Rust Orange Fall Jacket

Well, I suppose it's about time that I've posted this, since I made this garment in September and have had the photos floating around on my computer's "desktop" for quite some time now! I needed a jacket to wear this past fall, and PatternReview.com just happened to have a jacket-making contest in progress at the time, so I decided to enter with this project. Even though I didn't win the end, I really enjoyed being part of it because it motivated me to actually finish the jacket in time to wear it in the fall, and it was fun to watch what the other contestants made, as well. Anyhow, here are the pictures:






Here's a copy of the review I wrote for this project at Pattern Review (for a link to the original, click here):

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Pattern Description:
"Semi-fitted, double-breasted jackets A, B with princess seams, notched collar and lapel, sleeve variations and belt." I made view B, which is entirely lined.

Pattern Sizing:
Misses' 6-8-10-12-14. My measurements correspond with those of size ten, but after comparing them with the finished garment measurements printed on the tissue, I cut a size six. This pattern seems to have a generous amount of ease in the main jacket body, so I'd recommend checking the amount of ease to help determine the correct size.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
Yes, I believe it did.

Were the instructions easy to follow?
Yes, they were very comprehensive. I followed them loosely for the main construction of the jacket body, but I followed separate instructions for making and inserting the lining (more about this below).

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
First of all, I like the style lines of the jacket. I also like that the under collar is cut from two pieces on the bias and that the under collar and lapel facing pieces have already been adjusted for the turn-of-cloth. Perhaps these features aren't too uncommon among jacket patterns, but it's helpful when this work has already been done.

One thing that bothered me, however, was the sleeve, as it did not fit in as smoothly as I would have liked it to. Even when testing the pattern in muslin, it was difficult to smooth out all the puckers in the sleeve cap. Before cutting into the fashion fabric, I measured the seam lines of the sleeve and armhole to see if the amount of ease might be reduced, but after finding only about 1-inch of ease, I decided to leave it be and make the best of it in the construction process.
The back notches also did not align on the sleeve and armhole pieces, and in the sleeve there was not quite enough length of seam line to fit the armhole at the back underarm. As a "quick fix" for this issue, I let out the top of the sleeve's seam by about 3/16" to 1/4" in the back only. Other than this issue, however, the rest pattern fit together beautifully.

Fabric Used:
A tightly woven cotton/nylon blend with a "peach skin" finish on the right side; it was somewhat difficult to penetrate when sewing by hand, and it was easily marred by pinholes, making minimal hand sewing ideal for this project. The lining is a "silky" polyester fabric with a coordinating print.

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made:
Fitting Changes:
As mentioned above, I cut the jacket body two sizes smaller due to the generous amount of ease, but after making a test garment, I found that I still needed the larger sized armholes and sleeves. To correct this, I used the size 10 pattern lines (still intact) to trace a larger armhole into the size 6 jacket body.

In addition, I reduced the amount of fullness in the darted princess seams (SBA), made my typical short waist adjustment, and added 3/8" shoulder pads to improve the fit of the shoulders and sleeves. The pattern doesn't call for shoulder pads, but my garment needed them to correct some "drooping" at the back underarm.

Design and construction changes:
To start, I interfaced the front of the jacket with batiste, rather than using a fusible interfacing on the front facing as the pattern says. For added structural shaping, I also fused interfacings to several areas of the batiste. This is repeated in the under collar pieces, as well (click here for a photo).

For further structural support, I made a back stay from broadcloth, fused the sleeve caps with a knit interfacing cut on the bias, and inserted sleeve heads and shoulder pads.

After seaming the jacket front to the side front panel, I also taped the lapel roll line to prevent stretching and help the lapels roll smoothly.

For the lining, I followed the instructions in Claire Shaeffer's High Fashion Sewing Secrets From the World's Best Designers to alter the pieces for "bagging." In addition to instructions for creating a back neck facing, the book shows how to alter the shoulder slope and sleeve cap to accommodate shoulder pads, as well as how to make the lining's armhole sit slightly higher so that it won't bunch up inside the garment's armhole. The result is a lining that fits smoothly inside the jacket (this information can be found on pages 140-142 and was very helpful, so I definitely recommend it). At this time, I also took the opportunity to change the lining sleeve from two pieces to once piece. The second seam is only an ornamental feature for this pattern, so eliminating it simplified the construction.

