Taunton's Threads - For people who love to sew
Sign up for our eLetter for monthly tips and advice right from the editors
 |
|
|
From the pages of Threads Magazine Charles Kleibacker: Celebrating an American Couturier Enjoy a gallery of garments by one of the few American designers to have made a career for himself by creating hand-constructed garments in the couture tradition For thousands of lucky sewers and fashion students over the past several decades, designer Charles Kleibacker has provided a vivid and enlightening glimpse of the real world of couture fashion, in his roles as workshop leader and designer in residence. As one of the few American designers to have made a career for himself by creating hand-constructed garments in the couture tradition, his experience and perspective are unparalleled. For your enjoyment and inspiration, here are several examples of Kleibacker's work, both from Charles Kleibacker: Master of the Bias, a 2002 exhibit at the Kent State University Museum, and from his personal photo archives. These three garments from the Kent exhibit demonstrate Kleibacker's insistence that for perfect symmetry in the drape of a bias gown, a central seam is necessary, as in examples 1 and 2. Only when he chose an asymmetrical drape, as in example 3, did he forgo this signature seam.
Among Kleibacker's signature techniques are the creation of thin, strong bias-cut spaghetti straps, as in example 1, and the painstaking easing and right-side basting required to shape a bodice to the figure with absolutely no gaping, as still in evidence on this unfinished gown.
For more on Charles Kleibacker's career and techniques, check out the February/March 2002 issue of Threads (#99). In that issue, Anne Bissonette will share highlights of the Kent State University Museum exhibit, which she curated, and David Coffin will recap a weekend spent exploring bias construction techniques first hand with the master himself.
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
