Category: Couture Books

Making trims & fringes

4/16/2020

A Chanel-Style jacket without trims or fringes? Impossible !
Coco Chanel made her signature trims and fringes longggg time ago and they are still famous and SUPER modern !

Let's start making trims and fringes and be creative as never before!

All about trims and fringes

Read the book: Making designer trims by Claire Schaeffer

Chanel-Style in the snow

3/4/2020

Chanel-Style, Pink and the snow....

But to be honest, we have not had any winter in the Netherlands in recent months. No snow, just rain, lots of rain and too hot temperatures. Not good.... , but we won't talk about that on this website.

Let's focus on the jacket:
The pink Chanel-style jacket is made of lovely woolly Bouclé fabric with a silk lining. If you make a Chanel jacket a bit more spacious, it is also often very suitable to wear outside.
Even in the snow;>)

The sewingpattern:

Vogue V8804

(available at; Sewingpatternshop)

The color Pink in Chanel couture:

Pink inspirations!

Sewing tips by Claire Schaeffer:

The couture cardigan jacket

Bookreview: The little black dress

3/1/2020

The little black dress, by Simon Henry

No woman in the world should be without a little black dress! And that's an understatement...
The little black dress is always chic, always classy and ideal for styling for different occasions: an evening party, a formal business-meeting or just a nice casual day. Add some accessories, handbags, a coat, shoes or boots or combine it with sneakers. Everything is possible and timeless beautiful.

But where to find a little black dress that really fits?

Read all about this book,
the little black dress and
our beloved Chanel!

More book reviews:

Chanel, The Making of a Collection, bookreview

10/9/2019

Chanel – The Making of a Collection

Text by Laetitia Cénac
Illlustrations by Jean-Philippe Delhomme

Read our book review !

we love this creative, beautiful illustrated book
and we will tell you all about it.

Bernina Overlock book review

10/6/2019

The Bernina Overlockboek is a very interesting source of information about the overlocker. It is written in the Dutch language, therefore unfortunately only interesting for our Dutch readers.

Nevertheless we want to inform you about this book because it is a great book with a lot of information, instructions and inspiration.

Bernina offers e-books about the sewingmachines and the sergers as well on this link:
https://www.bernina.com/en-US/Learn-Create-US/Projects/Sewing-Projects/Serger-ebooks

Good luck with the books. The Bernina Overlockboek is worth every eurocent....

The Little Black Dress

8/19/2019

Book review: The Little Black Dress by Simon Henry

The little black dress, by Simon Henry

No woman in the world should be without a little black dress! And that's an understatement...
The little black dress is always chic, classy and ideal for styling for different occasions: an evening party, a formal business-meeting or just a nice casual day. Add some accessories, handbags, a coat, shoes or boots or combine it with sneakers. Everything is possible and timeless beautiful.

But where to find a little black dress that really fits?

Here you have the answer: make one yourself! A tailor-made Little Black Dress ('LBD') could be yours.
The backcover-page of the book promises it is possible even though you do not have any experience with sewing. Expert dressmaker Simon Henry will guide you through the process of making the perfect little black dress.

Unfortunately we do not agree. It takes some knowledge of sewing and some experience in cutting the pattern, shaping it on a dressform and sewing your own tailor-made little black dress.

But we agree on the great guide the book offers. The pictures are loud and clear. The drawings are perfect and the background-information is really very nice.
The photographs are stunning and the layout of the whole book is really worth every penny.

We definitely recommend this book. But make sure it will not be your first project, otherwise it probably won't work. Unless you are really very talented.

And please, show us your little black dress ! Good luck with the project and good luck with this beautiful book.

New book: Chanel The Making of a Collection

8/14/2019

Chanel: The Making of a Collection
by
laetitia Cénac

We will review this book ASAP and publish it on our blogs and websites !!!

The Overlocker Technique manual - Review

7/26/2019

For fast and professional edging, hemming, seaming, and decorative stitching, you simply can't beat a serging machine.
This all-skill-level book is the perfect guide to make sure you get the most out of your new machine (or out of that old serger that you've never got the hang of!)
Photographs and step-by-step instructions guide you through the essential techniques, showing you how to set up your machine, how to adjust the settings to get the best results on a range of different fabrics, and how to edge your fabrics quickly with perfect results.
The troubleshooting section provides tips and quick fixes for skipped stitches, snapped threads, and uneven stitching.
Also includes a buyer's guide to different sergers, providing you with advice on finding the right machine for you.

