Sarah Barker

Fundamental Full Circle Dress

Posted on February 8, 2019 by Sarah in Fundamentals

The second of my Fundamentals line-up to be developed is a soft, slightly frothy gown with a full circle skirt and low-backed loose fitting bodice. This is a feminine, modern princess of a dress, or at least at will be once I’ve done all the hard work…

To start this one off I’ve drafted a basic pattern straight from my shift dress block, and I’ve quickly moved on to making a simple, raw-edged toile in a super lightweight calico.

Sometimes it’s nice to get ideas realised in fabric as quickly as possible, it can stop you getting stuck in your own head too much! And it means more of the design process can be based on what feels nice rather than what looks nice on a sketch.

(There was no one else around on this particular day, I must confess I spent an unnecessarily long time swishing about! Shame I look like I’ve been dead a week in this particular shot, but never mind)

In general I’m loving this shape, and I think it’s important for the collection to have at least one skirt with a lot of volume like this one. But what I’m not sure about is the lining – it’s certainly going to need an inner layer, whatever fabric I plum for, but do I make another full circle for the lining thereby increasing the full feeling of the skirt? Or do I reduce volume and simplify the lining to be more like a slip?

For this first sample I’ve chosen a silk georgette from Whaley’s because it’s a lovely combo of lightness, like a chiffon, with matte texture and soft drape, like a crepe. As it’s quite sheer I’ve decided to line it with an exact replica of the outer skirt: I want the lining to continue under the train for a seamless look, and ultimately I’m thinking it would be a much higher quality finish to hem them together at the bottom. But this is only early days, I don’t have to commit to that just yet.

But… can you spot the intentional mistake??!… the fabric wasn’t wide enough and I’m a great chunk missing off the bottom at centre front. I really liked this fabric, and it’s really very cost effective! I wanted to test it out on the basis that I’d have to chose my priority going forward – to either keep the front panel seamless and choose a different material, or decide to keep this material but split the skirt into more panels.

For me it’s a no-brainer: the front of the skirt has to be a single panel. Aside from the fact that it’s beautiful and clean, the fact is that to cut out more pieces, and to sew more seams, would cost more money and lead to a higher final price, negating the lower cost fabric pointless anyway.

I have options to choose from at the back. I wasn’t sure whether to support the folded edge with some kind of fusing or not, so I made each side differently:

I like the softer look, although I have to say that overall the strap on that side looks the poorer for it. The outer of the back panel is cut on the bias and as the inner layer is grown on it ends up being off grain; neither on the true bias nor straight. This is causing problems and there’s tension in various places and I think this needs to be improved. I’ll work on the pattern further to create two pattern pieces for the back, a separate lining and outer piece, but keep the seam moved considerably in from the open edge at the back to keep the softly folding look.

So there’s more work to do, but for now it’s lovely to have a wearable sample made up. This project is taking a bit of a back seat at the moment though, as I divert my attentions to two projects for upcoming weddings. For Stine I’m creating a couture gown in collaboration with designer Sarah Coates, and for Emma I’ll be altering her mothers’ wedding dress with a bespoke now bodice. Scintillating posts to come about all this and so much more!!

/s.

Fundamental Shift Dress

Posted on January 2, 2019 by Sarah in dresses, Fundamentals

This is the first style I’m working on for my Fundamentals capsule collection. I’m kicking it all off with a perfect, essential, elegant shift dress.

As a pattern cutter you need blocks. Blocks are the… uh… the building blocks of fashion *groan*. They’re the basic starting point from which you’ll begin to develop a pattern for a more specific, complicated design.

Blocks can come in all shapes and sizes, and every pattern maker will develop their own according to their own needs. Although you’ll update them and tweak them over time they stay pretty much true to their core function within the tool kit of your pattern repertoire.

For me as a dressmaker the most essential block is a shift dress. This is a pattern for a sleeveless, mid-length dress with a waist seam and as many darts as needed for a good fit. The beauty of this pattern is that I can manipulate it to create almost any other dress, top or skirt shape, as well as contour items like a corset or bustier. It’s a key piece of kit for me, which I know fits my mannequin perfectly and sews up like a dream every single time.

