Getting Started:

Get started planning the construction of your own faux wrap skirt. In this class, Claire focuses on fabrics, linings, and trims that bring your design inspirations to life.

Making the Pattern:

Learn to adapt a commercial straight skirt pattern to one with an overlapping front. Claire guides you through the steps that eliminate the side seams and add the front overlap, for the simplicity of design and freedom of movement of this popular couture style.

Layout and Marking: 

Consider the characteristics of your fabric as you learn to thread-mark the pattern, the quilt lines, and the lining on your garment.This class focuses on a quilted three-piece sleeve method that allows for greater fit than the more often used one-piece and two-piece methods. The three-piece sleeve positions the sleeve vent so that it is more visible from the front.

Next, discover the couture method for finishing jacket edges. The hand-stitched method accommodates a lining that has been quilted to the jacket sections and is different from standard home-sewing methods.

Shaping: 

Curved seams, darts, pleats, or gathers are used to shape fabric in traditional garment making. In this class, you learn to use the couture tools of heat and steam to manipulate and mold fabric into an elegantly shaped garment.Chanel jackets can have as many as four patch pockets of different sizes and in different positions on the garment. Get to know the construction method for these unlined pockets and see ways to use them as a design element in your garment.

Learn how to add iconic Chanel finishing details and how they affect the overall garment finish.

Quilting the Skirt: 

Learn where and how to quilt the lining for increased comfort and fabric stabilization in this couture-style skirt.Next, discover the couture method for finishing jacket edges. The hand-stitched method accommodates a lining that has been quilted to the jacket sections and is different from standard home-sewing methods.

Assembling the Skirt: 

With inconspicuous hand stitches, you can size and insert a zipper. Then learn to reduce bulk at the front waist by judiciously trimming the skirt's underlap. Learn how to add iconic Chanel finishing details and how they affect the overall garment finish.

Setting the Waistband: 

Sew a Chanel-style faced waistband, considered the traditional couture method. The waistband is stabilized with grosgrain ribbon interfacing and then lined with a strip of silk charmeuse.

The Couture Finish: 

Learn finishing details that, while they may not be visible, convey the quality of couture when the garment is worn.