Jacket Muslin Fail

Margy's fabulous Dotty jacket

This is a story of failure, or an almost failure. My failure, not Margy's.

Have you seen Margy's fabulous polka dot jacket, which she calls Dotty? It's awesome, right?

Actually, I have the same fabric. I purchased it from Gorgeous Fabrics, right after Margy received hers and pronounced it droolworthy. It's a really nice textured polka dot brocade - Margy has a knack for finding such treasures.

We decided to do a little challenge. An uncomplicated challenge where we would both sew up the same fabric. Margy knew right away which pattern she wanted to use. We gave ourselves a deadline of the end of May.

This challenge sounds easy, but for me, not so much. I can really angst over choosing a pattern, and this was no exception. I have lots of jacket patterns, and narrowed it down to a small pile, but didn't want to choose the final pattern until the fabric arrived and I could grope it firsthand. It's a lovely fabric and had more drape than I expected, for a woven brocade.

I decided to make New Look 6855. I like the princess seams, which end in a raglan seam. I also thought the notch in the neckline at center front was cool. A very nice design and now OOP.

I grabbed some ugly fabrics out of my "muslin worthy" fabric basket. (That basket is starting to get woefully empty.) I started with the short version of the jacket in my usual size - 18 - and did the minimal pattern alterations: a hefty FBA and removing some (but not all) of the hip shaping due to my straight hips. I knew I'd have more altering to do, but this is a good starting point. I quickly sewed it up and, the next morning, ran out at 6pm in the fog to take a couple quick pictures, because I was sharing them with Margy.

No, I don't iron my muslin fabrics. ;)

Oh, DEAR, you are probably thinking. I can't disagree. However, I want to point out that this is typical of my experience with Big 4 patterns. The shoulders are too wide by a couple of inches. Despite my hefty FBA, I still need more bust room. The sleeves are too long, and the hips are still too big. The back is too narrow. The raglan seams in back pouf out in a funny way when my arms are down. Even more disappointingly, I didn't really like the neckline as much as I thought I would. I decided that I just didn't like this result enough to keep going down this path.

(By the way, should I mention that when I mailed Margy these photos that early morn, that I bcc'd myself, or so I thought. I actually sent them to the head of the dance department at my daughter's university. She has a similar login to my work login — auto-completion bites again. It figures I'd sent her these pictures instead of more flattering photos!)

Back to the drawing board. I have been wanting to make up the Style Arc Coco jacket.

I thought it might work nicely for this fabric, but I wanted to make some changes. I started with my usual size - 18 - and eliminated the bottom band, did a hefty FBA and removed some of the hip shaping. Pretty much the exact same alterations as I did for the New Look pattern. I grabbed another piece of fabric from the "muslin worthy" basket (getting even emptier) and sewed this one up.

Interesting, yes?

I usually avoid horizontal lines on or near the bust, but I knew I could eliminate that horizontal seam by extending the princess seam to the shoulder. But I think you can see why horizontal seams in that area aren't so great for my uber bust. This pattern fits better, from the start, than the New Look. The sleeves are a good length. The shoulders are too wide, but only by about 3/4". I need to tweak the fit at the hips, and at the front princess seam (very normal for me after a large FBA), and take in a bit at the waist so that it is less boxy. I need to widen the back (again, quite normal). The alterations are not that different than the alterations for the New Look, but it will be less work than fussing with those raglan seams in back.

But I decided I didn't want to use this pattern for the polka dot fabric, either. Margy was on vacation, but had her jacket shell completely constructed and I didn't even have a pattern selected. I was starting to feel rushed and a bit frustrated, so we decided to forgo the challenge. When I am feeling more inspired, I will try again. I may go in a completely different direction.

Instead of working on the jacket last weekend, I made something fun. I'll post it when I get some good pictures. We've had days of heavy fog here, typical for a San Francisco summer and not that unusual for a SF spring.

By the way, if you wonder what I am wearing in these pics, those are my PJs. I bought this wonderful African fabric at JoMar's a year ago in April, when I took my fabric road trip with Peggy.

Happy Mother's Day and Another FabMo Class!

