Spring is Here! April 10, 2008

Today I was meeeting a friend for lunch and wore my Hot Patterns Geisha Girl Jacket.

Issey Miyake wrap coat February 15, 2008

This Vogue pattern 1476 was in my stash for several years now waiting to be made.
The coat takes a lot of fabric 4,5 meter which should not have visible difference in a right and wrong side and finally I found the fabric on sale a woollen tweed 80 % wool 20 % acrylic for only  € 7,95 per meter.

And since I needed a lot of fabric the fabric weight was important too ,so if you want to make this pattern look for a kind of drapery fabric.

This pattern although it looks quite unusual is very easy to sew.

 

The pattern has only a few pattern parts but need a lot of space for the layout. I used two tables side by side for the layout and cutting.
The fabric is cut on the crossgrain instead of the usual length grain.

Since I am nearly 6 foot  (1.81cm) I lengthened the pattern at the coat and sleeve part and add some length to the yoke part.

  

Vogue gives instructions how to sew this pattern but I did not like to do a lot of top-stitching so I skipped that part. Since my fabric is very easy to ravel I start serging all the seams first. I used a three thread serger seam which makes it easier to fold that line to the inside and press it down.

I lined the yoke/ sleeve part and the pockets , also made an inside pocket from the lining.

I also altered the pockets design, the pockets pattern is a rectangle shape, but I decided after I made and lined them I did not like them. So I made a new pair of pockets, the instructions are not for lined pockets just fold the seam allowance in and top-stitch but I like my pockets lined so I did.

       

The inside pocket is stitched behind the outer pocket which I thread traced first to know where to stitch the inside pocket.

 

 Also added a pair of tailored shoulder pads,( sewn  between the lining and the fabric) to balance the wide of the coat.

Fused strips of  interfacing at the front edges at the seam allowance, which are cut on the crossgrain for stability.
I did not top-stitched the facing of the sleeve hems, but bind the edges with bias cut lining and hand-sewed the hem facing.

I lined the yoke/sleeve part which is helpful to wear the coat it slides more easily over the garments like a sweater since there is a lining attached.
The lining is sewed by machine sandwiched between the yoke and back coat pattern, and hand stitched along the neckline and sleeve part.

  
I sewed a loop at the neckline for when I travel by train where there are no cloth hangers around.
I did use a large 3 cm snap to close the coat.

  
Sewed the male part at the underlay and the female part at the overlay but decided to remove them and switch to a different way of attaching the snap because I did not liked the visible way of the snap when the coat is worn without the closure.

Te large 3 cm snap has a deep hollow part that was visible from the outside( imprint)

The female part is sewn from the inside with a backing of a circle of silk organza for stability and the male part is pushed between the wool threads so that part is only visible and useful.

 
The female snap part, which has a deep hollow side I filled with 2 pieces of felt so it does not leave imprints after sewing the snap on.

            

Also a backing from silk organza is used for reinforcement.

   

Silk Organza Saves the Day October 20, 2007

HOW I GOT FROM THERE TO HERE
I fell hard for the EmmaOneSock silk tweed with all-over embroidery from Nanette Lepore. It was ruinously expensive - so much so, that I have blocked out the price in my mind. Since I had once managed to make a jacket in 1 ½ yards of fabric, that’s what I bought, with no real idea of what I would make.

The fabric worked on my mind, and I decided that what I really wanted to make was a jeans style jacket, but with an hourglass shape. This fitted denim silhouette was popular some years ago, made best by Jean Paul Gaultier, who has perfected the corset silhouette over many different types of garments, from ball gowns, to bustiers, to jackets.

The thought of drafting such a pattern from scratch was daunting though, as fitting such an item on oneself is no picnic. I set out to find a pattern I could adapt to my needs, something that had a good structure to begin with. I had never worked with a Marfy pattern before, but from all reports it was a good place to begin. Every other jeans style jacket I had looked at was too boxy, or worse, a wedge shape that was narrower at the bottom. Definitely not MY shape!

Marfy F9468

I found the Marfy pattern after much digging, it is an older pattern and not easy to find on the Vogue website. I am not sure if it is still in print. I bought it in March of 07, I believe it is from Fall 06. As it comes out of the envelope it is a shirt, but it has a shaped side seam, and the all important 3 panel front with a shoulder yoke..

