Read the label - avoid the cheap C---ese!

Examples of our home decor and gift items

One topic we haven't touched on yet on the inside-out blog is the whole issue of labeling.

Most people have lost the art of reading the label but it's really important, especially if you are trying to live an environmentally-conscious lifestyle.  That's because all the seemingly inexpensive merchandise sold in our stores tends to originate in one country, where working conditions and pay rates are scandalous by Western standards. (Keep reading... blog continues below...)

Velvet & marabou pullover

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

My company, Harobed Designs, recently took part in a  craft show.
With the holiday season on the horizon and seasonal gift-giving in focus,
we took the opportunity to make a range of items, using up leftover
pieces of the lovely velvets, washable silks, and brocades that we have
left over from making clothes, but which are too small to make the jackets
and other items we usually make.  As a result, we made items such as
tea cozies... shoe bags... and aprons.  Examples of our merchandise are
shown in 1 of the photos uploaded with this blog. (Our final craft show
of the season takes place on Sunday, December 19, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
at the Gladstone Hotel, Queen Street West, just east of Dufferin,
in Toronto, Canada.)

And one other thing we did was add a special label to each of these items. I'm showing this label in the third photo with this blog - and need say no more about it!

We wish everyone the best of the holiday season and all the best in the new year ahead and encourage everyone to make 2011 the year they shop local for at least 70% of the things they buy!


Copyright Deborah C. Sawyer

Sticking with something unique...

It's that time of year when many of us start scrambling to buy seasonal gifts for friends and family.

The store-bought pincushion

And, as you hustle off to the shops, keep in mind the many artisans who have made lovely and unique items which make much better gifts than store-bought, mass-produced merchandise.

The importance of the lovingly crafted item was brought home to me when I recently tidied my sewing desk. For some time, I had been using a pincushion that came from the store. Like so many other things, it was "Made in China". But it was getting rather ratty and I decided to replace it.

And what better to choose than the lovely pincushion made by my godmother, Aunt Mary? Carefully crafted from colorful scraps of material and filled with lavender she grew in her garden, I had been using it as a "reserve" pincushion but decided to use it as my primary one. For one thing, the workmanship in Aunt Mary's is superior to a store-bought item, for another it connects me to the labor of a fellow human being. I can imagine her sitting and painstakingly stitching her pincushion.

The hand-made pincushion

That's why it's important, at this time of year, to seek out the many craft shows and artisan displays to find one-of-a-kind treasures. You won't find these things at the mall or in the glitzy shops. More likely in community halls and church basements. But the effort will be worth it: not only will you be able to give unusual and unique gifts, you will also be honoring the tradition of "Buy Local", as most of these items will be made close to where you live.

Happy Holidays.

P.S. Harobed Designs will be taking part in two craft shows, on December 11 and December 19 in Toronto, The first is at the Ralph Thornton Community Center, 765 Queen Street East and the second is at The Gladstone Hotel at 1214 Queen Street West. Both are on the 2nd floor and both run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Copyright Deborah C. Sawyer

Unbuttoned...but not undone!

(PHOTOS AT BOTTOM/BLOGGER WON'T LET ME EDIT THEM!)

According to the experts, a blog should be updated daily. However, some of us believe quality is more important than quantity, hence the reason I only post when I think something needs to be said.

This is the time of year when those of us in the North Hemisphere have to start wearing our heavier coats or buy a new one. I recently decided to retire the lined raincoat which I'd been wearing since 1983. (My European roots dictate that I make my clothing last!)

So, I went to a leading department store in my city, and bought what they used to refer to as a "famous maker" raincoat.(Photo #5) According to the hang tag, "Since 1927, X has maintained a heritage of unparalleled dedication to quality, workmanship and timeless style that is evident in everything we make".

