Hot Patterns Geisha Girl Jacket March 18, 2008

Here she is - there is not too much to say in addition to the review on PR, except that I added thin shoulder pads because I’m mouse shouldered. 

One thing I’m still debating is whether or not to add some hand top-stitching on the red side.  I have some soft gray silk buttonhole twist that might be nice.  Will need to ponder that a bit more.

The shoulder pads are stitched to the seam allowance at the shoulder, and tacked to a small pieces of black fusible woven interfacing at the points.  These are ready made, and composed of batting instead of foam. I wanted a pad that would drape softly and identically regardless of what side of the jacket I’m wearing.

I’m very happy with it - it weighs nothing, and it looks as good loose as it does belted because the silk organza interfacing stiffens the edges just enough to flare the jacket away from my body.

Hot Patterns Geisha Girl Jacket March 11, 2008

Believe it or not - I made a muslin.  Not so much for fit, but more for proportion.  Loose styles can be overwhelming so I had be sure this jacket didn’t hang like a sack.  This simple style has come nice dtails.  I like the way the collar stands away from the body and frames the neck, and the length is high hip.

The dropped shoulder was taken up 1/2 inch, and I raised the armhole a bit as well because the muslin was binding across my back.

One thing I have to modify is the construction to make the jacket reversible.  In the original instructions, the facings are on the inside, and the edges are folded under, pressed, and then stitched down.  I’ve moved the facings to the right side, and I really didn’t want to manually fold down the edges all the way around the jacket.  Another thing to factor in was interfacing; a fusible was just tad too stiff, so I used silk organza and the Balloon Applique technique from my holiday dress.  The black silk organza also acts as a soft interfacing, and I will hand fell stitch the facings to the fashion fabric.  This fabric requires a lot of basting; it ravels, snags and pulls easily,and after reading Marji’s blog I think it might even be necktie silk - she’s using a similiar fabric for her latest jacket..

In the full length view above the outer edge of the facing is machine basted, and the inner edge will be hand fell stitched to the fashion fabric.  There’s no lining yet. I need to attach the facing and then I can line it.  The sewing is going fast; the hand finishing will take more time. 

Moving On - A Summer Wardrobe Revamp March 9, 2008

The Girl Scout Leader  wadder dress is in the trash and will be out for pick up in the morning!  I really enjoyed all of the comments and suggestions, but in the end it had to go because I just couldn’t see  myself wearing it under any circumstances.

So - next up -  a revamp of my summer work wardrobe.  Most of the time I go for a three-season work look; Boston can be cool well into April, and my favorite season is Fall anyway.  I love boots, skirts, and light jackets and would dress that way all year if I could.

Summer is problematic; I don’t like hot humid weather, have sun sensitive skin and I loath pantyhose.  Summer is also a short season in Boston, and most people tend to go uber-casual for work because no one wants to bother spending money and energy on clothes that work for just a 12 week period.  I fell into that mindset too, not that I’ll wear Crocs (ack!) but there were days when I  wore way too much Old Navy on a regular basis.

 This has to change!

After giving it some thought, here is my summer work wardrobe criteria:

• No pantyhose; so this means pants, capri’s or longer skirts
• Nothing drapey; I’m SO SICK of the gathered, empire waist, baby doll, Duro looks of the past three years!
• Structured but not tailored because tailored is my regular three season look

 After some stash shopping, I decided to go with the Hot Patterns No Sweat Easy Sew Geisha Girl Jacket and Pants.   The jacket will be a reembroidered Japanese floral cotton with a red silk twill for the facings and belt.  I like the facings on this pattern because I can make the jacket reversible, and the red silk tones down the floral.  The lining will be the same red silk twill, and for the topstitching I may pickstitch the facings with red Delica beads on the red silk side.  I have to thank Gigi for educating me as to the right way to approach florals;  she has often noted they tend to look better on younger women and I totally agree with her.  Fortunately, this floral fabric is more subtle than most, and the red, white and black cross-stitch embroidery adds an interesting surface embellishment.    The pants will just be a nice black polyester for easy care in hot weather. 

