bubble. This means: the social contacts are limited by the quarantine or other measures to contain the spread of the corona virus. We all keep our distance and avoid birthdays, parties and events for a while. This feels like you are living in a bubble. Fortunately, we can all maintain contacts from our study- or living room and have the feeling we are not alone. Many of us are also lucky enough to be able to continue working digitally from home. Nevertheless, what may be a relief for some (a lot of the social pressure has disappeared and traffic jams are a problem of the past), is a complete disaster for others. Feeling isolated is a bad feeling... But what does this have to do with fashion?  Home clothing is not Haute couture We stay at home and why would we dress neatly when our colleagues or friends only see you, on your screen behind the pc. up to your waist? Most people have barely made any effort to dress themselves for eight months now. Why should you? In comfortable clothing you feel better and you work without any 'clothing' stress. Sweatpants under your neat blouse? Nobody will even notice. But according to Vogue, fashion designers have gone a step further. We live in 'a bubble', well then we will also dress like a bubble. Beautiful photos of Haute couture are shown from the fifties. Grotesque shapes and the puff sleeves seems to be a new trend. And the variations on this theme for the spring of 2021. But would it work? Aren't we taking up a bit too much space on our small screen with Zoom when we start wearing inflated clothes? You will get noticed for sure... >) Maybe in time the crinoline, the Victorian crinoline, will be back on the streets again. If you do go out while wearing a crinoline, it will be sure people will keeping distance. After all, the crinoline was also intended to keep social distance in the past, but the motifs were based on other considerations. Not for fear of a virus infection....  New 'bubble' sewing patterns. A new sustainable future We are curious what fashion will bring us next spring. We encourage every initiative with regard to sustainability, zero waste materials, recycling and upcycling. We are already seeing 'Bubble' and 'comfy' clothing in the fall of 2020 and we have 'spotted' in new sewing patterns and magazines. They look great and wearable for everyone. But we still love our beautiful Chanel-style jacket. Bet you will also stand out on Zoom or if you are skyping with your employer, friends or family. We will not talk about those sweatpants underneath, nobody sees them anyway;>)   Vogue V8959 is a sewingpattern of a cape. Last Saturday we read in the Volkskrant magazine (Dutch) that capes are very trendy and there were capes all over on the latest catwalks. Time to start to sew a cape! And of course we created the cape in 'Chanel style'! Vogue V8959 Sewing pattern Vogue V8959 is a timeless classic. The sewing pattern is a pattern for a lined, wide cape in three different lengths, with a round collar and side seams and a back seam. The sides have openings as armholes. The cape has a front closure, which is closed with buttons or one button at the top. Recommended fabrics: wool, wool mixes, tweeds, brocade and tafetta. Bouclé can be added to this list as well. This fabric is very suitable for a cape. The fabric is nice and warm and often very suitable for a cape. The cape then appears less massive (if the cape is made from uni colored fabric) due to the different shades of bouclé yarns. Sewing level Sewing level: VERY EASY is recommended. We do not think the cape is a great project for absolute beginners. But with a little help from someone else, a beginner can make this cape. However, don't underestimate it, because cutting the fabric, sewing the collar and sleeve openings and making the finishing touches requires a little sewing experience. Quilting the lining We quilted the cape in Chanel style. This means that we have sewn the silk lining on the inside of bouclé fabric. A very time-consuming job, but the cape is now truely Haute couture according to the vision of Claire Shaeffer. She explains this nicely in all her books about Couture techniques and specifically in the book "The couture cardgan jacket". We made the cape from black / gray / white bouclé fabric and a light gray silk lining fabric. There is a trespa wool trims around the entire cape that gives the cape a beautiful finish. Pros:
Cons:
 Summarized:
Vogue V8959 is a great sewing pattern to make a cape in 'Chanel-Style' jacket according to the vision of Coco Chanel and explained by Claire Shaeffer. (in the instructions for this pattern and in all of her books). Capes are also very trendy this season again and great outerwear for autumn and winter. If you make the cape of a neutral color, it will also match ány outfit.  A Chanel-style jacket made from fabric leftovers? Yes, that's possible. Even though the remnants are really very small. With a little more than a meter of fabric (in total!) you can create the small jacket. Read our instructions and tips in this blog. Fabric leftovers and sustainability We do not like waste fabrics. We have often come up with ideas to do something with fabric leftovers. We have also already talked about patchwork. Sewing pieces of fabric together to finally make something beautiful out of the 'patchwork blanket' is a great trend! Above all, it shows that you are carefull with raw materials (and the environment), you do not like to waste fabrics and are very creative! And now you atre creating a really chic 'Chanel-Style' jacket from fabric leftovers. Like this jacket!  Sewing pattern with princess lines We have opted for a sewing pattern with princess lines. We had found a sewing pattern ourselves in the old 'Thuismode' workshops. This jacket is short, has princess lines and requires none lining. Ideal for our project. Alternatives: Make sure the sewing pattern contains these elements:
This allows you to work with small pieces of fabric to create the chic little jacket.  Our Chanel-style 'remnants' jacket We used Bouclé fabric leftovers which all match in terms of color and consistency. The fabric should not be too firm, neither too loose. We made the back pieces of gray bouclé fabric and the fabric we liked the most: the large pattern parts of the sleeves and the middle back part. We made the front panels from the fabric that we liked the most and we had two remnants left for the smaller parts of the sleeves. The fringes are made of the front panel fabric and we have made long thin fringes. Because the jacket is not lined, we finished the bottom, sleeves and front panel with a bias band (on the inside) and the fringes on the outside. If you have less fabric, you can also choose to leave the front panels open. This always goes well with a Chanel-style jackets and makes the fringes look even better. We did not use facings or interfacings. Because we did not use a lining, the jacket is extra warm but also vulnerable. Pay close attention to this when wearing the jacket and especially what you wear underneath. A t-shirt prevents damage; a blouse can sometimes pull threads of the bouclé fabric through the buttons and cuffs.  Conclusion:
You can do a lot with fabric leftovers. Mix the fabrics and feel free to make something unique. It's nice when the colors match well, in our case: blue, gray, red and pink, but feel free to go bold(er). Keep this rule in mind: make sure that the fabrics match together in terms of structure and composition. (A pied-de-poule fabric or a checkered fabric would be too much of a good thing ...) If you 'style' the jacket with plain pants, skirt and a simple white shirt underneath; then a 'color shock' is very chique and modern. Do you still have some fabric leftovers? Create a clutch (see our green clutch) or make some extra fringes. The thicker and longer the fringes, the more beautiful and the more 'Chanel style'! Good luck!  Do you have a few centimeters of beautiful tweeds or silk fabrics left from your project? In this blog we present a few examples of how to use small pieces of fabric to make beautiful and fun accessories. we do not like the idea of throwing away fabrics... even if they are little pieces. Do you agree? Beautiful fabrics Of course we know that the entire internet already contains a lot of blogs from creative people with fantastic ideas, with step-by-step guidelines, to help you to make some lovely gifts for yourself or your beloved friends or family. We are not pretending to show on this website some unique projects which has not been around already. But our ideas are unique as they are just small objects which you are able to create in order to match the jackets or the skirt. When the jacket or the skirt is made for a client or a friend, it is a nice present as a personal "extra" and a very personal touch. The jacket or skirt IS already something very personal, but a small gift extra, makes it even more luxurious and personal. A little (extra) personal gift Apart from the fun of gratefulness when you give the little extra away, we are also very sensible for the idea of being sustainable and not just throwing away expensive beautiful materials. Tweeds, Bouclé fabrics and Silk or other lining-fabrics are not always very useful to save for quilts or patchwork-projects. They are too thick, too much loose threads or silk; too delicate and difficult to match with other fabrics. So we stick to some useful ideas to make wonderful accessories from our left-overs. If you have some ideas yourself or if you want to show your project; your wonderful bag, your beautiful laptop-cover or whatever; just send it to use and we will publish it.  