For many years, I followed industry pattern instructions with high expectations that my garments would turn out well. They did not, and I never wore anything I made. It was only after learning couture techniques, which are not printed in a pattern instruction manual, that my garments went from homemade to something I was proud to wear. The skills I learned are standard practice in the couture houses of France and can easily be adopted by the home sewer who wants to create a beautiful professionally-made garment.
So, what is couture? Couture is simply the French word for sewing, and haute couture is literally translated “high sewing”. Haute couture is actually a legally registered name in France and only certain companies that meet standards set by a governing body, i.e. the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, can even call itself haute couture.
Couture represents the finest clothing constructed with very careful and deliberate methods and always with an eye towards high artistic expression. For this reason, many people mistake or misuse the word couture with fashion or use it to market something as being fashionable. However, couture isn’t subjective like fashion. It is the centuries-old craft of constructing high-end garments. Fashion comes and goes. Couture does not.
Most luxury fashion businesses today just produce ready-to-wear clothing, known as prêt à porter. There are only a few ateliers (design houses) that produce haute couture garments that follow century-old techniques. At the head of an atelier is a couturier (fashion designer), and he overseas a collective of dedicated seamstresses/tailors known as Les petite mains (little hands). It can take hundreds of hours with a minimum of twenty people working to complete just one garment.
The work of these skilled professionals along with the use of exclusive fabrics and custom-made embellishments make couture very costly. Most ateliers do not make a profit on the sale of their couture garments. However, couture is seen as a work of art and an investment to most people. It is also beneficial for brand image and marketing an atelier’s ready-to-wear line.
Charles Kleibacker, a famous American designer and teacher of couture methods, noted some of the differences between Haute Couture and Ready to Wear clothing:
Haute Couture Ready to Wear
Fitted on human anatomy Fitted to measurements or a form
Considerable basting Limited basting
Considerable hand sewing Limited hand sewing
Much sewing done on face of garment Most sewing done on wrong side of garment
(by hand) (by machine)
Several fittings on the individual No fittings on the individual
Limited custom production Mass produced garment
Specialty, limited quantity fabrics Mass produced fabrics
Always designer inspired Often stylist inspired
Construction work focuses on seam line Construction work focuses on cut edge
Wearer appeal Hanger appeal
As a home sewer, you can see that you probably fall into the couture category more so than the ready-to-wear category. You make garments to fit one person, usually yourself. You are concerned with how the garment looks on one person, not whether or not you can make a lot of them. Implementing some of the same sewing techniques that a skilled professional would use in an atelier is not difficult, and in fact you may already be doing some of them.
Here are a few couture methods that I have found most useful in constructing a garment, especially garments sewn on the bias:
- Always make a toile or muslin from your pattern. The purpose of this is to make your garment out of an inexpensive fabric that you can fit to your body or someone else’s for whom you may be sewing. It allows you to work out any design, engineering, construction and fit issues before cutting into your nicer garment fabric. In Haute Couture, the toile is carefully made and almost fully constructed, sometimes even by hand. The seam lines and important markings are carefully noted on each piece before it is taken apart. The pieces are then turned into a pattern for use in the cutting stage.
- Transfer the markings to your pattern or create a new pattern from the muslin. You will want a clean and neat pattern before cutting your fabric. You may also want to make this garment again so this will save you from having to make a toile again.
- Add wide seam allowances to your pattern. The cut edge should be at least 1 1/2″ to 2″ from the seam line determined in the muslin fitting stage. In a store bought pattern, one just cuts the pattern and follows the standard 5/8″ seam allowance from the cut edge. However, a cut edge is not accurate and can stretch. Using the cut edge is a no-no in the couture world. Wider seam allowances also help in the garment fitting stage.
- Select high quality fabric and materials. Will your garment need underlining or lining, beads or trims, zippers, buttons? Plan for it. You are spending a lot of time to make yourself or someone else a custom item, why skip on this very important feature?
- Take your time in preparing the fashion fabric for cutting. Pressing the fabric with steam, making sure the fabric grain lines are aligned at 90 degrees on the cutting table, and meticulously laying the flat pattern pieces on the correct directional grain line will ensure an accurate cut.
- Mark all seam lines and important notches on the garment fabric. Thread tracing is the preferred method for ensuring that seam lines, which were so carefully determined in the toile stage, will not be lost.
- Hand baste all seams before putting it to the machine. This step is so important. Not only will your fabric pieces not shift on you, but the integrity of the seam line will be maintained.
- Fit again, and again. Once a garment is hand basted, it is a good time to try it on, note any fit issues and make adjustments. A garment might fit very differently in the fashion fabric than the muslin fabric. Thank goodness you have those extra wide seam allowances. If there are any adjustments, make sure you note that on your pattern as well.
- Carefully press after sewing permanent stitches. Pressing is itself an art. There is a difference in ironing and pressing.
- Hand sew problematic areas from the front of the garment instead of using the machine. I often use the fell-stitch, a permanent hand stitch, and sew from the front of garment. It may seem like a lot of work, but ripping out a seam over and over and forcing something through the machine is definitely more time consuming than hand sewing once. It also doesn’t compromise the fine garment fabric.
- Pay attention to the details. In couture, even zippers are hand sewn and special attention is given to pockets, buttonholes, seam finishes, you name it. No detail is overlooked.
Please note that I have left out many other elements of couture including the very first artistic step – designing and/or draping the original design. These are areas that can definitely be explored. The steps I’ve outlined just represent a way to begin your journey towards finer sewing and are especially important if you want to sew a bias garment.
I think Susan Khalje, author of Bridal Couture says it best,
“Couture, which is simply the French word for sewing, refers to garments constructed with the finest of sewing techniques, in anyone’s atelier. The standards are much the same: a devotion to creativity, the use of the finest fabrics, flawless fit, sound engineering, and technical perfection. Although the goals of haute couture are lofty, they are rooted in down-to-earth sewing techniques. It is earthly ingredients that produce such heavenly results.”