Time to trace off the pattern!

Abject Failure March 2, 2008

It’s been  while since I’ve made a wadder, and maybe my sewing room needs one of those signs you see on construction sites: “This Job Site Has Gone _____ Days Without An Accident”. 

 So when I have one, as you can see below, it’s a doozy.  This thing looks like:

• A Girl Scout leader uniform
• I’m seriously channeling the 70’s, but not in a good way
• I’m on St. Patrick’s Day overload

Even with some styling, things don’t improve much:

This is the HotPatterns Plain and Simple Shirtdress, and my orginal version is one of my all time favorite garments.  The great thing about a great dress is that all you need to do put it on; you don’t need to think about coordinating other pieces  as with seaprates and there are no worries about having to constantly tuck in a top.  A dress just is.

Live and learn.  Wadders are part of sewing, and I just need to let go and toss this in the trash.

Paris Calling, Circa 1957 February 9, 2008

Now that I have a proper dress form, I can show you one of my prize pieces of fashion.  This coat belonged to my grandmother; she bought it from a department store called Pomeroy’s in Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania sometime in the late 1950’s.  The coat has a Pomeroy’s store label, and the fabric label reads Cashmere “400″, 100% Virgin Cashmere, Country Tweeds” and is ink-stamped with a 6-digit registration number.

During the 50’s better department stores had made-to-order clothing departments, and I think that’s where this coat came from.  It’s really beautiful and has many interesting features that I thought you’d like to see. The lining is mushroom grey beige silk crepe.  The coat wraps across the front and closes with a large self fabric button on the front and ties with a matching petersham ribbon on the inside.

Much to my delight, a while ago I found the inspiration for this coat: the back of the coat, and especially the gathered detail on the yoke, is identical to a Balenciaga dress from 1957 found on page 542 of Fashion: A History from the 18th to th 20th Century.  Interestingly, the Balenciaga dress originally came with a matching coat according to the caption, and evidently, like my coat, the front of the dress wraps across the front and attaches with a self fabric button as well.

I wear this coat a few times a year and it fits me perfectly.  It’s in excellent condition too, which is a testament to its fine construction. They really don’t make them like this anymore do they?

Alternative for real buttons, part 2 December 23, 2007

I found some more pictures I took from the blouse flower “buttons”. The underside (bottom) is shaped into a small square about 1/2 inch wide.

The bottom is attached to the blouse center front at two spots, this way the loops stay put on them.

It makes sense that the loops although they are tiny are edge-stitched too so they will keep their shape by the weight of the flowers.

Holiday 2007 - Interior Work December 2, 2007

I must admit to losing ground due to being knocked out for most of this week by the worst virus I’ve had in years!   But I made some progress this weekend.

This style is really simple; it’s just a basic sheath with kimono sleeves.  The instructions say to sew the skirt, and then attach the upper bodice.  Instead, I plan to sew both front and back together with one long side seam from the hem right to the end of each sleeve - just like a knit shirt.  One reason for this change is that it makes it easier to get the necklines to meet perfectly in the center both front and back, and the zipper would be much easier to  install and finish.  I also had to modify the construction for the upcoming applique seam

So here’s where I am - this is the interior back of the dress with the finished invisible zipper, installed with Els’ method of course.  The edges of the zipper tape and the seams are finished with rayon seam binding machine stitched to the seam allowance and hand fell stitched to the organza underlining.

Els also recommended that I stabilize the neckline, which I did with a piece of seam binding stitched just inside the seam allowance..  So here is the back interior, from top to bottom:

 

This is the back neckline.  There will be a fashion fabric facing hand fell stitched to the organza.

This is the middle - I used a small piece of leather to hide the cut end of the zipper. 

And this is the finished seam at the back slit.

 The hard parts are over; the front is simpler than the back. The party is December 14; so far so good, deadline-wise!