About patchwork It is possible to make lovely patchwork from fabrics as tweed and wool. Use some interfacing on the wrong side when the threads are very loose. If you iron it, it will stay together and it will work out much better. We have created some patchwork-blankets out of tweed fabrics. The blanket will be very heavy for sure, but choosing a light-weight woolen fabric as back-fabric would be a good idea. No inside extra fiber needed for sure.... Bouclé fabrics and silks are nice to save for small bags, make-up bags, eye glasses cases, scarfs, just some beautiful tablecloths or small cloths to use in in the wardrobe closet. It is nice to work with bindings or to create the fringes. Speaking about fringes; bouclé fabrics are also very nice to save for fringes-projects. You you can tear the fabric apart and make braids with the threads or or cut them into narrow strips, sew them and unravel them. Beautiful examples are explained in the book: 'Making Designers Trims' by Claire Schaeffer. Whatever you decide to do.. Beautiful and expensive fabrics are worth to save or to up-use for other projects. Cheap and fabrics you do not like, are perfect to save for projects when you need interfacings to bulk the fabric or just to practise a sewing technique. If you save fabrics; be sure they are be sure that they are well preserved so they will not stink, mold or moths are ruining the fabrics. If you buy second-hand fabrics; be careful they are stored right. It is not very nice to buy fabrics from people who smoke in their studio's or galleries. The smell will not disappear.... Last but not least: Trade or give fabrics to others. We have received out-dated and old-fashioned fabrics which were great for vintage projects and accessories. Nobody has the same style and taste. It is also very likely fanrics are beautiful for combinations with other fabrics, which you probably did not see on first sight. Take a look around at patchwork-works. Combinations are often very beautiful, but you would never buy the fabric on its own. Patchwork blankets and accessories are always nice. And even if they are totally out-dated or too ugly to enjoy; the dog will love it in its dog basket....  1. A real tailor's ham 2. Glasses cases A nice gift from a tiny bit of tweed and fabric which was left over after sewing the Chanel-Style Brown tweed jacket. This handy pocket is made for your eye-glasses or your phone; although for most phones it might be a bit too small. You only have to cut out two pieces of fabric sizes: 10 cm (4"inch) x 15 cm (7"inch) and the same from the silk lining. The top of one of the small sides: round as half-circles. Sew the part apart from each other and quilt them as your jackets. Close three sides by hand with the same sewing-technique as sewing the seams of the jacket. Top-stitch the half circles. Attach a closure or a button. If you want the glasses case to be soft and protective for your glasses; attach a fiber interfacing before starting the quilting process. The best tutorial: Sew a Glasses Case 3. Practicing quilting turned into small bag: When starting to sew a Chanel Style or Inspired jacket, it is a real good advice to practice a bit on a piece of fabric and the lining behind it. This is the quilting part and once you started to quilt the lining for a jacket, you will repeat it over and over. Why ? Simply because it wears wonderful and it is a complete different and slow way of sewing, but much rewarding as well. Sometimes the "practice-piece-of-fabric" looks good and you do not want to throw it away.... And now you know what works best; hand sewing, sewing the lining silk (inside)-side up or the tweed-side fabric up... A small bag; made from a "practicing fabric" and the silk lining quilted on the inside. Use: glasses case, handy-case, make-up bag... whatever, it is a nice bag and always handy.  4. Make-up bag from Tweed fabric, silk lining and a metal gold zipper: 5. Glasses case from Silk fabric, lined with fleece: Silk and lined with fleece Glasses case. We do not want to throw the silk away and it does not work for a quilt or Patchwork piece-of-art. Make-up bags, mobile bags or glasses cases are always good. 6. Chanel-look hats and tweed-hats A very simple sewing pattern will be very useful to create hats from fabrics-remnants. You only need a little faric to make these lovely hats. Silk lining will even make them better and sophisticated. Here are our options. Sewing pattern: Simplicity 6745 7. Little 'Chanel-Style' lady-vest A vest does not need so much fabric. You can even decide to make the backside of elastic material or some different fabric. So you just need a very small amount of fabric. Sewing this in the same technique as a Chanel-jacket, makes it look beautiful on the inside too. Sewingpattern: New Look 6914 works well! More ideas? Sure!  Social trends and fashion trends follow each other rapidly. But who is actually 'making' these trends is and how is it predicted? Where do trends come from? And who would have thought in 2020 the face mask would appear on the streets and even become a fashion accessory? Nobody right? What is a trend? When you talk about trends, the description quickly reveals: a trend watcher, trendsetters or trend followers. Some people live for trends and always seem to be at the forefront of trends. They have had solar panels on their roof for twenty years, did not like greetings with kisses and already walked barefoot in their shoes. So these people are the trendsetters! And then suddenly everybody seems to follow them. Trend followers are happy to participate as soon as possible. Because they don't want to stay behind (these people are called latecomers) or they don't participate at all (loners). As soon as everybody follows a trend, the trend is a fact. And we all suddenly walk with low-waist jeans, clogs and the same haircut. Trend followers do not want to stay