Sunday, February 7, 2010

F - I - N - A - L - L - Y! Orange Plaid

Guess what I'll be wearing to work tomorrow?  Fresh from its photo shoot, I present to you my orange plaid jacket.

To recap, this is pattern #114 from the January, 2009 issue of Burda World of Fashion, as it was then still known.  It has taken an indecent length of time to complete this project but I have several reasons to be pleased, nonetheless.  First, it is a smashing success following a crushing failure, the likes of which had not afflicted The Sewing Lawyer for a very long time.  Second, it's such a sweet little jacket pattern, all curvy and quirky.  Finally, it's such a determinedly cheerful colour!  I've been saving this orange plaid for a few years for just such an outing.

Without further ado, here are some more pictures:

First, those sleeves - a round of applause please!  They match pretty well at the armscye, if I do say so myself!

The lapels are slightly chaotic, but that's to be expected. I just did not have enough fabric to do more than make the bias bands on the lapels symmetrical.  

To ensure the front bands were the same width throughout, I basted a line of stitching at precisely the right width and then sewed the facing to that line, ignoring the fact that the cut edge seam allowances were quite uneven. 

My new label!  In this photo you can also see the inside of the bound buttonhole.  I made a rectangular opening in the facing using 1mm stitches and a small square of silk organza, then invisibly hand-sewed the opening to the back of the buttonhole.

Oh, and check out the orange/blue silk I used for lining the body of the jacket.  Here's another shot of the lining.















I used orange bemberg to line the sleeves though.  It's slipperier.  I hand-stitched the sleeve lining at the armscye. 


What do you think of these cute buttons?  They are vintage plastic, purchased them from my favorite local purveyor, Micheline Gravel.  Micheline is a fabulous resource and her button basement is UNBELIEVABLE.  We had an international button convention in Ottawa, thanks in part to her, in 2008. 

I built shaping into the shoulders and sleeve caps of this jacket.  First, I eased the sleeves using a bias strip of fairly sproingy wool (similar to the interfacing used in men's ties).  The strip should be long enough when stretched to go from the front notch to the back notch (or in Burda's case to wherever the easing should stop, since they only give you the front notch).  Pin it at the top of the cap and then sew just inside the seam line, stretching the strip like mad.  When you have finished doing this, it will look like so:

Amazing - no ease stitching is required.  
Then, I cut a sleeve head using the sleeve cap pattern, out of some kind of needle punch polyester fleece (cheap quilt batting?).  I am sorry not to be able to supply a brand name.  Maybe you can figure out what it is by these photos.

Some of you may use store-bought sleeve heads.  My question is ... why?  Using the jacket's own sleeve pattern produces a perfect-fitting sleeve head that won't ripple inside the cap.  I hand-sew it just inside the seam line to the sleeve after it has been set into the jacket.  The seam allowance folds inside to provide a little extra soft lift at the sleeve cap. 

I also made a back/shoulder/chest padding layer out of the same fleece.  Here you see my pattern development.  I've superimposed the back and front pieces at the shoulder seam and the fleece pattern is traced over this.  It hugs the back of the neck and is cut to end at the armscye seam. 

This acts like a very thin shoulder pad.  The pattern called for shoulder pads and I was prepared to add extra layers of fleece cut in the more standard shoulder pad shape, but found it unnecessary.  It isn't bulky but it prevents my bony shoulders from poking up through the jacket.  It makes the jacket more substantial and luxurious, somehow.

Here is the padding from the front.  As you can see I have hand sewed it along the armscye.  I did the same at the neck edge. 

Notice that the front is fully interfaced with a weft insertion fusible. 

And from the back.  There's no interfacing in the back except at the neck and armscye edges, as instructed by Burda. 

Here's the side view of all the fleecy padding.  In the sleeve cap, notice the bias cut fusible interfacing.  Then the bias-cut wool I used to ease the cap.  Then the fleece sleeve head.  Finally, on top, the single layer shoulder pad.

And finally, some more photos of me wearing it. 

Here's my last plaid-matching observation.  I cut the bias strips for collar and lower back bands to have a centred dominant plaid element.  They can't match because the plaid is not perfectly square.  But they are GOOD ENOUGH!

On to my next project - a black wool crepe high-waisted pencil skirt to wear with my cheery jacket.  Can you believe that The Sewing Lawyer does not already own such a skirt?

36 comments:

  1. This is absolutely perfect.
    I love your smile, I guess you love your jacket. And oh the bound buttonholes
    One day I will make that jacket for sure
    I love your label too. It suits becomes a sewing lawyer

    Marie-Noëlle

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  2. What an amazing result. Even the bias trim on the front has symmetrical matching. The collar lays so nice, and thanks for sharing the construction of the sleeve cap and padding. You can see how it makes a difference in the final result. And the fit!! Perfect. I am in awe of your skill!

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  3. Holy Fabulous!!! It is all around amazing. The fit is lovely. Your tailoring was wonderful. Thanks so much for showing us!

