The Cutting Class

Maison Martin Margiela, AW11.

In the high end ready-to-wear collections it is quite rare to see a zip hanging wide open and with the zipper tape exposed. It is rarer still to see a zip that weaves across the body in a wavy line, and it is possibly only from a team such as the one at Maison Martin Margiela that a curling zipper is actually integral to the mood of the collection.

In the Autumn-Winter 2011 collection from Maison Martin Margiela the loose hang of the zippers helped to cultivate the mood of the models in a way that buttons and press studs alone never could. They helped to make the clothes look as though they were peeling away from the models bodies as they replaced seamlines and created rifts between sections of the garment. The fact that the zips are relatively invisible also helped to differentiate it from the other fastening elements of the garment. So buttons on a cardigan for example seemed like the functional fastening element but then the zip was used to edge the seams that were slithering away from the body. It is always interesting to note the use of traditional elements in deconstructed clothing. Whether it is a conscious decision or not, is as though the designers are placing traditional elements onto garments as a visual anchor to show how the structure of the garment has moved.

On a very practical note, for the length of zipper used on the Margiela garments be ware of lead times if you are planning this sort of fastening yourself. Long zips that are double ended or open ended and available in unusual colours often need to be specially ordered from a supplier such as YKK, and from anecdotal evidence they can take up to 6 weeks to arrive and may only be available in limited size and colour combinations. Zip tape can also be bought on a continuous roll and zip pulls and ends applied separately but you will need to research the minimums required for purchasing in this way as it may not be a viable option for sample collections.

Catwalk images from Vogue.co.uk».

Alexander McQueen, AW11.

Menswear is always such an interesting study in detail. There are tiny decisions that are made by the design team that aren’t done justice by full length catwalk shots, details that are probably debated over for hours on end such as the angle of a buttonhole, or the colour of the contrast trim on a welt pocket. At the end of the day these details might seem like an afterthought to others but to designers who carefully plan a garment from beginning to end they are incredibly important. At the end of the day what is a garment but a series of tiny decisions about details? Or as Charles Eames has said in the past, “The details are not the details. They make the design.”

In the following images from the Alexander McQueen Autumn-Winter 2011 collection we see how Sarah Burton is ensuring that the tailoring tradition, so integral to the McQueen legacy, is continued in the menswear garments through the careful execution of tiny details such as perfectly formed buttonholes and slim welt pockets in unexpected positions.

Catwalk images from Vogue.co.uk».

Rodarte, AW11.

There are a myriad of ways that you can make fabric mould to the curves of the body and one option which was used to great effect in the Rodarte Autumn-Winter 2011 collection was small waist tucks. The use of multiple tucks in place of darts became an integral part of the collection and appeared on many pieces, helping to create a silhouette with a nipped in waist.

Tucks are essentially very similar to darts but have the fabric released at the point, rather than being sewn all the way through to the apex of the dart. The basic method is similar to the approach used to create clusters of darts, as described in the post Fundamentals of Pattern Making: Viktor & Rolf Dart Clusters». So if you have a pattern that has dart clusters already, you can make a very simple change to the way that the darts are marked in order to change them to tucks, basically just referencing step 10 onwards in the following instructions.

Below are the instructions and diagrams for how to move the dart value from a bust dart to a cluster of 3 waist tucks. This has been done using the “Cut and Spread” method of pattern making. Essentially it is easiest to move the value into 3 dart shapes first, and then just mark them as darts.

