The T-Shirt Project #7: Sweatshirt blazer

 

t-shirt, blazer–wha?  Okay, it’s a stretch to equate a blazer with a t-shirt, but I offer the following arguments:  I set out on this project to expand my own knit fabric experiences in terms of drafting, looking at RTW, and just generally thinking differently about them (check).  Plus I wanted to look at cold weather knits beyond just wool jersey (lovely) and see what all they could do.  Good quality sweatshirting is fantastic–dense, smooth, and cozily napped on the wrong side.  Could it be tailored?  Probably more successfully than I did, but it certainly has a precedent in RTW:

Also, work in the sewing room is slow-going these days between #1 not napping anymore and me being at that point with 11 weeks to go of fatigue and discomfort.  With both the boys, I countered this general ick in my body by draping myself in the most non-feminine garment in my closet–my Met Opera hoodie that I bought on a trip with my good friend and travel buddy T.  How such a shapeless garment (one that can easily go through all of pregnancy and back again with nary a suggestion of bulk) can come to be produced by an opera company creating such clear genius as their latest Ring cycle is a mystery.  I for one welcome the irony.  But this time around I wanted to explore having a more structured garment to combat that feeling of general roundness you are inundated with in the last couple of months.  Snappy lapels would do it, so there you go, t-shirt blazer (why does this feel like I’ve just explained the Greek root of  a Japanese word?).

I started with the Everyday Blazer from Isabella Oliver as inspiration:

I really liked how the center is cut away.  It’s not just to expose your growing belly, if you think about it from a fit perspective, it’s smart design.  You don’t need to add tons of fabric to cover something that’s growing exponentially when you can just take it out of the equation to begin with.  But available in dark horrible colors and at $269, I knew I could do better at least on price and color.  From the fabric content, it looks like it IO blazer is some sort of ponte–great choice for a jacket–not a lot of stretch with a nice smooth hand.  From experience I know that the high rayon content of ponte makes me very cold in cool months, so I opted for the cozier sweatshirt fleece.  Total cost for this project is around $10.  The IO blazer is better constructed–with a lining and nicer hardware, but for $259 in savings, I’m not complaining.  I will toot my own horn by adding that MY jacket is more shapely with the princess seams (rather functional for adding without distortion).

To emulate the cut-away, I made a muslin, drew a curve on it with my French curve up towards the navel and cut it away (, transferring the curve to my pattern.     Simpler pattern work has not been done.

I chose to keep the jacket unlined and to give myself extra-wide seam allowances  to give myself the option of letting it out as I grow these last couple of months.  In reality, I probably will just wear it open, so I’m kind of disappointed I didn’t line it because catchstitching all of the hems and seam allowances down was a lot of work.  There’s nothing more satisfying in jacket making than bagging a lining.  Another day…

I fused the whole jacket minus the sleeves to give it more shape and structure and to stabilize the fleece which does have enough stretch to be problematic otherwise.  I do have to iron the lapel line before I wear it because the fabric doesn’t have as much memory as say wool, but that’s easily done since I did tape the line on the interior.  The fusible adds extra warmth too, which I won’t say no to.  Jackets are infinitely more comfortable than sweaters–sweaters feel always so heavy and lumpen–that I can get snap, lightness, and warmth in the same garment is a coup for me.  The pocket flaps are a nod–totally non-functional.  I’m always in favor of pockets, but I didn’t want to deal with welts in a knit and since I wasn’t lining this jacket, I kept it simple.  The only thing I wish is that this was a bright sunny yellow instead of the royal blue.  I’m beginning to think that royal blue is too intense and too cool for my coloring.  Live and learn–it’s still a good neutral, and good neutrals are lifelines in pregnancy wardrobes.

So often in life fitting square pegs into round holes doesn’t end well, but as it turns out, sweatshirting molds quite well into awkward places.  Give it a chance!

My full review of the blazer is here.

What I did with my melted collar

Whew!  I got a little over my head the past few days what with my birthday and preparing to host like 30 people for a Seder dinner tomorrow.  My brain’s been stuck in flashback mode from my former catering planning days–very fun, but also all consuming.  So while I’ve had the jacket finished for about 2 weeks, I haven’t gotten around to writing about it properly until now (which is funny because it was something like 86 today!).

