Well, it has been crazily busy around here.... I have to admit that my Atelier wedding and event dress business, and the Atelier pattern cutting and sewing classes are not the only things I do, and everything seems to have been happening at once lately! Must be the time of year....
And at the time of it happening, I never did get round to commenting on 'the dress', (Royal wedding, in case you've been living in another dimension),which was very remiss of me, a situation I will now try and rectify. I did think it was lovely, totally fitting to the occasion, suitably luxurious, generous in it's use of fabric of course, and great to hear of the use of British made lace - specially commissioned for the occasion. I am a bit of a lace girl - it's one of those very feminine fabrics which always looks grown up, and never looks 'little girly'. And I do have a thing about long lace sleeves - see the photo of the maroon lace dress I made on the gallery page of the main Atelier website: www.bobbiesroom.co.uk
I also loved the Grace Kelly, 1950's feel of it - the deep inverted pleats, lace, quite a covered up demure look. Royalty kept it's dignity that day. Also, by the by, I loved the trees in Westminster Abbey, and the mosaic floor of the nave - never has it probably been seen in so much detail before!
O.K. I digress....back to Atelier.... my students continue to slowly increase in number, and they seem to be happy! Teaching one to one is satisfying, as you can really get down to details, give little tips as you go along, and work at the pace that each person finds best. One of my current students very kindly said this, when I asked if she minded writing a line or two about how she found the classes:
'My lessons in pattern cutting are a joy to attend. I wanted to start by making my own personal block pattern which Bobbie was more than happy to do. It involved lots of measuring! Bobbie has an extensive knowledge of her subject and her enthusiasm for it is contagious... She makes the learning process fun and we quickly produced a perfect fit!'
I was touched! And we do have fun - just because we are doing something a little bit technical, doesn't mean that it all has to be deadly serious - concentration is needed for sure, but the patternmaking process (after initial blocks are made), is very creative, and the best thing is that you have control over what you wear, instead of being at the mercy of clothing manufacturers.
Speak soon!
Bobbie
