Fall Vogues are Here!

Vogue 8930

What perfect timing!

The weather here in San Francisco has been chilly, damp and grey. Not so unusual for San Francisco in summertime, especially on the west end of town where I live. But I have been really in the mood for sewing for fall!

There are some nice coats and jackets in this batch and it seems much less "dress heavy" than it has been. Also, the BMV sale ends tonight (Friday), so if you like to order them via the website, hurry on over.

Here are some patterns I am admiring, in no particular order. (The pattern pics are clickable and take you to the relevant page on the Vogue site.)

Vogue 8933. It's hard to see the details on the photo of the sewn-up version, so I am showing the illustration instead. I like the shape of the collar and that the coat is lined. If you live in a super cold climate, I doubt you'd want a coat that is open at the bottom, but it is a cute detail.
Vogue 8934. Marcy Tilton raincoat. I *love* this! I have enough fabric to make probably 25 raincoats, so maybe I'll get to this one!
Vogue 8932. This jacket has some *wonderful* seaming details!
Vogue 8929. Marcy's pants. I LOVE LOVE these! YAY for some new fun Marcy pants! My only quibble is that the pattern only goes down to a size EIGHT. Come ON, Vogue!!!!!! Us butt-less wonders want some, too! (Size 4, please.)
Vogue 1363. This is a cute new top from Sandra Betzina. With my narrow shoulders, though, I'd have to modify it quite a bit.
Vogue 1364. A very cute jacket from Sandra Betzina. I'm showing the illustration, and not the photo, because it's made up in a plaid and I think that it looks dowdy on the model. But this pattern has great bones (and reminds me of the Sewing Workshop Opal which I made up and like very much.)
Vogue 8942. Pure whimsy! A frog and an owl backpack.
Vogue 8919. No this dress doesn't appeal to me, but I had to giggle when I saw it. If you saw Project Runway this week, you will know why.

Striped Zippers and More! (Answers to Reader Questions)

My zipper-ordering workstation

Is it Sticky?

Thanks so much for the comments on my moto jacket! I have been wearing it almost every day and enjoying it very much. As you know, this is a faux-leather-embossed-croc fabric and a few of you have asked, "Do you get hot and sticky when you wear it?" The answer is... not a bit!!! Perhaps if I lived in a humid climate, it might be, but then I doubt I'd wear it in humid weather. It is a great jacket for cool, but not seriously cold, weather. It's perfect for your average day in San Francisco where it's usually in the 60s, plus or minus.

Teflon Zipper Foot

I also mentioned on my post that I used a Teflon foot and a Teflon zipper foot to sew the jacket. A few of you asked where a Teflon zipper foot can be obtained. I have a Teflon zipper foot for my old Bernina 930 actually made by Bernina. But, if you don't have (or can't get) a brand-name Teflon zipper foot for your machine, why not buy a generic Teflon zipper foot?

The sewing machine shop that I use to service my machines is Ray's Sewing Center in San Jose, which I originally posted about more than a year ago. (Yes, I drive from San Francisco to San Jose for sewing machine repairs, he's that good.) They have a snap-on Teflon zipper foot in stock that works on most modern machines. If you have an older machine, they can order either a high-shank or low-shank Teflon zipper foot for you. If you want to buy the snap-on shank foot, but your machine isn't a snap-on shank machine, you can buy an inexpensive adapter (Ray's can also help you with that). The adapter will work with any snap-on foot, so it's multi-functional.

If you need a regular Teflon foot, they can help you with that, too.

(Ray's phone number is (408) 295-6901.)

I highly recommend that you have these feet in your sewing arsenal!

Striped Zippers

Striped zippers!

Several of you also asked, "WHERE CAN I GET STRIPED ZIPPERS!" Well, maybe you didn't quite yell it like that, but I heard you, loud and clear. I am also a zipper-lover, so I understand how frustrating it is to see great zippers on RTW clothing, but not be able to find them in the sewing stores.

Glitter zippers

So, let me share a WONDERFUL resource with you. I planned to blog about this resource an entire year ago, but I got distracted. I do that sometimes. Remember when I posted about Zipperstop? I still like Zipperstop, but I found another resource that has an even bigger variety of zippers, including striped zippers.