Sue and I with our bags. I think both of us plan to use these as caddy's in our sewing rooms. This size would also make a fabulous lunch tote. Most of the fabrics in the bag are silks.

Yesterday I took another great class from Luanne at FabMo! If you recall, the last class I took was on zippered pouches. This class was to make a tote bag. When you take one of Luanne's classes, you get a multiple-page packet she has prepared that shows you the steps, with color photos. This packet was even bigger than the one for the zippered bag, because it shows two styles and has instructions for different sizes. It's a great resource.

Our messy little sewing corner.

Once again, Luanne had prepackaged fabric packets. She finds that this jump starts the creative process, and you can always swap out any fabrics you don't care for using her bins of FabMo fabrics. I did that straight away, because my packet included a giant floral fabric. It was pretty, a black fabric with large roses, but I am not a floral girl and someone else should enjoy it.

Luanne giving a demonstration

The tote bag is more involved that the zippered pouch, so we really used the entire class time, and then some. Once again, the class was SO.MUCH.FUN. There were 11 students, so it was a full class, jam packed with info. It was pushing it, but Sue and I both got our bags done.

Sue has finished!

Prior to the class, we went to the FabMo distribution, which just happened to be Thursday through Saturday. I was trying to be restrained, and came away with half a bag of fabrics, and some jewelry findings. Once my current schedule settles down a bit, I'd like to make a larger tote, with a longer handle, piecing together some of those great FabMo fabrics.

Though not everyone managed to finish their bags, there were some really lovely combinations in the class!

Side 1.
I fussy cut the fabrics to get the motifs placed where I wanted.

Side 2.
I especially like the pieced, padded wraparound handle and the striped silk binding.

Inside.
I like using two fabrics for the lining. This bag also has a magnetic snap closure, which is optional.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! to those who celebrate. My kids have a full day planned. We are meeting in downtown San Francisco at 10:30am and they told me that we won't be done until 9 or so.

I hope I have the stamina!

Blogger Meetup - Karen of DidYouMakeThat

See me on the right? In the glasses. (Yes, I just got a haircut.) That's Beth at the very end, in a beautiful purple Donna Karan dress.

I love blogger meetups. I am an extroverted person living an introverted life. I work at home and rarely go into the office, which is about an hour away, or I'd go in more often. I live alone, unless you count my unsociable grey cat, who has never forgiven me for stepping on his tale, in the dark, when he was a kitten. (I never stepped on my white cat...) Even now, he panics if I'm standing up. To top it off, my hobby is SEWING. A solitary hobby, if ever there was one.

So I love to get together with other sewists and I take most every opportunity to do so. My sewing friend and blogger, Beth, of Sunny Gal Studio, emailed me weeks ago to let me know that Karen, of Did You Make That? was coming to the bay area. Karen was going to spend the week studying with Beth and learning couture techniques. Beth is a consummate sewist and teacher.

While here, Karen wanted to meet up with local sewists and Beth asked me for suggestions on where we could meet. As someone who doesn't really drink, eat out, or go out much, I wasn't much help, but Beth found a great wine bar in downtown SF, right at the entrance to China Town, Rouge et Blanc.

I didn't count how many of us showed up last night, but it was maybe 15 sewists. It was SO.MUCH.FUN. I had not been a follower of Karen's blog, which I have remedied. She is a totally delightful person who loves vintage style and wants to master couture techniques. Even though the only person I knew at the event was Beth, I was immediately in deep conversation with many different sewists. One sewist was actually visiting from the U.K. and her trip just happened to coincide with Karen's visit.

I think I'm not the only sewist who loves to get out and interact with other sewists. :)

And, guess what? I don't usually like wine (or most any alcohol). But I had two (rather expensive) glasses of the yummiest French wine! Sheesh, I could have downed a lot more, but I was quite buzzed as it was, so 2 glasses seems to be my limit. I'm glad that I took the subway home. ;)

There's Karen!