behind Trend followers are carefully watching trendsetters and 'copy' them. Is this a sign of insecurity, afraid of deviating from the norm? This will certainly play a role in the lives of younger people. They like to belong to a group and conform to the rules of conduct and codes. Whether or not formal or informal (= unwritten 'rules'). The latecomers and loners But there are also loners and latecomers. You see this more often in people from their thirties. The loners determine their own style, deliberately no longer participate in trends or are simply not interested in (fashion-)trends at all. The latecomers are 'against' any trend, but perhaps also because of 'laziness'; if there are no more older models of jeans available, then let's buy the low-waist jeans. Who cares? And if you receive a subsidy for solar panels or the entire neighborhood participates, than... why not ...?  Originals To make it even more fun: the originals are people who deliberately do not participate in trends, but determine everything themselves, make or create their own trends and like to stand out because of their unique, own style. Everyone probably knows for example the one woman in the neighborhood, who has been wearing long skirts for years, who seems to have stepped out of the seventies, has her own vegetable garden, goes shopping on a scooter and is vegetarian when it suits her. She does not participate in trends, does not live by dogma's and she has her own unique lifestyle. Unlike the loners, the originals are often people who protest against the current norm. And because of their own style and individuality, they also form a group to a certain extent. Where do trends come from? Trends are often predicted by trend watchers. These are people who have made their profession of picking up movements, visions and changes in society and making predictions. They are hired by all kinds of companies. These trend watchers are on top of politics, are in the middle of life and are very sensitive to details that can have major consequences. Foresight and a vision are their 'skills'. They translate them into any upcoming trends. They like to call themselves visionars or futurists. Trend watchers are well paid for their lectures and companies often cling to defined concepts which they translate into new products or services. Are trend watchers able to predict everything? No absolutely not. Often enough, unexpected things happen in society on a global level. This can be of short-term significance or become a major game-changer. Sometimes the whole world is shocked by an event, but a month later you don't hear about it. While other events take place that have major consequences for everyone, in every corner of society. Think of the pandemic and climate change. What do trends mean for (DIY) fashion? We suddenly work at home en masse and fashion is adapting. How necessary is it to wear a suit behind Zoom? Today's designers have already incorporated the new trend into their collections. Fashion is becoming more comfortable, fresher, more monotonous in color (prints are much too busy on small screens) and a combination of comfortable / business-like design is being designed. After six months, everyone is fed up with those comfortable sweatpants, and people are longing for easy but representative fashion. Self-made fashion is often influenced by the sewing magazines and sewing patterns which are showing the new trends. Fabric stores also release fashion fabrics that come directly from the new trends on the catwalk. But seamstresses also often choose their own style and 'play' with (vintage) patterns of all times. This is mainly because the creativity of seamstresses is not limited to the trends dictated by others. Moreover: if you can make something unique and give a personal touch to a garment, then you do it , right? And trends are also born by seamstresses, just think of the upcycling of clothing and the homemade masks, who were already created by seamstress before they were for sale in stores.  Skepticism and the sign of the times
Predicting the future and trends is magic or just the sign of the times. Especially when it turns out that the unexpected 'game changers' play such an important role in responses to trends. You may ask yourself how important it is to participate in fashion trends. (You cannot escape social trends; no one lives in a cabin in the woods or is invisible by the Tax Authorities. We all participate in the spirit of the times that determines how we behave, what we eat, how we work, spend our leisure time and we eat.) Your own style Apart from that ... it is more fun to discover ans create your own style! Whether you are a trendsetter, a trend follower, a latecomer or a loner; your own choice comes first and what you create and wear. Women who are enjoying to sew their own clothes or being creative in some other way, have known this for a long time. Whether you participate in a fashion trend or not; your creativity is your own style! |
Since 2018
Sewing Chanel-Style is all about sharing information, sewing pattern-reviews, book-reviews and lots of sewing guides for sewing-beginners and advanced seamstress.
Marga van der Vet
|
