Ench By Sew-030: Hats Off to Downtown Abbey!

This show is created, produced and brought to you by Laurel Shimer.

Hats I made recently in Wayne Wichern's Hat Blocking Class

How to Find This Audio/Podcast?

Option I) Listen to the Audio right on the web by clicking on this link - No need to download 

~ OR ~

Option II)  Click on this link to iTunes  to download this and other Enchanted by Sewing shows to your mobile device (iPhone, Android, etc.) free from iTunes

About the Show

The Enchanted by Sewing Podcast is, an extension of my regular sewing blog - Me Encanta Coser,  (http://www.meencantacoser.blogspot.com) which,  roughly translated means, Enchanted By Sewing

My blog is written in English. The name celebrates the historical and modern use of the beautiful Spanish Language in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, where I live.

This Month's Show - Hats Off to Downton Abbey!

In this month's Enchanted by Sewing show, I talk about the role of Downton Abbey played in inspiring  the hats I've been making. I also share what I've learned about how to make hats. 

Track 1) Pensamientos Primeros – Making Hats -  Inspired by Downton Abbey, and enabled by local milliner Wayne Wichern

Track 2) Technicos A summary of the Techniques I learned something about while making Hats with Wayne Wichern

Track 3) Pensamientos Finales – Pretty as a Picture Hat - Grandmother Lily’s Wedding  - The story of my Grandmother's wedding hat reminds me that it wasn't only wealthy women who enjoyed wearing beautiful hats. Women of every economic bracket have always enjoyed the magic of the perfect hat.

Downton Abbey Themes- Books and Videos
            


Show Track 1) Pensamientos Primeros – Making Hats -  Inspired by Downton Abbey - Enabled by local milliner, Wayne Wichern ( http://www.waynewichernmillinery.com) 

Why do I love to watch Downton Abbey over and over ?
1) The Romantic setting
2) The fantastic British trained actors
3) The Fashions - my favorite part of Downton Abbey.
The best part of the those fashions? -  Hats! 

So far I see I've linked to over 200
caps, hats and other millinery fashions
on Hats and Other Millinary in Pinterest

I've saved links for many of my favorite hats on my Pinterest board "Hats and Other Millinary". These pictures were great to take to Wayne's class, to give him an idea of what I wanted to  create.

Hey - Am I was the only sewist here who’s excited to find that the newest Cinderella, Lily James, is Downton Abbey’s Rose, and step sister Drusilla is Mrs. Paddmore’s side kick

dear little Daisy? According to the UK’s “Telegraph”, Daisy, aka Sohie McShera, does love the chance to reverse her Upstairs/Downstairs role with Lily, just as much as I’d imagined.

Planning, sewing, and talking about hats lead me to reflect on history associated with women in times past.

Going Beyond Downton Abbey - Flappers Author Judith Mackrell explores life beyond costume dramas, when it comes to celebrity idols of the Flapper era -  British aristocrats Lady Diana Manners and Nancy Cunard, Russian artist Tamara de Lempicka, and three Americans; African American dancer /actress Josephine Baker, Femme fatal, Literati – and Wife of F.Scott Fitzgerald, Zelda Fitzgerald, and Southern Belle turned actress, Tullulah Bankhead. These ladies climbed the ladder from lower or traditionally established life styles, to serve as new role models for women from Daisy to Lady Edith. When it came to these ladies' fears, challenges and dreams, Mackrell gets down to the nitty gritty. She lets everything hang out from the seamy side to the highlights of their lives. 

This Black Straw Cloche is one of three hats I made in Wayne's class 

Show Track 2) Technicos A summary of the techniques I learned something about while making Hats with Wayne Wichern

 

The Gibson Girl Personified the In-Look
for up-to-date professional women like
Grandmother Lily

Show Track 3) Pensamientos Finales – Pretty as a Picture Hat - Grandmother Lily’s Wedding  

In Grandmother Lily's time, picture hats were made popular by the "Gibson Girls" drawn by Charles Dana Gibson. These ladies personified the New Woman feminist movement with which my grandmother and great aunts identified.

Duchess Georgina's
marriage problems, should have
 been
a hint to her descendent
Princess Diana

Ladies have been wearing Picture Hats for several hundreds of years. Early versions were inspired by the Gainsborough Hats worn by Georgiana Spencer Cavendish, the Duchess of Devonshire, ancestress of Princess Diana.

