I'm working on my latest dress (yes, yes, there has been progress) and, as usual, have needed to try it on periodically. This one has a side zipper. I haven't done a lapped zipper in any location, let alone a side-seam zipper, since before the turn of the century. It went in OK and all that, but the combination of a side zipper, not extending right into the armhole but just below it, and a close-fitting skirt means that this dress is not easy to get into. Which worries me about whether I will like to wear it. Which in turn leads me to ponder what exactly it is that makes a sewing project a real hit.
If we can identify the magic criteria, I could perhaps ensure that I'd have more hits and fewer misses.
Not that I have an indecent number of misses. But there are definitely items that I turn to again and again, and those that stay hanging in the closet. Have a look at these jacket projects, which all date back to 2007.
First some hits:
![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vsDlchC7vZlrAOSWAViBjNCisPBmZ7xiw24Dpc_nRwZIYzE1r7dUXtqR2Dds78xEI-el55yoibE_0o-vXfO7HiU1BQ5eFV7Za8VIV45C3sQohfPjSL94UrJAiFw0edmg=s0-d) |
Jacket is #108 from Burda WOF, August
2006. Top is OOP Vogue 2683 |
I love this jacket. I wear it constantly in the winter, along with the simple bias-cut matching top. In fact I've made the top (
Vogue 2683) so many times I lost count. I wear the pair with a long pale grey skirt or with plain brown wide-legged pants.
What I love: The fabric - the leaves are woven into the fabric - purchased at Tissus Tuéni in Montreal. The colours - mix of warm brown and beige, and cool greys. The fit. The piping. The collar. I like being able to throw on the jacket and top for an instant ensemble. I like being able to take the jacket off if I overheat.
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Vogue 1472 - Paris Original (ca 1959) |
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Next, what about this jacket, made from a vintage Vogue Paris Original Christian Dior pattern, found (uncut and including the Vogue label with the Eiffel Tower) at the Fabric Flea Market one year? I made a skirt to mimic the one in the pattern but with some room so I could actually walk, climb stairs etc.
What I love: The fabric - lush wool with a woven-in design, purchased at the Wool House in Toronto. The somewhat boxy but still refined fit. I appreciated the couture details, like the fact that the collar is cut so that the corners are perfectly square and on-grain (CB seam is off grain as a result), and that a perfect amount was already included for turn-of-cloth. The buttons are vintage glass, purchased from a local collector. I did a good job on this jacket, pad stitching and all. Bound buttonholes, even on the non-working sleeve vents. (More photos
here.)
This is a very feminine suit, but still (am I deluding myself?) powerful. I wear it often with a little shell. A jacket and sleeveless top combo is very practical in my office.
Unfortunately, doing a great job sewing-wise isn't the ticket to a hit for my closet.
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Vogue 7908 (Claire Shaeffer pattern) |
This jacket fits, it's well-made (more pictures
here), and it combines orange and teal in a tiny woven-in pattern. I love the colours and lined the body with orange silk. However from a distance the colour is less interesting, and the jacket fabric is a little stiff. I think it is a wool blended with some synthetic. The stiffness carries into the very structured collar (I think I used a fusible hair canvas) which fits very close to my neck at the sides. This isn't completely uncomfortable but detracts somewhat from the feel of the jacket on.
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There is an unsuccessful matching skirt, which is seamed in a way that makes it impossible to turn into something else, unfortunately. So the jacket is a bit of an orphan. That's a problem. I like it, in theory. However it doesn't get worn very much.
Do these garments reveal anything to you about my style and preferences? Want to see more ancient (pre-blog) projects from The Sewing Lawyer's closet?