Usually I’d make a block pattern and keep it to myself, behind the scenes. Like a brilliant assistant who’s pretty much running the show but never gets any credit for it! Within this Fundamentals collection though I can refine this simple shift just a little bit further and give her a chance to shine on her own. A shape like this would be equally perfect for a sophisticated city bride, an elegant bridesmaid, or any guest looking for tailored and flattering simplicity. This look has to the first step towards my perfect capsule collection.

Where do we even start, I hear you cry?! Well, let me show you…

First, I geeked out with my nose in a book. I’ve already made a couple of blocks very similar to this one for my dressmaking stand, but I wanted to start again to have a go at the technique laid out in the book Draping.

For those who don’t know, draping is the art of realising a design directly on the mannequin (aka stand, or dummy), as opposed to flat pattern cutting where you would take a more formulaic approach and calculate a shape based on measurements. Draping is more like sculpting: physically manipulating fabric to create the looks you want. Although you’ll get better results if you follow basic rules, the overall process feels quite free and can be a great way to get more energy and creativity into your patterns.

So, carefully following the instructions I made an initial drape, traced this off onto paper, added seam allowance and re-cut it.

This became my first toile (a mock-up made in calico to test out a pattern and update for better fit), which turned out a little tight and short in the body so needs some alterations. I’m not entirely surprised, for me the drawback of draping is that it’s too easy to pull the fabric tight on the surface of the stand, like a perfectly smooth second skin, which needs loosening up to be a wearable garment.

So I chopped it about a bit, made some notes on the fabric, decided how to add and where… and at the same time I separated the dress out to have a waist seam, just to suit my own preferences 🙂

From here I took the calico apart again, to draft out into a new paper pattern and then to make a full toile:

You can see it’s still snug across the seat and there’s some tension between bust and waist which needs fixing. Just a little more tweaking and we should fix that:

And that’s where we’re at! Now I need to make a real sample – a proper prototype in the right fabric with all the finishes and fastenings – and a human model to try it on. I’ll develop some more patterns up to this point and then move them all on to first sample stage together.

You can carry on scrolling down to catch up with an intro to this project below. See you soon for the story of a very different, much more gown-y gown!

/s.

Starting with the Fundamentals

Posted on December 7, 2018 by Sarah in Fundamentals

I’ve been cooking up an idea for a ling time, and it feels great to actually start realising it! I want to create a capsule collection of essential styles which could form the staring point for any design idea, a basic range of dresses and separates any bride could adapt to her own needs. I’m calling these the The Fundamentals, and I’m delighted to have started cutting the patterns and mocking-up the initial design ideas!

For me, these are the key silhouettes for soft bridal gowns at the moment, as well as shapes which could be just as great for a bridesmaid or maid of honour. I hope there will be something for everyone in this selection, from the elegant, understated, city bride to the bra-free, boho, festival bride.

The end game is to make patterns for all of these in a core range of sizes and create samples for trying on at my studio. They will be available for a fixed price, made to order here in London.

But that’s not all! Each design can be made to measure, tailored to fit you perfectly: including fitting a calico toile to get the look just right, plus any alterations you need on the final garment.

Do you have some design ideas of your own? Not a problem! Each style will have a menu of possible additions available at a set price, plus any unique inspiration points you have can also be incorporated. So you can go bespoke for the full custom gown experience without the couture price tag.

It seems to me that there are a lot of brides in London looking for a personalised, creative experience to realise their dream bridal look, and that no matter what their budget they should be able to find an element of that bespoke service.

My dream is to build a business centered around atmosphere, experience and quality dressmaking, providing a dedicated service to brides who want a more modern and relaxed approach than traditional bridal boutiques.

Hopefully, in the coming spring I’ll be ready to launch this new mini collection! But for now it’s early days. I’ll be blogging about each style as I start to develop it. Please do get in touch with feedback and comments! I want these styles to be simple but appealing, like blank canvasses every woman can imagine adding her own personal touches to. I’d love to hear your thoughts as I grow this idea!