In truth, the body of the garment is well made. I particularly like the strap buttoned to the inside of the belt, which passes through a belt loop and ensures the belt cannot fall off and get lost.(Photo #4)

Too bad the same care wasn't taken with the buttons. Just about each and every one was not finished off properly. The threads of the shank, which has to be made with thread, if the shank isn't part of the button, were all loose. (Photo #3) Even worse, the button on the inside of code, which helps hold a double-breasted style evenly, came completely off - this was just two weeks after I bought the coat! (Photo # 2)

I had to over-sew each and very button. (Photo #1)

This leads to two tips: obviously, if you buy a coat - or, for any that matter, any garment - double check the buttons and over-sew them when necessary. A second tip is: always buy a spool of thread the same year you buy the garment. Thread colors are like fashion colors and, five years down the road, you may not be able to get a matching thread.

Copyright Deborah C. Sawyer

2. Dangling threads from lost button

3. Shank unraveling

4. Belt-retaining loop

5. The coat itself

1.Over-sewn button

More observations from the runway

Our "Serene" design on the runway

One of the challenges I face, as a designer, is the disconnect between the sizes of clothing I make and the sizes of the runway models.


Although it's well-known that most women in North America take a size 12 or higher, runway models tend to be size 6 or size 8.  The problem here is the time that has to be spent making styles in smaller sizes when our styles are generally not worn by women in their teens or 20s, but by mature women, decidedly on the plus size of 30 years of age.

Serene on a Size 10

One of the comments I get is that some of my garments, on the runway, don't seem to have a shape, such as a waist line.  In fact, nearly all my jackets have shape, in the form of the cut of the side seam or darts used in the body of the garment, but this just does not show up when the model is so decidedly small compared to the garment.  While there are modeling agencies, which offer what are known as "real women" for modeling purposes, the fashion industry is only now coming around to the idea that women take larger sizes.


It's become quite talked about that, for the first time in living memory, some of the larger New York City stores, such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman, are actually ordering in clothing in size 12 and up.  Historically, the largest size they would order was a size 10.

Our design "Svelte" on the runway

My company, Harobed Designs, has always made clothing in larger sizes.  We regularly have sizes 16 and 18.  Our emphasis is on providing great style and unique options for women in all sizes.  However, it's an uphill battle, and we always appreciate anything our customers or blog followers can do, to get the word out.


So, if you know people who take larger sizes, send them a copy of this post and let them know about our company.

Svelte on a size 10

In the meantime, the photos I am showing show some of our clothes on the runway, on the models who are size 6 to 8, and then on someone who is more appropriately sized around size 10 or 12.  As you can see, the clothes hang better on the person with the larger size.

Our design "Influence" on the runway

Influence on a size 10

Copyright Deborah C. Sawyer

Backstage pass - fall 2010 runway show

Clothes on racks, ready to go!

Most runway shows, especially when featuring a single designer, don't last very long but the outward appearance is deceptive.  What shows up on the runway is really the 'tip of the iceberg' compared to what goes on backstage prior to the event.

Obviously, the first step is the design and manufacture of the garments, which may take several months, culminating in the designer working18 hour days - or longer - leading up to the show.

Six of my models in pre-show chat mode

As for the area backstage, preparation starts up hours before the actual show.  The garments have to be dropped off, the show has to be organized, the models have to be prepped in makeup and hair styling, and everything has to work with precision.  As the Head Stylist remarked at the show I participated in, the last week in September, it's really amazing how a group of people, who have possibly never worked together before, can come together, put on a show and have it go smoothly.

In the photos with this blogpost, I'm once again taking you behind the scenes, showing where the clothes were prepared for the various segments (this was a multi-designer show) and also the models who wore my particular designs, waiting to go out on the runway.

Five minutes to showtime!

In my next blog post, I'll take you out into the audience and show more photos from that perspective.

One minute to showtime

In the meantime, if you'd like to view all the designs I showed, use this link: http://canadawears.ca/2010/the-clothing-show-fall-2010/photoset-482.php

Not so supportive - the inside scoop about interfacings!

Puckering from interfacing

People tend to forget that, inside every great garment is something known as interfacing.  Interfacings are the unsung heroes of garment construction; without them, most jackets, coats and the like, would not hold their shape; at the same time, if you buy ready-made outfits, you really have no idea interfacing has been used at all, as it is not something you see.

