Herringbone Coat: the Shoulder Pads

When purchasing some of the materials my coat, I found a pair of "needle punch" shoulder pads. They are made from graduated layers of soft batting, sandwiched between two layers of felt. The pads have been needle-punched from the top, to send small fibers of each layer into the layer below, helping to hold all of the layers together. They're made especially for tailoring and are very flexible, so I know they'll work much better than some of the foam pads that I've used in the past.

 The only problem with them was the thickness. They were sold unpackaged and I was told that they were 1/2" thick, which is what my pattern called for. They did look a bit thicker than 1/2," but I couldn't find any that were thinner, so I went ahead and purchased them. When I checked the measurement at home, they were at least 3/4"! As nice as they were, using a thicker pad can change the fit of the jacket, and for a while I wasn't sure if I would use them. After a bit of experimenting, however, I found that these pads can be altered.

Here's a top view of the unaltered pad. The felt layer is perforated where it's been punched.

Side view of the batting. Too thick!

To alter it, I carefully pried the top layer of felt loose from the pad and separated a layer of batting, bringing it to the desired thickness.

            I slowly pulled out the separated section, leaving the bottom layer 1/2" thick.

To finish the pad, I pressed the top layer of felt against the filling and held it in a curved position while using diagonal basting stitches secure the layers together.

Now the pads are ready to be used for my coat! I'm still in the process of making some extra pattern pieces for the interfacings, but I will try to post soon and share some of the details about the muslin.

Herringbone Coat Project

I know it's been a long time since I've last updated. . . a very long time! My life over these past months has gotten rather busy, so I haven't been very prolific at blogging, to say the least! However, I have still managed to do bits of sewing here and there, and I would still love to share it on my blog. Over the coarse of this year, my projects have branched out to custom sewing jobs and alterations for others, and I've even started teaching sewing classes over this summer. I've still been making a few pieces for myself, too, including a summer dress from Simplicity 2180 (I need to take some pictures!).

 Now that winter is fast approaching, I'm working on making a wool coat. The one I currently wear has been needing a replacement for some time, so I've decided that this is the year to try my hand at making a new one! I've made jackets before, but this is my first actual coat. I would like to write a little series of blog posts through the making of this project, as sharing it here might just help motivate me to finish it more quickly, and perhaps there might be others out there who are interested in coat making who could follow along ;)

 For my pattern, I've chosen Butterick's new Butterick 5658 and will be making view B, pictured below.

So far my plans are to follow the design of the coat fairly close to the pattern, although I've opted to borrow a two-piece sleeve (and corresponding armhole) from a simplicity coat pattern that I have. Two-piece sleeves often have shaping that allows a freer range of motion than one-piece sleeves. Besides this, I'll be changing the construction a bit, to include more tailored details, as well.

 I already have nearly all the materials I need to get started. This past September my sister and I went to American Sewing Expo in Novi, Michigan, where I found a lightweight wool herringbone in the vending area. Most of the other materials came from a specialty fabric store.

This picture shows the wool, along with matching buttons, cotton twill tape for stabilizing, hair canvas for interfacing, and Bemberg rayon for lining. The buttons and lining didn't react to well to the camera flash, but they are both dark brown and do match the wool ;) Hopefully I can get better pictures of these materials as my posts progress. I'm also going to add a cotton flannel interlining to the inside to provide a little extra warmth.

 Up to this point, I've fitted a muslin and marked the collar/lapel roll line on the pattern tissue. The next step is to prepare all the materials and create a few extra pattern pieces for the interfacing, facing, and lining. In the next post, I'll show a few pictures the shoulder pads I'll be using.

Vogue 8663 - Teal Knit Dress

These photos (much belated, I'm afraid) are of a knit dress that I made back in late January/ early February. I haven't posted them until now because I'd hoped to take better ones, but as it looks like I probably won't be taking more in the near future, I'll just let my dress form do the modeling for this post. ;-)



The pattern for this dress is Vogue 8663, from the Very Easy Vogue collection. For the fabric, I used a teal cotton/spandex knit from Spandex World, basically the same type of fabric that I used for the Jalie camisoles (the color is actually a bit darker than shown in these photos).



As simple as the dress is, I did make some changes to both the pattern's fit and construction process. First, I made my typical short waist adjustment to the pattern tissue, removing 3/4" at the lines provided. Next, when cutting the material, I used size 10 for the upper bodice and sleeves, but left a little extra room in the side seams but cutting between sizes 10 and 12 on the bodice and skirt panels. I also eliminated the center back zipper by cutting the back pieces on the fold and added several inches to the hem, as well.

When assembling the dress, my construction differed from the instruction sheet quite a bit. I wasn't so sure about finishing the neckline with woven bias tape as suggested, so I tried experimenting with a 1/4" with clear elastic. Unfortunately, it did not work well and left me with a distorted and over-stretched neck opening. In the end, I decided to pick out the elastic and salvage the dress by stitching a self-fabric band to the neckline.