Let me point out a couple posts. Amy, of Sew Well, wrote the greatest post about last night. I borrowed her pictures for my post as I did not take any. (There were many people snapping pictures, but many of them don't blog.) She even lives relatively close to me! Amy, if you need help pinning a hem, let me know. :)

Karen, our guest of honor, wrote the greatest post about the sale last Monday at Britex. I don't usually attend these sales, but she is not exaggerating about the mob. I find that, even at the sales, their prices are quite high. But I'm pretty sure I recognize a local sewing friend, Wendy, in one of her pictures. :)

New haircut!

Style Arc Jilly Red Twill "Jeans"

I guess I fell prey to the spring trends! A couple weeks ago, I decided that I really needed red jeans. I must have red jeans!

I mentioned this to Margy, who immediately replied that she had some red stretch twill that wasn't her shade of red and would I be interested.

Would I? You betcha!

What arrived on my doorstep a week later was 3 yards of Italian cotton lycra twill in the yummiest color. It was even pre-washed! And gorgeous. I then had to decide which pattern to use:

• The famous Jalie Jeans. I have made this pattern twice, once in blue denim and once in cream corduroy. I proceeded to wear the blue denim pair for 3 days and decided, pretty quickly, that I did not want to use this pattern.
• The famous funky Au Bonheur jeans. I decided, very quickly, that though these fit me well, I wanted a more conventional pattern for my red jeans.
• The Style Arc Jilly Jean. I've had this pattern in my stash for awhile. I decided it was time to try it out.

I wanted a skinny leg for this pair of pants. Even though the skinny jean look might be contraindicated for my figure, that's what I wanted. :)

The Jilly Jean doesn't look like a skinny jean if you look at the illustrations. Checking the few reviews on Pattern Review supported that suspicion - it has a very straight leg. I knew I would have to do some fitting at the lower leg.

A nice, rich, true red.

Alterations and Modifications:

• I made a size 10, my usual Style Arc size. (They are SO consistent in their sizing!)
• Cut off 3-3/4" from the hem. Style Arc designs for a much taller woman. :)
• The leg on the pattern is very straight. I removed 1-1/8" from the inseam and the side seam at the ankle (after shortening), tapering to nothing at the knee. This removed 4-1/2" total from the ankle, resulting in the much closer fit that I wanted.
• Widened the waist a bit. Mostly straightened out the curve on the back, front yoke, front pockets, etc.
• This pattern comes with both a rectangular and a contoured waistband. I used the rectangular waistband, though I used a longer rectangle than they provided. I cut it on the cross grain so it would be stretchy. I then inserted elastic into the finished waistband so that these, unlike my Jalie denim jeans, will stay up.
• Instead of using a zipper fly, I wanted a mock fly. I like the look of a fly on my jeans, but not an actual fly. Once again, I used Debbie Cook's Fly Front Tutorial, eliminating the zipper.
• The pattern is designed with a sewn-on fly. I prefer a cut-on fly. I sewed it on, as designed, but when I make this again I will cut the fly on.
• I didn't quite understand how to use the pattern piece that was provided for the pocket bag. Rather than try to puzzle it out, I drafted my own pocket bag and facing. I used a contrast cotton print for the pocket facing and bag.
Up top is the pocket bag that comes with the pattern. Below are the pocket bag and facing that I drew up.
• I didn't bother to install rivets. I have all the rivets and tools, but I just can't be bothered.

Early top-stitching trials.
It takes practice to get a clean corner using the triple stitch. The secret (at least on my machine) is to turn the corner after the 2nd forward stitch. My machine goes forward 4 times, then backwards 2 times.

Topstitching:

My next decision was about the top-stitching. Do I use cream/white thread? Red thread? Top-stitching thread? Regular thread? Once again, it was Margy to the rescue. She mentioned the triple stitch, available on most sewing machines, as great for top-stitching. Even my ancient Bernina 930 has this stitch, though the last time I tried to use it, about a year ago, it didn't work. But now that my machine has been serviced and is running like new, I decided to try it. It worked great! What's more, you use it with regular thread, meaning I didn't need to run to the fabric store for top-stitching thread. I decided to go with matching red thread.

I had to spend some time practicing the stitch. On my machine, it goes forward 4 stitches, and then back 2, then forward 4, and back 2, and so on. I was having trouble figuring out when to turn a corner cleanly. Again, Margy had advice. What worked is to turn a corner on the second stitch, going forward. Try it!

