Balenciaga Museum Presentation
Jet Set Sewing
by Jet Set Sewing
3y ago
Hello my friends! Did you think I’d forgotten about you? That’s what Karl’s been thinking! During most of the summer I was busy writing an article to present at a conference about the couturier Cristobal Balenciaga, which was presented by the Balenciaga museum in Getaria, Spain, on Thursday, Oct. 1. The article is called “Balenciaga and the American Fashion Editors who Shared his Private World: Bettina Ballard, Carmel Snow, and Diana Vreeland.” And if you know me, it’s a safe bet that–even though it’s a serious fashion history article with tons of footnotes–there was plenty of gossip in it. Wh ..read more
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Remembering my Husband
Jet Set Sewing
by Jet Set Sewing
3y ago
Well, it’s been awfully quiet around here. As some of you may already know, I lost my husband more than a year ago. An avid skier, he suffered life-ending injuries in a tragic accident on a mountain in New Hampshire. I was with him, and over the days that followed the rest of the family was able to join him before he passed. It goes without saying that my son and I, my three stepchildren, and our three grandchildren are bereft. Howell was a man with a great appetite for life, so of course he would be fearlessly skiing just shy of his 75th birthday. That same fearlessness led him to help a grea ..read more
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Teaching Hipster Mending at The Museum of Modern Art — and — what I sewed when I was “Procrasti-making”
Jet Set Sewing
by Jet Set Sewing
3y ago
So I was up on stage with Pink Martini, the retro band that celebrates worldwide lounge music with a hefty side of camp. They had invited roughly half the audience to join them in singing Helen Reddy’s 70s feminist anthem “I Am Woman,” and since I was lubricated with a beer and wearing my second Papercut Patterns Sapporo Coat of the season, I felt a need to get up and belt, “I am STRONG I am INVINCIBLE–I AM WOMAN!! (That’s me selling it on the far left.) (At that moment, it became official–I have no shame.) Here’s a look at the coat up close. I used many of the same pattern modifications ..read more
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Oscars report (get a snack, it’s a long post) and Daniel Day-Lewis’ Sewing Blog!
Jet Set Sewing
by Jet Set Sewing
3y ago
So I needed to make something for the Oscars. I had some gorgeous silk/wool/metallic fabric I’d scored at B&J Fabrics in NYC during the fall. B&J is a well-organized, somewhat pricey shop on 7th Avenue with a nice selection of fabrics for dressy events, and lots of knowledgeable help. I had a repro pattern for a 30s swing jacket, so I set to work stitching it up, even inserting some silk pockets. I was so productive! I’d made a quick muslin using Swedish tracing paper, (not always a great idea, as tracing paper doesn’t have grain, so you don’t get the feel of the drape), but I thought ..read more
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A Steamy Post on a Pressing Matter: Making the Papercut Patterns “Sapporo Coat”
Jet Set Sewing
by Jet Set Sewing
3y ago
What is it about late summer that cranks up my obsession with blanket coats? Last year I whipped up two: the 50s “Blancoat” that made a groovy bathrobe, and a very hacked version of Vogue 8930, the oversized-collar coat with the naughty name. I usually don’t sew from modern patterns, but was intrigued by the new Sapporo Coat from Papercut Patterns, an indy company based in New Zealand known for their fashion-forward designs. The pattern has the air of “20s cocoon coat meets 50s balloon coat” that’s appealing. The coat has sleek style lines and a relatively simple construction, allowing ..read more
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Outfit for a Party at Museum of Modern Art (Versions 1 through 5) and scenes from their “Items: Is Fashion Modern?” Exhibit
Jet Set Sewing
by Jet Set Sewing
3y ago
So I needed an outfit to wear to the opening night party of the Museum of Modern Art’s Items: Is Fashion Modern exhibit – their first show about fashion since the 40s. Through a bit of kismet, the curators had discovered my Claire McCardell research via my blog, and contacted me. I helped them locate a rare pair of McCardell’s original ballet flats, answered a lot of questions, and loaned them a photo from my collection for their exhibit and catalogue. In case you missed it, they put the tale of my unusual path to becoming a fashion historian on their blog. The exhibit, which tells the story ..read more
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Textiles from the south of France, caught in a Roman Bath tsunami, and Reader, I married him…
Jet Set Sewing
by Jet Set Sewing
3y ago
Before I got to my haute couture embroidery class at Ecole Lesage in Paris, I did a little damage ogling (and purchasing) textiles in the south of France. A couple of years ago, I wrote about visiting Aix-en-Provence and the surrounding area, as my husband and I drove around in circles while two competing navigational systems – Miss Moneypenny and Miss Google Maps – bossed us around, and our teen son hid in the back programming a new million-dollar app (at least, I hope that’s what he was doing – though it sounded a lot like he was playing Fruit Ninja). This time it was summer, and though it ..read more
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Haute Couture Embroidery School in Paris, Balenciaga, and…eek! I dropped my needle again!
Jet Set Sewing
by Jet Set Sewing
3y ago
  How excited was I to attend the world-famous Ecole Lesage school of haute couture embroidery in Paris! The school was formed in 1992 to pass on the legendary embroidery techniques of Maison Lesage, which has embellished the creations of Vionnet, Schiaparelli, Yves Saint Laurent, and Chanel over the past century. Fun! Like a sewing retreat, right? Off to school – in Paris! Like Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina! I had gotten in touch with the school six months prior, and, with my schedule, was given the choice of a six-hour beginning class for beading (using a needle) or twelve-hour class for ..read more
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Is it okay for feminists to sew? Or: Want a man? Get a sewing machine.
Jet Set Sewing
by Jet Set Sewing
3y ago
Can you sew and still be a feminist? Oh honey, I’m a feminist from way back. My mom taught me to sew in the 70s, because every woman in the midwest needed to know how. At some point, your daughter was going to come home from Girls Choir with a mimeographed sheet instructing “Mom” to come up with a red corduroy jumper with a zipper up the front from a Simplicity pattern, and you just had to do it. Sewing was right up there with cooking as a life skill. These were the women who had flexed their muscles as Rosie the Riveter during WWII, or were co-eds like my mom. Then the men came back, and the ..read more
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Sewing a retro mermaid skirt (McCalls 7386), a 20s-vibe sweater coat (Vogue 8930), and a 50s McCardell bolero; but still it was all downhill until I made a pink hat…
Jet Set Sewing
by Jet Set Sewing
3y ago
Oh hey! Remember the good ol’ days? Like, in June? If you’re a U.S. reader, it’s entirely possible you’ve been experiencing a bit of anxiety lately. I know I have. Personally, I blame a major Italian fashion house for my slide into bad karmaland. There I was in late July, wearing my not-terribly-tatty workout clothes and carrying a completely acceptable non-It bag, cutting through the mall to get to Star Market for groceries, when I spotted this dress in the middle of a store: Well, of course I had to take a picture for Instagram, because I’d seen 70s Halston dresses that are just like it. He ..read more
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