THE PATTERN CHANGES
Here are the changes I made to the pattern to get to my jacket:
>Make a straight hem instead of a curve hem, added to the sleeve length for full length sleeve.
>Cut the center front straight up to the neck, with a 1/2″ extension for buttons instead of a curved placket open neck shirt collar.
> No pockets used for this fabric.
>Reduce the collar point to be less of a Boeing 747 spread.
>Change from a set-on placket to fold back facing. I did this only because I had the nightmare silk tweed fabric to deal with. I couldn’t imagine trying to make a straight narrow placket in this fabric, especially with the thickness of the fabric with the embroidery. In fact, it was still tough to wrestle with the yoke seam and the turn back, but since my button fell below the yoke seam and the turn back of the lapel with the collar open was OK, I got off easy. For other fabrics I will make a set-on placket as you usually find on this type of jacket.

Let me just say that the fitting alterations were minimal. I was amazed at how well the pattern went together and fit me right out of the envelope. I did pinch out a bit more bust dart shape in the side panel, which effectively lowered my armhole, but I was able to re-draw it with minimal hassle back on the table after the fitting.

THE CONSTRUCTION DETAILS

The amount of seaming and topstitching required in this jacket made me choose to underline my fabric with silk organza. This kind of tweed just sort of falls apart when you look at it, it ravels away at the slightest excuse. By adding the layer of silk organza, I was able to do all of the seaming and topstitching without worrying. I had a denim jacket to refer to, to see how the seaming was done. This helped a lot, as Marfy provides no seam allowances and no instuctions. I had traced off their pattern, and then made a muslin to test the fit before I cut into my [ridiculously expensive] EOS fabric… no second chance with this!

Of course, with 1 ½ yards of fabric, I had to squeeze the pattern pieces into the layout. I needed to cut the undercollar, a hem and cuff facing from another fabric, as there was no way to fit it in. Actually this was a good thing, since my silk/wool blend was much smoother, thinner, and easier to work with than the silk tweed. It did cut down on the bulk.

SEWING NOTES:
All of my pieces were underlined. I basted my silk organza from Thai Silks to the fashion fabric, and basted at the seam line as well. I sewed the body seams front and back, then serged the seam allowances together (something I learned from my denim jacket that I followed.) Once the panels were together, I did my double needle topstitch. (Used heavy topstitch thread – nothing else showed up). I applied the yoke and seamed the same way. I had to use a 1/4″ grosgrain ribbon at the inside back neck, as it was impossible ot turn the seam allowance and topstitch. This eliminated a whole bunch of thickness, and gave a nice clean finish.

For the side seams, the armholes and sleeves, the seams were serged separately before sewing the seams together, as there is no double needle on these seams.

I confess, I took the jacket to a tailor for the buttonholes – my machine, and my nerves were not up to it.

I just want to say that this is now a TNT pattern, and I will be using it again and again, probably for the rest of my life. It’s a classic and stands the test of time.

Marfy #9865 - Finished September 3, 2007

I’m happy with the way this shirt jacket turned out - even though Marfy is pretty much an Outward Bound sewing experience, the patterns are expertly cut and they fit together beautifully.   When I do tailored shirts like this, I turn into the Template Queen.  Years ago I learned the hard way that the only way I can really replicate the crisp look of RTW shirt details is to use templates.   I just can’t rely soley on my eyes and hands for neat and tidy details. 

Details 

There are a few design details on this shirt that really stand out:  the topstitched bellows pockets with flaps, and the epaulettes.  The beauty of a template is that each detail will look exactly the same - sure you do need to make them, but a piece of thin cardboard or a manila folder works fine and cutting them out takes just a few minutes of extra time.   Here are the templates I made for this project:

 The cardboard for these came from the back of  a legal pad  The big payoff with a template is nice crisp pressed edge for details such as patch pockets.   The only other tools you need are a piece of silk organza to use as a press cloth and some spray adhesive to hold the template to the wrong side of the fabric (spray the template, not the fabric.)  The template/fabric sandwich is placed right side down on a big piece of silk organza.  Grab the silk organaza and use it to pull the fabric over the edge of the template as you press down the edge with a hot iron and lots of steam.  Let the pressed piece cool completely and remove the template.

An Interesting Challenge

I must admit to being perplexed when I first saw the collar pieces.  The fact that there were two of them made sense - there is an upper and lower collar, and they are different sizes as you can see - but the stand incorporated into the collar really had me stratching my head.  The fashion illustration really looks like there is a separate collar stand, and in the end I decided that must be the case and seprated the two pieces (the photos below show them before they were cut apart.)

Another thing I do with a collar stand is to mark the stitching line all along the curve of the stand at center front - it’s just impossible to rely solely on my seam guide and still get a perfectly curved edge.  If I mark the seam line there’s no guesswork.

