In 2019 I accepted a commission to make suits for a contemporary dance piece that was going to be filmed. My client was in Auckland so email and video chats came in handy. Miriam had very specific ideas which is always great, and was very open to guidance about the best types of fabric to use. The brief was for a cropped, classic style jacket, and pants with pleats. Questions were asked and answered, patterns and fabrics were chosen and arrived. First steps were measurements of both Miriam and Veronica, and then toiles. Two dancers, two different sizes which is when toiles come into their own.
One of my priorities was that the fabric chosen would ‘move’ well, by which I mean have the stretch needed for large body movements, floor work and any other way the dancers chose to move. The toiles were made in calico so if the dancers could move o.k. in that they would be able to move o.k. in the chosen fabric. I did not have time to take a lot of photos, and when I get in the groove of sewing I often forget to grab the camera or my phone for photos.
It was quite a change having patterns to work from, with the instructions for each step. More often I am figuring things out as I go including the order to work in. E.g. I might need to do step H but have to figure out steps A – G before I can do H! The pants pattern was a size 12 which fit the measurements of one dancer and I graded it down several sizes for the second pattern which needed to be smaller.
I was able to use the jacket pattern for both dancers, tracing off the smaller size then cutting out the slightly larger size. Hetty, my mannequin, came in really handy as I was able to ‘fit’ both jackets and pants to the individual dancer’s measurements.
Once the toiles were done they were on their way up to Auckland, via courier, and a video call was arranged for an online fitting. It’s always good to see the toiles on the clients. The girls did really well, helping each other get the best fit. The overall fit was good, it was mainly the pant waistbands which were a bit on the generous side. That is an easy fix though. The jackets fit well, the main issue being the collar and lapels, which as I suspected were both a bit wide. I also pointed out that some thin shoulder pads would help the finished jacket look more structured.
There was some unpicking to do since I needed to reduce the collar and lapel size. Once I had that looking ok, and it got the all clear from Miriam, it was on to figuring out how to reduce it and retain the shape. Out came my various fitting books and after a while I had it figured out.
I won’t load all the photos I took while figuring out how to reduce the collars . . . let’s just say there were several draughts, and there was an upper and under collar to be figured out! Plus the pieces need to keep their length around the base where they meet at the neck edge, and not be out of proportion on the top edge. I love learning new skills! There is a real feeling of accomplishment when it works out.
Once everything was all figured out and I was happy with the toiles it was time to cut into the fabric. Miriam had chosen a lovely stretch drill – red, but more a burgundy red than fire engine red. There was also a stretch lining fabric. We went with lining the jackets as it would give a more classic look on the inside, add to the structure and I felt the jackets would be more versatile should they be used in other dance pieces.
I decided that the white stretch sateen I found for interlining the jackets was a bit too white under the red so thought it best to dye it a pale beige. Since it was only for the main jacket pieces, front and back, I figured tea would work.
It’s always interesting dyeing fabric. It is important to have a piece of the original fabric for comparison as you can look at a dyed piece and think it hasn’t really changed colour if it is a pale shade, until it is beside the original. The dye washes out as well so going a little darker allows for that. Once I’d finished playing testing I dyed the sateen. I made sure to rinse it really well.
Though I know many folk do not enjoy hand-sewing I find it a very soothing process. It doesn’t take too long and you have quite a lot of control while doing it. In the photo above the interlining is basted to the outer shell fabric. They are then treated as one piece of fabric. This is one of the jacket pieces.
That was the only photo I got while I was making the suit jackets. Below are some photos of details on the pants.
Once the suits were practically finished I flew up to Auckland with them. I could have completely finished them and sent them by courier but I wanted to hand them over in person. Plus do a final fitting and see them on the clients. I took a sewing machine and some sewing tools too. A small machine fits in a suitcase though it had to be checked-in luggage.
This was quite a big project for me in that there were quite a few skills I needed to learn or brush up on since I haven’t made suits for dance before. Miriam and Veronica were happy with the suits and the way they moved. There is a short excerpt from the film here. Ladybug aired as part of Tempo Dance Festival in June 2020. I really enjoyed watching the dancing. It was pretty cool for me to see my work in action. Below are a couple of still shots from the film that Miriam kindly sent me.
There are a couple more photos in my gallery as well, just click on the gallery tab at the top of the page if you wish to visit the gallery.