Holiday 2007 - Vouge 8313, Preparing the Pieces November 25, 2007

This is probably the least interesting part of the construction process.   The pattern has been thread traced onto fabric blocks, and each piece will be cut as I need it to keep raveling down to a minimum.  The seam allowances will also be cut extra wide and trimmed to deal with the raveling. The photo on the left is a back skirt piece from the right side, and the right side photo shows the same piece with a partially basted underlining.  In my mind I went back and forth over whether or not to also add a lining, and then decided the organza underlining would add enough structure, and I would still be able to see and enjoy the reverse side of this brocade, which is just a beautiful as the side I chose.  The silk organza looks much more opaque than it really is because I didn’t use a flash for this photo.

The crystal beads arrived yesterday, so I mocked up the crystal picot edging.  After some experimentation with thread, it turns out that the best one for this application is a double strand of Guterman silk (sold on the blue spool you see below.)  I tried Nymo, a beading thread, but it was too stiff, and a single strand of Guterman was not strong enough to hold the beads upright along the edge of the fabric, which is on a slight bias for the  upper bodice.  However, a double strand of Guterman silk is perfect.  The needle is a sharp with a small eye.  The Swarovski crystals are size 2mm; about the same size as a seed bead.

 

If I can get all of the pieces pinned and then thread basted to the underlining I’ll be making good progess for today.

Who is that man in the mirror? July 29, 2007

The most dangerous man I know! Kashi at Metro Textile on 37th St. in New York City. Since his move a few months ago, Kashi has increased his selection of ‘fine fabrics for nearly nothing’. Seriously, I try to avoid going there, but like a moth to the flame I am drawn. I have already exceeded my Stash Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy, by a whole lot. But as always, after a trip to Metro, I find that I just have to acquire a few new pieces.

As I was drawn towards 8th Ave, heading towards Metro Textile, I got sidetracked into Pacific Trimming at 218 W. 38th St. What a great addition to the street! It’s very like a Hong Kong trim supplier you might find in Kowloon, with a vast selection of belt, buckle, and purse hardware, alongside ribbons and buttons, cords, and ?? A great selection, and the ablility to buy in bulk, should you have a need for that.

I had a ’story board’ of fabrics pinned to a big sheet of 11 x 17 paper, so I was able to hone in on some things I was missing - colored silk organzas, solid silk charmeuse, novelties that worked in with my color story of shades of charcoal, black and grey with shots of hot pink and silver metallic. Hopefully I can make some serious inroads in to my planned wardrobe. As shoemakers’ wives go barefoot, designers often have nothing to wear. I have a closet full of rejected samples, and often never get a piece out of production of the items I really like. My resolution is to do something about that this year. Loooove the pink lame leopard!! I must make a cropped trench from that, and soon!

Here’s my pile in the photo below, sitting on the chair at Metro. Kashi will ship it to the studio, so I don’t have to carry anything. Oh the sweet anticipation! I didn’t get swatches of everything, as there were several other ladies in the shop, so I have to rely on memory for a few days. Kashi told us not to worry, he has no problem helping a lot of customers simultaneously. “Sometimes I have 20 ladies at one time!” he said gleefully. I told you he was dangerous…

Summer Snoop Shopping June 16, 2007

This summer I’ve been wearing a-line floaty skirts in hot weather, and I find them to be a really comfortable and fun alternative to capris. Last week I found this no-name RTW skirt at Filene’s Basement here in Boston - it’s not a work of art by any means, but it has a few ideas worth stealing.  The fabric is a really pretty poly chiffon with a slighty vintage-looking pattern of green-black-white hydrangeas, and the style is a simple 12 gore falling from a contour waistband with additional triangular gores set in between. The hem is edged with a strip of raw edge white netting and it’s attached to the skirt with a simple roll hem turned to the outside. The lining is a cream poly chiffon.

This breezy skirt would be very easy to replicate with Simplicity 4188, Vogue 8297 or McCall’s 5331. This year you can find some lovely silk and synthetic chiffon prints at Gorgeous Fabrics, Thai Silks, and Fashion Fabrics Club. I think I might need to whip up a few of these because I have some nice brown netting in my stash.  If you can’t locate netting you could use a netted embroidered lace, a venise lace, or even bridal tulle.

Add a cap sleeve t-shirt or an eyelet blouse and it’s a very cute weekend look!