Life got in the way …

It has been a while!  In the last several weeks I’ve coped with deadlines at work and a minor plumbing disaster on the home front, all the while continuing with the annual work to organize the Fabric Flea Market.  More on that in a post to come; but if anyone reading this is planning to be in Ottawa on October 16, get yourself to the Glebe Community Centre for 10AM.  It will look something like this: Yup, that’s a room full of fabric, patterns, notions, yarn, books and supplies of all kinds for sewers, knitters, needleworkers, weavers, and followers of other fiberly pursuits.   We had 1,500 people through the doors last year in 4 hours and everybody leaves the sale happy!
Anyhow, all this real life stuff got in the way of my blogging, but more importantly it also got in the way of my sewing!  This is why it has taken me weeks to complete the unlined shirt-jacket which I’ll now tell you about.
I'm really going to enjoy wearing it!  It's made of a very fluid wool crepe, purchased at Tissus Couture-Elle in Montreal during PR Weekend in May (it already seems like half a lifetime ago...).   The apparent colour is a dark-ish khaki; the fabric is actually a twist of black and a mossy green. 
This is one of my 3 ghostly garments –probably  the one that looked the least interesting to you.  I was just checking for armscye depth – this is a Burda pattern from the 1990s.  Sure enough, it turns out the armscyes were too low; I couldn’t raise my arm without the body of the jacket coming along for the ride.  So I fixed that, and now I have a shirt-jacket I really like. 
First, here’s the proof that I needed the alteration to make the armscye smaller and higher, to increase my mobility. 


The solution is super-simple.  I added approximately 2.5cm (1”) as you can see here. 

This was done on the front, back and both sides of the sleeve (it’s a one piece shirt-style sleeve).  No other adjustments were needed.  The sleeve cap and shoulder remain the same. 



Let’s see; what else to tell you…



  Here’s the pattern I used.  It’s long out of print.  I made it when it was new and wore the jacket (along with the matching trousers and skirt) practically to death.  It is pretty straightforward – fronts with side-seam bust darts; back is perfectly plain; side slits; shirt-style collar and cuffs; concealed button closure.  I had modified the collar so it has a partial stand and just made it up the same again.








I did a Hong Kong finish on all inner seams and edges.  What a great way to make an unlined garment look as good on the inside as it does on the outside! 


To the left you can see the completed armscye and side seam, both bound with bias strips of lining fabric.  At the top is the shoulder pad which is covered with the same fabric. 


 The next photo shows the concealed button closure.  I used a decorative button at the top, and plain ones where they are hidden. 








Then there is the most prominent feature:  the pockets.  These are bellows pockets with flaps.  I’ll say I didn’t interface the flaps because I wanted to keep the jacket very soft; the reality is that … um … I just forgot.  I applied the patch pockets by hand.  The grey thread I used is completely invisible on the inside. 



Here’s a close up of the decorative button – they are sort of like wire spaghetti.  

Sewing without a plan ... and 3 ghostly garments

The Sewing Lawyer has always been mightily impressed by the entrants to the various "SWAP" contests.  That anyone completes these grueling marathons is a wonder, especially if their marriages or significant relationships remain intact.  What is this thing - a sewing "plan" anyway?  How could anyone actually settle ahead of time on pattern and fabric combos to make 11 (or whatever other double-digit number the SWAPpers aim to make) garments that would work together as a complete wardrobe?  How do they keep motivated, or even interested?  How can they stand the deadlines?

It's beyond the Sewing Lawyer.  She has occasionally read the rules and has always immediately dismissed the idea of participating.  She prefers to (mentally) endlessly reformulate a stream of projects which may or may not employ fabric, patterns and other bits from her stash, thumb aimlessly through her stack of Burda magazines and bulging pattern files, examine each and every bolt in the local fabric store to see what's new and what's deeply discounted, while waiting for inspiration to strike.  There is rarely any kind of deadline other than hoping vaguely to be able to make something-or-other before the season (or fashion) for it has completely passed.  The only advantage to be gained from not seizing the day and putting scissors to cloth is that the potential sewing disaster or fashion faux-pas is avoided, or at least put off for another day.

In the meantime, the Sewing Lawyer bumbles along making things that strike her fancy from time to time, and (mostly) turning out garments she's prepared to wear out in public, which sometimes even coordinate.

Ya, I'm exaggerating but right now it sure does feel this disorganized!  Since the last post, I've got three ghostly garments which have been slapped together to test patterns and fit to show you.  It is probably not a great idea to have this many ideas on the actual go.  One of the patterns has even been translated (well, cut out) into actual fabric!  But more on that later.

First up, I've improved the Material Things "Fearless Jacket" muslin immensely and I'm warming to the idea of actually using it to make out of my luscious lamb leather.  I took the muslin completely apart, adjusted the tissue in the places I had already identified, and recut the pieces.  I was at about size 0 (if there had been such a thing) on the MT tissue.  After sewing it together again I realized that it was still too big!  If I was at 0 before, I guess this is size -2.  In the Big 4, I would usually choose a 10 as my base size.  The new tucks are out of the side front and centre/side back seams.  The other change that needs to be made is to raise the armscye to improve mobility - the muslin looks ok while I have my arms at my side but when I raise them it's not a good look.





My second muslin is supremely uninteresting, but it's the one that's getting made first.  This is from a 1990s Burda envelope pattern which I have made before and wore to death.  I still really love the picture on the envelope.

I made a muslin only to check how much too low these armscyes are - I'm raising them by 2.5cm (1") so the answer is - a lot!













My final ghostly garment is a muslin of Vogue 1183, the second Kay Unger dress released this summer.  I could tell from the measurements printed on the pattern that this dress was going to be a snugger fit than V1182, my cocktail dress.  Before cutting out the muslin, I separated the skirt front into two so there will be princess seams instead of darts.  The back already has a corresponding seam and the bodice is princess-seamed all over the place, so this change seems natural and adds more opportunities to adjust fit.  For the muslin I cut a size 10 in the bodice and midriff, transitioning to a 12+ at the hips.

It is too snug.

Besides that, there is something strange happening at the join between the bodice and midriff at the front.  It almost feels like I need an FBA (!).  I notice that several reviewers of this dress on PR had a problem with the overlap gaping - they did need an FBA.  Mine isn't gaping so much as the leading edges of the front are pulling up on the midriff piece.

Here's another picture (in which the left neck edge is not folded under).   I'm going to mull this over some more but if you have a suggestion for how to fix this, please put it in the comments!

But the strangest thing is that the skirt front is too long on me just below the midriff, around the level of my actual waist. I've pinned out a wedge/tuck that is about 2cm deep at CF and tapers to nothing at the side seams.  You can see it better in the side view to the right.

I really like the way the midriff piece curves downward in the back.

The back fits pretty well except for the too-tightness of it.

It's also too short for my taste.  The muslin hits about 1cm above where I'd like the finished edge to land, and it includes the hem allowances!