That is, until you've had the garment while.  And, if it's washable, once you have tossed it in the machine a few times,  you'll often begin to see the presence of the interfacing.  And it's not a pretty sight. Bubbles and puckers start to appear on the surface of your garment.  This is because nowadays, most interfacing is what they call "fusible" - that is, the interfacing is ironed on. 

Bubbling at side seam

Once upon a time, there was only what is known as woven interfacing, which had to be stitched into the garment.  A great leap forward - supposedly - was the introduction of  the non-wovens or fusible interfacings as they are known. These are just applied with a hot iron.  Problem is, such fusible interfacings often have their own ideas about how long they will do their job, sight unseen.  And once they start acting up - or perhaps I should say bubbling up to the surface - you may find an item of clothing you really love becomes unseemly and you have to stop wearing it. 

Fabric after ironing

In the photos I'm showing, puckering is what's happened to a white summer vest that I've had for some time.  For most of the time I've owned this, there haven't been any problems.  But, after the last washing, the interfacing began to act up.  As the vest has decorative trim, interfacing has been used extensively to give the vest shape. 

Luckily for me, this problem can be corrected with an iron, but it's not always possible to do that; it depends on the fabric and the heat that the fabric will tolerate.

This suggests that when you're buying a piece of clothing, especially if it's a major investment, you need to investigate how the garment is made to determine how well it will stand up to standard care.  As they say, better to be safe than sorry!

Unravelling unseen

Those of us who live in the northern hemisphere are preparing for the fall. It's after Labor Day and the weather is starting to cool down. Time to get out our sweaters - or woollies, if you prefer - and prepare them for the winter.

Usually, during the summer, I wash all my sweaters that are washable, turn them inside out and stash them away, ready for the cooler weather. This is how I happen to know that one of my sweaters is slowly coming apart.

Usually, when you make a sweater - or any knit garment - from two or more colors, as one color of wool is phased out and the second color is added, the end of the first wool is supposed to be 'knitted out' and the second 'knitted in', so the wool doesn't unravel, ever.

Due to the way garments are now made in factories, this finishing off process doesn't happen. In the sweater I'm showing, knots were tied instead, where the white changes to black and vice versa. The only problem is, when the sweater went through the washing machine cycle, the agitation started to loosen these knots, because they weren't very tightly tied.

Had I not spotted this, my sweater would have started to unravel beyond the point of repair or possibly left me with some embarrassing moments, out in public, as gaps started to appear in the body or sleeves of the sweater.

I purchased this sweater at a very high profile, high-end women's wear chain, which has stores throughout North America. I won't embarrass them by naming them, but caution anyone else buying sweaters that have more than one color of wool in them, to check the inside frequently, so that your lovely turtleneck or cardigan doesn't unravel on you.

You may also want to consider looking for sweaters made by an artisan, by hand, so that the workmanship should stand the test of time!

Needless to say, in any garment made by my company, Harobed Designs, we strive to make sure that these sorts of accidents don't happen.

Smart and cool

As summer starts to draw to a close in the Northern Hemisphere, I'll take one last look at the whole issue of casual dressing. If you consult a dictionary, there are many definitions of the word 'casual', but when it comes to clothing, the applicable one is "designed for informal use".

This was always the real meaning of casual wear, that it was not the same as formal wear - suits, gowns, tuxedos, etc. - but nowhere in the definition of casual do the words 'sloppy' or 'haphazard' appear.

So I'm showing three more shots of how you can be smart and cool and still casual. One is of my friend Judy, when we went out to dinner. Judy has chosen a simple color palette, she has a very neat T-shirt in Cordovan Brown, which matches her sandals, and then beige-toned capris and sweater, along with a brown purse.

Her companion - in this case me - has similarly chosen a simple color palette: pair of black jeans, black sandals, black wrap (one of my own Harobed Designs wraps in Tencel, which are extremely light in weight, but add warmth when the air-conditioning is too strong) and a black bag, paired with a strawberry shirt and matching strawberry earrings. (Another observation: dressing well is not necessarily about having everything purchased in the current year; the earrings are some I bought years ago while the shirt I purchased about two years ago).

Both of us managed to say stay cool and comfortable, in spite of setting off in sunny, hot weather.

