Refitting A Classic: The Doris

With our pattern maker away on maternity leave - our designer, Diane, found herself back in the sewing room - For the first time in years!

Cherry Velvet's designer Diane Kennedy sewing

Diane has always been very hands-on when it comes to all facets of our dresses' production. As a seasoned fashion designer, she closely manages the pattern making and fittings, as well as monitoring production at our local factories.

Cherry Velvet's designer Diane Kennedy sewing

Diane's background in sewing started at very early age. Fun fact - She made all her own clothes during her high school years and often sewed for other people.  In grade 9, her sewing teacher actually paid her to sew for her! With style constantly on her mind and proven "clientele" at such a young age, she knew she found her calling and has been designing ever since.

And so, years later, with our Doris dress going into production once more, Diane wanted to make an adjustment to the pattern to improve fit. After all, even a classic can use an edit once and awhile. 

Pattern pieces for a Cherry Velvet dress design cut out on a sewing table

The shoulder straps, while designed to go over a bra, were fitting too wide on somebody with a narrower shoulder. Diane administered a fit correction to the pattern and took the opportunity to sew herself a new dress in our Spinderella print, so she could test out the correction.

After this most recent session at the sewing machine, Diane was so delighted to remember how much she loved to sew - even after so many years! It's true; you never forget your first love ❤️

"It's such a wonderfully satisfying feeling to be able to design, make the pattern and complete a dress from start to finish". - Diane Kennedy 

Diane's style of designing dresses has always been this kind of old-fashioned, "use all the best ingredients" approach. From the 100% cotton prints she carefully chooses to the YYK zippers that are a well-known industry standard, Diane's passion can be seen in her commitment to her designs.

Cherry Velvet's mission statement has always been to create a line of classic garments with exceptional fit and we hope this behind-the-scenes peek at our designer's process has helped illustrate her devotion for design!

XOX Cherry Velvet

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