My Sewing Space

I feel like I don't have too much left to say about the jacket. I've been going on and on about it for awhile now. The cap of the sleeve has some issues. I found there to be a lot of ease in these sleeve caps. Other reviewers didn't note this as a problem, so it might have just been me struggling to set them in properly. I love the seams in the back. Nice details. I really like topstitching - the way it looks, not always doing it. It looks like I could have made the back smaller at the waist, but I like how it feels when wearing it. The pockets are too small to be useful. This was obvious from the pattern piece, but I didn't bother to change them. Useful or not, they are a nice detail. I used Connie Long's instructions in Easy Guide to Sewing Linings to draft a lining for the jacket. The front lining pieces consist of a yoke and a lower front piece. There is no vertical seam and no pleat as there is in the jacket. The back lining pieces are the same as the jacket ...

On Tuesday evening I moaned to the Preacher that this jacket was whipping my tail. I was in over my head. He laughed and told me that was good for me. I kindly thanked him for his empathy and encouragement and soldiered on. As I got closer and closer to the finished product, I got more and more excited about it and more confident that it would be successful. That was until I tried it on a couple of days ago and my four year old (but counting down the DAYS until she is five) daughter said, "Mom, you look silly in that." Sheesh. Thanks. I can't wait for this one to become a teenager. I did finally finish it last night. Overall, I am happy with it. I don't have any pictures of me wearing it today, just detail shots. Buttons and Buttonholes I bought the buttons in NY. They could be more exciting, but it is a pretty casual jacket and I think they work pretty well. If I were doing this jacket over, I would make the bound buttonholes narrower. That would be easy...

Over the course of the weekend I've made some progress on the jacket. I made the lining pattern and cut it out, did the bound buttonholes, and attached the facings and upper collar. It's been awhile since I've made a notched collar. I think I'll finish the inside of the buttonholes tonight while watching a movie (a tradition the Preacher and I maintain). I didn't take any close-up shots - this picture doesn't really look all that different from the last one. There is still quite a bit left to do, but I'm hoping to finish it this week.

So I did get the muslin cut out and put together last night. I cut a size 12 (based on the body measurements given on the envelope) with no changes before cutting it out. I think I'll go down to a 10 and add some length for the real thing. I don't like struggling to get my jacket on over my clothes, but the fabric I'm going to use is a stretch twill, so it will have some give. The front: The back: Side view: From the side you can see that there is a bit of a wrinkle/caving at the shoulder on the sleeve. I think making it smaller will help that. I'm wondering about the sleeves. They are supposed to be cropped and I like the shape, but I don't know if I will like that for outerwear. I'm going to let that simmer for the rest of the day.

This jacket might take me awhile. I’m going to use Vogue 8480 . I started playing around with making bound buttonholes. I found a good method in Threads #95. You make a faced window with organza (or a lining fabric). They recommend stitching over graph paper – this works really well for getting all the buttonholes the same size. I printed some with very small squares – 4/cm from here . Clip, turn the facing and then fuse the buttonhole lips in place with a bit of fusible web on the back side to hold them in place while you sew them down. So easy and looks good. I’m excited. The method allows for different looking buttonholes (like the one in the middle) but I think I’ll just stick with the traditional one on the right. This is how the article recommends finishing the back. Pretty simple – cut a slit, fold back the edges and stitch it down by hand. I did this one after removing the basting threads holding the buttonhole lips together. It would be much easier if they were sti...