OUR REVIEW:
perfect!

The book is a very good basic resource.
Lots of practical material and has an incredible number of detailed photographs that go with the instruction.
Good images to illustrate instructions.
Colorful photography, really nice.
No drawings or schedules: just great and clear pictures.
Very inspiring, makes you want to lock forever!

a bit less interesting

For a beginner: don't be overwhelmed. Just start locking !
A lot cheaper compared to a real life workshop but sometimes you miss a voice to guide you through this book.

Notes:
We love all the beautiful examples. But it all looks a bit like a mamma or grandmother is sewing (locking) for her baby. Next edition: please provides us with more pictures of modern clothes or beautiful couture.

Book reviews

7/23/2019

We are reading them all and inform you about these wonderful books:

(Couture) sewing books

Book Reviews: valuable sewing books

Chanel, Chanel-couture, fashion and couture books

Karl Lagerfeld; bookreview

6/29/2019

Who is Karl Lagerfeld? Everyone "knows" this man or at least recognizes his portrait. "Isn't that the Chanel's man?", perhaps most people will answer. Or: "Isn't he the fashion man with sunglasses and ponytail?" His name and appearance are known. But who was Karl Lagerfeld really?

Karl Lagerfeld, the person behind the fashion icon
As a Chanel lover, I could not let this book pass me by. After all, Karl Lagerfeld has for many years been the brain behind the Couture house Chanel and ensured that Chanel did not fall into oblivion but became an unprecedented - timeless - success.

Karl: I try to bring Chanel style evolution by thinking of Goethe's saying: "create a better future by building on the past."

The designer liked to quote philosophers and writers. He was a well-read person and owned a few hundred thousand books. Karl was a great talent with a big ego and a completely own created image.

Quote or be quoted
Karl (German by origin) started his career as a fashion designer in Paris around 1955 and it didn't take long before he became known and was quoted himself. His statements were always surprising, testified by great intelligence, but could also be hard and offensive.
Such as a false remark towards an actress, who he thought was "too fat".
Or a kick in the back of Ines de la Fressange (who turned his back on him after many years of collaboration). Not so nice... He was therefore a complex person, let's just say it, because we also know very well that statements by famous people are often pulled out of context and start to live their own life.

A savant idiot
Karl Lagerfeld was a genius with a vision. Like his friend Yves Saint Laurent, he was able to design clothes that the whole world loved for decades. He was hyper intelligent and had a sense of style, beauty and art. However, his intelligence made him difficult as well. Apart from all this, there were more things by Karl Lagerfeld that did not make him a beloved personality. His extravagant life also disappointed many people. Spending a fortune on a cat, deliberately not wanting children (supported by yet again 'surprising' statements) and living a life of extreme excess and opulence ... It made him as cold as his flawless appearance.

Read after all, get inspired and enjoy
However, this book was an eye opener for me. It is so easy to judge a person by his or her image. But you can only understand what lies behind an image, if you take a look behind the scenes.

Laurent Allen-Caron has made this book a simple, truthful and easy-to-read book. Laurent is a journalist himself and you notice that as a reader. He writes briefly and forcefully and stays close to the facts. His sources and notes are carefully mentioned.

The quotes make the book lively, as if you hear Karl talking. The book causes a smile here and there, for example:
"At the end of the sixties, fifteen years after his arrival in Paris, the press could finally spell the name Karl Lagerfeld flawlessly."

To Karl or not to Karl?
I just wonder if Karl Lagerfeld would have been happy with it... The book is compact, not too thick (240 pages) and is sober.

Karl probably would have preferred a thick, heavy coffee table book, full of photos, luxury and extravagant photos of his creations and himself ...

But there are more than enough of those books too. I love this book. This book is an honest and well-written portrait of an impressive life and man Karl Lagerfeld.

More INFO

Xanderuitgevers.nl

All about sewingmagazines

5/15/2019

Read all about the sewing-magazines in Europe.
This article is in the Dutch Language. But soon we will update the article in the English Language and attach even more sewing-magazines.
You al welcome to send information about them all.

Chanel, Claire Schaeffer and Haute couture

5/13/2019

How do you make your own Chanel-inspired jacket? There is a simple answer to that question: read the books by Claire Schaeffer! This American lady has written many books about the history of Haute couture, how to make your own couture and in particular everything about Chanel couture.

Her books are for all seamstress or hobby-sewers. But they are also interesting for people who are not interested in sewing.