To attach the lining, I also used the Shaeffer book's instructions for bagging a jacket, which involves sewing the lining into the garment almost entirely by machine and turning the jacket right side out through the sleeve seams, which are left partially open for that purpose. Afterward, the openings are edgestitched closed to completely finish the inside of the garment.

Finally, I finished all the hems by machine-topstitching them in place, rather than stitching them by hand. As a finishing touch, I used small buttons against the front facing to reinforce the outer buttons.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
Even though I like this jacket, I probably won't be making another one in the near future, as I don't really need two of them. I would recommend it to others, though, along with making a muslin to fine-tune the fit.

Conclusion:
Overall, I'm happy with the way that this pattern turned out, and aside from the little issue with the sleeves, the construction was fairly straightforward. The design is very cute, and with a belt to cinch in the waist, it would look wonderful paired with a full skirt :-)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chocolate Corduroy Jacket

Here are a few pictures of a chocolate colored jacket made of pinwale corduroy, using Butterick 5253. I made view B, but substituted the collar from view D, rather than making a mandarin collar.





Materials Used
-Pinwale corduroy (the photos represent the actual color but are somewhat dark; here is a better picture)
-Cotton broadcloth
-Fusible interfacing
-Champagne colored polyester lining
-Thread
-Self-covered buttons
-Shoulder pads (1/4")

Fitting Alterations
I didn't make a test garment for this jacket, but I had anticipated needing to make an SBA, so I altered the pattern for it before cutting into the fabric. I typically take a tuck in the pattern for my short waist, but since this jacket is not particularly fitted in that area, I didn't need to make any adjustments for it this time.

The jacket was much too loose when I tried it on after sewing the side and shoulder seams, so I took it in at the back princess seams. I actually had to remove quite a bit, but it seemed to do the trick ;)

Cutting and Construction
When cutting out the under-collar, I placed the pattern on the bias and added 3/8" to the center back edge to allow for a seam. I didn't actually intend to do this when I started cutting, but I ran short of fabric and it was the only way it would fit. Funny that it should work out that way!
Also, when cutting the sleeve ruffles, I wasn't sure that I wanted make them quite as gathered as in the illustration, so I reduced the length of the pattern piece by a slight amount. It ended up fitting on the layout perfectly, without an inch to spare (I was literally "cutting it close" with this garment!).

For the construction process, I basically followed the pattern directions to the end, except for a few slight detours. The first was using broadcloth for interfacing rather than a fusible, since I was working with corduroy. I wanted it to have additional support in the button/loop area, though, so I fused a strip of lightweight interfacing to the broadcloth along the center front edges. After that, I basted the broadcloth to the corresponding corduroy panels.
The second "detour" was trimming the under collar by 1/8" at the outer edges before seaming it to the upper collar to pull the seam under slightly. Finally, I did a bit of hand under-stitching at the center front edge, on the under collar seam, and at the back neckline, where the lining joins the collar.

Overall, this pattern worked pretty well for me. It probably would have been helpful if I had made a "muslin" to determine the necessary fitting changes before starting to sew, but I was able to adjust it during construction. Other than that, it's a relatively straightforward pattern, I'm satisfied with the results, and I'd recommend it to others as well.

Pictures of the Velveteen Jacket

I have finally taken pictures of the velveteen jacket that I finished after Christmas. This is the third jacket that I made using McCall's 5058 -- this pattern has gone through so much use that it is nearly in shreds!

Here is a view of the front:


A view of the side/front:


Another view of the side/front:


Back view:


Bound buttonholes. Unfortunately, they gape a wee bit.


I found these buttons at Wal-Mart.


I'm sorry the details aren't very evident in these photos -- it can be difficult to capture them all when the jacket is black! This jacket has all of the same details as the other jackets, though, so if you look at the pictures of the other garments that I made using this pattern, you can see what shape the collar and lapels are.

This jacket was made using a 100% cotton velveteen, and it is lined with black cotton batiste (cotton/polyester blend). If I were to make this jacket again, however, I would not line it with batiste. I didn't really realize how how it tends to cling to other fabrics or articles of clothing that I wear under the jacket! It is comfortable if worn over a sleeveless top, though.

