My fashion horizon expanded significantly when I took up sewing this year due to COVID restrictions. Thanks to Etsy and to some extent Ebay, the availability of vintage patterns have made my imagination soar in the same way as creating artwork through collage, acrylics and installation. Many of my inspirations will remain just that - ideas percolating in the mind. But others will be transformed into actual clothing in styles and fabrics that would be far too complicated or costly to purchase retail. Here is a lineup of some of my favorite Fall & Winter 2020 looks.
OVERSIZED COAT
One trend in the Fall/Winter 2020 season is over-sized coats. Athough editorial looks like the red coat (above) are too much for everyday wear, I want to make an oversized coat similar to one in Mina Perhonen's 2018-19 Fall Collection. Vogue Paris Original pattern 1082 featuring Antonio Castillo's design for the House of Lanvin comes very close to creating the look of this coat. I will make the collar-less coat version and add welt pockets and bound buttonholes. Mina Perhonen also produces its own textiles and I love the feminine roses on dark green/black background used for the coat. Instead of heavy brocade or winter wool, I plan to use a very lightweight floral wool fabric, underline it with silk organza to create some body, and line it in a pale bee-skep patterned silk shantung. If successfully sewn, this will be my signature piece for the second half of this year.
New Skills: tailoring, hand-sewing an underlining and lining, bound buttonholes, welt pockets
Fabrics From : Mood Fabrics, https://www.moodfabrics.com/
The Chances of Making This Coat: good
DENIM SKIRT
Denim is a heavy and stiff material to sew and I have never made anything with it. I have no desire to sew traditional denim wear such as jeans or jean jacket since they are readily available in stores. My preference is using denim to create feminine looks in a skirt or dress. One day while trolling Pinterest, I came upon a fringey skirt. It captured my imagination right away. The raw edges on the hem and waistband were fabulous and I loved the drape of the flared lower skirt. I found a Donna Karan pattern (Vogue 1451) that I could adapt for this skirt. I prefer the pattern's shorter length over that of the original. Mood had a great sale on a Rag & Bone dark indigo cotton denim from Japan so I ordered some. The fabric took a long time to come and nearly didn't make it to my home because Fedex delivered it to the wrong address. Fortunately the person who received delivery bicycled it over to my house (thank you neighbor!). I have now washed the denim twice to get ride of some of the dye. It is fringing nicely and I am looking forward to cutting and sewing it.
New Skills: sewing denim, putting in a zipper, sewing an asymmetrical flounce, fringing the hem and waistbandThe Chances of Making This Skirt: good
THE DRAMATIC COLLAR
New Skills: sewing with silk, making sharply pointed collars, button holes, rolled seams
The Chances of Making This Blouse: at the dreaming stage, no fabric selected at this time
