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.  

Welcome to 2012

This week I've read quite a few inspiring and (let's face it) intimidating wrap-ups of the year that just ended, sewing-wise.  I certainly can't compete with folks who report having made multiple garments per month.

I feel 2011 was the year of disjointed sewing.  Let's see if my impression is accurate.

Looking back on my posts for the year, I see that I managed to make quite a few things.  However, the total output was hardly an effective assault on The Sewing Lawyer's stash, or a coordinated production effort for her closet.

January

The year started well.  In January, month of new year's resolutions, my thoughts turned to physical activity.  I produced some exercise gear and my prize-winning bike jacket.  I wear all these garments a lot.

February

The theme for February was winter coats.  Plural.  Early in the month came the surprise resurrection of Burda 7731.  The rest of the month was devoted to my mink-on-the-inside version of Vogue 1083, which got a serious workout during my trip to Yellowknife

March

March saw me complete my leather jacket.  Which had been languishing unfinished since November of 2010.  This is another garment I wear constantly.  

April was an interesting sewing month.  I made a wool sheath dress to coordinate with my leather jacket, and I had a fantastic time in Chicago with sewing friends Patti, Liana, Ann, Nancy, and the members of the Haute Couture Club of Chicago.

In May, I reported in on a pair of lined wool pants.  Not only were they too warm once done, they're now too big.  I'm not complaining about having taken off a few pounds, mind you, just haven't steeled myself to unpicking that hand-sewn waistband...  More sensibly, I also made a couple of knit dresses.

July

August

Summertime.  A simple little sleeveless blouse took me far too long, after which my version of Vogue's knock-off of the Akris suit became a long term project that got sidelined while I got over being infatuated with Vogue 1250.  Phew!

All this is really good stuff.  But then ...  the sewing wheels fell off.

More off-season sewing.  I made a sleeveless summer dress and another knit dress that just didn't work in the fall.  Hopefully they'll come into their own next year.  Then came a pair of PJs, a couple of bras that are tantalizingly close to being really good, some storage units for my sewing room, and a batch of undies.  All perfectly OK, but nothing that made me feel I'd made anything really special.

My sewing momentum revived faintly in November with more sports clothes: my curling pants and pink Jalie top.  However December was a sewing bust.

Is it a coincidence that I picked up knitting in late fall?  Since early November I've made 3 hats, a scarf and most of a sweater.

So, looking ahead, what do I want to accomplish for 2012?

1. I need to do more sewing.  
2. I do not want to buy more fabric.  I have so much it's embarrassing.  I will sew the fabric I already own.  I really like it as fabric, but I think I'd like it even more as clothing.  
3. I am going to make a work jacket.  Or two.  And nice dresses or separates to coordinate with them.  
4. One of those jackets is going to be in leather.
5. I want to integrate knitted pieces into my work and home wardrobes.  I foresee one or two knitted tops.  

That seems like a long enough list.  No doubt I'll get distracted.  

Happy New Year!

Uh oh - too many projects

And it's not because The Sewing Lawyer's sewing room has been transformed into Santa's workshop this year.  Oh no.  Last year I was busy as the proverbial bee, secretly refashioning all those bits into fun presents for the entire family.  This year, I've got too many ideas on the go, and sorry, they're all for me.  I'm trying to convince myself that doing a bit at a time on them is an overall advance, but it may be well into 2012 before any of these see the light of day.

Project No. 1 - future leather jacket

You've already seen prototype no. 1 for this - my quilted curling jacket.   They say that a "wearable muslin" should be made up in fabric similar in hand and weight to your intended "good" version.  Well, on that theory, this jacket was a big fail as a muslin.  The knitted version is stretchy and puffy while the intended "fabric" - luscious lamb leather - is sleek and firm.  Apart from the too-low armscyes, I couldn't tell if the pattern would turn out well in leather.  And I wasn't certain if the armscyes would really be too low, if made in a fabric that wasn't prone to stretching in the length.

But the curling jacket did pass the "I think I like the style well enough" test.  So I made a real muslin out of some hideous green woven stuff I found a bolt of at a thrift store.

I'm still liking it.  And it turns out that raising the armscyes by about 2cm was a good call.  But this muslin shows the things that still need adjusting.

I over-adjusted at the hip when I graded out to a size 40.  I'm going to remove the extra width at least at the side seams.

The neck seam is about 1cm too high.  I have a forward neck.  This won't matter a bit when the jacket is open, as I'd probably wear it about 98% of the time.  But I'm going to lower the neck, and lengthen the collar accordingly.

The bust darts are too long.  This could be a marking/sewing error.  I'll sew them shorter in my good version.

The sleeves are a tiny bit too short, though I already took out my customary 2.5cm.

As you can see better in this view of the back, the shoulders are a tiny bit too wide.  I am going to think about whether to adjust the pattern, or (easier) fix this with some shoulder structure in the jacket, with minimal padding.

I really like how the seam on the front of the sleeve lines up with the princess seam.

