Sew Distracted

Siimplicity4047 - Jacket

The black and white jacket is done (finally).

The pattern is a reprint of a vintage style swing jacket with cut-on kimono sleeves.

The pattern seems to be well drafted and went together well.  The only tricky part is the way the neckline is designed,  where the collar is cut in one with the front, involving a right angle pivot.  I found one of the illustrations confusing here, although the directions were perfectly clear.  For me it was just easier to look at the garment and the pattern and it made sense.

The jacket turned out nicely, I like it, and I will wear it. 

Here are a couple of detail photos of the back:

I originally planned to use the same black and white trim I used above the peplum between the facing and the lining of the jacket, but when I started to put it in I felt it was too busy with the checked jacket fabric and the print of the lining.  In the end I left that transition unadorned:

Although I love the jacket, and am happy to be done with it, there are a few things I think I might do differently if I were to make it again.

To begin with, I have two basic fit issues:

First:  after making the muslin in San Francisco we decided that I needed to lengthen the peplum by 2" but not the bodice of the jacket.  Now it looks OK as is; it fits correctly and I tend to be short from shoulder to bust-point, so even though I am tall I don't usually have to lengthen patterns in that area, but the seam might look better a little lower.  I think a lower seam would reduce the appearance of length in the lower torso, especially when wearing pants.  After making another muslin, I would check the final length as I might lengthen the peplum as well.  I am not yet convinced this is the best length on me.

Secondly I added shoulder pads to the jacket even though they were not called for in the pattern.  This was another design decision based on the muslin.   My shoulders roll forward, one more so than the other.  On the muslin I had deep creases running from the shoulder line of the jacket.  I originally thought I could recut the bodice, redrawing and reshaping the darts to accommodate my personal fit anomalies.  Sandra had the brilliant idea that I could probably use the pattern as is and use shoulder pads to even out the inconsistencies in my own frame.  This does work well and the jacket looks good.  I used almost twice as much shoulder pad on the right as on the left, and it was a little tricky getting it positioned just right, but it makes a big difference.

BUT I am still not perfectly happy with how the shoulder hangs.  The collar does not lie symmetrically (because I am not symmetrical, and one side of the jacket is too big.  If I make this again I would cut a smaller size on the right front and have to do some finagling to get the sizes to match and reposition the darts.

The last problem I had with the garment is with the collar.  Oh it works well and was easy enough, I just have a design issue, which is of course compounded by the unevenness of the fit on me as discussed above.

In the pattern photograph shown above you see how nicely the jacket is shown with the collar turned up partially.  I had a good bit of trouble getting my collar to achieve this effect and lie smoothly.  I don't know if anyone else has had this problem, or if it was created merely by the addition of shoulder pads and my own asymmetrically, but I don't think this is the case.

Look at the line drawings:

Notice that in the sketch, the collar lies flat and is spread rather widely.  My jacket did that quite well:

But I didn't like the way it looked on me.  I liked the way it looked much better when I tried to flip the collar up more, but when I did so , the collar and front facing piece buckled and left rather unsightly wrinkles and bumps, quite visible to anyone standing within about 5 feet.  This was not acceptable. 

I checked reviews on pattern review  and noticed that there are a couple of reviews by more accomplished seamstresses than I, neither of whom mentioned having any problem with the collar.  But then, when I looked at their photos, I see that they both showed the garments with the collar down flat, as shown in the line drawing.

Either I messed up the construction, my fabric was not particularly suitable to the jacket, or there is a problem with the way the collar and facing go together if one wants the collar to stand up more.

Luckily the wool was pretty amenable to shaping with steam and although I did not get the collar I wanted, I got a pretty acceptable alternative.  I spent a lot of time at my ironing board with the jacket on Matilda, a roll of wool, a pressing roll and my handy silicone Orka oven glove, steaming and shaping the collar.  I eliminated most of the wrinkles and got the collar to stand, forming more of a roll than a jaunty angle, but it was enough.

Despite this, and despite the fact that I spent a lot more time on this than I originally planned, I am pretty excited about the jacket.  It was supposed to be a quick jacket to wear while I lost weight.  It still is; it is not perfect but it is good enough.  Someday I will learn that I am really happiest when I spend the time to make separate pattern pieces for left and right side, and spend more time altering and perfecting patterns.  But I, like most of us I suspect, sometimes just want to sew and not have to fret with pattern making.    The problem with coming back to sewing is that I have to make a whole new set of base patterns and that is a lot of work, work I usually, but not always, enjoy. 