Another thing that I learned while making this jacket is that it is probably best to use a heavier interfacing. You can't really see it in the picture, but the side/front princess seams on the jacket pucker slightly, and the roll line of the collar and lapels isn't quite as smooth as it should be. I'm under the impression that it isn't recieving enough support from the interfacing, becuase the interfacing that I used is very light-weight and is really only suitable for light-weight fabrics (my velveteen would probably fall under the catagory of medium-weight). The fusible interfacing that I used on the denim jacket was quite heavy, but it was compatible with the weight of demin and it worked very well.

I had originally intended to top stitch all of the seams with a single line of stitching a 1/4" away from each seam, but after trying it on a few seams, I found that I liked it without the top stitching, so I left the seams plain.

I followed the instructions in the pattern without making any changes, except I sewed the side seams after sewing the collar to the jacket, rather than sewing the side seams first, in order to make the collar application easier. I also added a little extra width to sleeve from the elbow area to the sleeve hem, to yeild a little more room for movement.

If you have any questions, let me know by posting a comment. I'll post again soon with more projects.

-Rebekah

More about the second jacket. . .

Here is the promised information on the denim jacket pictured in the previous post.

I made this jacket using McCall's 5058, a single-breasted jacket pattern sized for junior adults. I made the jacket using a medium-weight denim, and I lined it with pink calico.

When I started planning this project, one of my biggest questions was how and where I was to add topstitch detailing to the garment. I wanted it to look professional, so I looked for pictures of jackets online that had similar design features to my pattern. I also observed ready-to-wear jackets that I saw in stores, and when I finally started to figure out how I wanted to embellish my jacket with stitches, I drew a sketch of my garment, depicting the placement of the topstitching. This helped me visualize what I was about to do, even though I'm not an artist when it comes to drawing. I concluded that I would have a double row of topstitching on all of the main seams: the side front, side, side back, center back, shoulder and sleeve seams. The collar and lapels would feature a double row as well, and the hems would be stitched in place with a single line of stitches 5/8 of an inch away from the folded edge. I did later change my mind, however, and stitch only a single row of topstitching on the edge of the collar and lapels after deciding that I didn't really like the look of the double row on that seam. For the most part, though, the jacket was constructed according to my original plans.

For a double row of stitching on the outside of the seams, I often use a method called a "quick flat-fell seam" from Claire B. Shaeffer's book, The Complete Book of Sewing Short Cuts. It involves folding and stitching in such a way that mimics the felled seams made by professional double needle machines, and it also encases the raw edges of the seam allowances so that they cannot seen from the wrong side of the garment. I could not use this method on the curved seams of the jacket, however, for when you use this method, the seam allowances cannot be be clipped, whereas princess seams must be clipped so they will lie smoothly. So for the curved seams of the jacket, I stitched the seam the seam as I normally would, pressed it to one side, topstitched a single row very close to the seam, and then I topstitched another row 1/4" away from the first row of topstitching. I had to be very careful when sewing the second line so that the distance between the lines would remain exactly 1/4 of an inch. This way of topstitching is not quite as thick as the "quick flat-fell seam," but looks similar, and even though it may not be the way a professional would have sewn a curved seam, it looked close enough to suit my purposes.

In order to create uninterrupted lines of topstitching, I did not backstitch on the outside of the garment. Instead, I simply drew the thread ends to the wrong side of the garment and with a hand sewing needle and tied them in a secure knot.

As you can see from the pictures in the previous post, I made bound buttonholes in the front of the jacket rather than regular buttonholes. I followed the intstructions on making bound buttonholes in the New Complete Guide To Sewing, after interfacing the main front section and before completing any other seams. I also hand understitched the collar/lapel facing seam after grading the seam and turning it right side out. The instructions don't say to understitch this seam, but I think it helps thin out the edges and reduce unwanted bulk.

Conveniently, the only fit alteration that I needed to make to the pattern was to widen the sleeves a bit, so that I would have more room to bend my arms. I simply added a little width to the seam from the elbow area to the sleeve hem.

When I sewed on the buttons to complete the jacket, I used a Claire Shaeffer's instructions for a braided button stem, which can be found in her book, Couture Sewing Techniques (can you tell I like her books?). This method involves strengthening the button stem so that it will not flop over when the garment is unbuttoned.