The history of Haute couture
Claire Schaeffer is an expert in Haute couture. She has a wealth of knowledge and an own collection of vintage couture. She gained her knowledge by looking around in museums and studying couture in detail. Couture houses often do not reveal their secrets. However, Claire has unraveled many couture secrets by studying original vintage items. These literately inside studies enabled her to gather a lot of information that normally remains behind closed doors.

Think of it as recipes from special menus from top restaurants. It is not only about the ingredients of a menu, but also about the specific cooking techniques that suddenly make eating a plate something very special. Apart from detailed sewing techniques, the books contain many beautiful photos of special vintage clothing.

Classic and timeless chic!
A beautiful Chanel jacket worn on trendy jeans. Who doesn't want this? Or a beige tweed coat for the winter? Just as timelessly beautiful as the perfectly fitting business blazer you would like to wear on occasions where you need to look beauty and brains. Everyone likes photography and information about the fashion of the past and the fashion of today. The only difference between a Vogue or Hapaar's Bazaar magazine and Claire Schaeffer's books is the idea to make these great pieces of clothing yourself. Perhaps you should first start with making potholders or pajama pants, but after a few years of practice it will probably work...

Claire Schaeffer & Chanel Couture
Anyone who says 'Chanel jackets' in the sewing-world, says Claire Schaeffer. Conversely too. Claire Schaeffer is a Chanel expert par excellence. Her books: The Couture Cardigan Jacket, The Couture Skirt and Designer trims deal specifically with the phenomenon: the Little French Jacket.

The books are about how-to instructions and inspirations for color combinations, choices of fabrics and the very specific decorative trims and fringes of these jackets. A very nice ode to Coco Chanel. Some of her books were reissued in 2013, exactly one hundred years after Coco Chanel opened its first store in Deauville.

A gift or a "silent" hint!
If you have a girlfriend who likes to work with needle and thread: the books for this special lady are nice to give as a gift. Perhaps the silent hint is understood. You hope she will make a DIY Chanel jacket for you some day....
The word "day" is misplaced here. It is known that the "making time" of the Chanel jackets is on average 80 hours. And don't forget to add a lot of reading hours too, because you will soon loose the time if you step into the world of Haute couture through the eyes of Claire Schaeffer.

More info:

All about sewing a couture jacket
All about sewing a couture skirt
Claire Schaeffer book - reviews
The Chanel jacket: authentic versus fake

How to make a Chanel-Style jacket

Making trims & fringes

Chanel-Style in the snow

Chanel-Style, Pink and the snow....

Vogue V8804

(available at; Sewingpatternshop)

Pink inspirations!

The couture cardigan jacket

Bookreview: The little black dress

Read all about this book,
the little black dress and
our beloved Chanel!

Chanel, The Making of a Collection, bookreview

Chanel – The Making of a Collection

Text by Laetitia Cénac
Illlustrations by Jean-Philippe Delhomme

Bernina Overlock book review

The Little Black Dress

New book: Chanel The Making of a Collection

Chanel: The Making of a Collection
by
laetitia Cénac

The Overlocker Technique manual - Review

Book reviews

Karl Lagerfeld; bookreview

More INFO

Xanderuitgevers.nl

All about sewingmagazines

Chanel, Claire Schaeffer and Haute couture

Creative Community:

Categories

Pardon my English
This website is made by Dutch people. English is not our native language.We are sorry if there are language errors or imperfections.
Thanks!
(picture by: @mundo_de_sombras)

Archives

How to become a model after 40

How to make a Chanel-Style jacket

Chanel-Style, Pink and the snow....

Vogue V8804(available at; Sewingpatternshop)

Chanel – The Making of a CollectionText by Laetitia CénacIlllustrations by Jean-Philippe Delhomme

Chanel: The Making of a Collectionbylaetitia Cénac

Creative Community:

Categories

Pardon my EnglishThis website is made by Dutch people. English is not our native language.We are sorry if there are language errors or imperfections.Thanks!(picture by: @mundo_de_sombras)

Archives

Vogue V8804

(available at; Sewingpatternshop)

Chanel – The Making of a Collection

Text by Laetitia Cénac
Illlustrations by Jean-Philippe Delhomme

Chanel: The Making of a Collection
by
laetitia Cénac

Pardon my English
This website is made by Dutch people. English is not our native language.We are sorry if there are language errors or imperfections.
Thanks!
(picture by: @mundo_de_sombras)