Rhinestone zippers

I decided that, before I was going to write a post about this place, that I would take a field trip there. This zipper factory is located in South San Francisco.

South San Francisco is not part of San Francisco - in fact, there are two towns in between them. (But that's just how dedicated I am to my blog readers! I am happy to take a field trip on your behalf.) South San Francisco is where the San Francisco airport is located. There is a lot of industrial business in that area, including a ZIPPER FACTORY.

J.N. Zipper Office in South San Francisco

This place is called J.N. Zippers and I had a lot of fun visiting them recently. They are not a store front, but a business office, so I called first and asked if I could walk in and see (and buy) zippers. The building has a small office, and is backed by a warehouse/factory. In the office they have a desk with binders.

Binders of zipper samples.

Swoon.

Jumbo Snaps
Cord Stoppers

I was the only customer there and had lots of fun looking through everything. I created an order and Ivy, my contact, ran back into the factory to see if they had everything I wanted and how long it would take to fill my order, since I requested a few custom zippers.

My zipper-ordering workspace

Scalloped zipper

Zipper pulls

I still like Zipperstop, because YKK zippers are great quality, but there is a much greater variety at J.N. Zipper, and their zippers are also great quality. They have striped zippers, zippers with giant teeth, glow-in-the-dark zippers, glittery zippers, transparent zippers, rhinestone zippers. You need a camouflage zipper? They got that!

Camouflage zipper

It is a bonanza of zipper goodness.

For a small fee, they will customize a zipper for you - they can shorten it, or change out the zipper pull. They currently do not offer this on the Zprz website, so you need to call them to request this service.

Here are some linkies:

• Zprz (retail) website
• Striped zippers (Because the site isn't that easy to navigate!)
• J.N. Zipper Contact Info

Transparent zippers

One other warning. When I was there, they told me that they are currently out of long striped zippers and have re-ordered them. It may take a couple weeks to get them in, but they will get more in.

Enjoy! I am always happy to enable! :)

Proud owner of a 2013 J.N. Zipper calendar, full of cute baby animals.

Eggplant Pleather Moto Jacket - Kwik Sew 3764

I bought this eggplant-colored crocodile-embossed pleather over a year ago. (It looks black in some photos, but it is eggplant.) Originally I was planning to use it for a bag. But more recently I found myself wanting a moto jacket. In fact, I found myself wanting to make a moto jacket similar to Margy's. In the end, my jacket ended up being almost identical to Margy's. Before I made my jacket, I asked her if she minded and she graciously said that she did not.

Because my fabric was eggplant colored, the zipper choice proved to be a bit challenging. I looked for eggplant-colored zippers and could not find anything I liked - the closest I could find were purple. I didn't care for the look of solid black zippers with the fabric, so I tried a striped zipper and it worked, making my jacket even more like Margy's.

I found this fabric to be pretty easy to sew. It is a PVC fabric, but it is backed with a knit backing and it is not one of the "sticky" faux leathers. Even so, I used my Teflon foot, Teflon zipper foot, and a microtex needle.

The knit backing.

I topstitched using a Guterman topstitching thread in an eggplant color. I marked things (such as the pocket location) with scotch tape, and avoided putting pins through the PVC, except in the seam allowances. In places where it couldn't be avoided, such as when I positioned the zippers, I pinned into the "cracks" of the faux crocodile (as shown in the picture above with the zippers pinned in place), which really didn't create visible holes.

I used scraps of solid black Ambiance Bemberg lining for the pockets and the gusset behind the sleeve zippers. The jacket pattern is not lined, but I created a lining pattern. I used a black fabric with lavender and purple polka dots. It's a fairly thick taffeta-like fabric, much thicker than your typical lining fabric, but it worked.

Sleeve inside

Other alterations and modifications:

• I made a size Medium. This measures 43" at the finished bust, which was enough width, but I still needed a vertical full bust adjustment. This is a princess seam design and, for a while, I was not sure how to do a vertical FBA without adding width. Then I woke up one morning with a flash of intuition on how do to this and it worked! I added 1-1/4" vertically for the bust.
• I made view B, but I wanted the zipper pockets and zippered sleeves from view A. The pockets were very high, so I lowered them by 3". Since the view A jacket is shorter, it makes sense for the pockets to be located up higher.
• Because I wanted to showcase the striped zippers, I made the zipper "windows" much wider than the pattern intended. The windows for the pockets and sleeves were 3/4" wide.
• I narrowed the shoulder by 1-1/8".
• I did not shorten the sleeve, which is pretty unusual for me.
• I am not a huge fan of bagged linings, so I sewed the lining in by hand, which took two long evenings. I really prefer the result, though one of these days maybe I'll give a bagged lining another try.