I'm going to plan the zipper placement properly and put a seam in the right side facing and the left jacket front, rather than apply the zipper on top of these pieces.  I have deluxe Riri zippers for this jacket, and even though the front one will be partly hidden, the shorter ones in the front sleeve seams will be on full display.

I am going to retrace this with my adjustments, and 1cm seam allowances.  I will make a pattern piece for every single piece, i.e. one for each of the left and right sides, as taught by Kathryn Brenne.

Project No. 2 - Leather mittens

I've made leather mittens before.  But the ones I've got planned will up the ante, in terms of the complexity of the pattern.  

I recommend Make your own gloves by Gwen Emlyn-Jones. I've had a copy for years but confess to not really having examined it before being challenged to replicate these worn-out mittens.   There are patterns in the back, in several sizes.

I mocked up a pattern, which I enlarged since my material is a little thick.  I then made a muslin out of fleece scraps.  Frankly I had my doubts about the thumb, which looked so much bigger than the hole it was to go into.  But it was absolutely the perfect size, and the muslin turned out pretty well, as you can see here.  

These are sewn together by hand - a simple running stitch - but they go together surprisingly quickly.  I have some quality time with a glover's needle ahead of me.



Project No. 3 - Knitting

I'm well into my version of this great sweater/jacket.  The pattern is available free here (in English) and here (in original Finnish).

I'm making it in a gorgeous teal colour.

Pictures to come.  Or check out my progress on Ravelry.

Introducing Very Cherry Slouchy ... the hat that knit itself

The Sewing Knitting Lawyer has a new problem - in fact it may be an addiction.

This is such a surprise.  As I have mentioned here before, I used to knit.  But that was (most recently) in the 80s!   A few years back I thought I'd make a little sleeveless shell and bought some yarn and started ... and stopped.  Not interesting, too slow.  I figured my knitting career was over.

But now, Wow!  I can't seem to put the darned needles down.  What is happening?

Anyway, I am signed up on Ravelry (as Kayyy) and this is my most recent FO.  The pattern is one of the thousands of free ones, and it is a fast project.  I bought the yarn (Diamond Yarn Merino Superwash Aran) last Sunday afternoon.  By bedtime that night the hat was 6" tall.  I finished it on Thursday and wore it Friday.

Ready to knit the I-Cord

I love the way the pattern spirals up to the pointy top of the slouchy hat, and turns into a perfectly tubular I-Cord.  For someone who had never knit I-Cord before, doing so was ridiculously satisfying.

There is supposed to be a bead on the end of the I-Cord but for now, I've just tied it in a little knot.

My very cherry slouchy hat keeps my ears warm.  And it doesn't look too terrible on either.  The colour is more accurate in the other pictures.

This afternoon I bought some Cascade 220 (100% Peruvian highland wool) to make this sweater. It's a delicious turquoisey-blue colour.

It promises to feed my new addiction for more than a week.

Mohair Sweater Refashion - Before

Before

This thrifted sweater is made of lovely stuff - 70% mohair, 30% nylon.  It's a beautiful colour.  But it's gigantic on me, albeit labelled as a medium.

And the details of it are hideous.  (As is this picture of me.  Yikes!)

The body is reverse stockinette stitch, which I do not care for. (The smooth jersey face is hidden and the purl bumps are on the outside.)

The collar, cuffs and lower edge each end in a length of (right-side out) stockinette stitch, which forms a curl, and then a short length of ribbing to cinch the garment in.  Yick.

I considered trying to unravel the sweater but in order to ensure that this turns into something wearable in my lifetime, I have pretty much decided to take it apart and treat it as fabric.

I'd love to turn the sweater into this top from the November, 2011 Burda Magazine.  There is not enough of it, big though it is, to cut the two fronts Burda asks for.  Though, maybe, I could cut a partial inner front?   Hmmmmm.

Any other ideas?

PINK

Remember the pink zipper?  There is a tiny bit of method at work.  The Sewing Lawyer has a new pink top to match.  Actually, it makes the zipper look a little ... dull.

For anyone who was at PR Weekend Montreal, the pink fabric was purchased at Suzie Stretch.  It has a nice smooth jersey face and a loopy wrong side.  I'm hoping that makes it a little bit warmer than simple jersey.

But will somebody please remember to remind me to check the direction of most stretch BEFORE cutting?  This top (Jalie 2682) has a double layer upper front and it's straining a bit.  I think it would have been more comfortable cut on the crosswise grain.  Since I have two more vivid colours of this same fabric (turquoise and bright yellow!) there is a chance that I'll get to test this theory out.  I like this pattern a lot.

Gusset

The jacket got retrofitted with a little underarm gusset to help with the mobility problem.

It went curling on Wednesday.

I'm pleased to report that the gusset works and the jacket was cozy warm.

I'll try it with the pink top this week.  Maybe the vivid colour will psyche out the opposition!






In the meantime, The Sewing Lawyer finished this lacy scarf and is itching to try a new knitting project.

What do you think of this sweater/jacket?  I love its texture and structure.

Uninspiring?