Ench By Sew-16 Quinceañeras, Weddings and More – A Local Sewing Business

An Interview with Sewing Business Owner Esther

Hey! 
The latest Enchanted by Sewing Podcast has been published!

Two Ways to Listen
Option I)You can listen to the show right on the web by clicking on the this link
~ OR ~
Option ii)  Click on this link to iTunes  to download this and other Enchanted by Sewing shows to your mobile device (iPhone, Android, etc.) free from iTunes
Did I miss any links mentioned in the show? If so, please post here and let me know, or else email me EnchantedBySewing AT gmail DOT com
~ ~ ~
Quinceañeras, Weddings and More – Tocci, Quinces and More - A Local Sewing Business 

This month’s show is an interview with Esther, owner of a local sewing business, Tocci Quinces & More. 

Highlights of our conversation include:

- How Esther learned to sew on the job sewing in Mexico for a maquiladora in Mexico City and how her desire for a different life for herself and her daughters, motivated her to come to the US, where she trained for and worked at medical jobs for several years

- Eventual acquisition of her business

- Esther’s dreams, experiences and plans for the sewing and business education, that are helping her to grow her business.

- Flights of fancy from both ladies in regards to sewing inspiration for specialized Mexican techniques and garments

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Resources

ma·qui·la/ maquiladora

maquila is 
another term for maquiladora.


 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maquiladora

 An excerpt….

“In Mexico, a maquiladora (Spanish pronunciation: [makilaˈðoɾa]) or maquila (IPA: [maˈkila])[1] is manufacturing operations in a free trade zone (FTZ), where factories import material and equipment on a duty-free and tariff-free basis for assembly, processing, or manufacturing and then export the assembled, processed and/or manufactured products, sometimes back to the raw materials' country of origin.

Currently about 1.3 million Mexicans are employed in one or more of approximately 3,000 maquiladoras 

The term maquiladora, in the Spanish language, refers to the practice of millers charging a maquila, or "miller's portion" for processing other people's grain 

A More Political View of Maquilas

http://worldsavvy.org/monitor/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=684&Itemid=1147

Ester’s first home was Chiapas –  just north of Guatamala: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiapas

She then moved to Mexico City

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico_City

Esther's business in Fremont CA is Tocci Quinces and More http://www.tocciquinces.com

An excerpt from her business site….Welcome to Tocci Quinces & More your One Stop Wedding & Quinceaneras Shop!

Tocci Quinces & More is a Wedding & Quinceaneras Shop focused on Wedding Gowns & Quinceaneras Gowns, Favors, Ribbons, Decoration and much more. Your wedding day is one of the most special days of your life. Trust us to create the most beautiful Wedding Gowns & Quinceaneras Gowns for your special day.

Our products and services include:

Wedding Gowns & Quinceaneras Gowns | Favors | Ribbons
Decoration | Alterations | Ribbon
Imprinting |  Personalized Favors

We provide guaranteed work with complete customer satisfaction. We have been in this business for more than 2 year.

We serve in Bay Area, Tri-City Area, Newark, Fremont and Union City, CA.

We also offer:

Wedding Gowns, Wedding Decoration, Wedding Accessories, Quinceanera Dresses, Quinceanera Gowns, Ribbon

3768 Peralta Blvd,

Fremont, CA 94583

(888)610-9107

- About Quinceañeras  NOTE there are a number of Latino communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. Just because people speak Spanish, and have some common ancestral roots in Spain or Portugal, and come from Latin America, doesn’t mean they follow the same traditions and celebrate occasions in the same ways.

WHAT is a quincinera?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quincinera

A few excerpts….

“Quinceañera, also called fiesta de quince años, fiesta de quinceañera, quince años or simply quince, is the celebration of a girl's fifteenth birthday in parts of Latin America and elsewhere in communities of people from Latin America.”

Quinceañera (pronounced: [kin.se.aˈɲe.ɾa]; feminine form of "fifteen-year-old"), also called fiesta de quince años, fiesta de quinceañera, quince años or simply quince, is the celebration of a girl's fifteenth birthday in parts of Latin America and elsewhere in communities of people from Latin America. This birthday is celebrated differently from any other birthday, as it marks the transition from childhood to young womanhood. The celebration, however, varies significantly across countries, with celebrations in some countries taking on, for example, more religious overtones than in others.