1. Trace off your pattern onto a new piece of card or paper so that you will not damage your original pattern. Next draw on 3 guidelines to indicate where you want your waist tucks to end up (I’ve indicated these in blue) You will also need to draw lines from the notches on your darts to bust point, note that this is not to dart point, but all the way to bust point (this old dart value is marked in red).
2. Draw lines from the top of the new guide darts up to bust point. Then cut along the new guidelines from the waist to bust point, without quite cutting all the way through the card, leaving it slightly joined at bust point. You will need a small amount of card in there to be able to hinge the pattern. Also cut out the old dart value, which is marked in red.
3. Next swing the bottom right hand corner of the pattern up to close out the bust dart and tape this dart closed. This will open up space between the 3 new guide darts.
4. Tape this pattern to a new piece of card so that you can trace off the result of the cut and spread onto the new card below. Trace where I have marked in red, making sure to transfer the bust point onto the new card, as well as any notches which are along the red line.
5. Next keep the rest of the pattern taped down but swing the pieces of cardboard for the waist darts to get an even spread of dart value. Basically the space between the pieces of cardboard is going to represent your new dart values so you will want them to be even. The pattern will still work if the dart value is uneven but you will get a better fit and nicer look on the inside of the garment if the dart value is the same. Where the lines bend will be the area of the new dart points. Measure between the gaps and make a mark half way along the line to represent your new guide dart point (this is marked in red, with the halfway points being marked in yellow). Do the same along the gaps in the waist stitching line, also marked below in red and yellow.
6. Draw in the new darts as below, and draw some rough markings for where the new waist line will be (marked below in red).
7. You can now remove the first pattern that we used for the cut and spread technique. Mark on the centre lines of the new darts/tucks.
8. You can now cut out all of the pattern except for the waistline. Fold out the dart value on the waistline as indicated.
9. Next you will need to create a blended line for the new waistline. Keep your original waist seamline measurement in mind when marking this, comparing the new stitching line to the measurement along the waist stitching line of the original pattern. Mark in new waist seam allowance. Cut out the waist seam while all the dart value is still folded out. 
10. This is the step where you will need to mark your pattern differently depending if you want darts or tucks. For tucks, you will need to mark a squared off stitching line, and two drill holes that will be used to indicate the stitching line on the fabric for the machinist. Depending on the size of the tuck, you will need to mark the drill hole about 5mm in from the corner of the stitching line, so that it won’t be visible once the square stitching line is sewn. On smaller tucks where there is less space, you may have to simply put the drill hole halfway between the stitching line and the centre line. 
11. Tucks seem to be marked in a variety of different ways by different pattern makers, so the important thing is to mark it in the preferred method of your machinist or manufacturer, or to make sure that they at least understand how you have marked your pattern. For the method shown above, I suggest notching the arms of the tuck at the seam allowance and using two drill holes. This means that your machinist will be able to match notch to notch and drill hole to drill hole in order to sew the tuck. Using arrows will also help to show which notches need to be matched, as sometimes if you don’t have an arrow, and have also notched the centre line of the tuck, the notches can become very confusing. Most pattern makers also circle their drill holes for production as a drill hole can be small and easily missed, but once circled will become highlighted to the cutter.
12. To check that the finished pattern is correct, compare the stitching lines of the armhole and waistline for the old and new patterns. Even though you have moved the dart value in tucks the measurements should be the same - you have only moved the dart value, not made major alterations to the fit of the garment so you will not have wanted to make the armhole or waist line bigger or smaller.

Catwalk images from Vogue.co.uk». Technical images from The Cutting Class.

Erdem, AW11.

For his Autumn-Winter 2011 collection, Erdem Moraglioglu moved his signature florals into more dappled territory with digital prints on what appears to be silks and velvets, layered with jewel toned embroidery. The use of velvet was particularly complementary to the print designs and was especially successful when used in combination with other textures.

When velvet was panelled in with other fabrics and overlaid with embroidery it gave the garments a more dynamic edge than some of the florals used in previous collections. The combinations serve to catch the light in unusual ways, resulting in a very painterly 2D / 3D effect.

Though I have read that Erdem was inspired by Jackson Pollock for this collection I find the prints very reminiscent of painings by Monet, with more saturated, high-voltage colours. The overall effect is that the fabrics and prints used here continue to build on the romanticism of Erdem’s label but with an added sense of depth and texture.

Though the shapes are simple, it is the ideas and techniques that are building within the garments and textiles that are at the heart of these carefully considered collections. And this will be the reason to always zoom in on the details for Erdem’s future work as the full story is not always apparent in the head-to-toe catwalk shots.

Catwalk images from Vogue.co.uk».

Tailoring Shears from Niwaki with total length 9”.