Sizing

This is a 46 and when I orderd the pattern I used a Burda WOF size table to help me decide, and I erred on the small side.  Still, after I did a muslin it was clear I had to narrow the shoulders a full 1/2 inch on each side - I do have narrow shoulders but over all the shoulder and back width seems large to me: 16 1/2 inches across the shoulders.  I also shortend the waist a solid 2 inches and the sleeves 3/4 of an inch. The back was let out 2 inches below the hips and no adjustments had to be made for the front hip area.  The patch pockets were moved down a bit so they don’t hit me right at the waist.  The fabric is a Rayon Poly Stretch twill from Gorgeous Fabrics. 

So - on to another Marfy! My Fall/Winter 2007-08 catalog just arrived, and inspiration abounds.

New Look 6429 - The Perfect Summer Dress June 3, 2007

Diva Ann inspired me to do this dress.  Notice Ann’s version (scroll down a tad on her blog) has black-white-turquoise-orange zizag points going up on the center front panel, whereas mine are going down - does this mean anything? I have no clue.  But that’s what I love about sewing; two sewists can use the same fabric, and the same pattern, and do two completely different things with it. 

I know I’m really late to the party with this pattern - there are 25+ reviews on Pattern Review - but now that I’ve made it I really have to say that you should run right out and buy it; it’s a classic.  The drafting is excellent and the style is universally flattering; my only quible (which I repeated on PR - Big 4, R U listening?) is that I wish pattern companies would mark the waist on every pattern piece - it’s SO annoying - changing the waist length is the most basic of all pattern alterations (especially for a petite like me) and I hated having to plot the waist on a style like this that has four bodice pattern pieces.

The fabric is a polyester knit from Gorgeous Fabrics, it’s light as a feather and skims the body perfectly.  This is the black-white-brown-green-yellow colorway and I love it because it reminds me of mint chocolate chip ice cream (my favorite!)   I’ll be taking this dress with me when we go on our vacation later this sumer - it doesn’t wrinkle, and the rolls up into a shape so small it fits in my hand.

The lines of this style provide a fun opportunity to play with the intersecting pattern pieces on a directional printed fabric such as this, but because of the way the pattern is designed, I knew I’d never get the pieces perfectly matched matched all the way around the dress.

 

So I had to make a decision to use the fabric design to either showcase the back or the front. I chose the back, and as for the front - all I did there was decide how I wanted the zigzag of the fabric to fall down the center panel from the waist down.  I didn’t worry about the upper front bodice. As you can also see, the gathered side drape will cause the upper bodice to be off-grain, so the design emphasis was all in the back and the lower part of the front panel.

Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy and cold, but hopefully I can wear this to work sometime this week!

Leather drawstring bag April 17, 2007

Vogue pattern 7703  view D was used to make this drawstring bag in butter soft blue leather.

I used 2 pieces of soft leather, one hide was 5 foot and the other was 7 foot .

Three different fusible interfacings to add some strength and add some body to the bag because the leather was too soft to become a bag on its own.

On top the extra heavy woven, middle the non woven, at the bottom hansel. These interfacings are special made to use with leather, because you can fuse the interfacing with the iron on a warm setting.

The non-woven interfacing was fused on all the pattern parts except the drawstring as an underlay for the woven leather interfacing Hansel which is a bit rough and I did not want to change the hand of the leather.

The extra heavy interfacing is added to the bottom part on top of the previous two interfacings, the leather facing parts and the shoulder strap.

Dupioni silk fabric was used for the lining, front pocket lining and the interior pocket.

I made some pattern and design changes. The backside of the bag is sewn with a center seam because I had not enough leather to cut that pattern without a seam. It was an easy alteration, just double half of the center backside pattern and add seam allowances. I topstitched the s.a. on both sides of the center back seam.

The front pocket was too wide to my taste so I stitched a line at the center of the pocket, now there are 2 separate pockets.

The pattern instructions suggest to use cardboard for the bottom part. I was not satisfied with the result it was too stiff so I used a remnant piece of upholstery leather which I glued to the bottom part.

Also skipped one of the shoulder straps because I find it annoying that wearing a shoulder bag which has 2 long shoulder straps , one of the shoulder straps is always falling down .

I used only one shoulder strap (the length of the pattern strap is  21,5 inch /55 cm while I used a 38,5 inch/ 98 cm length) which I sewed diagonal at the front and at the back side of the bag.

The instructions for sewing the lining bag was different than what I did. I sewed the side seams of the lining but left one piece open for turning after I attached the lining at the leather facing and sewed the bottom part. The last step for sewing the lining part was to sew the left open part by hand.