Thank you all who contributed to helping me decided about my melted collar.  As I let the jacket hang for a couple of days in the sewing closet, I came to agree with all of you–the pieced collar didn’t look all that weird.  So I sewed it on in and finished off the jacket.  And now I can present you the final jacket!

Burdastyle 12-2009-111

I made this up in a really pretty cotton twill from Denver Fabrics.  I was going to use wool for this jacket, but the realization that Spring was going to come quick and fast here dawned on me, so I went for the cooler cotton (that it was $5/yd vs. the $18/yd that the mint green wool I was eyeing probably pushed me over the edge).  It has a soft, brushed surface and a pretty drape.

I scored bigtime with the lining.  I’m always looking for prints to put in for lining.  I feel like if you’re bothering to sew a jacket, you might as well make it interesting.  After scouring the silks, the flat folds of polys (I did find a nice abstract floral that also would have worked), I found this print buried in the general flat folds that they have at DF.  It feels and sews very much like rayon Bemberg, but I haven’t done a burn test to confirm this.  But the print kills me–such lovely floaty feathers.  I love birds, and I’m so so happy that feather and bird prints are in right now.  The salmon and vermillion really go well with the blue–even if I’m the only one who notices or knows that it’s there.

I decided not to topstitch the collar as the faux leather proved difficult to work with in my machine.  Even with my nonslip feet, there was enough drag on the leather to make some dragging stress marks.  I also couldn’t take advantage of my friend Linda’s genius idea to piece the collar with a zipper in the seam because the “leather” tears apart when you try to pick out stitches.  I think I have a lot to learn in the way of spotting quality faux leathers vs. cheap ones.

It’s probably good that I put in the zippered welts before the collar incident because I don’t know that I would have had the heart to try after it.  The pattern just has you make a narrow little window around the zipper typical of most zippered welts and then topstitch around it in a big window.  Instead, I followed the advice of Ron Collins on the little extra DVD in Sandra Betzina’s Power Sewing Toolbox v. 2 and made it into a wide double welt with a zipper centered between the faux leather welts.  I’ve never had a welt pocket that I was really proud of, but these suckers turned out great.  Ron Collins is a great teacher, and it was entirely unstressful and simple (even with heavy brass zippers) to do this pocket with his instructions.

This was the first separating zipper I’ve put in.  I can’t believe how easy it was.  You sew one side to CF, and the other face down along the raw edge which will get flipped over as it’s sandwiched between the facing.  It was not a problem that my zipper was too long either because the tops of the zippers were covered on the left by the shoulder yoke and on the right by the top of the facing.  I still made a thread stop at the top of both sides, but really I didn’t need to.

I unfortunately cut the belt a little too narrow for my buckle, so I folded it to the right width and covered over where my raw edges couldn’t meet with bias tape which sadly shredded after I added the eyelets.  Can I rant a little about Dritz eyelets?  They only have one part, so after you smash them, they will not cover whatever hole you made to make room for them (presumably even if you didn’t have to cover over your mistake with bias tape).  Gross.  The belt looks fine from the right side, but I imagine I’ll have to remake it at some point.

The rivets are leftover from my jeans, that I bought from Cawaiiland.  They have lots of super fun accessories for really reasonable prices.

I made shoulder pads out of fusible fleece via this tutorial.  I did it without the toxic-o-rama spray glue and instead tacked down the layers with some quick basting stitches on my machine.  I will do this again as it makes for a pad with minimal height but good shaping–my preference indeed.

If you add the sleeve facing and the shoulder yokes per the pattern, it’s a little tricky lining up the topstitching lines.  You are forced to do this in the round, which super stinks.  To get the lines to line up, you end up with a hair too much ease in the sleeve cap.  I ended up with one teeny tiny pleat on the back of the sleeve cap just past the top of the sleeve.  Miraculously, I ended up with the same pleat in the other sleeve, so I left itbsx.  If you make this, either leave out the sleeve facing or I’d suggest adding 5/8″ SA on the bottom of the shoulder yokes and facing, and only fold back 1/4″ on the shoulder yokes before you topstitch.  This will place the topstitching lines a little further down the armscye on either side, so you’ll have more room around the sleeve to distribute the extra fullness smoothly.