These outfits look a lot smarter than some I see on the street, which include pairings of scruffy jeans, T-shirts that are so faded you cannot read the words on them, sandals or shoes, purses and jewelry, in a complete mishmash of colors.

But, to show there is hope for the future, I'm showing this photo of a little girl is about eight years old. Whether it's the case that her pink Crocs were selected to match her dress - or her dress was chosen to match her Crocs - doesn't matter, she looks pulled together! A lot of people much older than eight would do well to follow her example.

You can BE cool - and LOOK cool too!

One of the more unfortunate "fashion" trends of recent years has been the tendency, in a warm climates, to equate staying cool in steamy weather with sloppy outfits.

Just because the temperature rises, doesn't mean you have to forsake your sense of style. It's perfectly possible to be cool while looking cool too!

As well as looking for people with zero sense of style, I often go out with my camera and try to snap people who have pulled off a great look with ease. Here are just three examples: the lady on the bus is very simply dressed, but her outfit works very well. She's paired a white short sleeved top, with a white skirt patterned in silver, a silver bangle, black high heeled mules and a black bag. This is a case where being well dressed, doesn't mean loading yourself down with lots of garments and accessories, it just means thinking a bit about how you're going to look in what you've put on.

The same is true of two ladies I met when I went to the theater the other Saturday. Both were able to stay very comfortable in spite of the high humidity. What's even more interesting is that one of the outfits (photo in the middle) shows how you can pair two seemingly different colors - like red and peach - in a single outfit. Even the sandals combine these two colors. What makes it work is that the skirt, as well as having red and peach, has a black background and splashes of other colors. She was still able to stay comfortable because the top is a camisole and the bottom is a skirt.

The other lady, on the left in the lower photo, is wearing black leggings, black sandals, and a multicolored top. Her purse color picks out the green color in the top. It's cool, it's comfortable but, above all, she looks pulled together. (The lady in the white long-sleeve T-shirt, black jeans, hot pink sandals and accessories, is me!)

There is no need when summer arrives to slip into a haphazard look. True style starts in the brain with how you think about your clothes, and how you put them together. In fact, looking stylish is probably more of a no-brainer than a brain-teaser.

Is gray the law now?

Once upon a time, there were laws known as sumptuary laws. Depending on where you lived and what you did in life, you were forbidden to wear certain fabrics - such as velvet being forbidden for the middle class - and otherwise forced to dress not just according to your means, but also to your station in life.

Supposedly, in the Western democracies, we have moved well beyond this stage and now allow everyone total freedom of expression. Trouble is, you'd be hard pressed to know this if you look around.

Just a couple of weeks ago, in what are known as the 'society pages' in my local newspaper, there was a write-up about an event that is described as an "80s themed pre-show gala".

Since I didn't attend, I'm not sure if the guests were perhaps forbidden from wearing anything but gray or perhaps they were told to dress in a way so they wouldn't conflict with the 80s themed decor. (Hello? As someone said, weren't the 80s all about spandex, color and big hair?)

What is most ironic is that one of the guests in the photos here (which I've cropped to protect the guilty as well as the innocent), is the president of a large department store, who is always going on the radio and urging shoppers to go in and buy the colorful patio furniture her company has on offer.

This makes me wonder: is it now okay for the patio to be colorful but not humans?

In the spirit of doing something about color, we've recently re-launched the Harobed Designs website, and already have quite a list of colors: apricot, primrose, teal, sunflower, scarlet and ivory, to name a few. We also have quite a few more waiting in the wings: deep coral, ultra royal, emerald, cerise...

We encourage everyone to go beyond the gray and sashay forth in color. Not only will you brighten up the world, you'll feel more energized!

Too much inside out?

I know we live in times where we are supposed to have an "anything goes" attitude but there are some things that should, themselves, go. A few months ago, I was at the movies and a group of people came in to sit in front of me. The young lady who sat in the seat immediately in front of mine was wearing a very stunning top with a plunging back.

It would've looked lovely except for... the grubby beige bra strap displayed across her back. Perhaps she thought in the movies no one would see? If that's the case, she should've arrived after the movie began and the theater was dark.

