Le Onzième

Abby Spatz, Cornell University, USA

Keywords: Knits, Textiles

Le Onzième is a cocktail outfit inspired by the architecture and street elements found in the eleventh arrondissement in Paris, France. During my semester abroad in Paris, I lived in this arrondissement and took many photographs of the buildings and streets while walking to class each day. The photographs of folded shutters and roofing gave me the idea for the folded technique used on the vest.

The vest is made of 100% merino wool 4 ply sport weight yarn and I created it using a manual knitting machine. Using stockinette stitch, I knitted 20 rows of blue, then 20 rows of red. I picked up the bottom row of stitches of the blue knit and placed them back on the needles which still had the red stitches on them. Next, I knitted 20 rows with a grey yarn. I repeated this process to create each pleat. The vest consists of 4 panels with 6 pleats each. The pleats are folded toward center front to show the blue side of the pleat at the shoulder seam. At the waist band, the pleats are folded away from center front to show the red side. These pleats are overlapped slightly to create a fitted waist. They are attached to a faux rib knit waistband. The dress underneath is created from a cut and sew piqué knit. The seams are serged together to create the most flexibility in the garment. It features a snap closure at center back. The vest and dress snap together at the shoulders to secure the vest in place.

This ensemble shows the possibilities the knitting machine offers to the fashion industry and the versatility of knitwear. I am very passionate about knitwear and hope to inspire American apparel

<figure><img src="image_1.png" /></figure>

<figure><img src="image_2.png" /></figure>
design programs to introduce knitting into their curriculum. The outfit was completed in April, 2014.