I will save my “winter fox” faux fur that I was going to use for an extra detachable collar for when it’s not 86 degrees outside.  I was hoping to finish this jacket so I could get some use out of such a collar, but it’s not going to happen this season.  Expect this jacket to resurface with a collar out of this at some point though.  Even without the fur, I still think that the jacket is in the spirit of the Wardrobe Basics Sew Along.

There’s a funny little bit in the magazine about the jacket (you German speakers, it’s always my question–is this text as funny in the German version, or is it just bad translation on the part of Burda?):  “I can go anywhere in my biker jacket!  It’s perfect for walks in the woods or jaunts through the asphalt jungle.”  I couldn’t agree more.

My full review is here.

Perseverance and avoiding jacket making brain scramble

Making a jacket is an undertaking.  While it’s true that the sewing is only moderately more complicated than a blouse, there are a lot more pieces in play.  Unfortunately, the number of added pieces and the amount of extra time that they will require are not always in a 1:1 ratio.

The jacket I’m working on now has a lot of extra pieces, and I’ve been frustrated with the snail’s pace that I’ve been going at.  My frustration has, of course led to more mistakes which has taken more time and taxed my already fried brain.  As a way of a break, and to help others avoid this brain scramble, here are some ways to give yourself a mental break in the midst of jacket making (or any other large project for that matter).

1. Make a task list:  It’s a good idea to break down all of the steps in a jacket into reasonable pieces.     Pattern guide sheets can help you with this–simply draw a line at a stopping point on your guide sheet wherever you think a good stopping point is.  If you’re like me and you do things out of order, make up your own list–it’ll only take about 5 minutes, and it will save you time in the end because you won’t be scrambling to try and push yourself further than you can handle (more mistakes).
2. Enjoy the process:  It’s pretty amazing watching all of these bizarre shapes strewn across your workspace transform themselves into a jacket.  Step back and admire that welt pocket that you did executed so well, or that sleeve cap that is so beautifully round.  Rushing this will cut down the fun.
3. Do something different:  I’m not saying you shouldn’t try to bust out a jacket in a weekend like this awesome book by Cecilia Podolak says you can, but I would say that sometimes that big pile of pieces staring at you can be overwhelming and feel very unfinished object like.  Set aside your jacket after you’ve finished your daily tasks (see #1) and pick up a knit top pattern or something else that you can do almost on auto-pilot.  You’ll still get to see a finished product quickly (it just won’t be your jacket), and you’ll have something to wear under it as soon as you’ve finished your jacket.  Or do something completely different–make something delicious or let your child pose with the Lego car he so proudly designed himself (okay, so Daddy took this picture, but kid photo ops are a good mental break).
   
4. Tea therapy and the kindness of a friend:  You will make mistakes.  On this jacket, I’ve already sewn the princess seams askew multiple times on the lining, put topstitching on the fronts on the wrong side of the seam, and sewn the top of my separating zipper to the wrong side of its seam no less than 5 times.  When this happens, roll with it.  Put stuff down, make a cup of tea, put on some good music or watch something inspirational and sit down with your seam ripper.  I’ve written before about your seam ripper being the best kind of friend–one who is there not to pass judgment on your failures but just to help.  You and your seam ripper are in it together, and with that, unsewing can become part of your sewing process.

As for this jacket which is nowhere near complete, here are some sneak peeks:

Short naps and awesome things you learn during them

My family game is pinochle.  I grew up playing it with my great-grandma and her sisters and uncles and aunts and my older cousins and my parents.  It’s so ingrained that the whole process is automatic, but once in a while someone will miss a bid or play the wrong suit or forget that it’s their turn.  We started referring to that as taking a short nap.  And boy have I had a few short naps on this sweater.