Finally, here is a picture of me in the jacket.  I am not sure it is the most flattering thing I have ever made, but I love it anyway as does G, and in the end, I suppose we are the only ones whose opinions matter:

One of the good things about going to sewing camp is I learn lots of new ways to "get by" and pull a project out of the fire without going through extensive machinations.  And the results are often good.  If I hadn't started this under Sandra's watchful eye, I would have struggled much more with the fit, and I am not sure I would have been happier with the final result. 

A success!

Black and White

The outer shell of the Simplicity jacket has been completed.  I need only to cut out and assemble the lining before finishing the jacket. 

It is turning out quite nicely.  Here is a little teaser, a photo of the black and white trim between bodice and the peplum of the jacket.  No little surprise of color here.

Promises, Promises

I had a good weekend overall preparing for the Holiday season and puttering about with several projects.  I also resumed work on the jacket, later than I had originally anticipated, but I don't regret the delays; I was having fun with other projects.

I didn't start until after dinner Sunday night, probably around 9, so I did not finish construction of the outer jacket. The bodice is constructed and hanging (loosely) on Alyssa Rhiannon, who is currently hiding in the closet guarding the Christmas gifts:

I decided to interface the peplum of the jacket although the pattern instructions do not call for this.  It just seemed a little floppy without the extra support.  The peplum pieces are all interfaced and ready to go and I should be able to attache them in my next sewing session.

I am determined to continue working on this regularly, and to make time for sewing a priority.  I know I have said this before, and it hasn't gotten me anywhere, and I also realize that the Christmas season may not be the best time to begin a new schedule, but it's worth a shot.  Worst comes to worst December can be my practice month and by January I will be fully geared up and ready to sew.

First Day on the Jacket: a slow start

Finally, construction has begun on the jacket!  But first, there were still a few details to sort out.

I originally cut this jacket while I was in San Francisco at Sandra Betzina's sewing camp.    It is not a particularly constructed jacket, the upper bodice and back are cut as one piece with the sleeves, and it is not difficult to make.  For this reason, and because I must share cutting table space with the 9 other camp attendees, I did not spend as much time as I often do when cutting out patterns and my project choices for sewing camp were planned with this in mind.  I squared up the fabric meticulously and was very careful about placement of the pattern pieces on the fabric, but I did not thread trace or mark the stitching lines as I often  do, and I used dressmaker's carbon for all markings.  Since I left camp early, the entire project was packed up and placed in a ziploc bag, pattern still attached to the pieces.

Because of the delay between cutting and construction I wanted to be certain I understood what had been done before and the plan for the jacket.  I separated out the pieces, checked that all the markings were in place, removed the pattern tissue, and stacked the pieces together in order of construction use so that I would not spend time later on trying to find specific pieces.

The pattern instructions start with the darts in the upper front piece.  One dart extends to the edge of the fabric and adds shoulder shaping and the other date is completely within the fabric and adds shaping at the neck.  I don't always sew darts first, no matter what the pattern instructions state, but in this case it seems the prudent way to begin.

I started with the neck dart:

The instructions are pretty clear on this point, stating to start pinning at the center of the dart, and then to sew the dart in two passes, from the center to the tips.  This is normally the way I would sew a dart of this shape as it is the only way to gaurantee that the dart is not distorted in sewing. 

To begin, I placed a pin in the center of the dart, making sure that the lines on both sides were perfectly aligned.   Then I pinned out from the center to the tips of the dart.  Notice that I used an orange pin to mark the center, and I was careful not to use orange pins in any other part of the dart.  I also used blue pins exclusively to mark the points. 

By using the orange pin to mark the center, I immediately knew where to start stitching the first time I put the dart in the machine:

Notice that the needle is actually a little behind the center pin, which I am about to remove.  When I stitch the other half of the dart I will again start a little beyond the center to insure that there will be no weakness or pulling stitches at the center of the dart.     Since I am so easily distracted, I need little markers like this to act as reminders. 