In Brazil, a Portuguese-speaking country, the same celebration is called festa de debutantes, baile de debutantes or festa de quinze anos. In the French Caribbean and French Guiana, it is called fête des quinze ans.

In regards to the discussion of LANGUES Laurel and Esther encounter in their communities

Tagalog is one of the primary languages spoken in the Phillipines. There is are sizable enclaves of people in the San Francisco Bay Area, who have migrated from the Phillipines.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tagalog_language

Mexican Cultural Techniques and Specialized Styles We Discussed

Corte y confección

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corte_y_confección

Foklorico Skirts/Baile Foklorico

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baile_Folklorico

Beautiful foklorico costume photos! http://www.formulamexicana.com/?p=1846

Huichol ( pronounced \wē-ˈchōl\) are a member of an American Indian people of the mountains between Zacatecas and Nayarit, Mexico

Huichol textiles (embroidery and weavings)

http://www.artscare.org/huichol6.htm

An excerpt from http://www.artscare.org/huichol1.htm

The Huichol people live along the Sierra Madre Occidental mountains in the Mexican states of Jalisco and Nayarit. Traditionally, Huicholes live in communities called ranchos, where everyone shares life's responsibilities. These ranchos are structured around ceremonial centers and the growing cycles of crops. For the Huicholes, life is rich and prosperous when the community is healthy, the harvest is successful, and its people are in harmony. The participation of all members of the society foster this complex, social fabric through communal work, prayer, and ritual which maintains this harmony and balance for generations to come. How different this is from an urban society where materialistic gain can seem to be an obvious indicator of a successful community. However, even the Huichol are not immune to the impact of other cultures. Over the years, many Huicholes have moved to the cities in search of education, economic support, and medical care for their families. These cities include the capitols of Tepic, Guadalajara, and Mexico City.

Archaeological discoveries can place the Huichol people in their current environment for the past 1,600 years….. continued at http://www.artscare.org/huichol1.htm

Esther bought her silk cotton fabric at Thai Silks. Laurel loves this business too. http://www.thaisilks.com

Thai Silks isn’t paying me to promote their business. I just included my latest newsletter promotion. Great local and online business with long-time presence in the sewing community.  High quality silk fabric.

25% OFF NOW!!!

Valentine's Sale!!!

Discount Code C960K

For a limited time only, receive 25% off all non-sale fabrics and colored scarves. All lingerie and artists scarves are always on sale. No further discounts on these items.

http://www.thaisilks.com/promo.php?p=21 

Minimum order to receive the discount is one yard or more of each item selected.

Colored scarves are on sale. And ALL non-sale fabrics are 25% off!! These popular fabrics are on sale!!

Enter Discount Code C960K during check out to see your discount.

Otherwise, remind us of your 25% off all non-sale items in the comments box when you place your order.

Sale expires February 17, 2014.

Thank you for your business!!!
Everyone at Thai Silks!

Ench By Sew-12 Dress Forms

Hey! The latest Enchanted by Sewing Podcast has been published!

Two Ways to Listen

i)You can listen to the show right on the web by clicking on the this link

** * * 

~ OR ~

ii)  Click on this link to iTunes  to download this and other Enchanted by Sewing shows to your mobile device (iPhone, Android, etc.) free from iTunes 