I knew that this tie waist sweater was going to take some hand sewing of the ruffles to finish, but I wasn’t prepared for having to do so not once, not twice, but three times.  Mostly I blame Burda and the unclearness of its directions.  The first time I misread where I needed to gather the strips, the second time, it was totally Burda.

The directions tell you to gather in the middle (clear enough from the picture–not sure how I missed that the first time).  Then I realized that you need to sew that gathered middle the 3/8″ from the neck edge.  The first time I gathered the edge of the strip, not the middle and sewed on the gathered edge.  I hand basted and everything, but the ruffles don’t really look like what they look like until you take out the gathering stitches.  Hence why it didn’t work yet again.

The upside of all of my short napping is that I’ve been listening to lots of great information on Lori’s podcasts Sew Forth Now.  When I first started sewing, I’d listen to a lot of crafting sorts of podcasts like Craft Sanity and CraftyPod.  Both are hosted very well with good information, but I soon found out that I was not particularly interested in crafty sorts of projects or quilting fabrics.  At the time, I had no idea that Lori was around doing this wonderful podcast devoted to garment sewing.

Really though, it’s kind of great that I’m discovering this now because my knowledge has grown to the point that I can start really being able to understand what she’s talking about, and that is kind of fun.  If I had come across it earlier, I think I would have felt overwhelmed by everything.  So I’ve been enjoying the archives of these podcasts even when I’ve been sewing very poorly.

My only disappointment is that I was hoping to have traced and muslined this motorcycle jacket with a detachable fur collar I have planned in time for my fitting group on Saturday.  

Instead, I have a riff on the Ottobre blouse I made here cut out and a skirt muslined that I can take on Saturday.

My full review is here.

With this sweater finished, that leaves the camel skirt, white shirt, dress, ponte pants, and faux fur piece left for the sew along.  I omitted the puffy vest from my accounting, but that’s another tale that I will leave for another day.

Tie sweater in process

I’m moving forward with the Wardrobe Basics Sew Along.  Of course I’m not going in order of the list. I figured I’d get the really cooler weather things out of the way so that I could still get some use out of them this season.

On Saturday Sam and I had a good adventure at Denver Fabrics to buy fabric for the rest of the sew along items.  I’m really looking forward to the jacket I’m making a detachable faux fur collar for.  Though it took me 2 hours to get out of there, inspiration struck, and thankfully Sam was a trooper.

On the table right now is my waist tie sweater.  I fell instantly in love with this jacket (1-2012-106–though this is the 107 picture because I like it better, but I’m using the 106 length) from the January Burdastyle.

This horse is clearly a unicorn in disguise who breathes out glittered rainbows I’m sure.

I found this fluffy purple sweater rib knit at the Sew Expo a couple of weeks ago and picked it up.  It’s not quite as fluffy as the modeled fabric and I think it’s some sort of cotton blend, so it’s not super warm, but at this point of the year that means I’ll get more use out of it.  Yay!  If I ever find something wool and gauzy and fluffy, you bet your glittered unicorn I will pull out this pattern again even if ruffles aren’t in.

All that’s left is to attach the ruffles.  I’ve thought about how to get around hand sewing on this, but in the end, I think I will bite the bullet and hand sew them just so that I can get everything just where I want it.  I need to pick off the belt carriers and make them a little narrower and move them a little more towards the back as well.  I’m not entirely sure that they’re not off from each other too.  So I’ll fix that too.

How are other people doing with their progress, or if you’re not sewing along, what’s on your table?

A second look

I got really ramped up and wrote a nasty post about this pattern.  And then I put it on the boy.  And suddenly the frustrations of this project seemed not all that bad.  I will attempt to be less negative than what I planned to write.

It is the reversible jacket from Sewing for Boys.  When I saw it, I was intrigued–it has such an adorable Paddington Bear vibe.

I traced off the 2/3 size thinking it looked a bit small and that the welt pockets were way too close to the side seams for the 2/3.  As if i were a recipe tester, I forged ahead and changed nothing.  The welt pockets are indeed to close to the side seam; indeed, they are IN the side seam, and I had to cut them down to 1/4″ from 3/8″ to make it work (sort of).

