Reflection on the fitting

I found the experience quite stressful.  Going into a strange place, meeting new people on my own, having to conduct a task that I had only seen done, and that only once, and having to be totally professionally calm and automatic about it are all things, especially when mixed up, that are, frankly, terrifying to me.  Part of my anxiety came from how fast everything had moved once I returned from work experience: having less than a normal 5-day week and less tutor-contact time than I had initially expected, all combined together with stepping into the unknown.  However, I felt that I was able to keep myself collected enough that my actor was not perturbed by my nervousness.  It was also a very hot day, and so I made sure I reassured my actor that if he felt to warm with an entire three-piece, 100% wool suit on, he was to say immediately.

As far as the fit and fitting of the garments, the length for all of them was just right.  I knew that there was a high chance of ambiguity over the fit at the hip and waist as this was where we had taken an executive decision to alter the measurements we had been supplied with. 

Trousers:

They did fit at the waist, high-waisted as they were, sitting nicely at the base of his ribs.  The waist itself was fine, but as the trousers went over his hips and down his thighs, they were rather tight.  This is a note for the future: When fitting dancers, expect slightly unusual measurements as they are more muscular in some areas than you would find on someone of the same height and chest measurement.

Waistcoat:

Slightly snug around the chest, but this can be let out of the side seams.  The sit across the shoulders was good and shaped well.

Jacket:

The sleeve I had had some problems with in drafting, so I was pleased with the amount of accuracy I did have, and not unhappy that I had to move it slightly.  Again, it was slightly too snug around the chest, so I will need to let it out at the side seams.

Overall, I felt that it was mostly a success, and hopefully next time I have to do a tailoring fitting I will not be quite so nervous.

Tricky Pieces

Well, when I heard that I was getting checked material, I had a small quibble-moment, but I do enjoy a challenge like this.  

When we did our previous tailoring unit making waistcoats, our tailoring tutor, G, said that we were very welcome to used checked material, but that we had to be prepared to have a few hiccups.  Because at that point all I wanted was to produce a good, well constructed garment, I went for the safer option of a block-coloured wool.  And I was very happy with the results!  BUT, this meant that coming into this unit, and being presented with a green tweed bolt, my knees shook.*

In matching the fabric I had an immediate problem: that the way in which the fabric had been woven and folded meant that I couldn't line up the two layers without wasting a lot of the fabric.  So, under the guidance of G, I was instructed to pin on my pattern pieces, carefully choosing where I wanted the strong red stripe to fall vertically as well as horizontally, then cut out the TOP LAYER ONLY.  Then I had to move each piece over by about half an inch** and re-match the lines to cut out the bottom layer...

I fell into a zone of concentration; I had started cutting out when it was still in lunchtime and therefore quieter in the studios.  By the time I looked up from my work the first years had returned and were clamoring on the edges of the (3) tables I was taking up, wanting the space for their class.

At this point in time I am not too stressed about the whole thing; all the hand tacking is going to my head and making me rather placid - a good thing to note for up and coming units: if you get too stressed Do Some Hand Sewing!

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*It is not that I have never worked with even stripes before; the last university project we were studying Candide by Voltaire, making 18th century costumes and I ended up with a black silk frock coat with silver braiding and matching breeches, but for that I applied the stripes by hand so was not trying to match them right from the outset.

** Yes, we still work in the old imperial scales in this profession.  We had a modified version for the waistcoat when all 43 makers were learning at once that used the metric scales, but all the original books and patterns are still printed in inches

Picture: http://villagedraper.com/