Coupe Couture

About Coupe Couture

(Berthe Morisot : Pasie sewing in the garden at Bougival, musée des Beaux-Arts de Pau)

[Cliquez ici pour la présentation en français.]

I have always loved sewing.

I even enjoyed sewing lessons at school. Not so much doing rows of stitches (straight stitches, back stitches, zig zag stitches....) but the serious stuff: a school overall in eighth grade, a bonnet and a bib (incredibly old-fashioned) in ninth grade (this bonnet is called « un béguin » in French, a lovely word that also means « a crush », as « j'ai le béguin pour elle », « I have a crush on her »...)

But most of all, I learnt watching my mother sew for the whole family: skirts, blouses, dresses, coats... she could make anything. I began by making clothes for my doll, using the leftover material from my mother's creations. Then I made clothes for myself.

I would go to the shops and look carefully at the clothes that I liked, noting the details that made, as I saw it, their distinctive « chic ». I would then go to « chez Max » on the Champs-Elysées, one of the best Paris stores selling fabric at the time (now gone, alas... )

I was never so proud as when I was asked, after having completed a skirt or a blouse, where I'd bought it... When I had my children, I took a lot of pleasure in making clothes for them. And then one day, they preferred wearing jeans and T-shirts. It worked out well, since days were getting longer and longer at my office, and they hadn't yet invented the 35-hour week!

Recently, while giving some advice to my daughters or to the daughters of my friends, I realized that I had accumulated a store of know-how, from the basic techniques to the little tricks that make the work so much simpler -- and that what was obvious to me wasn't necessarily so for everybody.

This is why I have started this blog, to explain « how I do it »: the simplest things such as sewing a button, and more delicate ones like making a buttonhole, as well as hints and tips like completing a stitch with a sewing machine, or selecting the correct thread...

I sincerely hope that those techniques and tricks will come useful to you. Don't hesitate to send me your questions, suggestions and comments.

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Sylvie Dusoulier

P.S. This is a family production : my husband who is now a professional translator of novels from English to French has volunteered to translate this "about" post. I can't promise all my articles will be translated into English... the technical jargon is somewhat daunting! But whenever possible, and particularly for the less technical pieces, I will try my best !

Billet d'origine sur http://www.coupecouture.fr
Les textes et les photographies publiés sur Coupe Couture sont soumis au droit d'auteur. Copyright © 2006-2011 Sylvie Dusoulier, sauf indication contraire et à l'exception des reproductions de tableaux. Tous droits réservés.