For the outer fabric I used a remnant of upholstery wool blend from the $2/lb table at Denver Fabrics and some cotton twill for the inner fabric that I did indeed interline because Noah needs a replacement jacket for his knit hoodie which he’s outgrown and there’s buckets of snow in the backyard.

I like the idea of a reversible jacket.  Who doesn’t want two garments in one (especially Moms doing way more laundry than is kosher)?  In this case, I question the validity.  The reason why the coat scene in A Christmas Story is funny is because it’s true. To put on outerwear for kids as a parent, one must pull and heave and tug and yank.  I speak of boots and mittens which are still lined with actual slippy fabrics.  But a reversible jacket with little ease and non-slippy fabric on the inside?  It doesn’t seem terribly practical.  I had visions of the Gigantic Turnip trying to get this jacket on, but it actually goes on and off easily enough.  My bigger beef with a reversible jacket is that there are 2 sets of buttons (actually the pattern goes so far as to suggest magnetic purse snaps!).  Wearing jackets and coats while riding in a car seat means for a lot of squished in kids (my car seat is not the easiest to adjust, and really if it were, it’s a pain to have to remember to adjust them when it’s already a maneuver to get out the door).  A set of (?!) magnetic purse snaps pressing down into my child’s tummy from the added pressure of the car seat straps sounds like a recipe for a bad car trip.

My verdict on this pattern?  It’s a mixed bag.  It’s cute, but I would skip the welt pockets and forget about making it reversible. Noah’s happy, but I doubt that Sam will be the recipient of one in the future.    My full review is here.

Fall jacket

I planned to make this jacket forever ago.  To be precise, I made a muslin for it in June last year.  With pregnancy and all the weight changes, I decided to not put it off until I got back to my fighting weight again.  I figured that I loved the style too much to not be able to wear it for a year, so I hung up my muslin in my sewing room as a happy reminder of a project to come.

Now that I’m to my fighting weight minus a few more pounds, I pulled out the stretch cotton sateen I had reserved for this jacket.

Burda 2-2007-104

Tested patterns make for quick work.  Having already traced and altered the pattern ages ago, I cut it all out lightning fast.  The width of this fabric was just shy of what I needed to make a proper belt, so I pieced it, figuring that my topstitching would cover the seams in the back.  The only thing I wished I had done is interfaced the belt like Burda told me to.  Normally I wouldn’t on a self belt, but because there’s stretch in this fabric, I think it would’ve helped it hold its shape a little better.

Sometimes convenience tools mock you.  Because this was a solid, rather boring fabric, I added a lot of topstitching.  I had two spools of Mettler cotton silk-finish thread I had bought for topstitching–one coral, one magenta.  I tested them both on a scrap to see which one I liked better.  This blue leans ever so slightly towards purple, so the magenta looked really nice, but the coral was so pretty.  In the end, I liked them both equally, so I hitched up my denim double needle and went to town.  I like the spacing of the double needle, but I would have been more accurate on corners (especially on the belt carriers and sleeve tabs) with a single needle.  The double needle zigzaggy bobbin show is also on the wrong side of the belt–it doesn’t show when I’m wearing it, but it’s also not the prettiest thing.  Some extra time with a single needle would have made for prettier topstitching on the belt.

Use the right notions.  I finished it all off with some denim snaps instead of sew-on snaps because I had them, and the scale was right for the jacket.  While I like the sporty look of them, denim snaps fasten more firmly than sew-on snaps.  That’s good for keeping your pants up, but with all of the taking off and putting on of a jacket that happens, normal snaps are a better choice.  I have to be pretty careful undoing the snaps here so they don’t rip out.

Overall, I love this jacket.  The me-without-kids-living-in-some-European-vista version of myself would totally be wearing this whilst riding a teal Vespa carrying bread, wine, enormous greens for soup, and a costumed dachshund.  The high collar is a fun feature and surprisingly practical.  It kept my neck safe from sunburn all day as we walked around the San Diego Zoo though I forgot our sunscreen.  I think it will also be a practical wind shield, but I have yet to test that.

My full review is here.