For someone wanting to do a similar project, I would recommend always making a sample out of scraps to practice topstitching techniques on (and if making bound buttonholes, it's a good idea to test those as well). Practicing all of the techniques that I planned to use simply helped me gain confidence and prevent ripping out stitches later on, because I was able to preview the results, and it helped me adjust stitch lengths and machine tensions, as well.

Well, that's all I can think to say for now. If any part of this post doesn't seem comprehensive, or if you have any questions, simply post a comment below ;)

By the way, I have finished yet a third jacket using this pattern, but I'm rather busy so I'm not sure when I'll have time to post pictures.

Second Jacket is Finished!

Here are the photos of the second jacket that I made using McCall's 5058. This jacket is fashioned of a medium weight denim and embellished with topstitch detail.







A picture of the bound buttonholes at the center front:


The jacket is lined with pink calico.


I also added topstitching to the sleeve seam.


I hope to provide more information on this project soon!

Details of the Tailored Jacket

I Thought I'd take the time to explain the project that I showed in the previous post. I've added a few more pictures to show the inside of the jacket and the lining.

First off, I must say that I am no where near being an experienced tailor; this is the first jacket that I have ever tailored. When I started toying with the idea of learning to tailor a jacket, one book in particular, The Zapp Method of Couture Sewing, grabbed my interest. The author, Anna Zapp, shows how to tailor a jacket using a method called "fuse tailoring," which basically involves using a fusible hair canvas to shape the garment and molding it while the interfacing is being fused. This is the method I had originally thought of using, but after a while I became busy and I didn't have time to start such a large project, and the idea was put "on the back burner," so to speak. Later on when I was not as busy, however, I started to think about tailoring again, only this time I wanted to learn custom tailoring, in which the traditional hand methods are used. The more home seamstresses that I read about online who talked about using traditional methods, the more I wanted to try it. I knew that many of them were advanced by their years of experience, but I figured that if I wanted to be able to do it well someday, I would have to start somewhere, so I decided to give it a try.

Next, I set out in search of reliable instructions on the subject. I rummaged through various library books, and, after looking through a few of them, I selected the Reader's Digest's The New Complete Guide to Sewing and Claire B. Shaeffer's Couture Sewing Techniques. I liked The New Complete Guide To Sewing for it's thorough, detailed, and comprehensive directions, and I had grown very fond Couture Sewing Techniques after borrowing it a few times, and figured that with Claire's extensive knowledge of couture methods, it wouldn't hurt to use it as a supplement to the first book that I mentioned. For the actual construction of the jacket, I followed the Reader's Digest (RD) book pretty closely, but I used Claire's advice while attaching the bridle*, pad stitching the lapels, and taping the front seamline.

Finally, here are a few additional snapshots:









In these photos, you can see a close-up photo of the bound buttonholes at the center front. Unfortunately, the pictures don't really show the pleat in the center back seam of the lining or in the lining hem :(
Note: These photographs were taken with a flash, so the lining appears to be somewhat illuminated.

Materials used: Fashion fabric - Bouclé (50% Wool, 50% Acrylic), Lining - Plum colored lining fabric (100% Polyseter), Hair canvas - medium weight (60% Wool, 40% Goat hair), Bridle - I actually didn't use bridle. I used 1/4" white twill tape as a substitute (100% Cotton), Sleeve heading - Polyester fleece.

The jacket isn't entirely perfect; I encountered a few difficulties, such as areas that seemed to pucker and imperfections in a few places (the notch of the collar and lapels, for instance), but I suppose that could very well be expected of my first jacket.

One tip that I would offer to other beginning tailors (based on the experience error) is to choose a fabric that is easy to work with yet still compatible for tailoring when starting your first project. A wool gabardine** or twill would probably be among the better choices. When I chose to use bouclé for my jacket, I did not realize how difficult it would be to handle. It was not impossible, but the fact that it was spongy, bulky, and frayed badly made it difficult to stitch and press. Areas of construction such as attaching the collar to the jacket and facing the lapels require precise stitching, and stitches have a way of hiding in bouclé that makes them hard to see or remove. My fabric also required special pressing techniques which caused me to spend more time worrying about protecting my fabric from the iron than actually molding the jacket and learning how to shape it.

This is all I can think to say on the subject at the moment, but if you have any additional questions as to how I made this jacket, post a comment and let me know!