And if you’ll be getting married in 2019 and are interested in becoming an early adopter of this project please do drop me a line!

Studio!

Posted on September 16, 2018 by Sarah in studio

I have a new home! Which is delightful. I took over this space a couple of months ago, but from September I’ve been working less hours at COS so I have more time to be here and settle in 🙂

It feels like quite a big room at the moment! But there’s a lot more still to install here. Plus decorating of course: the wall on the right in the photo above will be painted a dark navy, and the cutting tables will be the same cream as the mannequin.

Through the open doorway on the left above is Julia’s space, she’s a fashion stylist. And on the other side of my room is the studio of Susie and her company Knot and Pop, planners of lovely events.

This end of the room will be my fitting area. I have a big mirror to hang on the wall (which will also be navy blue, not this patchy green) and I’ll put up a curtain to divide this section off from the rest of the room when needed.

I also need to get a dressing screen, but I can’t make my mind up! I think I need something with a Victoriana feel to go with my cute chaise:

I’d already bought an Ikea rug, but then I saw this one for a bargain price and it just felt so much more special! It’s a bit more luxe underfoot too. It has a gorgeous tree of life pattern, so when sitting in the sofa you get a lovely view of the whole design.

This little bit of wall is my favourite spot at the moment:

With the yukka, my thank you card from Kate and the industrial, cracked brickwork.

The long wall in the photo above will stay white, probably with a cork board on it for tear sheets and little mock ups. The machinery will live along here, including a proper steam unit which I’ve yet to acquire. And there will be a hanging rail dangling from the beams somewhere at the end there – my talented friend April of Rope and Vine is going to macrame me something special.

I love my domestic machine, but it’ll be good to get the industrial up and running. I also seem to have inherited two heaters, which I’m guessing is the previous occupants’ way of telling me I’m going to freeze my arse off in the winter?!

This Ikea unit will have cupboards at the bottom to hide all my crap, and will be painted the same cream as the tables. So hopefully it’ll start to look less like it belongs in a garage.

The plants help 🙂 I want this place to be full of them! And I’m particularly pleased with this beat up brass pot I found at antiques fair a couple of weeks ago:

The final stop on my virtual tour is the big wall which will be blue:

Those awful shelves have got to go, and I’m considering making a radiator cover to elevate this section a tiny bit. I’d like to have some branding up here, maybe letters in brass, and a section which forms a good backdrop to photograph hanging dresses.

Maybe once I’ve got a few more of these jobs done I’ll have a big party! It’d be nice to give this new chapter in my tiny businesses story a proper launch.

Jorge’s bridesmaids: ending

Posted on June 24, 2018 by Sarah in separates, skirts, tops

It’s been two months since my first (and only!) post on this project and I’ve done around 70 hours of work on these outfits since then. The great irony of blogging seems to be that the more you have to write about the less time you have to actually write, which is a bit of a shame. But I’m hoping to make some more time for good habits in the future!

The wedding was two weeks ago now and it was an absolute stunner ♥ The bride was gorgeous, the venue was complete perfection and a good time was had all round. Not least by myself and my little group of COS colleagues old and new. This is the first time I’ve actually been to a wedding which I’ve made something for and it was so nerve wracking! As we waited in the church for the kick-off I think I was more jittery than the groom. I did score not one but two mentions in the speeches at the reception though, so I’m going to consider that well worth it.

When we left this story I had fitted a toile on maid of honour Sacha, we’d finally acquired some fabric, and I was moving ahead to make up the first outfit for real. Once I’d made the shell up for both top and skirt Sach came round for a final fitting and everything was looking lovely!

So now one was more or less done I could start the others! I made a separate pattern for each, based on the body measurements they’d taken themselves, and given that each one could only come for one fitting I just had to go for the real thing and hope for the best.

Luckily there weren’t many issues to fix! Aside from two waistbands to take in, and one which needed less seam allowance taking on the armhole to make a wider shoulder, it was just a case of moving on to hems and finishes.

