Summer Sewing Adventure Part 4

In order to be able to go back and re-alter the alterations if needed, I trace the pattern off. In this instance, there are also several separate patterns for fashion fabric, interlining, lining, and interfacings. That's a lot of tracing and checking and re-checking to being sure the alterations carry through to all of the pieces!

With this project, I have learned something very interesting about myself. When I am uncertain about something, I have a tendency to procrastinate! I am telling myself it's my way of getting things settled in my head before I proceed, but that may not be absolutely true!

If you choose to make this jacket, you may want to note that the instructions with this pattern are less than ideal! I have been moving back and forth between View A, the hand tailored instructions, and View B, the fusible instructions, and at times have just pulled the pattern pieces out to experiment with them to figure out what the instructions intend to portray.

At the point where you have the basic shell completed, sans sleeves, they recommend you try it on to check the fit. Since I've learned over the years to have a picture taken of the front, back, and sides to look at fit, I had to wait until Dale was available during the day to take the pictures. I'm glad I didn't overlook this step! The additions I made to the hip area were a little too much. There was some excess that needed to be eliminated. Back to frog sewing… rip, rip, rip. And then I redid the side front and side back seams with the adjustments that we determined from pin fitting after the ripping.

At this stage, I've copied off the pieces needed for the lining, and am working on that step. Several of the pattern pieces tell you to "cut here for lining," but in reality, you need to make a separate pattern piece because several of those areas are slightly curved. Once the lining is complete, it will be down to just the collar, multiple facings, and the finishing.

After that, Fashion Show, here I come!

Pictures of the "first fitting" and the front piece with the markings.

Just Realized

I never put up swatches of the fabrics so you could all drool and be jealous of my forthcoming beautiful jacket.
I finally got started and have the back put together.
Here are a few pictures as I'm fusing and marking:

Lining Fabric:



Jacket Fabric:


Fusing and marking:

My Excellent summer sewing adventure Part 3

So I finally figured out I was afraid to cut into this beautiful fabric because I didn't want to ruin it. Duh! I've had it around for about 10 years plus waiting for the right project. This is it. Time to get moving. Even if my sewing isn't perfect, at least it will fit right, and I'll have the best fitting jacket I've ever owned.

So I started cutting and fusing today. I'm going very slowly and deliberately.
Part of perfect sewing is perfect marking. So I have taken each pattern piece, and punched out the dots with either my sewing hole punch, or a darning needle for the small holes. The diamond got cut out. All darts are marked. I'm trying to be as precise as possible. Then I am cutting out a piece, fusing it, then pinning the pattern back to the fused fabric and doing as precise of tailor's tacks as I can. This should be enormously helpful in getting pieces put together exactly right.

Onward and upward!

Finally! Back to Vogue 8333

Okay. Work got extremely busy, as happens when the interest rates drop. I've worked the last 14 or so days straight, so didn't get to sew. The sitting really bothers my knee so I'm wearing a brace most days and icing it at least a part of each day.

But I worked like crazy yesterday so got a half day off, and FINALLY I got to get started on my jacket. Finished up some alterations and figured out that I'm going to do fusible for my first one due to time constraints. I promised I'd have this ready to wear for our ASG Fashion Show in mid November. That means I need to get on the stick so I can do this carefully and follow directions well for a change. That means being deliberate and hopefully not having to do frog stitching. Rip it, rip it, rip it!

Today I realized I'm kind of scared to start this project. The fabric is a beautiful silk tweed, and I have a silk charmeuse for a lining. I really don't want to mess it up, but I figure I need to get moving, so here I go. If I do something not exactly right, no one will probably know but me. If some of my ASG friends see it, they will know because they've probably made similar mistakes! :P}}

So I'm starting on the back as there were fewer alterations and I can get that moving fairly quickly. The back always has a separate piece for the lining as it is done differently with an ease pleat at the top. This particular pattern calls for using the side back and the side piece for the lining and just cutting them shorter. I did make a separate piece for the lining for the side back and will probably continue making the separate pieces throughout the jacket parts just so I don't have to remember to cut them differently. The front and side front have very different pieces for lining, so the front lining needs alterations to match the front that I altered, and I'll copy the side front piece for the lining to be separate too. It's pretty different and would be easy to mess up.

Had to search for a while for my interfacing, but got super lucky. If you're doing the fusible jacket, she calls for fusing a lightweight knit interfacing to most of it. I found some old interfacing that is much better quality than you can buy most places now. It's from Handler Textiles, when they still had Stacy brand, and it's Fusi Knit. It was good quality stuff. I usually buy all of my interfacing from Pam Erny's web store https://www.fashionsewingsupply.com/, but I was out of the white knit, so was happy to find the Fusi Knit in my supplies. I have another box of interfacing somewhere, but that has yet to surface. So I have parts of the interfacing cut out and ready to go. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get to cut out the matching jacket pieces so I can get moving forward to this project.