I use blue pins at the end of the dart to remind me that I am coming to the edge of the fabric (and yes I know it is pretty obvious).  The blue pin reminds me that I am going to turn down my stitch length as I approach the end of the dart, probably first going down to 1.5 mm and then to 1mm by the time I am a few stitches from the edge. 

I used the same technique of using blue pins at the end of the shoulder darts as well, even though these were stitched straight down from the edge of the fabric (shoulder seam).  The darts are longer and I am still not always likely to pay attention,  the end of the dart can creep up before I expect it, so subtle little reminders like this really help me focus.

After all the darts were sewn they had to be pressed.   I always press the darts first with the right sides together to meld the stitches, only then do I open the fabric and press the dart into its final position.  Since each of these darts created a curve in the fabric the final pressing had to be done on my tailor's ham and I very carefully folded the dart in place, holding it with my left hand while I pressed with my right, trying to ensure that there was no excess folding of the fabric or bubbles or dimples at the points.  This fabric is a wool blend with some synthetic fibers and it tends to stick to the iron.  It is very important to remember to use a press cloth; I usually use silk organza so that I can see through it as I work, and it takes the heat well.  After pressing, I leave the fabric on the ham to cool and dry before moving it to press the next section.  Although the darts were small, I could not press each dart in its entirety in one pass, so significant time accumulated, allowing me to write my notes.

Even on a relatively simple project like this, more time is spent checking that everything is aligned, pinning, and pressing than in the actual sewing.  I remain convinced that the meticulousness pays off, although even I can admit that perhaps I carry things too far (colored-coded pins after all are a little excessive).

After the darts were sewn in the front pieces it was time to serge the edges. Now I know that I am not “supposed” to serge the edges before stitching the garment but I do. I am usually really careful with this step; usually I have marked my stitching lines, either with chalk, pastels or by making tailor’s tacks. But this is supposed to be a quick project and I cut and marked it at camp. I did not mark the stitching lines. So I am very careful to serge right at the edge of the fabric eliminating none or as little of the seam allowance as possible.

Usually serging the pieces is the first thing I do after marking everything because I hate working with the raveled edges of fabric. On this jacket however, I sewed the darts at the shoulder first because I thought the edge would be two bulky if I had six layers of serged edges at the center shoulder. By serging after I have sewn and pressed the darts I get a nice flat seam. Of course if I made a mistake with the darts, this will be much more difficult to correct, but that is why I made a muslin first, to correct any issues with the darts before I started making the final garment. Hopefully I did everything correctly and this will work out well.

All this fuss over pinning and pressing, plus the fact that I had forgotten to thread the serger before I started, means that I spent 2 hours just getting the two upper front pieces ready for the next step of construction and the next step will have to wait.

 

Interfacing the Jacket

I carved out a little time to work on my jacket today, very little time, but now I should be set to actually begin to sew.

Today was interfacing day.

Simplicity 4047 is not a highly structured jacket.  The primary areas to be interfaced are the front facings, back neck facings and the sleeve facings.  I did not interface the sleeve facings today because I am not sure how I am handling the sleeves.

First, however a decision had to be made as to what interfacing to use.    My old standby interfacings for collars cuffs and facings have been Armo Weft and Fusi Knit but I have occasionally used other things as well.  As interfacing varies on each fabric, and I have several interfacings in house at the moment, a little test run seemed feasible.

Fusi Knit             Made the fabric seem thick and oddly stiff.

Suitmaker 660   Did not seem to "thicken" the feel of the fabric but it was almost too crisp for the style

Armani Interfacing from Sandra Betzina -- made the fabric seem too thick and bulky. 

Armo Weft  was very nice, support but the hand changed very little, less on the bias than on the straight of the front, but all in all a nice feel to the finished result.   Pam's Pro Weft seems to be the same interfacing or so similar that I haven't really been able to tell the difference on any test so far.  However, since I have two bolts of Armo Weft (purchased when I mostly sewed jackets) I might as well stick to that for now.

I had just enough Armo Weft washed to interface this jacket.  Once the interfacing was applied and left to cool, I washed several more yards of Armo Weft and hung it up to dry as I have a few more jackets and coats in the plans.

I don't think I will get any further with this tonight.  It is time to get to work on dinner and Monday was so hectic I did not get to the ironing.  Tonight's plan calls for televison and ironing.  If I finish before I fall over in exhaustion I may come up and start sewing, but more likely I will just knit.