Choose STYLE
Let’s start with party dresses – many of us
may not want to go for the clingiest style in
the sparkliest fabric. In order to avoid feeling
overdressed, choose either a striking style like
bodycon or a ‘Here I am’ fabric, rather than both
together. Why not recreate your favourite day
dress in a beautiful silk or other evening
wear fabric? Accessorise it with the current
must-have shoulder-skimming earrings for
an instant party look. Alternatively, if you
enjoy wearing figure-hugging styles, think one
colour in a plush or sheened fabric for a more
sophisticated and alluring look. I wear a lot
of separates myself, and like to mix a festive
item with something more ‘everyday’. I have
several stretch pencil skirts in metallic, sheened
and sequined fabrics that I team simply with
cashmere crew-necked sweaters.the luxe EFFECT
Metallic fabrics are continuing to be a strong
fashion trend this season and come into their
own at this time of year. Instead of the more
obvious pairing of black with gold or silver, try
something more subtle. Think tonal dressing;
put pale grey with silver, cream with gold or
pale pink with copper. Less bling but equally
luxe, velvets and satins are everywhere on the
catwalks, and are being worn for day as well as
evening wear this season. I’m planning to add
a pair of drapey, viscose/velvet wide-legged
trousers to my festive wardrobe. I’ll pair them
with a satin blouse or a simple sweater! I’ve
also noticed that deep jewel colours are being
mixed with tonal mid-hued colours, which is
great for those who prefer wearing smaller pops
of colour. Not everyone dares to wear it but
red really is the colour of the season and looks
stunning head to toe.With festivities on the horizon,
Frances Tobin tells us how to get
PARTY READY!
25(^) sewmag.co.uk
Satin bomber,
Essential collection
Browse Frances’ range of patterns and more at themakersatelier.com
Photography by Amelia Shepherd for The Maker’s Atelier
Material NEEDS
With all these speciality fabrics, different
sewing techniques are required. If you are
inexperienced, perfect your sewing skills on an
offcut before committing to a whole garment.
For mass-produced sequinned fabrics, I’ve
found that I can cut and stitch straight through
the sequins, although this blunts the needle
faster than normal. If your garment isn’t lined
however, the sequins can catch on underwear
or scratch your skin – so I carefully snip away
the sequins on the seam allowance. Silks, satins
and viscose velvets always need a suitable needle
for finer fabrics. I find these slippery and piled
fabrics are the most difficult to work with, so
I tack every single seam then use a walking foot
on piled fabrics and a ‘Stitch & Tear’ stabilising
paper for buttonholes. If you are tempted to
work with stretch metallics in PU or coated
jersey, use a ballpoint or jersey needle. You may
find the metallic surface sticks to your ordinary
machine foot; if this happens, invest in a Teflon
foot. Whatever you choose to make, enjoy it.
That way you’ll get more pleasure when you
wear it. Happy Christmas!
sew DRESSMAKING
“Recreate your favourite day
dress in a beautiful silk or other
luxe fabric for the evening.”
I love Christmas – all that excitement and
anticipation in the air, people to see and parties
to go to, but what to wear? There’s an awful
temptation to get too dressed up. This year, I’m
advocating a subtle and wearable approach to party
dressing - yes, you can still look special without
having to compete with the Christmas tree!
Satin blouse and pencil skirt
You can find more of
France’s patterns and
guidance in her book,
launched earlier this year,
THE MAKER’S ATELIER:
The Essential Collection
(£30, Quadrille).
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Remove sequins from the
seam allowance
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Stretch pencil skirt,
Essential collection
FrancesTobin 103.indd 2 08/09/2017 13:55