Sunday Notes

Well, this weekend wasn't as sewing-intensive as some. Both kids were here and there were inevitable (though enjoyable) distractions.

You may recall that about a month ago I purchased a handmade ham and seam roll from Stitch Nerd on Etsy.

The ham, in particular, was smaller than I expected, so I wasn't sure how much use I would get out of it. I've now used it for several projects and, I have to say, I LOVE this ham! (I don't use a seam roll too much, in general.)

First, it has a nice smell of sawdust. I really like the smell. The ham I've been using is a Dritz brand and I'm not sure what stuffs it so firmly, but it is not sawdust. I love how the steam can really penetrate the sawdust filling. This new one is just a bit malleable - that little bit of give makes it much easier to manipulate and use. I like it much better than the hard-as-a-rock Dritz ham.

At some point, I will be ordering a custom ham in a larger size so I can have small and large options. I will then retire the Dritz model. I really use my pressing tools, and this one is definitely Shams-endorsed! (I get nothing for my review, so don't worry about that. :)

Other than finishing my Liberty top this weekend, I also have another Style Arc cardi almost finished. It's a quick project, but I am tweaking it a bit, so I'm not sure when I will be posting it.

I hope you have a great week!

Sewing Workshop - Liberty in Blue Jacquard

A couple more pics

I'm a bit surprised at myself that I haven't yet made the Liberty shirt as designed. This is a great pattern - based on a Miyake design originally - but I have seen many boutique versions of this great top. If you don't have this pattern in your arsenal, you should.

The first few times I made this top, I used Heather N's pullover version. For those versions, I had traced off a Large and performed a 2" FBA. Since that time I have been doing my FBAs a bit differently, so this time I traced a size Medium, chopped the front off at the waist, performed a 3" FBA, and re-attached the bottom, merging them together at the side seam. I definitely prefer the fit of this version which hangs closer to my hips.

Both versions.
Left: Size Large with standard 2" FBA. Right: Size Medium, sliced at waist, 3" Y-shaped FBA on top, bottom re-attached, and side seam merged.
Result: Much better fit through the hips.

I have been meaning to make a buttoned version of the Liberty for over a year, but it took the Autumn 6-pack to get me to do it. This is my first top for the fall 6-pack.

The fabric is a 100% cotton jacquard from FabricMart. As of this writing, they have 14 yards remaining. I really love the drape of this fabric. The recommended care was dry cleaning or hand wash, but I tossed it into the washer and dryer and it came out like an heirloom tablecloth - such beautiful drape with heft to it. It's so rare to see woven cotton with such lovely drape.

Materials:

• 100% cotton jacquard in cornflower blue from FabricMart
  
• white Angel Weft interfacing from Apple Annie's for the front and neck facings
  
• 6 5/8" Dritz buttons from JoAnns
  

Alterations & Construction Notes:

• I decided to alter the collar. I changed the neckline and drafted a new collar. It wasn't quite what I wanted, so I left off the collar, but the neckline is lower/more open than the original pattern. I plan to play with this more in future versions.
• I used a size Medium with a 3" y-shaped FBA.
• I widened the back, creating 1" darts on each shoulder.
• I removed about 2" from the outer edge of the shoulder, tapering it to nothing.
• The pattern instructs you to do French seams on the shoulder and side seams. Because I had darts in both sets of seams, I did hand-sewn flat felled seam instead. I also used hand sewn flat felled seams on the sleeve seams.
• The size Medium sleeve is a bit too long. Next time I should shorten it by an inch.
• I used six buttons, spaced in three sets of two.

Pictures

Love the texture of the jacquard

Vogue 8397 view A - Midnight Blue Pant Funkiness

Now WHY didn't I make another pair of these pants before this??? This is possibly my favorite Marcy Tilton pants pattern. And that is saying something, because I really love my Marcy Tilton pants patterns!

I made this pattern more than a year ago in black ponte and they have been worn and worn and worn.

First pair in black ponte

I keep saying, "I need to make these again," but I haven't. So I am grateful to the 6-pack for making me follow through. I love the 6-pack already, as it encourages me to use patterns that have been successful but maybe haven't percolated to the top of the todo list.

I have been rather disillusioned with much of the ponte I have used in the last year or so. Some of it has held up ok, but some of it has pilled quite badly and some has even run at the seamlines. I am wondering if pontes with a higher percentage of polyester might be the problem. A friend found this fabric on Emma One Sock. This "midnight doubleknit" has a fiber content of 38%rayon, 35%poly, 23%nylon, 4%spandex. I decided to try it.

Emma One Sock's Midnight Doubleknit. It might look like black in my pics, but it really is a pretty shade of navy.

This fabric is 54" wide, nice and beefy, and SO soft. It sewed beautifully, though it's best to press from the wrong side because even on a cool-ish heat, it can get shiny. (Or use a press cloth.)