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  4. Wowza, how perfect. And thanks for all those inside photos - explains perfectly. Enjoy wearing it :)

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  5. Your jacket is fabulous. Your time and effort show in the finished garment. I know you will feel special when you wear the jacket.

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  6. Girl- you are in the wrong industry.

    That being said, IT'S GORGEOUS AND I WANT ONE!!!!!!!

    Bravo!

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  7. Oh my gosh. This is amazing. I'm so glad I found your blog today.

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  8. You did such an insiprational job matching that plaid bias trim, I can't even tell where you seams are. Even the center is matched perfectly. I don't see how you could match the pattern on the lapel any better!

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  9. It is so fabulous and the cheerful color is perfect for this jacket. Round of applause for everything, I know how much work it is ;) But it pays off, you'll wear it a lot and get tons of compliments. Congratulations!

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  10. Wonderful doesn't begin to describe it, and a big thank you for all the tailoring details.

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  11. I absolutely love the colors in this plaid. Your jacket looks amazing and you did a fantastic job with the matching and details.

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  12. This is an absolutley beautiful stunning jacket!

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  13. This jacket is awesome and stunning! It just makes you want to smile when you see it. Absolutely amazing!!!

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  14. This is so amazingly beautiful! It looks very high-end with the perfect plaid matches and other details.

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  15. Absolutely meticulous! I really liked seeing the construction photos. The fit is fab, and I love the label!

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  16. Absolutely gorgeous. I love that jacket. Well done!

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  17. WOW! This is a great jacket. Really. Fan-freaking-tastic!

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  18. Very Nice! I know who'll be the talk of the office tomorrow.

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  19. Absolutely masterful! It fits exactly as it should and the plaid matching, with what appears to be no less than an uneven plaid, is perfection. I also like that you showed exactly how much interfacing is necessary for a professional looking result. Love the bright colors as well!

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  20. Okay, I've already commented on Pattern Review, but after reading about the whole construction process here, I just have to reiterate how amazing this jacket is. Perfectly matching plaid princess seams?!? I didn't even know that was possible. So good!!

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  21. Amazing jacket Kay. It's absolutely stunning. The plaid is so good for this pattern. Enjoy wearing it.
    One question though: you thought about changing the placement of the buttonholes. Did it not work? Just curious because I still have this on my wish to sew list.

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  22. Gorgeous. GOR-GEOUS! Your tailoring skills are awesome. I am so glad to see beautiful, complicated sewing. OK, trying to figure out how to sue you for that jacket!

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  23. Wow, the inside is almost as photogenic as the outside. Thanks for all the construction shots, but thanks most of all for showing me such a cheerful jacket on such a gray day. Everyone should have clothes this happy.

    That being said, I now need this jacket. In this plaid, or something similar. One more thing to add to the list.

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  24. WOW, what is there left to say, but I can hardly wait to see this in person! Amazing as usual, thanks for all the wonderful details.

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  25. Your smile says it all. The jacket is absolutely wonderful.

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  26. Ah, a bright and cheery, comfy and well crafted Orange Plaid jacket. Perfect label!

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  27. Seriously, I think that this is one of the best sewn projects I have seen. Ever. I am absolutely blown away by this. It's better than RTW... It looks couture. It's amazing.

    I don't know why I haven't seen your blog before. So glad that I did. I'm a sewing lawyer, too. But *don't* go over to my blog now - I just finished a suit jacket, and compared to yours, it looks like a 2 year old sewed mine. Hopefully I'll be able to sew suit jackets like you someday!

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  28. Absolutely Gorgeous jacket... totally superb.

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  29. Your plaid jacket looks fantastic and impeccable sewn as always.
    Els

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  30. Brava! I wondered how you would solve the multiple problems of that plaid and this curvy jacket. Your jacket is very impressive. From another "Sewing Lawyer" in Texas

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  31. Gorgeous Jacket.

    I am a retired court stenographer. Now I stay home and homeschool my five children. Hope you stop by my blog and say hi.

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  32. Amazing, amazing, amazing! Your tailoring details are fantastic and the fit looks great. I loved this pattern when I first saw it in Burda. I still haven't mustered the courage to sew a plaid fabric but you've inspired me to at least give it a go. Great work, as always!

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  33. This is unbelievable. I love it, and the matching of the plaids is phenomenally good! I'm also a huge fan of orange.

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  34. As soon as I saw your "vintage" plastic buttons I thought "uh-oh, watch out for dry cleaning." Have you dry cleaned it yet? I once made a silk skirt and used a vintage button on the waistband. First time at the dry cleaner, the button melted all over the fabric. Ruined skirt.
    BTW, I am a retired attorney. Pretty much did only volunteer sewing when I practiced, but now have more time for me. Found your blog while looking for adice on matching uneven, yarn dyed plaids. i.e. should I just have the pattern follow around the bodice and skirt (its a dress) or should I flip the fabric pieces over to try to match the plaid? Being yarn dyed, I could do that. It is identical texture, color, finish etc on both sides.
    Do you have an opinion?

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  35. Hold me back! What an eye for detail.
    I applaud your plaid matching expertise and jacket skills.

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