This is a beautifully drafted pattern. It is OOP, but worth tracking down. I definitely plan to make another one or three. I am feeling moto jacket love. If you look at RTW, you will see moto jackets everywhere!

Thanks for your comments on my Barb pants! I wore them all day today (and am wearing them in these pics) and they were sooooo comfy. I went shopping with DD2 and also wore my new jacket. This color is really growing on me. :)

Lapels worn up One lapel down

Pants That Fit! - Style Arc Barb

I've been suffering from a lack of well-fitting pants for awhile now. I bought a few pair of Not Your Daughters Jeans in a size 2 but, even those are big through the hips and baggy in the rear, though they are snug in the waist.

Some of my absolutely favorite pants are made from Style Arc patterns. For example, I have 5 or 6 pair of their Linda pants, but Style Arc come in a single size, so my size 10s are all too big on me. I've been waiting to buy more Style Arc patterns until my weight stabilized.

These pants are the Barb, which is an updated version of the Linda. They are a pull-on pant for stretch wovens.

About a month ago I attended a talk given by my friend Sarah Bunje, who used to teach sewing and fitting at Cañada College. The talk was on how to fit the crotch on pants and was especially targeted to those who, like me, have a flat butt. In my case, you need a microscope to find my butt, which is why, I guess, most pants swim on my behind, even if the front fits. (I used to use a smaller size in back, but that is harder since patterns don't always come in a small enough size for my rear.)

I used several tips from Sarah's talk on these pants. I removed a bit from the back crotch point, straightened the CB curve, and scooped a bit from the bottom of the back crotch curve. I think these minor tweaks were effective, though I might need further tweaking. It's a process.

The only other change I made was to shorten the pants. I cut off 3" and hemmed them at 1-1/2".

These pants are *so* comfy and fit me better than any other pants I currently own. I used a stretch woven purchased at Fabrix in anthracite (between charcoal grey and brown). This fabric washes and dries beautifully and resists wrinkling.

I love these pants! They will be a workhorse in my wardrobe and I can see making a lot more pairs!

I am really looking forward to ordering some Style Arc patterns in my new size. I generally only order 3 patterns at a time, so it will be hard to narrow it down! Not only have they added some wonderful new designs, but I need to buy some of my old favorites in my new size. For example, I can't wait to get a new copy of the Cassie pant, which is one of my favorite all time pants ever.

In typical San Francisco fashion, the weather has been sooooo cold, foggy and damp. It might be the middle of July, but I am full of fall thoughts and am happily browsing fall clothing on various websites. I live near the tallest mountain in San Francisco, Mt Davidson. It's covered with trees and has a giant cross at the top, but most people don't go up there, because the trees obscure the views. The following picture shows Mt Davidson, but you can't see it for the fog. I took this when I was taking my pictures at 10am today. I also turned on the heater in my house today. I try not to, but it was just so coooold.

Mt Davidson, somewhere behind the fog
Edgehill, also behind the fog

Burberry Inspired Buttondown Shirt - Grainline Archer

I was cruising around Pinterest recently and I came across a Burberry button down shirt that I quite liked. I then cruised around the internet and found several more versions of this shirt. Not only did I like the asymmetric use of a giant plaid, but it reminded me of a piece of fabric in my stash.

Notice that the first Burberry shirt is cut with the sleeves on the straight grain, but not matching the plaid front. The sleeves on the second Burberry shirt are on the bias, with the plaid intersection on the upper arm on one side and the lower arm on the other.

I decided to use the Burberry shirt as inspiration.

The weird thing is, I don't really wear button down shirts. Don't get me wrong, I've made my share of them in the distant past, but not in recent decades. I decided to go ahead and make one and to see how much wear I get out of it. Unfortunately all of my button down shirt patterns are too large, so I decided to try out a pattern that is sweeping the internet sewing world.