The hems were a bit of a sticking point. I’d assumed that hand-stitching a generous hem would be the best choice, becuase that’s probably the most exensive choice. But having done one that just wasn’t the way to go. The curve on the front panel of the top was too extreme, there was too much excess to ease in, plus the heavy band looked like such a visible stripe in this satin.

So I backtracked and went for a teeny pin hem instead. And I was much hapier with that 🙂

I had covered buttons made by Harlequin. The service was super easy, if anyone’s in the market for this kind of thing I’d thoroughly recommend them. I just sent some fabric over to their address in Essex and miraculously received these perfect little gems of buttons back in return. (It was definitely the right call not to go with the DIY kits on these, I had toyed with the idea but at the end of the day there’s no way I could’ve achieved this kind of finish by myself!)

The buttons and loops took a looooooong time though! (Thanks mum 🙂 ) 60 is a lot of buttons, I guess I’d underestimated there. I think they look great though. It’s unfortunate that in the silk satin they can look a little bulky and cause some lumpy bumpiness, I think I could’ve fused the outer a little bit here to stiffen it up, maybe even changed the construction a bit too. I’d like to do a bit more work on this in the winter, create some mock-ups and see what I can learn.

In general, every day’s been a school day on this project! I’ve learnt a whole heap of things. So for my own future reference here’s my list of Big Learnings:

Don’t let people measure themselves – they’re rubbish.
If you’re trying to make 5 people look the same it’d really help to see them all at the same time.
Handstitching a nice wide hem might seem like the couture route, but that doesn’t mean it’s going the be the best choice! Do mock-ups of various finishes in every new fabric.
Overlocking isn’t just a cheap finish favoured by sweatshops and sweatshirts alike – the edges of these facings looked great and made much less of an impact on the shell fabric than a pin hem might have done.
Cutting silk is a team sport, thanks Leanne and Jorge for saving me some lonely hours there!
Initially buying 100m of thread per outfit was a pitiful amount. And if you will insist on buying only 2 reels at a time you’re going to be going back to the shop a lot.

I didn’t take many photos at the wedding, I was too busy trying to stand up in heels while consuming vast amounts of wine. But here are my least out of focus offerings, believe it or not! And I’ll be adding the photographers shots as soon a I have them…

Jorge’s bridesmaids: beginning

Posted on April 19, 2018April 19, 2018 by Sarah in separates, skirts, tops

I’m making separates for the bridesmaids of my friend Jorge, who gets married in just under two months’ time. It’s a super fun project, collaborating with Jorge! But there are a few bumps in the road making it less than totally straight-forward.

For a start, only one of the 5 girls is local to me in London, so making a toile for each maid and fitting every one would never have been possible. Instead we decided to use the local one for all the development work: fitting a toile and designing around her, and then making the other 4 from that. And given that this one is in fact the brides’ sister and arguably the most important maid to please the whole thing made a lot of sense!

A couple of months back Jorge narrowed down her design and I got started making a pattern according to her sister Sacha’s body measurements. The style is simple and hopefully universally flattering: just a simple, sleeveless swing top, fastening in the back with covered buttons and open below the bra, with a full length skirt, gathered at the waistband.

My first toile had too much volume everywhere, but that’s a much nicer situation to have in a fitting than everything being far too small! We pinned away quite a lot of fabric from the hem, decided to decrease the amount of gathering and I also slimmed down the top a lot. But not too much changed on the design from here, the initial idea suited her well and she felt really comfortable.

(Apologies for the terrible photos by the way! I’ve moved into a new flat and there’s a lot of DIY occurring! This fitting had to take place in the bare-boarded hallway as every other room was, and still is, an unmitigated disaster…)

The fabric for this toile, the dusty pink shown here, was Jorge’s choice for final fabric. It’s lovely and dead cheap – she’d found it in a shop at Goldhawk Road – so we decided to go ahead and mock it up in the real thing, to get a good dummy run in. It would’ve been perfect if only the bulk fabric we needed wasn’t stuck indefinitely in a shipping container somewhere in China. And even if our ship did miraculously come in, we’d apparently not be guaranteed an exact colour match.