This is a problem you see everywhere, young women seem to think it's "okay" to parade around town with parts of their underwear showing and frequently, this underwear is not that clean. Nowadays, there are so many options in brassieres that it really doesn't make sense to do this. Nor do you have to have an extensive wardrobe of bras to deal with all your different clothing designs. There are convertible bras with straps you can wear many different ways: crisscross, halter-style around your neck, one strap over one shoulder, etc., etc. In other words, you only need two or three such bras to cover off all your dress situations.

The young lady in the photo at top had obviously put a lot of thought into her outfit, because her hair colors actually matched the colors of her dress. But then she blew her look in having that ugly black strap stretched across her back. As for the young lady sitting on the bus here, with a variety of straps crisscrossing, why she thought not only a bra showing but also support pads on the bra straps completed her look, is beyond me.

It was thought tacky to dress like this 50 years ago, and it still is.

People need to remember that the way you dress is not so much about yourself as it is about consideration for others. I hope this is one fashion trend that will die a very quick death.

Not what they call 'buttoned up'!

Have you ever had the experience of going to put on a blouse or other garment you really love only to find that one of the buttons is missing? Or, even worse, have you been out and about when the button and snap fastener on what you're wearing pops off?

Given the way modern clothing is made, it's not surprising that we quickly end up far from 'buttoned up'! In industry, buttons are only rarely sewn on by hand, and the same is true for other types of fastening, such as snap fasteners. Instead, these items are added by machine, often with very rapid 'punch stitching' that is not fastened on or fastened off properly.

When you buy clothing made by an individual, there is a good chance the buttons or other fasteners will have been sewn on by hand and the person will have the first anchored the thread before attaching the button plus will then 'finish off' properly. So there's far less risk of the buttons coming off.

In the photos, I'm showing the problem that occurs. In the black-and-white striped shirt, the button was 'punch stitched' on and through successive washings, the thread has started to unravel because it was never finished off. If I hadn't caught this in time, the button would've likely come off - perhaps in the washing machine - or otherwise been lost. In the photos of the strawberry blouse, the fasteners are all transparent plastic snap fasteners. Apart from the fact these are less durable than metal snap fasteners, they have been put on by very rapid methods and are slowly but surely coming undone, one by one.

What can we do to deal with this? One tactic, any time you buy a piece of clothing, is to over-sew the buttons or fasteners yourself, finishing off well so that they do not unravel. This way, they won't fall off. An additional tactic is to always look for clothing that offers you spare buttons which match those on the garment. These can be kept in a safe place; if they're not actually sewn into the garment but, instead, come in a small plastic Ziploc bag, you can run a thread through the Ziploc and hang this on the hanger where you keep the garment. Or, put a safety pin through the top of the Ziploc bag and have a place where you keep these bags. I have a number of spare buttons in small Ziploc bags attached to the wire baskets where I keep my sweaters and other folded garments.

One final note of irony: both the garments shown above are sold by an extremely high profile women's-wear catalog company; as I am being 'brand-discreet' in this blog, I won't name the firm!

An invisible sense of style? Or hidden from view?

There are many reasons we choose to dress the
way we do, but I often wonder if many of today's
younger women realize that their style of dress
makes them barely visible? Think about it this
way; you're young, carefree, it's a nice sunny day,
and you're planning to go sit on a patio to have lunch
and... you dress in the most non-descript colors
possible, as if you were trying to blend into the
brickwork or the concrete, or some other aspect
of your surroundings.

I sometimes refer to this style of dress as "urban drab"
because it does seem to be a form of camouflage,
representing a desire to fade into the background.
In the photographs I've taken - at a very trendy patio
restaurant in a super-trendy boutique hotel in the city
where I live - the young women having lunch on this
particular day seemed to have zero sense of presence in terms of their clothes.

Even worse, what it reminds me of is the way so many women are forced to dress, whether they like it or not, in many parts of the Middle East. In countries where the women are forced to wear a solid black niqab, when you walk along the street it's almost as if the women are invisible, faceless, formless, devoid of personality. They have no individuality, no presence and, as we know, no voice.

