Pins are for thick woven garments! A pin prick on something like a satin weave or into a knit might cause irreparable damage like runs or little holes. Oh no!

In fact, there are two different kinds of sewing machine needles for such particular fabrics- a sharp needle is for wovens where a ballpoint needle is for satins, knits and delicates. The sharp needle has a point which punctures the threads of a fabric; the ballpoint needle is blunt and finds the spaces between the threads of a fabric.

Pins include buttons, straight pins and safety pins- pictured above is a selection of vintage buttons available at the Sara Duke Factory Store on a vintage woven jean jacket. The shoppe is open on Saturdays 10 am to 6 pm, by chance or by appointment anytime- please contact sara@imadethisforyou.ca for more information.

Buttons are made a couple of ways- a shank button will have a loop of plastic, wood, metal or something that creates a bit of space for fabric when a garment is closed. A flat button has two or more holes- when applying (or, commonly, reapplying) a flat button to a garment, a shank must be created. This is accomplished by, after sewing in and out of the all button holes 2 times, winding the thread around the stitches at the base, creating a bit of a stand before tying off.

Most ready to wear clothing comes with extra buttons in a little baggy, or sew on the inside of the garment. If there are no extra buttons and you find yourself button shopping- please remember that buttons have their very own sizing, noted as L for ligne or French for line. Measuring diameter, 40 lignes is equal to one 1 inch.

Pictured above, buttons from my private collection.

Petite does not mean skinny in the fashion industry- petite sizing recognizes the differences in proportion on women who are under 5'4 tall- regular circumferences at the shoulders, bust, waist and hips, but a shorter distance between all of these markers.

Looking at the statistics, this should include most of us being that the average height of women in Canada is 5'3 and a bit. World wide, average height for women is about the same if you do not include Scandinavian countries where women tower over the rest of the world at about 5'6 on average. 

Visit a specialty store if  1.) You measure less the 5'4   2.) You find that your blazers and dress shirts bunch up around the waist in the front and back (caused by a short waist/long legs)   3.) You find the crotch of your pants is no where near your crotch (caused by a long waist/short legs)

Pictured above is Judy, built to represent standard proportions. The cross markings are of my own 5'1 frame at the bust, waist and hips. Although Judy and I are a similar girth, I am petite.

It is Saturday, it is sunny- what a perfect super open day! The Factory Store at 589 Markham Street will be all the way running from 10 am to 6 pm for your shopping convenience. Drop by and see what is on offer. If you have cool Thanksgiving related plans, I am around by chance or appointment during the week- please contact sara@imadethisforyou.ca.


Pictured above is a fabulous pair of earrings, designed and made extra super special for the shoppe by a local First Nations artist; glass beads.  

The Fashionary is a sleek little reference notebook that was made extra special for the fashion designer. It includes all kinds of information- measurement tools, a brand index, spec sheets, laundry label definitions- in the front and pages of sketchbook paper printed with the faint outline of a body form in the back.

It's pretty great- the only set back being that many of the body measurement charts are in metric and although a conversion chart is given, it takes math to change them into inches.

I have just received mine in the mail and am sitting down, putting pencil to paper- I thought that I might share this cool find with you; http://fashionary.org/ for more information.

One more note on fabric construction:

There is leather too. Leather is made by animals all by themselves :) Pictured above is a cow.

The last installment of fabric construction:

So we've got knits, woven and now felted garments. Felt is often made with just raw fibers as opposed to thread- neat, eh? So raw fibers are layered, then heat, water, pressure and mild agitation is used to tangle those fibers together. And, ta-da! Felt! 

Let us review- you can have a pull over sweater that is 100% wool because it is a knit; or a 100% wool pair of dress pants with a lovely straight waistband and fly front, maybe some pleats for fit; or even a fedora that is 100% wool that has been felted to fit you head. All of them wool, all different fabric constructions!

Pictured above is a wool jacket is from the "I made this for you."- Sara Duke Fall/Winter 2010 Northern Renaissance collection, shown at Harvard University in Boston last April; full mink pieces and vintage do-da detailing. This jacket and all other bits from the collection are available upon request from the Factory Store (589 Markham Street) on Saturdays 10 am to 6 pm, by chance or by appointment anytime- Sara@imadethisforyou.ca.

More about fabric construction:

Last time there were knits, now there are woven fabrics- these are jeans, jackets and dress shirts. Wovens do not stretch left to right or up and down, only on the bias (on an angle) unless some kind of stretchy fiber is added (spandex). This fabric is construction by tightly holding in place many many threads the length of the fabric (warp threads) and weaving many many other threads left and right (weft or filling threads). Fitted woven garments required functional closures like buttons and zippers.

Pictured above is an all the way black, all the way woven cotton if you see cake skirt with re appropriated vintage fur detail in the front and a functional exposed zipper detail in the back; grommeted twill tape tie. Available now at the shop on Saturdays 10 am to 6 pm, by chance or by appointment anytime- 589 Markham Street, Toronto, Ontario.

Please contact sara@imadethisforyou.ca for an appointment.  

There are a few different ways to construct fabric, let us review:

 Knits are constructed with a serious of loops in an incremental zig-zag formation. There are many different kinds of knits... don't worry about it- knit garments are stretchy and are used for the majority of today's clothing, just remember that mostly jersey is used. T shirts, underwear, socks, toques and sweaters are all knits; basically any garment that stretches to be pulled on, then retains it's shape during wear. Also, knits do not generally include functional closures such as buttons or zippers.


Pictured above is a project that is so so exciting! Silk, cotton blend knit sweater with an antique patch appliqued as a crest by hand (it takes hours). Some of the patches that were found date back to the early 1920's. Love!