This is vaguely-a-test of the pattern provisionally earmarked for The Sewing Lawyer's next leather jacket project.  It's #107 from the famous September, 2010 edition.  It's in progress only (as you can see from the pins).

But this fabric bears NO resemblance to leather.  It's a quilted knit, quite stretchy (and annoying to sew).  It can't be pressed.  It won't lie flat.  The seams are all topstitched with one of the amusing utility stitches built into my Pfaff sewing machine.

I fear this jacket will not be long for the world.  The fiberfill between the two layers of this fabric occasionally pokes through.  I had been cutting the resulting wispies off but to my horror this led to at least one (found so far) little cut into the outer fabric.  Guess where?*

I'm only persevering with it because I have the feeling I will actually wear this curling and schlepping around the house.  It's kind of cosy.

Both the fabric and high-contrast zip were chosen for stash-reduction purposes.  Do I get extra points for using bulky space-consuming stuff?

I only noticed that the right front is about .25" longer than the left when I looked at this photo.  I am not going to fix it since this would require unpicking the topstitching and I fear making more little holes.  I am pretty sure the fashion police won't bother with me about it.

Dratted too-low armscye

I am going to make a Q&D muslin in a woven fabric to be sure before cutting the leather that this is too big and sloppy in the body, and too low in the armscye, and to find out what the collar will really look like.  For the armscye problem, I am going to (carefully) unpick the lower armscye and insert a gusset.


*  Centre front.  Nice one, Kay!  I'm under the perhaps-delusional impression that my fix will not be noticeable.

Thanks Paco!

I was pretty excited to see that Paco Peralta was offering a free pattern for a draped top to anyone who ordered from him in November.  I placed an order at his Etsy store on November 1 and my package arrived today.

I ordered the cape and skirt set.

I received the draped top, as promised.

But to my surprise, the package also contained ...

The portefeuille skirt.

He wrote "It is my pleasure - I'm sure you will make a beautiful version of this skirt."  Paco, I hope I can live up to your expectations!

Making fabric takes a long time

Lace scarf in progress 

I wanted to see if I could do it.  Evidently I can.  (However, see if you can find the mistake.)

I'm on the fence about whether I want or need a yellow wool lace scarf.  However the yarn was in stash (and is a lovely colour) and the pattern is easy enough.  

And now ... back to my regularly scheduled craft.  Sewing.  I'm testing a pattern which I traced more than a year ago as a possible alternative to the Material Things Fearless Jacket pattern, when I was having so much trouble with it.  But then I persevered and this one got left behind.

I've got it cut out in a strange quilted knit which might (or might not) make an interesting jacket on the curling rink.

It might also tell me whether I want to commit to this pattern for my brick red lamb leather.

Stay tuned.

I want to wear these forever

What's that, you ask?  The curling pants are finally finished.  And even though they haven't been tested in the large fridge that is the curling rink, The Sewing Lawyer predicts that they will be quite up to the task of keeping her warm, and not gapping or binding while the curious posture required in curling is attempted.

Behold

I've been wearing a pair of cast-offs since starting to curl a couple of years ago.  They are RTW, ripstop nylon lined with some kind of black synthetic knit fabric with a plush surface.  These pants sport a gathered elastic waist and cuffs, and have side zippers.  Ick.

Last year at Fabricland, the great Canadian chain store, they had a rather nice and very beefy ponte-type knit.  I couldn't resist and a pant length came home with me.  In stash, a mistake from on-line shopping years ago at Wazoodle, was quite a lot of of black synthetic (supplex nylon) knit fabric with a plush surface.  It's softer than the lining of my RTW pants, by a factor of 10 or so.

I muslined the interesting pants from the December, 2009 issue of Burda Magazine.  Here's the line drawing.

The curved seam goes around to the back where it incorporates the dart shaping needed, and makes a little yoke.

I left off the pockets.

The biggest challenges in making these were to ensure the seams would stay flat and smooth in both lining and outer fabric.  I sewed the pants entirely on my sewing machine, using a 1.5x1.5mm zig zag stitch which is stretchy but thin enough to press open.

For the outer layer, I topstitched using the same tiny zig zag stitch before trimming the seam allowances.  In the lining, I flattened the seam using a 3-step zig zag, and trimmed the seam allowance very close to the stitching.  This worked really well.

It's hard to take a good picture of a really black garment, and the camera finds every bit of lint!

To keep the waist and fly front relatively bulk-free, I used a cotton woven fabric for the waistband and fly facings, and the fly shield.  I also interfaced the outer waistband to reduce stretchiness almost to zero there.

Pretending to skip

This pattern has a nicely contoured waistband pattern with side seams and CB seam for fitting. I used my fold before stitching, always-perfect waistband technique, illustrated here, except this was the quick and dirty (i.e. not couture, no hand-sewing) version.  After the facing is pressed and folded as illustrated in the earlier post, pin it securely to all edges, and simply topstitch around the entire waistband by machine.  I used the little zig-zag again for consistency.

A jeans button (hammered in, no sewing!) and machine sewn hems through all layers completed these pants.

They are warm.
And they are SO COMFY!
I'm ready!