Daily TribuneParticipants will learn the fundamental techniques involved in creating butterfly sleeves, including pattern drafting, fabric cutting hand-sewing and finishing.
Ternos with butterfly sleeves created by National Artist Salvacion Lim Higgins.
Photographs courtesy of Slim’s Fashion and Arts School
Piece by Joseph Richard Papa.
Piece By Moon Lei from the ALCHEMY Student Exhibit in 2019.
The butterfly sleeve — the defining feature of the terno and one of the most recognizable elements of Philippine fashion — takes center stage in a workshop conducted by Slim’s Fashion and Arts School of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde.
Evolving from the traditional baro’t saya and popularized by National Artist for Fashion Design Ramon Valera in the mid-twentieth century, the butterfly sleeve is distinguished by its structured, stiffened, and upward-curving silhouette. It remains an enduring symbol of Filipina pride, grace and femininity.
The workshop forms part of a series of Saturday sessions on couture Filipiniana techniques designed to deepen participants’ appreciation of the country’s dressmaking traditions.
Participants will learn the fundamental techniques involved in creating butterfly sleeves, including pattern drafting, fabric cutting, hand-sewing and finishing. By the end of the course, they are expected to complete their own distinctive, well-structured, and entirely handmade butterfly sleeve without machine stitching.
The workshop is presented in partnership with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) through Juana Creatives, an inclusive co-working and skills-development hub for women freelancers, hobbyists, cultural practitioners and design entrepreneurs. The hub provides enterprise support and industry-led training across a broad range of creative disciplines. Through the Department of Trade and Industry, participants will also have opportunities to showcase and promote their creations and products at various trade fairs.
The sessions are facilitated by Joseph Richard Papa, an award-winning fashion practitioner and educator who serves as TESDA’s national lead expert for Fashion Design NC II and Garment Production NC II. Papa’s collections have been presented on local and international runways, including the Concours International des Jeunes Créateurs de Mode in Paris in 1995. He was a finalist in the Mega Young Designers Competition in 1999 and was named both grand winner and Designer’s Choice at the Manila Hotel’s prestigious Flores de Mayo competition in the same year. He again received the competition’s top prize in 2007.
Open to the public, the workshop is held over two Saturdays — 4 and 11 July — from 1 to 6 p.m. at the Juana Creatives Hub in the TESDA Complex, East Service Road, South Superhighway, Taguig City.