So it wasn’t meant to be, and poor Jorge put her nose back to the grindstone of decision-making. But after a good few weeks of pondering, and a fair bit of enquiring and negotiating, she has picked out a really beautiful fabric which I think will turn out perfectly. Unfortunately our run of mildly inconvenient bad luck wasn’t quite over and this material also has a hitch in the bulk – we can only receive it in two big chunks and a small chunk. But that’s not a deal breaker.

I have the first big chunk in hand now – 7.5m, which should be plenty to make up Sacha’s outfit and one other. This week I’ve cut out all the pieces for Sacha’s and fused as needed. Which I’m surprised to say took 3 hours! It’s a pretty slippery satin, I had to cut it with paper under for stability and the prep time was extensive. But I think I’ve done a good job 🙂 It was worth taking the time over.

We’ve got a date in the diary to have a fitting with her this weekend, so I need to have something wearable for her by then! We need to check everything’s looking exactly as we want it before I go ahead and start on the other 4.

I will see each girl for a fitting of sorts. At the very least I’ll confirm the finished hem length for each one, and probably also do small alterations of some kind. Hopefully not too many though! (Especially on bridesmaid number 5 who won’t arrive from Australia until 3 days before the wedding.)

I’ll post again once I’ve got something proper to show 🙂 And hopefully I’ll get some better shots of it on her this time around!

Ruth’s dress, part 1; toile fitting

Posted on February 27, 2018 by Sarah in dresses

I’m super excited to introduce my first project of 2018! Ruth is lovely colleague of mine who will be getting married in a few months. Her wedding will be beautifully personal with loads of lovely DIY touches, so she’s looking for the perfect understated, hand made dress. We’ve drawn up this design and I’ve made our first and only toile for fitting:

This project is much more straight forward than a full-on bespoke gown. It’s an elegant, classic design, in a heavy off-white satin. And I love that this dress is an alternative to a big budget frock. I think there needs to be more options out there for people who want a personal, made to measure service, but without the price tag of a custom designed, complex outfit.

So to keep the process simple and fuss-free we’ll only do one toile fitting for this dress. I’ve draped it directly on the stand in calico, but then re-cut the top part in the correct fabric so that we can check the volume in gathers before we commit. Having seen it on the body and made a few adjustments we’ll go straight for the real thing.

I’m so thrilled that it looked good on Ruth from the get-go! With an un-fussy, clean design like this one there’s really nowhere to hide: the fit and finish need to be perfect. But this has been a great start, and the shape suits her so brilliantly – I’m happy that this is heading in the right direction.

Kate’s outfit, part 4: a few photos from the wedding :)

Posted on September 19, 2017 by Sarah in separates, skirts, tops

Just thought I’d post a couple of shots Kate’s sister sent me from the wedding!

It’ll be a while before I see the photographers images from the day I guess, but I’m so looking forward to that! To be honest that’s the best bit of the whole process, seeing someone you’ve worked so closely with looking incredible in a beautiful set of professional photos. It’s a real contrast from my day job in mass-produced fashion, I’ll definitely be missing that personal connection when I go back to my normal life next month.

(What a stunner ☺️ 💘💘💘)

Clare’s top, part 4: final fitting(s)

Posted on September 16, 2017 by Sarah in separates, tops

Last week on Friday I fitted what I’d hoped would be the final garment on Clare. Unfortunately it turned out that we had not cracked the fit around the bust at all – so I treated this as another sample round, made my alterations and went away to make remake it. The darts were looking far too pointy! The seam under the bust was also sitting too high on her and the neck didn’t lie nicely against her body:

Oh, and also, she couldn’t get into it! That was a pretty big hitch. I had to cut a seam and pin her back in. The trouble was that we’d taken it in to be a closer fit, but with an invisible zip like this one I needed to keep a short length of closed seam at the bottom. Or at least I thought I had to… until I found an amazing open-ended invisible zip at Kleins, which has really saved the project! I’ve no idea how I could have solved this issue without it.

So a week later I went back to see her again, with much better results!! The fit is vastly improved, and I think she’s looking lovely in this feminine but cool outfit.