When you have spent hours perfecting and refining a pattern to perfection, after countless toiles and alterations, the last thing you want to do is try to cut it out on your final fabric using the wrong equipment. With the wrong equipment and incorrect preparation, you can end up undoing all the hard work that you put into your pattern as the final fabric may end up getting pulled and distorted while you are trying to cut it. 

Cutting equipment can be quite a personal thing and no single method is perfect for everyone, or for every fabric. However there are some basic approaches that you can try to see what works best for you. 

The most traditional method is simply with a really good pair of sharp scissors or tailors shears, as the larger cutting scissors are often called. If you are serious about your scissors, you will buy a good quality pair, never drop them, sharpen them regularly, oil the joint with a drop of machine oil and keep them wrapped in a case to protect them. Investing in a good pair of scissors is worthwhile if you will take good care of them as you will have them for a long, long time. 

Tailoring Shears from William Whiteley.

Some more points about Tailors Shears: 

• Over time scissors grow to have idiosyncrasies like their owners. I’m unsure of the technical reason for this but old scissors will sometimes appear blunt to anyone else who picks them up because it is only in a certain sweet spot on the blade that they actually cut, and then they work perfectly. 
• It is important to note that you should get the right weight of scissors for you. In general you will work faster with longer blades that are able to cut more in each cut, but they will only be suitable for you if they are not too heavy for your hands and wrist and you are able to use them for hours at a time. This is why ideally you should buy scissors from a shop where you can test the weight yourself as a shorter length may be more suitable for you.
• Another point to remember when cutting with scissors is to never open and close them back and forth with out actually cutting through fabric, as this is bad for the blades. Dropping scissors on their point is also especially bad as it can blunt that useful pointy tip and often throw the whole scissors out of alignment. 
• And you should never use your fabric scissors to cut pattern paper or vice versa. Cutting cardboard with your tailoring shears is a quick way to blunt the blade.

Tailoring shears are especially useful for cutting solid, rigid fabrics such as suiting wool, coat fabrics, cotton drills and denims. A quick and simple method is to chalk the outline of your patterns onto the fabric and then cut with tailors shears. This works best for fabrics that won’t shift and move as you try to cut them.

When you are cutting right into corners or cutting notches you will never make mistakes if you avoid having the point of the scissors past the point that you want to cut. For example trying to cut a small notch using the centre of the scissor blades instead of the tip could mean that if you accidentally press harder than you intend then you will cut too far into the fabric. You are always better to cut into notches, corners and buttonholes by smaller amounts first as you can always cut again to go further, but you cannot easily mend cut fabric.

Rotary Cutters and Self Healing Mat from Olfa.

 Another method of cutting out is using what are known as rotary cutters or roller cutters. These metal blades come in different sizes and are easily replaceable within their plastic handle, so although they get blunt faster than tailoring shears they are also quick and easy to replace. Roller cutters are a great method for fabric that wants to slide around easily such as silks and jerseys since the blade simply rolls across the top, whereas scissors would need to work from both the top and bottom, lifting the fabric from the table. The most common size blade is the 45mm, though some people prefer having a smaller blade on hand for notching seam allowances and tricky corners.

Roller cutters work best when paired with a self healing mat. This gives you a base underneath your cut work that will protect the surface beneath from any damage. The gridlines marked will also help to keep your grainlines square. Be aware of pins when you are using your roller cutter! Once you have rolled over a pin, or edge of a mat you will likely have nicked your blade and will now miss out on cutting a few threads on every rotation of the blade, meanign that the blade will need to be replaced.

Roller cutters are especially useful for cutting strips of bias binding in fabrics such as silk georgette as you can layer your georgette over a sheet of paper, pinning it so it is square. Next layer a second layer of paper over the top with diagonal lines drawn on at a 45 degree angle at the width that you require for your bias strips. Pin through all 3 layers to secure the georgette, then you can simply roller cut along the lines with your roller blade and metal ruler. This will result in perfectly cut bias strips.

Some people find rotary cutters quite addictive but they can be slow going once they get blunt or if they are not suitable for the fabric. Once the blade is too blunt and you don’t have a replacement blade then you will be far better to switch back to a good pair of sharp scissors, than to try persevering with the rotary cutter.