I noticed too late that the placement of the interior pocket was too high placed, so if you want to make this bag be aware of this. It will be more convenient if the posket is placed lower on the pattern an adding a snap would be handy too.

Bag faux leather April 8, 2007

I made this bag last year when I could download  the pattern for this Nairobi bag from the Hotpatterns newsletter in October 2006,

 I used a faux printed green leather to make this bag with some modifications.

 The size of the bag I made is 15½ x 11 x 2 inch (39 x 28 x 5 cm)

The pattern came with sewing instructions but I did not follow them because I made some alterations on the pattern so I used the common sense attitude.

I used green faux printed leather, a woven interfacing to support the faux leather, 2 metal teeth zippers, rigilene boning, lining which I interfaced with a fusible stretch interfacing, double sided fusible craft tape, 2 silver metal D-rings with screws, a bag stop and a key ring  all from my stash.

I made some minor design changes. First I like my bags with a zipper closure so I redraw the opening for the bag in a more fluent shape so I could attach a zipper to close the bag, see the red lines for the new shape opening.

 

 I also did cut a longer shoulder strap.

To attach the bottom side part I used 3/8 inch (1 cm) seam-allowance instead of the 5/8 inch (1,5cm). This will result in a bit wider/deeper bottom/side part as well as  the bag itself.

I wanted to keep the shape of the bag and prevent my bag to collapse , so I used rigilene boning .

I glued the boning all away around the bag between the seam allowances of the bottom/side part start and finish about 5/8 inch ( 1,5cm) from the opening .

Used a double sided fusible tape and fused this tape ( using a Teflon sheet to protect the faux leather) next to the bottom seams, glued the rigilene boning to the tape and top-stitched the seam allowance from the right side . The first stitching line is close to the seam and the next stitching line a bit farther away. 

I  

 The zipper closure is made of 2 rectangle pieces of fabric and lining the same  wide as the upper side opening.

 

  For the closure of the bag I sewed the lining (facing) at the zipper tape next to    the teeth, fold the lining away and sewed the zipper at the fabric, pinned the lining  bag  at the bag opening and sewed the closure/opening part at the bag opening, pivoting at the corners on which I already basted the shoulder strap loops.

Double sided fusible tape is also fused at the seam allowances of both the bag upper part and the part where the zipper was stitched, top-stitched those seams from the outside, fused the tape also at the zipper tape next to the lining and folding the lining over it and hand stitched the facing lining at the bag lining part. This way the top-stitching is only visible from the outside and invisible from the lining part.

 The fabric loops for the D-rings are made to measure.
The faux leather fabric is interlined with a woven fusible interfacing , the lining with a stretch fusible interfacing and I did the zipper pocket my way, also placed the pocket lower than the pattern marks. The pattern for the cell phone pocket was too narrow for my cell phone so I adjusted that and skipped the other small pocket. Sewed the cell phone pocket at one side of the bottom side part and added a key ring to the other side which in this picture is not visible.

For both the pockets I used the lining fabric double to add some strength .
For the shoulder strap I did not want to add bulk by using seam allowances on the long sides so I did some testing to get the least bulk at the seams.

 I sewed the strap wrong sites together in half with a loose tension large zigzag stitch but only ½ of the zigzag stitch catches the fabric, pulled those two edges from each other and the result was a non bulk shoulder strap.

 I wove a piece of cotton twill tape through the shoulder strap with the help of a  safety pin and top-stitched the strap along both edges.
The finishing touch was attaching a bag-stop,

Which I glue on every shoulder strap of my bags rtw or self made,to prevent sliding from my shoulder.

Valentino RTW Knock-Off: McCall’s 4922 March 17, 2007

I have to give Diva Els a giant hug because I misplaced my photo of the original RTW Valentino shirt.  She located it on her hard drive and emailed it back to me.  Els has an astounding ability to locate things on the internet and in her PC files, and I think this research skill must serve her well in her professional couture career.

The photo above is from September ‘06 Vogue, and I fell in love with this shirt right away.  The combination of the sporty style and sweet heirloom embellishment is sexy yet demure, and it just screamed “knock me off” when I first saw it.  If you can believe it, this shirt was about $400 when it was in the on-line Neiman Marcus catalog.

The pattern is McCall’s 4922, a good basic princess seamed women’s shirt with a few sleeve variations.  I made the French cuff version.

The drafting on this pattern is excellent - every piece fit together beautifully.  If you’re looking for a basic women’s shirt that will be current for several years this is a good choice.  I also recommend it if you’re ready to tackle your first stand collar because the directions are clear and accurate.  I actually had to use them for once because it has been a while since I made collar stand, and I needed to refresh my memory.