Are young western women dressing to show solidarity with women who live in restrictive countries? I doubt this is their objective; perhaps it's time for women here to realize that one of the freedoms we do have, is to not only dress in an "urban drab" style but also to dress with color, style, panache. There's nothing wrong with wearing beige, as one of the young women in my pictures does, but beige can be smartened up, enlivened, with mango or burnt orange shoes and belt. The same holds true for gray, why stick to just gray? It can be livened up with turquoise or teal sandals and jewelery.

I'm hoping all young western women, next time
they're planning to go out and sit on a patio for
lunch or a drink, will think of women in countries
who have zero choice about the way they dress in public and "up their game" a bit, to make sure they can be noticed and counted and are not fading into the background.

Is this what they mean by 'really stretched'?

Perhaps it's just a coincidence but, ever since I started writing a blog about clothing manufacture, it seems the Clothing Gods have been having some fun with me; just about every other day it seems I find one of my garments is in a melt down. But my experiences can help guide you to making better clothing purchases, as you'll know how to examine what's on offer, to see if it's well-made or not.

With factory made clothing, there's a lot of things they can do on the machinery, to put a garment together quickly. One of those things is stretching the fabric to fit, such as putting a sleeve in a dress or jacket, or attaching a yoke to the body of the dress. Trouble is, if you or I purchase such a dress and start wearing it, the fact the fabric was artificially manipulated to fit together quickly becomes evident.

I just ran into this problem with a summer dress, the kind of dress you like to have for a hot day, so you can just pop it on and go out, without a lot of fuss. The photo at top shows the dress I'm talking about today. It was made by a well-known company and, on the whole, is neatly made - razor-thin seams, of course.

While it might be hard to see, if you look in the next photo at right, within the white circle, you can see that there is a certain strain where they attached the yoke and sleeve to the body of the dress.



As a result, once I had worn the dress just a few times, the strain became too much and, with ordinary movement of my arm and body, the fabric ripped (see the lower photo at right).

When you are buying clothing, examine it closely to see if there are signs of strain in how the garment was put together. If there is, re-consider what you are purchasing.
That way, you won't find you cannot wear something you really love and, if you are buying the garment on sale, it will prove to be a good investment.

Inside the designer's mind - take two

One of the things designers try to do is "think outside the box" when it comes to colors and color combinations. Case in point is the outfit I wore to a performance at the school where I was working part time. (I'll come back to this later in this post).

Often, in summer, with the emphasis on comfort as the weather heats up, it's easy to overlook ways to give your outfit some pizzazz while still remaining comfortable. On this particular day, I chose to wear a combed cotton sleeveless dress that I have, plus a matching cardigan sweater. This is actually an outfit I bought well over 10 years ago and it's one of those staples in my closet that I keep because it's so useful.

In the past, I tended to wear it very conservatively with white shoes and white and gold beads. Nothing wrong with that, it's a logical choice to go with the pale ice blue color. Another possibility is, of course, navy blue. These might be termed predictable color choices.

However, on this particular day, I decided to pair this dress with hot pink and wore it with a hot pink belt and hot pink shoes. Much more lively, much more stylish. (I've also paired this ice blue color with an aubergine belt and purple suede shoes.)

It's always important to look for such color combinations in your closet that you might not otherwise try but which work together very successfully. I may even put the ice blue and hot pink combination together in jacket for Harobed Designs (TM) at some point in the future. (And if any other designer makes the same choice, remember, you can read it here first).

The performance at the school was very well executed, and for 10-year-olds, the performers were all very polished. It was material they had written themselves, with the help of their teacher, entitled "Environmental Adventures". The show was based on the various issues they had covered in their social studies class and looked at how our way of life is eroding the health of the planet. One topic they raised is: Why does all our clothing have to come from China?

I think this is a question we all need to ask ourselves. Whatever you're looking for, even if it's just a sweatshirt or T-shirt, chances are, there's an artisan in your area who will be offering something for purchase, equal to or better than anything that is being shipped and trucked in from the Orient. Just imagine the boost to your home country's economy if everyone decided that "Buying local" isn't just for vegetables...