advanced apparel construction
Taught by Jullanne Blake
Course Objectives: The major goal of this course is to improve your sewing skills to an advanced level, reaching new
heights in your finished product. Proper techniques should be used on all of your projects. It is also a goal to
expand your expertise in sewing, as you use a variety of fabrics including plaids, wools, lining, and knits. On
completion of this course the student should be able to:
1. Demonstrate proper construction techniques and apply correct terminology by completing a
sample portfolio.
2. Understand how to follow pattern instructions, derive solutions, and build confidence in sewing
skills by creating various construction projects.
3. Recognize the quality of clothing construction by using rubrics to assess personal projects.
Projects for the semester
Tailored Pants
Plaid Shirt
Plaid Reading Assignment
Plaids are a timeless and season-less classic that can be basic wardrobe pieces and if made well can last a lifetime. When making a plaid it's important to get extra fabric to ensure that you can line up all of the lines and designs to create a beautiful piece. A tip is after pinning and before cutting, rest your eyes for a bit then check the layout again! If you look at the plaids for too long, as times you can't see the lines distinctly anymore. As well there is a difference between even plaid and uneven plaid. A personal experience of mine is knowing the difference between plaid and window plaid.
Lining Assignment | Wrap Dress
Lining Reading Assignment
Lining is the way to support a fabric and should be taken full advantage of! It improves the look, feel and functionality of the fabric. It gives body to the frame and it creates a drape and can act as a preservative to help keep it's shape longer and prevent wrinkling. There's multiple different types of interlining such as silk organza, cotton batiste, wool flannel, bump cloth etc that all have different affects. Silk organza is a thin interlining that is often used in summer-weight garments like linens or dupioni silks. A heavier lining would be wool flannel for when one wants warmth and substance for an otherwise thin fabric.
Knit Project | Square Neck Top
More Reading Assignments
Pressing is Couture!
Pressing is the extra step between making your garment look homemade to creating a clean, sleek, professional look.
Personally, I am trying to engrave a habit of pressing between each task; cutting then press, sew then press, press again!
Pressing has many different benefits from melding threads together so that they don't go anywhere, to melting interfacing into fabric to provide support needed into a fabric. Alas there are multiple different tools to assist in pressing such as seam rolls, hams, sleeve boards, pressing mits and more.