Did I miss any links mentioned in the show? If so, please post here and let me know, or else email me ,  EnchantedBySewing AT gmail

~~~
This month show is about my experiences creating and using two different types of dress forms - 

a) A duct tape dress form

b) A Uniquely You dress form

~ ~ ~

Please send your thoughts about this month or next month's topic – Jeans Sewing -in the Post a Comment section,  below :-)

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Please Note

My Uniquely You Dress Form Instructor was Judith Jackson. I referred to her as "our teacher" in the original recording, as I was waiting to ask her permission to include her name. She said 'yes' :-)

In this month's show

1) What is a dress form?

a. A mannequin who’se shaped like you. A fitting or body double, a way to fit patterns, garments, drape and design as though you’re the tailor and the dress form is you

b. Listen to Lori's Sew Forth Now Podcast for a history of dress forms

Lori not only talked about history, she also talked about the style of dress form and I’m not repeating any of that. Please listen to her wonderful show (she said it would remain there for the near future) esp interesting to me is lori’s archeologic work, uncovering the history of dress forms.

http://sewforthnow.blogspot.com/2008/05/episode-28-dress-forms.html

Lori uses an adjustable dress form, I worked with two different types – duct tape and a Uniquely You dress form

c.

2) Why I wanted a dress form

a. Fit

b. Trying out patterns and muslins in 3D

c. Create and play around with my own designs, and minor commercial pattern alterations and design changes

d. Because Lori made them sound so appealing!

e. Maybe for photographing in my blog….

3) Body Issues and your Team

a. Body issues are a part of our culture

b. Find helpers/team who help us feel good about ourselves

c. A dress form helps us distance ourselves from body issues – it’s just data

d. A dress form helps us notice our best features – what do I want to flatter more?

e. A dress form helps us make patterns or garments we design ourselves more flattering, so we learn to play up our best features

f. A dress form allows us to experiment with a muslin/toile – Can I make a shirtwaist that flatters my figure type?

g. Choosing our Team

4) Two types of dress forms I experienced. Basically what they are,  

5) Cost

6) Materials (tools)   and Resources (web stuff) - I list some Resources below

7) Safety- Working around kids,  young or older goofy, fun loving kids - Two good reasons not to !

8) Social Comfort/Body Issues – You need a work group, at least one other person. Find someone who supports your best interests and helps you feel good about yourself

9) How I’ve used my dress forms , what other things I or others might do w/ them

 - Fitting, altering, trying out new patterns, hand sewing/deconstructed neckbands - helps me conform neckline to lay well on me

- A Wedding in your future? Formal/Special Occasion Wear I would guess that if you’re doing a formal dress for someone with beading or close fitting - and maybe they aren't available at the drop of a hat, might be worth making a duct tape (or other type )  dress form for them

10) Technicos: In-depth details about how I made these two different styles of dress forms. What I actually did to create them

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Resources

Listen to the Podcast on web - no need to download to a mobile device
http://traffic.libsyn.com/enchantedbysewing/draft5_dress_formENCHANTEDbySewingFINAL.mp3

Lori recorded a Sew Forth Now podcast episode on dress forms. I tried not to duplicate anything she already talked about in this great show

http://sewforthnow.blogspot.com/2008/05/episode-28-dress-forms.html

Dress forms are a popular theme with sewing bloggers 

http://makingitwell.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/i-made-my-own-dress-form.html

"Threads" Magazine has many articles related to dress forms

Quick and Easy Duct-Tape Dress Form

http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/3630/quick-and-easy-duct-tape-dress-form/page/all

Some people think Paper Tape works better than duct tape. Haven't tried it myself, but I'd be game!

      http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/3633/paper-tape-dress-form Paper Tape Dress Form

Kenneth King make an extra body to use for two people  in Threads issue 161

 June/July 2012

http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/31229/make-your-dress-form-work-for-multiple-figures

I looked in the Threads Magazine Archive to find different articles. You can find that at...

http://www.tauntonstore.com/threads-magazine-issues.html  You can buy individual Threads back issues, if you or your public library doesn't have them on the shelf.

http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/29304/dress-forms-can-be-a-sewing-room-essential

1) "Fit for Everyone" by Kenneth D. King in issue #161. This describes how to sew removable covers to make your dress form work for multiple figures.

A. "Tip: Meet Madeline" by Sandy Moeckel in issue #153. This tip describes how Sandy inexpensively made her dress form suitable for herself as well as her daughter.

1) "Tip: Identical Body Double" by Anne K. Brenz in issue #144. This tip describes the way Anne made her dress form fit her every curve.

• "The Dress Form–A Sewer's Best Friend" by Carol Fresia in issue #123. Described below.

• "Make An Arm for Your Dress Form" by Shirley Botsford in issue #90.

• "Clone Yourself a Fitting Assistant" by David Page Coffin in issue #75. This article explains how to make a dress form from scratch.

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Things I might try out for arty fun and practice with my dress form 

Making a newspaper dress on a dress form. Fun way to learn draping?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlHmzXCWEh4

A tutu might also be a fun way to experiment with draping on a dress form too "How to make a tutu out of paper" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp6nKpzd0eI