*If you're not familiar with the term "bridle" as I mentioned it above, bridle is a particular sort of narrow cotton tape that is used in tailoring to prevent unwanted stretching in areas such as the roll line of the lapels.

**ETA: When I originally wrote this post, I mentioned gabardine as being easier to press than bouclé. I was mistaken, however, because gabardine can be difficult to handle, as well. Sorry for the confusion! I guess I'm always learning!

Tailored jacket is finally finished!

Just posting a few pictures of my tailored jacket , which I've previously mentioned it in my "Playing Tailor" post, as well as my "Pressing Bouclé Fabric" post. I finally sewed the buttons on today, after the jacket clothed my dress form for a few weeks while waiting for me to find buttons that suited my taste. I actually ended up using self-fabric covered buttons because I couldn't find anything else for the moment. This project was completed in a little over a month, and I worked on it whenever I found the time. Here are a few pictures:







You can find a few details about the fabric/information used to make the jacket in the two links that I mentioned above, and if you have any questions, you can them post by leaving a comment :) I'm also in the process of making a second jacket using the same pattern used to make this one, except I won't be tailoring it because I don't have the time/resources, and the type of fabric that I'm using cannot really be tailored. Hopefully I'll be able to give more details on the construction (and possibly more photos) at some other time -- they are too numerous to mention now ;)
I really enjoyed this project, even though it was a bit of a challenge at times, but I suppose that could be expected of my first tailoring project!

Note: I'm sorry that the photo quality is not as good as it could be -- a few of my pictures turned out to be more blury than I had expected.

Pressing Boucle Fabric

Last night I was able to start officially start my tailoring project (that is, if cutting out the fabric doesn't count), and the first step was to assemble the front and back pieces (i.e., sew the side front panels to the center front panels, and sew the center back seam, ect.). So far, so good. I still need to sew the side back pieces to the main panel of the back.

Claire Shaeffer warns in her fabric books that bouclé can easily be damaged by improper pressing, so I test pressed the fabric, and found that the following method seems to be the most suitable for my material:

1) Cover a dressmaker's/tailor's ham with a thick terry towel (this will help to retain the texture of the fabric and keep it from becoming matted flat).

2) Place the item that is to be pressed over the towel.

3) Cover the bouclé with a self-fabric press cloth, and press the fabric as needed. If you're pressing open a seam, press the seam flat as it was when it was sewn, then finger-press the seam open. (Hint: Because my fabric's fibers are 50% acrylic, I used an extra press cloth of cotton muslin over the self-fabric press cloth to prevent the fabric from being scorched. This was very handy while I was finger pressing, because I could rotate the muslin immediately after I removed the iron from the material's surface, so that I would not have to touch hot fabric).

4) Immediately after pressing a section of the fabric (and without removing the fabric from the pressing surface), remove the press cloth(es) and hover the iron close to the material's surface and steam it generously (this will help restore the texture of the fabric). Do not move the fabric until it is cool and dry.

These instructions are basically what I learned from Claire Shaeffer's fabric books. If you'd like to try this, please do remember that my fabric is 50% Wool and 50% Acrylic, and these pressing directions are suited to my fabric, so I'd recommend test-pressing your fabric before trying this method on an actual project :)

This is one of the reasons that I only completed several seams last night -- I spent more time in front of the ironing board than I spent at the sewing machine!

-Rebekah

Playing Tailor :)

I'm finally about to start my first tailoring job! I'm so exited that I can barely wait -- the only thing holding me back are the rest of the supplies that I have to buy. I've purchased a two yard length of bouclé fabric from Fashion Fabrics Club -- here's a picture:



You can find specific information on the fabric here. I'm using McCall's 5058 for the pattern, but I'm following the basic tailoring instructions from the Reader's Digest New Complete Guide to Sewing, and following also the the advice on tailoring written by Claire B. Shaeffer in her book, Couture Sewing Techniques. I've started practicing making bound buttonholes, which I've never done before. It's pretty simple once you "get the hang of it," though doing bound buttonholes with bouclé fabric, as I've discovered, can be a challenge! The fabric is rather thick, does not readily hold a crease, and frays excessively, so I'm making the sort of bound buttonhole with cording inserted in the welts. After practicing on several pieces of scrap fabric I've finally become used to the way it's supposed work, and I would post a picture of one of my little test buttonholes, but the camera is currently unavailable :( Oh, well. I'll keep posting!