Haute Couture Club of Chicago

The first Friday of the month you’ll find me trekking west on I-94 making the 5 hour drive to just north of Chicago where I invade my daughter and son-in-law’s condo to eagerly await Saturday morning. The Haute Couture Club of Chicago is an inspiring group of very talented ladies who gather the first Saturday of the month at the Illinois Institute of Arts in the Apparel Center to share their love of fine sewing. Their mission is “to provide a friendly, supportive and stimulating atmosphere for the learning of advanced sewing techniques, united in our interest in creating beautifully constructed and expertly fitted garments”. The meetings are stimulating and motivating; they make you want to become more skillful and knowledgeable about tailoring, garment design and construction.

Hurray for Hollywood

The annual spring themed fashion show and luncheon showcases the tailoring and fine sewing of the talented members and supports the Fashion Group Foundation Scholarship Fund. This year’s theme is “Hooray for Hollywood: Haute Couture Salutes the Silver Screen.” Monthly challenges revolving around the theme provide a fun way to focus on getting garments ready for the show.

Faux-gotten Treasure

February’s challenge: make a garment inspired by an Oscar-winning actress or actor and to get the creative juices flowing, we reviewed a list of the 82 winners from 1928 to present was provided. I spent way too much time researching, trying to get inspired but to no avail. In frustration, I decided to look through patterns I already owned and my fabric stash hoping something would call my name. Yes! In my basement I found a roll of faux fur - still in the unopened box! Ok, so this is really embarrassing but the invoice said Oct., 1996. What a blast from the past! If you’re old enough, you might remember Fabulous-Furs by Donna Saylers’ who sold faux fur by the yard and offered kits for many of her designs. To my surprise, I had three of her patterns but the yardage on the faux fur roll did not match any of them. Who knows what I was thinking back then. I mean, how many faux fur projects can one girl need? But I digress.

While a fur coat could apply to almost any actress, when I talked to Jeanine Twigg of The Snap Source for advice on what snaps to use, she said “Oh my gosh, Bette Davis! Now all you need is one of those long cigarettes.” (More on The Snap Source in my next post.) Bette Davis won best actress in 1935 for the movie Dangerous which I actually never heard of. If you recall, Bette was often seen in a fur coat.

I wound up choosing a parka-style jacket pattern with faux leather welt pockets and front plackets. Faux fur is actually a knit and very easy to work with but different rules apply. Pattern pieces are cut out by cutting through the knit backing only and all seams are zigzagged in a ¼” seam. Faux leather is very forgiving and requires a size 9 or 11 needle, not a leather needle. The only modification I needed to make was to cut the depth of the hood down. This was a very fun and different project. How do I look? Thanks, Jeanine, for the great snaps and all your help. It looks so professional.

www.snapsource.com
www.hautecoutureclubchicago.com