Conclusion:

I love my red jeans!

I do wish the front rise was a scosche higher — it hits me at the fullest part of my tummy, not a great place. But of course my tops will cover that up.

I definitely want more of these! Maybe a lime green pair! Maybe a black pair. But I will wear these for awhile to determine if I need more fitting tweaks.

Q&A - Sewing Everything

I love this plant and often stop to admire it when out walking.

Several posts ago, Robin left a comment asking if I sew all of my clothing. Then Carolyn wrote a post about this subject, sparked by Robin's comment on my post.

When I first returned to sewing almost three years ago, that was my goal. For awhile, I was sewing all of my own clothing.

Then I realized I was missing out on some good stuff!

I now enjoy mixing my sewn items with purchased items. The items I buy are often gently used, usually funky, and often something that would be difficult (if not impossible) to make. I check out funky boutiques, consignment stores, ebay, art festivals.

Take today, for example.

A boutique I like near Union Square, KatiKoos, featured some great Polish sweaters on their Facebook page. (They also have a newsletter you can subscribe to, but often the clothes she posts on Facebook sell out so fast they never make it to the newsletter.) I decided to take a quick visit this morning to check them out.

Uber Sweater Love

I also saw a great silk scarf.

Silk Scarf Love
(The rest of the clothing is mine.)

Unfortunately, both pieces were out of my clothing budget, so I left them behind. But these are the sorts of garment I keep my eye out for.

Do you sew all of your clothing?

This weekend I'm making a pair of pants. You might be happy to hear that I'm taking a break from the knit tops. :)

Butterick 5679 - Knit Top with Drapey Pocket

Quel surprise! I've made another knit top! Out of a rayon lycra!

I bought this Butterick pattern when it came out. I really liked View C, which has a single drapey pocket. Just my cup of tea. I went to Pattern Review and there was only one review for View C, by Ann Smith. (You need to create an account to view any reviews over six months - but a free account works.)

I found her review to be most helpful. She had all kinds of problems with the fit of the raglan sleeves and the neckline. So I approached the pattern with caution. First of all, the only thing I did not like about the pattern is that it has a boat-neck-ish shaped neckline. (Though it's not quite as wide as a true boat neck.) I have narrow-ish shoulders and I hate a wide neckline (though I think I know why they did it that way). I don't like my bra straps to show and I don't like a neckline to slide off my shoulders.

So the first thing I did was to raise the neckline at the sides on all the pattern pieces - tapering it to nothing at CF and CB. I planned to cut the final neck opening once I had the garment together, because I knew this shape wouldn't be right either, but at least I'd have enough fabric to work with.

The front pattern pieces. The neckline has been raised at the sides. And the 1.5" horizontal strip at the bustline is my only FBA.

The raising of the neckline for the sleeve and back. I tapered it to nothing at CB (and CF).

I was using a very stretchy rayon lycra jersey, a wonderful fabric that I bought on a recent visit to Harts, so I wanted 4" negative ease. I checked the finished bust measurement on the pattern piece and the size 16 had the fit I wanted. So I cut out a size 16 (quite a bit smaller than my usual size, especially if you count the 6" FBA I usually add). I sliced the pattern horizontally at the bust and added 1.5" to go up and over the girls. The only other alteration I made was to the sleeves. The sleeves looked incredibly long. I removed 3.5" at the "shorten here" line.

I cut out the fabric and started sewing. This pattern is very quick to sew. For one thing, the hem, the sleeve hem, and the top of the pocket are designed to be left as raw edges. It would be very difficult to hem the top with the sharp point, so it makes sense. I am not 100% in line with the raw edge movement, so I serged these edges. I can live with serged edges. ;)

The first thing you do, is to lay the pocket on top of the right front piece and sew them together at the hem and side. Because this is a stretchy knit, I used Steam a Seam Lite 2 to attach them to each other and then stitched through the sandwich. It worked great and there was no distortion.