This pattern, by the way, is now out of print, but still available on the Vogue site for top dollar (unless they are having one of their clearance sales). You can probably also find it on ebay.

I am loving these pants already. They are garment #2 for my 6-pack. I really hope they hold up over time.

Now, I know folks will ask, where did you get that jacket?" This Nuno-felted jacket is from an Etsy vendor, FeltFieltroFilc. It was a custom order and I don't see it listed at the moment, but she has some nice stuff! I had planned to wear this jacket as part of Me-Made-June, because it's one of those purchased items that I haven't worn much, but I petered out on the MMJ challenge I had given myself of incorporating purchased items in my wardrobe and wore my standard me-made-my that I always wear. (And, by the way, I am not participating in Self Stitched September.)

As to this weekend's productivity: Other than these pants, I also cut out another pair of pants and I have a top almost finished. Both are for the Autumn 6-pack, so I am making good progress! I keep finding more fabrics in my stash that would work with this 6-pack, so I could easily turn this into a 30-pack. ;)

Friday Night Notes

Happy Friday!

Thanks so much for your feedback on my black jacket. I really appreciate it! I met DD1 for lunch downtown this week and I wore it. This "meet at center front, but doesn't overlap" sort of jacket seems to be very popular right now - I'm seeing it in numerous Fall lines. I think the style is growing on me.

I got a bit of sewing done this week. I made most of another Teagarden T in one evening. (Shown above.) The rayon lycra "trendy" knit was from FabricMart, though fabric.com also carried it. I also finished up a pair of charcoal stretch no-wale corduroy Linda pants from Style Arc. I am not sure what the difference is between no-wale corduroy and cotton velveteen, but they seem pretty much the same to me.

Charcoal No-wale Corduroy Linda Pants

Also, the buckles have been coming in. I now have some nice options, so thanks, again for your collective help. I was prepared to go to Goodwill to see what I could harvest, but I no longer need to. (It's too bad that the Goodwill just blocks from me is a Boutique and the clothing is too nice, and too expensive, to cut up. The nearest true thrift store isn't nearly as convenient.) I'm still collecting the more mundane hardware and supplies for the purse, and I haven't even selected the fabric for sure, so I'm not ready to start it yet.

You know what? Shopping for the buckles remind me how much I love hardware. I think many sewists do. I love hardware stores - always a pleasurable errand. I love using hardware in my garments: zippers, grommets, toggles, cord pulls, buckles, you name it. The only thing I don't like is when I don't have the right hardware for a project and it slows me down. :)

Autumn 6-Pack

So glad it is Friday! Unless something comes up, I plan to have a productive weekend. I have decided to join the Autumn 6-Pack on Stitcher's Guild. This is where you sew a coordinated set of clothing for a season. I have alluded to it, but not really talked about it. I have a plan, which I hesitate to share because it will, undoubtedly, change. But I have a pile of coordinating fabrics in charcoal, cream, and blue (including navy and some other shades of blue). I plan to mostly use TNT patterns. You will see at least one more Teagarden T - maybe two. :)

I will modify the suggested 6-pack somewhat. I've been reading the blogs of other folks who are also participating and this seems to be the norm - modify to make it work for you. The charcoal Linda pants (pictured above) are intended for my 6-pack.

Even though I rarely sew with a plan, I don't usually have clothing orphans because most things I sew go with black and I have a variety of black bottoms in different styles and shapes. But this will be an interesting experiment. I have intentionally not used black in my plan, but most everything should go with black. We shall see how it goes. :)

Not sure what to work on this weekend. There are three patterns that I want to sew and I can't find any of them. I guess it's time for a cleanup.

Have a great weekend!

McCalls 6294 - Black Jacket

More pics

I've been needing (and wanting) a black jacket for years. (A black coat too, for that matter, but it must wait for another day.) But I keep making outerwear that is more "visually interesting." I love my unique jackets and coats, but sometimes you just need black.

In fact, I wanted to use this pattern for my fall 6-pack but before I cut into my special Emma One Sock fabric, I tested it out in this black, novelty J.N.Y. (Jones New York) fabric from FabricMart. (As of this writing, they have another 10 yards.)

This novelty fabric, an acrylic wool blend, is very unusual. The right side is almost a textural plaid, where the plaid is formed by smooth and fuzzy areas. The reverse side is shiny. I am not a fan of shiny, so I used the right side. When you cut it, it sheds fluff. It looks something like a boucle, but it is not. It behaves as if it is primarily a metallic fiber. It is not a particularly soft fabric, especially the shiny side, so it's a good candidate for a lined garment. It's weird, but I like weird.