Because I don’t wear red and green

Maybe I’m a rebel, maybe I just hate primary red and kelly green, but this year I decided I’d forego even trying to deck myself out in Christmas colors and wear something to play at church for Christmas Eve that is more me (because I’d rather think about the birth of my Lord than how much I hate wearing red and green).  Out of the fog of this chest cold I’ve had all week, my favorite palette of aquas seemed just perfect.

My hair’s still a little damp, so you can see a lot more of the red and less of the blonde.  The dress is version #2 of Burdastyle 06-2010-132 in a fun ITY from Denver Fabrics.  Something is up with the way the skirt drapes around my knees…I think it’s a compounded issue that starts at the ruching at the side seams.  I’ve been thinking it’s just static, which is never in short supply here in CO.  A few sprays of Static Guard revealed otherwise.  Next time I’ll make the skirt a little more A-line to compensate for that.

The cardigan is version #2 of Simplicity 2560.  I folded out ALL of the gathers on the lower sections of the cardigan and I made a different view (A) than I did before.  I really really like the streamlined look much better than the original.  It makes it easier to belt and takes away from the bulk that is already present due to le baby.

Noah’s sporting his sleeper I made for him from the leftover double knit I had from my skirt and some great baseball interlock I found.  I made a fast applique from some white interlock, backed with Heat ‘n Bond Lite and embellished with a tiny bit of hand embroidery.  The pattern (Butterick 5585) is just so-so. 

The leg and neck finishes are iffy at best, and the legs are really long (as you can see).  If I had been thinking, I would have traced off the sleeper that was in the December issue of Burdastyle as it looks like a much better pattern.  Oh well.  It’s baseball-y (which makes Nathan really happy) and the extra length means this one will last us until it gets warmer at night.

I will update my reviews when we get to Nathan’s parents and put up a new one for Noah’s sleeper.  Beyond that, I hope everyone has a safe and happy Christmas and a good start to the new year!

No orphan garments here

I’ve been busy.  Or rather my serger has been extremely busy.  Having wanted to sew a bunch of maternity clothes for myself, and having the fabric to do so, Patternreview’s Endless Combinations contest came at a perfect time.  I love the idea behind this contest: each garment has to combine with at least one of the others in your collection.  What a smart thing, eh?  I feel like when you first start sewing garments you end up with all these little orphan projects (i.e. lots of skirts for instance with no tops that match etc.) for no other reason than you haven’t acquired enough skillage to make a wardrobe out of anything.  It felt good to be able to do just that.  And beyond that, I’m pretty excited to have some garments for my last trimester here that feel a great deal more like me and a lot less like souless, life-sucking maternity clothes.

I made a small collection of knit garments.  Can I say that knits are more the pregnant lady’s friend beyond the obvious reason that they s-t-r-e-t-c-h?  I mean really, knit garments sew up like lightning which is so swell when you’re tired and sore and just need a mental pick-me-up.  A week’s worth of cutting out at naptimes and sewing after dinner and maybe hemming at breakfast produced 5 seperate garments.  That’s a ton for me.  And while that will never be my normal pace for sewing, I felt a lot of motivation to get this project done before Christmas.  Here’s the rundown:

Simplicity 2560–a little knit cardigan:  I made this in cotton spandex and pleated instead of gathered the lower sections because I’m more of a pleat kind of girl.  I like this pattern, but I’ll make it in another view because the gappy thing at CF is kind of weird (it’s how the pattern works, not just a fit issue–but it looks like it should be a fit issue which is awkward).

Simplicity 4704–OOP general maternity pattern with a totally brainless skirt:  This skirt is so comfortable.  I made it in a double knit for the actual skirt part and the belly band out of a 4 way stretch nylon.  It goes with everything.  If I had a stash of heavier knits handy, I’d be tempted to sew them all up into this.  It took 1 yd for the skirt, 1/2 for the belly band and it’s literally 5 seams (serged no less) and a hem. 

Jalie Scarf Collar top: I’ve made this before and loved it, so I knew that making it into a maternity top was a hop, skip, and a jump away.  I love the construction of this top.  It’s just plum clever.  See how clean the collar is on the inside?  It halfway makes me want to wear it inside-out because it turned out so nicely.