I’ve altered the Charlie Brear skirt now too, taking out 180cm from the volume at the bottom, hemming it to Clare’s required length and shortening the train. I’ve also added a lining and removed one of the two layers of mesh, which means the skirt is now less big and much less see-through, a win-win in this instance!

Clare will get married next weekend and I’m super excited to see the photos! I’m sure it’ll be a lovely day, and hopefully the Welsh weather will be kind to her xx

Kate’s outfit, part 3: final fitting

Posted on August 21, 2017 by Sarah in separates, skirts, tops

Holy crap, how did this crop up so soon??! It’s only 2 weeks till the wedding now, so it’s the perfect time to have Kate try on the final garments and I can make a few tiny, almost imperceptible tweaks before I drop the perfected package back to her… or at least it would be, in a parallel universe where things work out just peachy the first time around.

But I don’t think I live in this peachy universe, because as it turned out I hit a few issues which meant showing Kate options to choose from, and of course that means I’ll have to implement the final choices after the fitting. Plus, as I was constructing the various pieces of this outfit it became increasingly obvious that the fabric was far too see-through. The facings and seam allowances were glowing through something chronic! But I decided to persevere, get a whole garment together to fit on Kate, and then find a solution to this issue along with any other changes we needed to make after.

So I knew we’d have a few alterations, some alternatives to switch in, and an opacity issue to nail… and I also knew I’d cut my two week contingency plan down to one week by booking a holiday. If I’m honest I wasn’t looking forward to this fitting.

That having been said, the outfit does look lovely 🙂 The design is perfect for her, the overall look of the thing is exactly what we wanted, and the alterations from the last fitting had gone well.

I’d added a dart to the top to control the flare in the hem while keeping the fit at the bust, but I still made up the alternative top option (no darts, more flare). Darts are staying, fit looks nice 🙂 So that’s one set of options dealt with easily.

We’ve got a slight problem with a bumpy texture over the boobs, which is down to the seam allowance inside the corset layer needing a trim and possibly also some securing topstitches. And that’s another fairly simple win.

The skirt is sitting a little too low on the waist, leaving a slightly too big gap between top and skirt at the back. So there we’ll take in a little and it’ll sit higher, which is a wince more work but nothing too scary.

And then there’s the sleeve. I was disappointed to find that the darts felt bulky and left the hem a bit wobbly and chunky. It would be more normal to have a facing at the bottom sleeve, so there would be darts on the outside layer but not on the inside layer, just a smooth panel which attaches to the lining, but Kate really wanted the inside to also be in self fabric with no seams to show through, just an exact copy of the outer layer. So I made her up one sleeve as planned, but I made an alternative sleeve with the shaping from the darts moved into one convex shaped panel, so we have a horizontal seam instead. I thought the look would be cleaner, but maybe it got a little too stark.

After some discussion we decided to continue with the original darted design. Kate felt that it could do with a bit less volume in the bottom though, so we pinned quite a bit away. I’ll update the pattern accordingly and make up a pair of these new sleeves. We won’t see them on Kate for any more test rounds though, so let’s hope the smaller silhouette isn’t too risky at this late stage!

But the biggest issue to my eyes is the transparency. It’s tolerable, I suppose – she can wear virtually invisible pants and maybe in most of the photos you won’t see the facings – but that seems like a bit of a cop out. Up close the seam allowances look super ugly and the facings are not exactly offensive but shouldn’t be a feature! Instead of tolerance I’m going to take action. I’ll get some more fabric, fuse it, re-cut and replace the outer layer of the skirt and the top. For the sake of an extra days’ work I think it’ll be a vast improvement.

Plus it’ll be less inclined to relax into her butt crack.

Quite a few more things to do then, and not such a long time to do them in! I’ve called in my long suffering assistant (thanks mum) and written a list: it’ll be wrapped up and in the brides’ hand by Friday lunchtime.

So the next time we all see this project will be in the wedding photos!! Good luck on your big day Kate, and don’t forget to remove those sleeves before the soup course 😉 xx