If you’d like this to really resemble the original, the separate placket would need to be incorporated into the center front as a facing, and you’d need to get a fell  seam foot.  These are fake fell seams, I sewed them on a regular machine, finished them on the serger, and then topstitched them from the front with white machine embroidery thread.  The buttons holes were also stitched with white machine embroidery thread.  The center front panels were cut out single layer so they could be mirror imaged across the front.  More pattern details are on Pattern Review.

The two fabrics are a wavy cotton eyelet and a soft cotton twill.  The twill was a gift from Diva Mary Beth and I *think* the eyelet might still be available, so if you like it just leave a comment.  I’ll find out and edit this post.

The front placket was cut back ¼ inch so that the outside edge of the entredeux would align with the  edge of the placket underneath.  I made the high-dome pearl cufflinks from the same buttons as the shirt.  The bottom two placket buttons are regular shirt buttons to keep a smooth line under pants and skirts.

Right now there’s about 8 inches of snow on the ground, but it’s melting fast and Spring is on the way so hopefully I’ll be able to wear this very soon!

Hot Patterns Cosmopolitan Dress January 22, 2007

 know I’ve been promising to upload photos of my Cosmopolitan Dress for nearly two months and hear they are - finally! Honestly, I have to say that this is my very favorite new pattern of 2006. It is sophisticated, sexy, well drafted and quick and easy to sew. Without a doubt, it is the most flattering dress I have made in a looong time! 

I literally whipped this up in a few hours on Thanksgiving day - just in time to wear to dinner! Because I was using a rayon/lycra knit (from Textile Studios) I made a straight 8 without any alterations except to the length.

The only other change I made was to the neckline. Instead of using the facings I opted for a quick-and-easy turned and stitched finish. I serged some lingerie elastic into the neckline and then used my blindstitch machine to secure it. I took the smallest bite possible with my needle for a neat, invisible finish that hugs my neckline.

 

On the pattern envelope, this dress looks like nothing more than a-line with a long belt. But, it has a beautiful inset waist and the long ties are sewn into the side seams - it is gorgeous!  I am making another one today to wear when I meet Ann, Phyllis and our special guests in NYC tomorrow night.  Hopefully, I’ll be having a Good Hair Day and will have a picture taken.

UPDATE 1/25/07: Here I am with Diva Phyllis in NYC. I finished this Cosmopolitan Dress the night before our trip! The fabric is a beautiful rayon/lycra from www.textilestudiopatterns.com. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this dress!

Phyllis is wearing the Hot Patterns Plain & Simple Shirtdress in a gorgeous, super-soft corduroy. The photo doesn’t do it justice!

Hot Patterns Mega-Shopper January 15, 2007

I didn’t intend to make a piece of luggage when I started the HotPatterns Mega-Shopper, but in the end, that’s pretty much what I got! This is a Very Large Bag - the finished size is 16 x 7 x 12 inches.

Thank goodness for Diva Ann - I had to finish this up on her industrial machine, because my Bernina 180 just didn’t have the horsepower to sew through all the layers. And we still broke a leather needle!  The end result is not even close to perfect, but I like it anyway.

 There are 4 layers to this bag: The red wool twill, a canvas fused to the twill, heavy nonwoven double sided interfacing (thankfully there a use for this stuff 0utside of *gag* fabric bowls) and lightweight cotton fused to the second side of the double fusible. All of this structure the enables the bag to stand upright. The bottom of the bag is upholstery grade leather. Inside, between the leather bottom and the lining, is a piece of 1/8 inch thick Masonite with another piece of the heavy fusible glued on top to soften the surface a bit. The Masonite keeps the bag from falling over.

The inside photo shows you just how large this bag really is - I could easily carry a small dog. The original pattern had some interior pockets, and I added a few more. There is a large zipper pocket all across one interior side, two smaller pockets opposite, a gusset for a wine bottle or other tall item, and a swivel hook for my keys. In a bag this large, without the swivel, my keys would drop to the bottom like an anchor.

Aside from the challenge of such heavy materials, this bag really isn’t hard to put together, and using a lighter weight fashion fabric would make sewing much easier.  One thing I will do, if I ever make something like this again, will be to sew the sides wrong sides together and just bind the edges. I noticed before I turned the bag out (which was quite a wrestling match) that the corners were nice and square. Now I know why big totes are often finished with binding.  That idea, however, will require some nice leather and an industrial grade binding foot to really make it look good - a project for another time.

 Ann and I will be in New York next week (stay tuned for some live blogging from the Garment District!), and I wanted a big tote for shopping. That was definitely achieved with the Mega-Shopper!
Phyllis