Images of Tailoring Shears from Niwaki» and William Whiteley & Sons». Images of Rotary Cutters and Self Healing Mats from Olfa».

Calvin Klein, AW11.

When patterns are fairly simple, it is usually quite straight forward how individual pattern pieces need to be named. For example on a simple t-shirt you basically just have a front, a back and a sleeve pattern. For a jacket you may have front, back, sleeve, pocket pieces, facings, collars and linings. All of which still relate fairly obviously to parts of the garment. But there is one garment area with a more unusual name, and that is what is known as a yoke.

On garments, a yoke is probably most commonly seen on mens shirts, but also appears on some tops, dresses, trousers, skirts and coats. It is effectively the name given to a horizontal panel near the shoulders or waist and is a piece that is often used for shaping, since dart values can sometimes be absorbed into this seam line. The images above and below show where yokes appear on the garments in the Autumn-Winter 2011 shows for Calvin Klein and Cacharel.

Calvin Klein, AW11.

Cacharel, AW11.

Depending on the shape of shoulder line required, yokes on tops, shirts, dresses or coats can sometimes be cut as one pattern piece so that the front and back pattern pieces are merged along the shoulder line. Other variations will keep the front and back yokes as two separate pieces, especially where there is a drop shoulder as you will need two separate pieces in order to retain the curve of the shoulder line. A variation on this would be to cut the yoke in one piece but with darts in the shoulder to create the necessary curved shaping. Yokes do not have to be straight across the horizontal lines for the front or back pattern, and in some of the variations above you will see that the yokes come to a point, illustrating just a couple of examples of yoke variations.

On trousers and skirts the yoke section is a way for the dart value to be absorbed into a single panel, and this will be covered in a later post, but is similar to the technique used below for folding out the back shoulder dart. Below are some basic examples of pattern manipulations for different basic yoke patterns on a basic women’s bodice block.

Catwalk images from Vogue.co.uk». Technical images from TheCuttingClass.

Shoulder pad images from MacCulloch&Wallis.

It is easy to make the mistake of looking at garments and thinking that the shape of the silhouette is largely due to the fabric, and the fit of the pattern that was used to cut the fabric. To believe that all garments can be made from fabric and pattern alone is to ignore the importance of the garments internal structure. A good garment can be ruined by the wrong fusing, the drape of a collar can be spoiled by a stretched seam and the hang of a tailored jacket, coat or top can be ruined with the use of the wrong shoulder pad.

There is something about shoulder pads that can seem a little kitsche or dated at times, as though we’re worried that putting a shoulder pad into our garments will somehow make them look like a 1980s powersuit. This is probably because for some of us, the shoulder pads which we have come into contact with in womenswear garments are of the removable, flimsy, foam kind. Or we picture shoulder pads as coming in a one size fits all size and thickness. There is something about this kind of should pad which is like a strange add on to the garment itself, rather than a true part of it’s shape.

In contrast the best, most subtle and most powerful uses of shoulder pads are in garments where they are sewn in as a part of the armhole and often used in conjunction with a suitable piece of shoulder head roll. In truth, shoulder pads are available in a variety of types, sizes, thicknesses and with different materials for different types of garments. You can find them in shapes which will suit a set in sleeve, or some that will suit a raglan or drop shoulder. They are also, depending on type, very easy to edit to your own taste as you see fit. With the more tailored shoulder pads especially, you can open the shoulder pad and take out or add in filling as needed to create everything from the most traditional to the most unusual shapes. 

To begin with you may find it easier to only base your shapes on existing, pre-made shoulder pads but don’t be afraid to experiment with building your own from scratch with foam, wadding, horsehair, canvas and basically any sort of material that can be easily cared for once the garment is sewn together. Or otherwise you could of course make the shoulder pads removable, so that you are not limited to only materials that can be washed or drycleaned.

Below are images from the Autumn-Winter 2011 collection created by the team at Mugler. They are accompanied by possible basic shoulder pad shapes that could have been used in the garments to give you an idea of the different silhouettes that can be achieved with pre-made and custom made shoulder pads.

Mugler, AW11.

Shoulder pad images from MacCulloch&Wallis». Catwalk images from Vogue.co.uk».