My Excellent summer sewing adventure Part 2

Well, the summer got off to an interesting start. We had been looking at areas for our "pre-retirement" home for a while. We knew we wanted to be near water so we could launch our boat fairly quickly, and I knew it couldn't be in Sonoma County as I really like to breathe and the allergens here are more than I can handle. So in a quick fit of insanity, we found a house, packed, downsized by 1/3, and moved. During the process, I wrenched my knee, which turned out to be a pretty major sprain, and we're looking at about 12 weeks for full recovery, about 6 of which I've already completed. We still have way too much stuff crammed into our house, and tubs of fabrics and boxes and boxes of other things remain in the garage. I am periodically trying to find something, and realizing, "it's in a box in the garage." Unfortunately several of my helpers were not terrific about labeling, and just shoved anything that would fit into the same box. It's going to take a while!

Right now, I have sewing things in a couple of rooms and my garage. I don't think I realized how much I had acquired over the last ten years, but it is considerable. If you think about moving your sewing stash, sewing equipment, and all the rest, it can be a little daunting to say the least. At this point, I'm more or less set up and ready to sew. I get to start with the additional jacket alterations today, on a limited basis.

At the June meeting, as Billie Jane looked at my muslin, we knew there were sleeve issues as well as collar issues. The sleeves were split at the elbow because I also needed a bit at the elbow, two slashes made to the sleeve cap so it wouldn't be too much in one area, and additional width was added into both slits from the elbow to the sleeve cap. The collar adjustment was fairly straight forward with just removing some height due to my short neck. She finished those adjustments, stood back, and asked the group if there were any other adjustments needed that they could see. Lo and behold, there were some additional adjustments needed.

For my particular body, I had done a full bust adjustment adding 1/2" length to 1" in width as I'd learned in a class on a totally different subject. For the jacket, I needed a 1:1 ratio. So some length was added from the center front across to the side princess seam in a wedge. Billie Jane also noted that the lapels on the collar were gapping a little at the neckline~ more so on one side than the other due to a slight size difference. She indicated that I could pull it up with a tape along the roll line, or ideally, cut the lapel in a wedge, eliminating a slight amount from the outside edge in to the roll line of the lapel. Voila! The gapping was gone. I'll also need to shorten the sleeves quite a bit once the other alterations are completed. That will be done at home on my own. Due to my height, I have done a lot of shortening over the years!

So today starts the alterations. I'm going to have to be deliberate in doing my alterations as there are separate patterns for fashion fabric, interlining, lining, and interfacings. That's going to be a lot of alterations before I get done. I will have to rest a bit throughout the day as the Physical Therapist indicated that I shouldn't stand for extended periods of time. I'll let you know how it goes!

Guess I need to change the name now!

Well, lots has happened in the last few months. Not much sewing, but lots of other things. We're in our "pre-retirement" home now. Moved to Suisun City with an 18 month lease to be sure we're where we want to be before we go ahead and actually buy a place. Don't need any more mistakes at this point in our lives for sure!

Today I'm finally starting my super new jacket. I got to be the "model" for a fitting class at ASG in June and our instructor got my sleeves and collar adjusted on my muslin to fit my own unique shape and body. And then she did a few more things also to make the fit of the entire jacket even better. As of now, I need to incorporate her changes into my pattern and then I'm off.

Have a beautiful blue and green silk tweed, and I found a fantastic silk charmeuse lining that matches wonderfully. This weekend I hope to start cutting out and tailoring my new jacket. I'll try to keep you posted!

Didn't realize it had been so long.

I'll catch up with prom dress and the other jacket, plus interim project progress later.

I'm very excited at this point. If you've been periodically checking in, you know that my quest for this year was jackets. I LOVE jackets. They add a bit of polish to every outfit and also hide all the lumps and bumps.

I've been thinking a lot about why I don't use the gorgeous fabrics I have and love the clothes I'm in. I finally figured out that I didn't think it was okay to have beautiful clothes because I'm not at my perfect weight and size. And also because I have not yet perfected my patterns to the point I think I have the perfect fit.

Hello! Light bulb goes off. In reality, I think every woman, no matter, her size, her weight, or her age, should have beautiful clothes that fit her perfectly so she can feel beautiful every single day.

Our American Sewing Guild has many talented members, one of whom, Billie Jane Blankinship, has taught sewing at the High School, 4-H, and college level for many, many years. A few years ago she retired, but has more knowledge about fitting various bodies in her little finger than I may ever have in my head.