Burdastyle 06-2010-132–a simple empire seamed dress: or it would have been a dress if I could have figured out that this rayon was way to flimsy to hold up as a dress.  Oops.  Well, I needed a nightgown anyhow.  Hey–you could nurse in this no problem.  Score!  I’ll make this again in a much more appropriate ITY. 

Jalie Empire Crossover Top:  This one took a little more effort.  There’s a lot of basting going on in this top, and it took a couple of times playing with the height of the empire seam to get to this version.  I STILL think I could lower the seam 1/2″, but it is better.  I guess if I outgrow this top, I’ll have to do that.

As for combinations, here you go:

If you’re a PR member and haven’t voted yet, consider voting for me when the voting starts!

Kurt Wallander would not approve

If you’re looking for a good mystery to read, I totally recommend all the Wallander mysteries by Henning Mankell.  His stories are so well thought out, and he does a great job with character.  I love the portrait that he paints of Wallander–the police inspector who is absolutely brilliant at his job but completely inept in every other part of his life.  I also love that Wallander is an opera nut–a characteristic that I highly suspect is the source of his genius.   What does this have to do with sewing?  I’ll tell you. 

One of Wallander’s many oddities is that he has a collection of sweaters that he wears only in certain temperature ranges.  He has one sweater that he wears from 0-10 C etc.  Inept though he may be in life, he very practically likes being warm without sweating and having to change later in the day.  So naturally, he would wisely put my new jacket safely back in the closet since it’s appropriate for 40-60F and not the 12F it is currently.  No matter.  I LOVE it and nobody can stop me from waltzing around the house in it.

Burda 02-2008-117 Trench Coat

What I learned:

Coats need FBA’s too: well, at least this one did.  With as fitted as it is through the top there wasn’t enough ease to get away with not doing an FBA.  Thankfully I’ve gotten quite quick with this particular alteration.

You can’t always make an apple into an orange:  So I tried lining this, but there wasn’t enough ease to make that work without the jacket being all weird and bulky and tight.  Also my method of using my smocked muslin to produce pattern pieces for the lining that were nice and smooth also didn’t work out.  Poo.  I’ll learn to line a jacket another day.

Lapels are a bit of sewing magic: It took me some time to figure out how the lapel thing was supposed to work, but eventually from the drawings in the pattern and the modeled picture and the pattern lines, I figured it out and it’s kind of wacky to me that the things just kind of magically fold over (okay, I put a 1/2″ strip of interfacing along the lapel fold line per Sandra Betzina) on their own.

Collars are a little fussy:  The collar on this is a LOT better than the last collar I put in, but the undercollar is a bit wrinkly and so forth, probably because it needed a little tailoring.  It’s okay–it’s still functional and the next one will be better.

Why haven’t I learned how to put my walking foot on before?:  There’s a lot of topstitching (that’s really quilting) on the hem facing and the sleeve cuffs (10 rows if I remember on each cuff and 20 on the hem).  I didn’t use the walking foot on the cuffs but I did on the hem and there’s a big difference even though the cuffs look really nice.  I can’t imagine trying to do the hem facing without the walking foot–the coat was pretty bulky at that point to be monkeying it through the feed dogs, so the walking foot made nice even rows with a good stitch.

Thread is different:  I used polyester to construct the jacket for it’s strength and Mettler cotton silk finish thread for the topstitching because it’s beautiful and silk thread to hand sew the snaps.  The silk thread was the biggest aha for me.  It’s SO nice for hand stitching because it glides through the fabric with less tangling, has a great finish which looks really nice, and it just plain feels good while you’re stitching.  

Jackets are less daunting than I thought:  The construction of this jacket is really very simple.  The details take a long time.  I realize that I have a lot to learn in the way of tailored garments and so forth, but this is a good start and it makes me believe that I can try something harder the next time.

As for what I like about this jacket–I love the feminine detail of the smocking at the waist.  The jumbo snaps are so fun to snap and I love how they look and they were worth every last hand stitch.  And I love this fabric.  It’s a really silky lightweight cotton twill from fabric.com.  It has awesome drape and it feels marvelous to wear.