For the last week, we’ve had two lovely Australians staying here, learning about Pattern Adapting – dart manipulation, creating/disposing of fullness, creating Princess lines and yokes. At the start of the week there was theory to cover, along with 1/5th scale modelling, to show the principles of pattern adapting. The practical part began not with a basic block, but a very simple, fitted dress (commercial) pattern. They made a toile and perfected the fit, then adapted it to create a completely different design. One chose to do a very contemporary “swing” dress, with hemline dropped at the back, a very stylish low “Mandarin” type collar and two types of cut away shoulders. Her friend chose a more classic style, based on a Princess line, but then went on to further adapt this into a semi-fitted tunic with a very unusual shape to the Princess line just below the neck. She also extended the shoulders to create cap sleeves.
Their time away from the studio included shopping and supper in Angouleme (with the bonus that it was the “Circuits des Remparts” weekend, with all the gorgeous classic cars on show!), Sunday market and lunch in Aubeterre-sur-Dronne, Chalais’s large Monday morning market, and an evening at our local restaurant “Quai Sud”.
It was a week of hard work and creativity – tiring but fun!
