Name
Garment Fabrication: The Couture Method of Project Preparation (NEW!) (Part 1 of 2)
Date
Friday, February 10, 2023
Time
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Photos

Session Type:
3-Hour Class
Skill Level:
Experienced
Teacher
Catherine Lowe
Category
Knitting, Tips & Techniques
Class Details:

This is a two-part class. Both sections of the class will automatically be placed in your cart when you select one of the sessions.

Garment Fabrication: The Couture Method of Project Preparation is a two-part class that focuses on the preliminary steps in the fabrication process—the preparation necessary to get the outcome intended for your project. Our primary concern will be those swatching techniques that yield a knitted fabric that anticipates the fabric in the finished garment as accurately as possible, so that the information derived from the swatching process ensures that the garment will have the intended shape and fit and that the knitted fabric will have the anticipated texture, hand, and drape. An important portion of the class discussion will rely on a comparison of swatches worked by each student as homework for the class. The swatches are prepared and blocked in very specific ways that allow for the comparison of various methods of swatching and blocking and their outcomes. We will focus particularly on the swatching techniques preferred by the Couture Method and how they are used to derive accurate and necessary information from the swatching process. Knitters should be aware that these swatching techniques are intended for natural fibers and are not necessarily applicable to synthetic, novelty, or processed yarns.

Also in the context of project preparation, we will look at how to adapt designs intended for a traditional method of garment fabrication to the Couture Method: first, in general terms, with regard to those essential couture techniques that need to be accommodated by or introduced into the fabrication process; and then, more specifically, with regard to individual designs. In this latter context, students will be invited to relate this material to a design they are contemplating but have not yet begun.

This is the first in a three-class exploration of garment fabrication within the context of the Couture Method. The class expands significantly on material from Catherine’s virtual Take Control class with in-class discussion and demonstration and introduces to the topic of project preparation questions of adapting more traditional garment fabrication to the Couture Method.

Technique Requirements: You should be comfortable with the following:
The structure of knitted fabric: how yarn moves through the fabric; identifying rows and columns of stitches; locating the running threads in a piece of knitted fabric.
Stitch and row gauge: able to determine these gauges accurately.
Blocking wires: what they are and how they are used.

Note: While this class, Garment Fabrication: The Couture Method and Its Fabrication Techniques, and Garment Fabrication: The Couture Method of Construction and Finishing all build on each other, it is not necessary that you take each one.

Homework:

Please see the homework file here.

Materials Fee (to Be Paid Directly to the Teacher):
$0