As Education Chairman of our Guild, she gets to pick what we do at our monthly meetings, whether it's a speaker, or a demonstration. Due to popular demand, throughout this year, she's doing fitting demonstrations. Her first demo was in March, and was how to do bodice adjustments. My friend Phyllis was the model for that and I learned a great deal. Not the least of which is if you wear over a B cup, you need to select your pattern size by your chest measurement (above the bust) instead of your full bust measurement, and then make a full bust adjustment. That way your shoulders, neck, and upper chest fit your body with fewer adjustments. That was a huge eye opener.

So our June meeting was on sleeves and collars. For me those two items are my biggest hassle areas, so the instant I heard she would be doing them, I volunteered to be the model. I gave Billie Jane several patterns to determine which would most closely approximate the adjustments she wanted to show. Last night, I got my wish.

To start off, we decided on a Vogue by Claire Schaeffer jacket pattern, #8333. She is a phenomenon in the world of sewing, and has written several books, magazine articles, and is one of the top educators in high end fashion sewing.




Billie Jane asked me to make a muslin and do my adjustments to the body by the time of the meeting. Of course, I got busy, and had to do my muslin over the weekend. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I copied, altered, and made my muslin. Last night was the big reveal and the demo. Dale and I thought overall the muslin looked pretty good other than the sleeves and collar. I know my very amply biceps never fit into a sleeve properly, so I always have to adjust them, and haven't ever been really happy with the results. I have about half a dozen fit books, and I've tried all the various types of adjustments, but they're never just right. And now my upper back/neck area has changed a lot and collars are another problem. I have learned a fix that works for me, but again, they aren't exactly right.

So the sleeve. She cut the sleeve slightly below the elbow after determining I needed
additional room not only in the upper arm, but also in the elbow area. She slashed the front of the sleeve about an inch on either side of the center grain line, and added a piece about 3/4" into each slash from the top of the sleeve cap to the lower slash. She also decided that for me, it would be good to add between 1/4" and 1/2" extension to the shoulder to better balance the sleeve and make the sleeve hang better. A while later, she also mentioned to me that I would probably find the sleeve more comfortable if I dropped the armhole about 1/4" on both the body of the jacket and the sleeve. As these alterations were happening, my fellow Guild members were nodding and grinning with each change. Seems so easy, but 20 plus years of fighting sleeves and never getting it quite right were fixed in a manner of about 15 minutes. :P}} The sleeves will also have to be shortened, but that will come with the second muslin.

Next she moved on to the collar. Somehow over the years, my neck has gotten shorter~ very short! Frequently necklines on tops creep up into my hair, and especially collars are just not comfortable. This particular jacket has a collar stand as well as a collar. The fix was so easy! She just pinned out 1/2" along the roll line of the collar starting slightly in front of the shoulder seam. Fantastic! That one took about 5 minutes!

So then I think we're done, but I had asked her to fix anything else she thought needed adjustments. And of course, she pinned me together, stood back and then went to work again. As most women are aware, to a greater or lesser degree, one breast is larger than the other. My left one is the larger one, so the lapel over the right side had a little gap. In order to correct the gap, she slashed the lapel and pinned in a slight little dart that took care of the gap. She also highly recommends doing a piece of stay tape along the roll line 1/2" shorter than the distance of the roll, and easing the jacket to the tape. That way it snugs it right in to your chest and eliminates that gap most of us have in jacket lapels.

Then she stood back and looked. Pinned me back together and asked the group if they saw anything else. Several women mentioned that there were wrinkles below the bust line. Billie Jane stood back, looked, and grabbed her scissors. She had already mentioned that although I did the full bust adjustment, she thought I needed a bit more than I'd added, so I need to up the ante in that area. But the wrinkles below the bust line were due to not adding enough length when I added the width. She slashed from the center of the jacket right below the bust point across to the princess seam adding a wedge of about 1" at the jacket front tapering to nothing at the princess seam.

By the time she finished all of the adjustments, everyone was smiling and nodding.

So now the real adventure begins. This particular jacket is a full on tailored jacket. She has instructions for both hand tailoring with pad stitching and the whole shebang, or you can do it with fusibles, but that won't be the choice this time. Since with all the jackets I've made over the years, I have never made a fully tailored jacket, that's going to happen finally. I'll have my perfectly fitted tailored jacket.

Over the next little while, I'll be tailoring a jacket. I'm going to use a gorgeous silk tweed fabric with a wild silk charmeuse lining, and you get to watch it happen.

After work tonight, I'll start with the adjustments to my pattern, then will do a new muslin to be sure everything is just right. In the meantime, I'm gathering my supplies together to get this wonderful fun new garment underway. I expect there will be several other garments being made in the interim, but this is the main goal.

Look for a new post soon!