Available soon at the "I made this for you." -Sara Duke Factory Store on Saturdays 10 am to 6 pm, by chance or by appointment anytime- 589 Markham Street, Toronto, Ontario.

Please contact sara@imadethisforyou.ca for an appointment.  

Pictured below are close up photos, a selection of the great great patches.

 

Hello there public, 

Alright, let's try this! I got some advice today that a blog is not really a blog unless I provide some space for feedback and comments. Here we go, let me know what you think about the content and if you have any fashion questions that you would like me to address.

Thank you!

Love,

Sara Duke

It is coming up on winter and one may notice that the back vent of that brand new winter coat has an X losely sewn at the bottom...

Cut it out! 

Often garments are shipped flat in boxes over long distances. This X, or stay stitch, is in place to ensure that the vent does not flip up and over during its long journey. Flippage would create a very nasty crease, given the inevitable changes in temperature and humidity, which would take all kinds of work to get out.

Same goes for welt pockets and pleats, remove the stay stitch before wear.

Pictured above is an illustration of vents and a little definition; and below, a diagram. Pretend that it's the back of that brand new winter coat...

It is Saturday #2- come find me at 589 Markham Street September 24th, 10 am to 6 pm; or by chance during the week; or by appointment anytime- please contact sara@imadethisforyou.ca.

To expand on the previous post, here is little bit more information about labels:

Removing labels from the back of a garment is understandable; despite efforts from the fashion design community, tags are scratchy. Scratchy because they are often sewn in with clear (or nylon) thread which has, because it is a filament fiber, sharp ends. It is necessary to use the correct instruments when removing a label- big dull kitchen scissors just won't do! Grab a pair of thread clippers, embroidery scissors or a seam ripper; small and sharp will insure that the correct threads are clipped. Nail clippers, eyebrow scissors or a box cutter will also work.

Take the time to do this job correctly because holes that occur somewhere on the garment as opposed to on the seam of a garment can not really be repaired nicely. Pictured above is a variety of acceptable tools for the job.

(Rant: labels annoy designers for a completely different reason- they must be designed, the design then sent to a supplier who always has a minimum orders of about $150 which means about 150 labels, which is a lot for a small fashion house, then they take 6 weeks to arrive, then they have to be sewn in... then the customer hacks them out with big dull kitchen scissors- a former boss of mine would call that a "make work" project.)

This post was inspired by a conversation with my wonderful husband.

He purchased a knit sweater and instantly cut the tag out, remarking that the hanger appeal was compromised by its application. It looked sloppy because the label was not sewn flush to the back of the top. There is a reason for this- knits have give and thus the label has to have a little give; it allows for the garment to be pulled on and avoids nasty little holes.

Pictured above is a stretch velvet dress with a totally awesome tonal rose print- the fabric can only really be described as "bad/good", a term that my contemporaries and I developed in fashion school to note that ugly can be wonderful. This dress, along with many other rad pieces of clothing, is available from the "I made this for you."- Sara Duke Factory Store (589 Markham Street) each and every Saturday between 10 am and 6 pm, or by chance or by appointment any time- please contact sara@imadethisforyou.ca.

Hello There,

I just wanted to use a bit of this space to send out a little note. Thank you to everyone who stopped by yesterday for Super Open Saturday- it was truly a super day!! Lots of people I recognized, lots of friends and lots of strangers stopped by- I met all kinds of really great people. I couldn't have asked for a better day.

THANK YOU DEAR PUBLIC!

Also, a very special thank you to my beautiful super model Sasha A. who was a great sport and modeled all of the new if you see cake fall product. She has been all over this blog all week and is pictured above. Thanks Sash!

So it is now official, the "I made this for you." Factory Store will be open every Saturday for the rest of my life, by appointment, or by chance. Let me know if you would like to stop by between Saturday at 6 pm and the following Saturday at 10 am, I will make sure to be there, just for you! Contact sara@imadethisforyou.ca for an appointment.

And now back to your regular blog posting.

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Sara Duke

Ta-da! I am ready for you. See you all 10 am for super open day! 589 Markham Street, lover level.

SAT. SEPT. 18TH IS WHEN IT ALL STARTS

589 Markham Street, 10 am to 6 pm, the "I made this for you." -Sara Duke Factory Store will be having the grandest of grand openings, offering 25% off all brand spanking new if you see cake fall 2010 product. 

Fall in love! 

 

Follow the link and find out what other wonderful things are happening on Markham Street this Saturday

 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/I-made-this-for-you-Sara-Duke/138342036203495?ref=ts#!/event.php?eid=150544248309949&ref=ts

Epic. 

Only 4 more sleeps until the "I made this for you." -Sara Duke Factory Store is open and ready with all kinds of if you see cake Fall 2010 product, just for you! Pictured above is the coolest pair of pants ever! They are unisex and one size and look pretty great on every bum that has ever been in them. On top is the prettiest little crop- vintage fabric, bias bound neckline and very old army issue buttons. Love. Available at 589 Markham Street this coming Saturday, September 18th 10 am to 6 pm; or by chance; or by appointment any time- please contact sara@imadethisforyou.ca.

Pictured above is a great top over a great dress. This coming Saturday is the big day when I open up the front of my studio just like a shoppe, just for you! if you see cake fall 2010 product available at 589 Markham Street starting this coming September 18th 10 am to 6 pm, by chance or by appointment any time- please contact sara@imadethisforyou.ca.

Get ready, get set- next Saturday, the front of my studio will be all the way converted into a shoppe. You and yours are welcome to stop by and take a look-see at all of the new if you see cake Fall 2010 product. Pictured above is an all the way black and all the way cotton top and skirt with grommets and vintage fur detailing. Available at 589 Markham Street this coming Saturday, September 18th 10 am to 6 pm, by chance or by appointment any time- please contact sara@imadethisforyou.ca.