Have you seen the Archer shirt by Grainline Studios? They had a sew-along for the shirt last spring and you can view the results in their Grainline Studio Archer Sew Along Flickr group.

There is also a group on Pattern Review whose members have each committed to sewing 12 Archer shirts in a year. They also have a 12 Months of "Grainline Studios Archer Shirt" Sew Along Flickr group.

I wasn't quite sure why this pattern was so well loved (the Big 4 pattern companies all have button down shirt patterns that you can buy for $1 to $3 if you catch a sale) but I decided to give it a try as I like supporting independent companies.

Also because it's a downloadable pattern, I could get started on it right away. Once you pay, you download a zip file which unzips into two PDF files. One file is a 9-page set of instructions. The other file is a 39-page multi-size pattern that you print with 100% scaling.

I wanted to print out the 39-page pattern only once, so after trimming two edges from each page, taping them together, and rough cutting around each pattern piece, I then traced off my size. I chose the size 8 based on my upper bust measurement of 36". The finished bust for a size 8 was about 40", if I recall, so I did my usual darted FBA to add both width and length, as my full bust is about 41".

This fabric is a large-scale plaid taffeta. The funny thing is that I have no recollection of how it came to be in my stash. I don't remember buying it or have any idea of what I wanted to use it for – I've racked my brain. I burn tested it and I think it's a blend that includes a synthetic component, but I don't think it's entirely synthetic.

It's a mystery, I tell you. Did it come in a free Fabric Mart bundle long ago? I have no idea.

I fussy cut the fabric, placing the plaid asymmetrically, so that one plaid intersection is above my right bust. It might look like an accident, but each piece was single cut very deliberately. I placed the collar and the sleeves on the bias, placing a plaid intersection on the upper sleeve on the right side and the lower sleeve on the left side. I knew that the sleeves would be too long for me, but as I plan to mostly wear them rolled up, I decided to leave them full length.

Now that I've made the shirt, I do think it's a nicely drafted pattern:

• There is a separate collar stand and the under collar has a separate pattern piece, cut on the bias, and sized slightly smaller, so the collar will roll to the underside.
• There is a back yoke and the back has a center back pleat for wearing ease.
• There is a view which has a longer back, and a separate lower piece that gathers into the upper back.
• I only had to remove 1/2" from the shoulder seam, so it has much narrower shoulders than the Big 4 patterns.
• The armscye was not too large and the sleeve fit into it well.
• The side seams are very straight, without shaping, and many people add a bit of curvature at the side seam so it has a more shapely fit.
• Those with larger hips might need to grade out to a large size at the hips.
• There are patch pockets at the bust, which I omitted.
• There is a curved shirttail hem.
• The Burberry shirt uses a hidden button placket. I couldn't be bothered with this so I used the band from the pattern. The pattern has a separate band piece for the right side only - the left side is folded under twice and topstitched in place.
• I used Pam Erny's fusible interfacing for the cuffs, collar, and band, and some mother of pearl buttons from Fabrix for the closure.

Conclusion

I think I like this top! Time will tell if I get a lot of wear from it. Now I have a TNT pattern and can trace off another size, if need be. Do I like it well enough to join the sew-along? Probably not. To make 12 of these means making about one thousand buttonholes and sewing on one thousand buttons, or at least it feels like it. ;)

There are more pics of the shirt below.

Birthday Wrap Up

I want to thank everyone for the wonderful comments on my birthday post! It does feel good to talk about my mother, who first taught me to sew. Not to fit, as she just about fit into a pattern right out of the envelope and had no clue how to do an FBA (she was an A or B cup), but she was an amazing sewist who particularly loved to make designer suits. She was also an avid square dancer and had a huge wardrobe of elaborate square dance dresses she designed and made over the years. She also made matching shirts for her partner. After she passed, I let her square dancing friends come by and take the dresses and the petticoats - she had one in every color. More memories... :)

I spent the morning finishing up my Archer shirt and the afternoon with my daughters and a friend. It was a lot of fun. I am feeling a lot of gratitude.

Before I forget, and if you've read this far, let me tell you about a new blog I am enjoying very much. Gayle Ortiz has attended at least two Design Outside the Line retreats and is wonderfully talented. This is a blog to watch!

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More Pics

Sleeves worn down Sleeves rolled up Grainline Archer pattern