The fabric is somewhat sheer. Because I did not want the polka dot lining to show through, I fused the entire jacket with black Angel Weft interfacing from Apple Annie's. I really love Angel Weft and must thank Kathryn of I Made This! for the recommendation. Angel Weft retains the hand of the fabric - it does not make the fabric stiff when fused. (If you don't know Kathryn's blog, you should. Everything she makes is utterly impeccable.)

Materials:

• J.N.Y. Novelty weave, wool blend from FabricMart: 32% Acrylic, 32% wool, 37% nylon, 9% polyester. (812735)
• Lining: Black and white, rayon twill polka dot border print from Gorgeous Fabrics. A more wiggly, ravelly fabric has not been known to man. But it was polka dots!
• Angel Weft interfacing, in black, from Apple Annie's.
• Hook closure from Britex.

Alterations and Modifications:

• 3" Princess seam FBA in the side front.
• Narrowed the shoulder by 3/4".
• Removed the hip shaping making it more rectangular - more like me.
• Nipped the side seams and front princess seams in 1/4" at the waist to give it a tiny bit of shaping. This little tweak created a more flattering, less boxy, silhouette.
• Shortened the sleeve by 3/4". (I first shortened the sleevy by 1-1/2", but it was too short and I had to back it off by 3/4".)

Construction Notes:

• When I did the FBA, I goofed. When performing an FBA, after altering the side front pattern piece, it becomes longer. You then have to lengthen the center front pattern piece by the same amount so the pieces will fit together. I accidentally lengthened the side front instead - so the side fronts were too long and the center fronts were too short. I had cut out the entire body of the jacket and fused each piece with interfacing before I realized my mistake. Because I had enough leftover fabric, I re-cut the front pieces to the correct length, and I cut the pockets out of the former front pieces. I also shortened the side fronts to the proper length. Rather than re-cut the front facings, I pieced them to the correct length. It was merely an annoying mistake and not a disastrous one.
• As directed, the pockets are not lined. I lined them.
  

  

  Lined pockets. These pockets are sewn into the front princess seam, so the inner edges are left raw.

• The collar was too wide. I narrowed it at the points by approx 1.5".
  

  

  Amount I cut away from the collar points

• This pattern is designed not to close. I believe this jacket is inspired by a very popular Givenchy jacket from 2008. The Givenchy jacket uses a hook closure at the bust and I also used a single closure at the bust line.
  

  

  Auditioning closures



Final closure

Conclusions

I was considering this jacket for my Fall 6-pack. Now that I've tested it out in this fabric, I think I will find another pattern for that project. It's fine and I will use it, but it's not quite what I had in mind. Also, this jacket is a bit snug through the back. I started with my usual size 18, and tried on the pattern tissue and the in-process jacket many times, but once I put the sleeves on, it was too snug. If I use this pattern again, I need to do a narrow back adjustment, which is unusual for me.

Pictures

Worn closed

Worn open

Polka-dot lining peeping out

I lightened the photo a tad so you can see the interesting seaming at the back.

Sunday Notes

Thanks for your suggestions on buckles! I also had two very gracious readers who volunteered to send me buckles from their personal stash. I ordered from two of the places you recommended, and was particularly liking some I found on the M&J Trimming site, so something is bound to work out. I was surprised how hard it is to find good buckles. Almost as hard as finding good zippers!

It's almost midnight, but I did finish my jacket. No pictures yet, and I'm not sure how practical it will be, but at least I now have a black jacket. I hope to get some pics in the next couple of days.

That's two lined jackets in two weeks. I think a break from jackets!

I hope you have a nice week!

Saturday Notes

I hope all of you are enjoying your collective weekends. I have been making good progress on my jacket. Tweaking the fit always slows me down but I don't skimp on this part of the process. The shell is almost done, sans sleeves. Maybe, just maybe, I can finish it this weekend.

Marcy's free shipping sale is in full swing. I decided against buying any fabric this time around, but I made a sizable order this morning of some notions and a couple of silk screens. And then I remembered something I hadn't mentioned when I reviewed the Style Arc Safari Jane jacket.

This jacket closes with a zipper that extends into the collar. My favorite technique for applying separating zippers is one Marcy demonstrates in her Inspiration Paris CD. Whenever I need to insert a zipper of that type, I quickly pop in her CD and review the technique.

I have a question for you. I want to make a purse that requires a buckle. The buckle will be something of a focal point. I have been searching in vain - mostly on Etsy at this point. I'd like it to have the appearance of antique brass or something along those lines. It needs to have the little piece of metal that inserts into a hole (not sure what that is called). It can be either a circular type, or the d-shaped type, so long as it has the little metal pokey thing. I need the bar to be about 1.5" long (where the fabric attaches).

When I google buckles, I tend to find sites that sell men's buckles with charming thoughts, such as "Got Beer?" or charming images, such as the mud flap girl.

Please let me know if you have any good resources to recommend!