The Couture Counsellor

Welcome to In the Sketchbook, a monthly look at fashion design sketches that we are working on for ourselves. Sketching garments on a personal croquis is a great way for the individual couture enthusiast to move beyond the use of commercial patterns and into a world of personalized design! It can be intimidating at first, but with a little bit of practice it becomes something you look forward to. Join us for a look of what we have going on In the Sketchbook! Brought to you by Wendy Grossman of Couture Counsellor and Steph King from Siouxzeegirl Designs.

Yikes! I haven’t posted since July. So sorry. I’ll try to make up for it over the next week or so.

Last weekend, I was out and about with a couple of dear friends and we stopped at a favorite store that sells the work of independent designers and artists. A little unstructured jacket caught my eye and the saleswoman insisted that I try it on. Here is a very rough idea of what it looked like.

I didn’t say anything until we left the store, but trying on this jacket reminded me just how far I’ve come in creating a custom wardrobe for myself and how much I’ve raised the bar for myself. This jacket reminded me of a shirt jacket I bought several years ago from a chain store that caters to women of a certain age that I wore to death. I threw it over pretty much everything – pants and a knit top, my trusty standby the black knit travel dress, plus a few other things – and I was dressed. Or what passed for dressed as I told myself that I’d lose the extra pounds I’d put on and this would do for now. Those were the days when fit meant I could close the garment and it didn’t pull anywhere. Never mind where my shoulders are, the sleeves aren’t set in anyway. The more it obscured what was underneath, the better.

There are a lot of patterns available that offer the same features for the same reasons. Not having to rely on them feels fabulous.

Having said that, there are times when a little more relaxed silhouette is nice to have as an option. I’ve had a kimono jacket percolating in my brain for a very long time. I like the idea of a short version worn with pants and a camisole. I’ve figured out that I wouldn’t be happy with actual kimono sleeves or even raglan sleeves, so my current thinking is to use set-in sleeves. I’ve also come to realize that a neckline that just sits flat on my shoulders isn’t my best look. And   when it comes to separates, a hem that dips toward the back is better than cutting myself in half. So, this is the latest version of the kimono-esque jacket I’m considering.

I’m thinking it needs the same shaping I put into my no-close topper – pleats at the shoulders and armscye darts. It might need something hidden to keep it closed, or it might be okay hanging on its own. I’ll need to mock it up to see.

The next question is what to pair it with. I’ve been drawn to something from the ’30s called beach pajamas, which are pants that are fitted at the top and almost skirt-like toward the hem. They’s usually made of rayon and they look like they’d been a lot of fun to make and wear. But they definitely aren’t right for the kimono-esque jacket.

That brought me to my go-to Eureka pants that Sarah and I modified to something between a trouser and a slack.

Better. But then I wondered how it would look with ankle pants. I’ve been wanting to make pants that get pretty narrow and end at the ankle with a vent. Something like this:

I think that has possibilities.

I’d love to hear what you think about these and about what you’re sketching. Be sure to check out what’s in Steph’s sketchbook at 10 Sewing Machines & a Serger. And also check out Fabrickated. She mentioned that she’d like to join in on the fun with showing what’s in her sketchbook.