Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Almost done

As mentioned in my last post, my sewing has been overtaken by knitting, which definitely is slower to show results.  However, my teal Neulottu naisen jakku is almost finished only one month after I started it! (The name sounds exotic and unique, but only means "women's knitted jacket" in Finnish, so maybe most knitted jackety items for Finnish ladies have the same name.)


Here's a sneak peek.  I've just pinned the pieces together.  


Teal jakku - almost done!
You can immediately spot the problem.  The donut-shaped piece which forms the lower back and wraps and curves around to the front to become a luscious shawl collar doesn't fill in the upper front shoulder area. According to the pattern, it is supposed to be sewn under the arm, along the front edge of the sleeve cap to the shoulder point, where it must make a right angle turn and then flow along the dead straight upper edge of the knitted back.  


Sure.  My sewing experience suggests to me that even though it is probable that the gently curved edge of this piece can be made to stretch to fill in this corner, it won't sit there nicely and I'd be tugging at it constantly and wondering why the jacket doesn't feel right.  This piece wants to flow up at an angle from the under arm area, angling towards the neck.  As shown to the right.  


Which leaves a little triangular opening, as you can see to the left.  

I am going to knit a little piece to fill it in.  Then I'm going to block the pieces and sew them together.  And then, I'm going to make a dress and a pair of black pants that will go with this lovely sweater jacket.  


13 comments:

  1. Woooow!! O___O
    That's amazing!
    I'm looking forward to see the jacket finished!

    This is my blog about vintage,fashion and SEWING!
    http://alicecloset-sewing.blogspot.com/

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  2. Looks wonderful! Good thing you know how to "tweak" things into place properly.

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  3. That is a beautiful sweater! I hope your fill-in piece does the trick.

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  4. I love the jacket and think that your idea of the little pieces should work well as long as you can get them to fit properly. I always say that knitting isn't an exact science and I guess that this is true for this pattern. Good luck with it. It will make a stunning addition to your wardrobe.
    Gita

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  5. Beautiful work--and I'll be anxious to see how the fix works--makes one wonder--are Finnish women shaped differently, or are they comfortable with what appears to be an uncomfortable garment?

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  6. Good to read this posting before I start knitting my version. I just wrote on my blog today about an ah ha moment I had with knitting - that I could muslin the pattern first by test sewing it out of a knit fabric. It's not a perfect solution but it would highlight issues like this one and allow for earlier solutions.

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  7. That's just gorgeous, Kay! I'm so impressed! :)

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  8. Gorgeous and looking forward to seeing the final version.

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  9. Amazing sweater, and an amazing solution.

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  10. Love the color and the style! one month for a jacket isn't actually that bad in sewing terms...but I don't think I'm going to take up knitting anytime soon.

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  11. Can't wait to see it finished - it's a lovely pattern :-)

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  12. This looks very nice Kay, and a fun knit too! Knitting an inset sounds like a great idea to me - I often think knitwear designers can rely too heavily on the fact that knitting stretches! However there does seem to be more patterns now with short rows and better shaping, rather than the F and B the same.

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