New Times, New Ways
         February 2010    

Draping the
Madame Grés Gown   . . . the third class in the series from the amazing Dutch draping book!



This is the dress! 
A New Class, April 3 & 4

A year ago I took a class in Paris with Madame Pico, the last of the drapers at the House of Grés, so you will see the samples and secrets of the Grés technique in both draping and construction!

Register here - 15 spaces.

P.S.Check out photos of the Dior Jacket class!
P.S.S. The Dutch draping book is in our store

A New Book!









We are beginning to reprint more of our Library and this rare design text is first on the list!  Go to our store for more details.  I have actually heard Kenneth King say that he personally thanks Harriet Pepin for his start in the industry!
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Now you can look up forgotten links, ideas, patterns, tips, photos -- all those things you meant to write down!

Getting Down to Work!

The good news is that the way forward in this economy is becoming more clear -- the bad news is that it is obviously going to require serious work, re-training, more tech learning, understanding new markets and just undoing old habits.  Success doesn't happen the same way anymore; there are new frontiers and paradigms out there and also a new accountability that forces everyone to wrap their minds around the whole issue, not just the parts closest to home.

Out of this era of seeming free-fall will come a new floor and in the next zeitgeist, later in this Century, we will come to see this time as a much needed renaissance.  It is a cycle and it's our turn to invent. Give it all you've got -- be open, try everything, turn it upside down -- imagine more and you'll work less!

We are doing more inventing ourselves -- new departments, new products and classes and new directions -- some here and some on the way.  It's what one does in February!

Sandy Ericson
Center for Pattern Design
New on the CFPD Scene
  • Barbie MySize As A Dress Form. We now have the cover pattern and instructions for the MySize Barbie so that you can use it as a 36" tall dress form Most people find them on Ebay but they are available at toy stores.  Amazingly, they do conform to half scale measurements and offer the advantage of full body draping with arms and legs.
Coming Up
  • Happening in Half Scale, a whole new department on the website, will be coming this spring.  We are working on a complete shop for all things half scale -- tools, patterns, dress forms and scaling methods.  There is a long history in the fashion world for using half scale with Vionnet leading the way.  It was also used for displaying concepts and finished designs, for developing new designs, teaching design and construction and for testing patterns -- not to mention the delight of fashion dolls.  It makes incredible sense.  This Simplicity pattern was used to teach sewing -- so beginners didn't have worry about fitting before they figured out zippers!  Makes it much more fun and it's less expensive, faster and they can more easily see how it all goes together if the parts are smaller -- way to go!  Watch for it!
  • A PWStudio Page for information about techniques with the software, new classes, Vista fixes, tricks and tips -- all the magic possibilities.  It is up with basic info -- more coming this month.  Let us know if you are interested in forming a class, using your laptop and the $20 demo!
  • The Paris Folding Skirt is almost there -- a few more tests and Voila!  One early peeker said she had a dream about it!

Save the Date
  • Julian Roberts returns to the US and Canada in June.  He will be starting at the east coast, moving across Canada and down the west coast!  Look for updates for times and places here.  We are in the beginning stages of talking to Kent State in NYC, Ryerson in Toronto, Kwantlen  Univ. in Vancouver, the Portland Chapter of the Association of Sewing and Design Professionals and the Fashion Book Store in Los Angeles.  If you have a connection anywhere, let them know you're looking forward to a great event with Julian.  Check out Julian's Work of Eye.
  • New Vionnet Classes:  One coming up soon at Penwag, February 13 & 14.  Penwag is the Pennisula Wearable Art Guild, a long time institution in the art-wear world, located in Palo Alto, CA.  Another is coming up at the Textile Art Center In Minneapolis as part of the Surface Design Association meeting there in early June, 2010.  Both are hands-on and focus on using art fabrics in the Vionnet Way.
Events
  • There's a new French pattern company that has some wonderfully quirky but very French patterns guaranteed to speak French in the dark!  Au Bonheur des Petites Mains and here is a sample -- fabulous jacket!  Hint on ordering: pick out 4 patterns since the cost to ship one will cover four.
  • Rodarte -- the sisters Mulleavy from Pasadena -- who have turned design, and maybe pattern making, around with their unusual materials and spot-on take on 2010 RIGHT NOW, are exhbiting at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in NYC, from February 11 through March 14, 2010.

Books
  • Make It Fit  . . . provides fool proof solutions on ways to tailor clothing for all body types. With illustrated instructions, this manual shows users how to measure, calculate, and mark basic patterns to customized dimensions. It also includes a pack of 29 full-sized slopers basic patterns for garment sections, without style lines or seam allowances printed on a soft, synthetic fabric to drape over the body or model form, allowing users to mold the pattern over an actual form to attain the correct measurements. Amazon.
  • Integrating Draping, Drafting, and Drawing . . . teaches these three techniques of creating apparel designs the way they are practiced in the industry, that is, by integrating them throughout the creative process. This handy studio reference helps students develop their skills and apply them to the design of garments. In each chapter, illustrations and photographs show a combination of skills and the natural flow between them, and the text completes the explanation with an explanation of the details.Amazon.

Special Items
  • The CoPA Archive.  We have used our seats but there are some free reserve seats for 2009 members left.  If you are a member and would like access, please send us an email and we will send you the user name and password instructions.  The CoPA Archives at the University of Rhode Island is open to all and we will purchase more group access in the future.  The patterns and their layouts will make you delirious!  Thousands of them!! It is an amazing collection.


Spring is around the corner and the rains came -- much dancing around the totem! 

The way forward is to be like you want to become and wait for catch up -- never fails.  So welcome 2010 and make it the best; the next decades will be as it becomes.


Thank you.

Sandy Ericson
Center for Pattern Design