The instructions for the neckline are to turn the edge under twice and topstitch. I assume this is why the pattern has a "softened" boat neckline which is easier to finish this way. I hate that sort of neckline finish. I just don't think it lies nicely against the body and it's hard to sew at the sides, where the greatest curvature is, without distorting the finished neckline.

What I did was sew all the CF and CB seams, and the raglan seams, so that the neck hole was formed, and then try it on. I then pin marked where I wanted the finished neckline to be. I removed more from CF and a bit from CB and the side seams. I then used the Sarah Veblen binding method. I am very happy with the final neckline. (I am getting rather tired of posting the Veblen link over and over, but I want it to be handy! Maybe I should just create a link page.)

I cut a 1-3/8" strip for the neckline and sewed it on with a 1/4" seam.

If you read Ann's review, you will see that she had to remove quite a bit from the raglan seams. Besides Ann, I have quite a few very accomplished, very prolific sewing friends who never post anywhere. I wore this top to an event they attended and two or three of them (I can't remember) had made this same top and had the same problems that Ann described. It took them a lot of fiddling to get a top that fit properly through the shoulders/neckline.

I did not have this problem at all. One of them said that the pattern lacks proper shoulder shaping - it doesn't go "in" like it should at the shoulders. Several of us were mulling over why I did not have this problem. It was suggested that perhaps it was because I was using a very stretchy knit. That is possible, so be wary of the shoulder fit if you attempt this pattern, particularly in a more stable knit. (And I think it's totally worth the trouble, because the pattern is great otherwise.)

The sleeve length was perfect after removing 3.5" in length, so it is quite long. Though if I were to do a turned-under hem, I'd want to add a half inch back. So check the sleeve length.

Hem:

I was asked to show some up close pictures of the serged hem.

The pocket hem up close. I started serging at the back side seam, at the inner corner. I serged across the back around the side, and then across the front, ending at the point. I restarted at the bottom of the point and serged up, ending at the inner corner. A drop of Frayblock at the point, and then I trimmed off the serged threads.

The front and the sleeve hems.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, I LOVE this top!!! My sewing friends told me it was one of the most flattering tops they'd ever seen me wear. I think it is best in a drapey knit fabric — that pocket is designed to hang and drape gracefully. You have to decide how you feel about raw edges. One friend, who doesn't like raw edges, just chopped off the pocket point and hemmed it straight across. It looks great that way too, though I do think the pocket point can create a slimming line.

Worn with my beloved Marcy Tilton pants, Vogue 8397, View A. It's now OOP, but well worth tracking down.

Burda 3254 - Striped Top

One of my sewing pals was recently de-stashing her patterns and this one called to me. It's an OOP Burda envelope pattern — my suspicion is that it's long out of print, but I'm not sure. I love how the stripe chevrons all over the place — CF, CB, above the sleeve, below the sleeve. I made a shortened version of view B.

Based on the desired finished size I wanted (4" negative ease at the bust), I made the size 16. The original pattern is designed for woven fabrics, but of course I wanted to use this knit fabric from Marcy Tilton. I added 1" length to the front to accommodate needing a longer length for the bust.

Before making the stripe version, I tested it out in another knit from Fabrix. This is another print that I wasn't that crazy about, but I really loved the quality and price of the fabric at $2.39 a yard. I did not cut this version out on the bias, and I did cut it at full length. It was too long, so I chopped off about 8". Then it was too short, so I added a little flange to increase the length.

Test version. I cut off a bit too much, so I added a flange.

I also shortened the sleeves 1-1/4" and shaved off the shoulder "bump" which was too far out from my natural shoulder.

Despite making the test version, the stripe version, cut on the bias, is a bit snug. Before cutting, I tested the stretch of the bias and it seemed ok, but I guess it was a bit less stretchy than the test fabric. I cut the stripe version 2" longer than the test version (before adding the flange).

For the test version, I cut a 1-1/4" strip for the neck binding and sewed it with a 1/4" seam. For the stripe version, I cut a 1-1/2" strip on the cross grain and sewed it with a 1/4" seam.

For both tops, I hemmed the bottoms and the sleeves with 1/2" Steam-a-Seam 2 Lite.

More Pictures