Aside from the neckline, I also changed the order of the garment construction. Instead of completing the bodice side seams and setting the sleeves "in the round" before adding the skirt, I started with the shoulder seams and neckline treatment. Next, I hemmed the sleeves and set them into the armholes, leaving all the side seams open until after I added the skirt panels, so that I'd be able to stitch the sleeve seam, underarm, bodice side seam and skirt side seam in one continuous line. This sequence simplified the assembly by making it easier to maneuver the panels through my serger -- especially when setting the sleeves.

When all this was complete, I did go back and tweak the bodice fit by taking in the front of the side seams at the underarm, to eliminate a bit of bagginess. Afterward, all it needed was a bit of trimming at the hem or a more flattering length.



Standing alone it was a bit plain, so I tried accessorizing the dress with a belt as illustrated on the pattern envelope. . .



. . . which really made a difference!

All in a Day's Work

Just a few shots of a knit top I made for my sister this past Saturday. I had some extra material left over from my scarf-collar top, so I put it to good use by cutting out another top from Simplicity 4076, identical to my orange version here. Since I had found a solution to my sleeve troubles with the last shirt, it went much faster this time, and I was able complete it in an afternoon (granted, I had already cut out the pieces for it earlier in the week). It looks like this just might have become a "tried 'n' true" pattern for me. :-)

More "Sewing with Jalie"

Since I've been working with knits more, lately, I've been trying to fill in some of the "gaps" in my wardrobe that I wasn't bold enough to face with my own sewing in the past. I have been needing some camisoles to pair with my tops, and since I liked the Jalie pattern that I used to make my scarf-collar top, I figured it couldn't hurt to try using 2564. This pattern calls for fold-over elastic to bind the top edges and make the straps, with the option of stitching it in place with a zig-zag stitch or a cover-stitch. The serger that I have cannot do cover-stitiching (it's a four thread), so near the end of last year I purchased a separate machine devoted to this purpose. Most of the work on these tops has to do with attaching the elastic, so this project has given me quite an opportunity to use my "new" cover-stitch machine and learn how to adjust the tensions and troubleshoot some threading issues.

Below are two tops I've made so far. The first one I left unlined and basically used to test the fit. Afterward, I made a second casmisole with a few revisions.





When making my first camisole, I cut it to the size that matched my bust measurement, as directed, though I made the top edge about half and inch higher to suit my preferences. The fit was okay, but the elastic was a bit snug at the underarm and the neckline needed a little tweaking to achieve the shape I wanted.
To be truthful, I think these two issues may be tied to my being somewhat smallish compared to average upper body sizes, so on a fuller busted person, this top would likely be filled out so that the neckline and elastic would fit more like the pattern photo. In other words, I don't think these are flaws in the pattern or its chart for elastic lengths; these are my own fitting quirks.



For camisole #2, I tried the lining, which worked nicely. I also made the neckline a little higher and the slightest bit more rounded. The changes in the neckline shape really aren't apparent when modeled by my dress form, but it does make a difference in the way they fit me ;-)
I did also allow for a little more slack in the fit of the elastic by increasing the cutting length and made the garment an inch longer, as well. Here's a peek at the lining:



I used fold-over elastic to finish the bottom edge of the lining, rather than regular elastic. When I first tried to attach it, it started to stretch out because it wasn't any shorter than the perimeter of the lining's edge, so I took in the elastic a little.

Below is my third camisole, waiting to be sewn. If you look closely, you can see my modifications to the front of the pattern.



For materials, I used a cotton/spandex blend from Spandex World and found the fold-over elastic and the bra slides at Sew Sassy Fabrics.

I'll try to keep things updated here as often as I can. I've been a bit busier now since I've been taking on sewing projects for other peolple. So even if I'm not posting here much, I am still sewing and hope to share a few pictures of a knit dress that I made sometime soon.

Simplicity 2492 - Bird Apron

Just thought I'd share a few photos of an apron that I made for my sister. Admittedly, this a project that I worked on in December, so these pictures are a little belated (better late than never, right?).





This design comes from Simpicity 2492, and I used quilter's cotton in coordinating prints. The pattern worked well, and I basically made the apron by the instructions, although I did cut the center back of the neckband on the fold, rather than cutting it in two pieces as the pattern suggests. This way, the apron slips over the head instead of having ties at the nape of the neck.



When sewing, I simply enclosed the edges with binding and skipped the reference to extending the binding to make the neck ties.



I made a second apron with this pattern, as well. Hopefully I'll be able to get a few pictures of it soon.

My first Jalie pattern

This is a top that I made over the holiday season and was my last "finished object" of this passing year. I've been wanting to get more practice with sewing knits on my serger, and since Jalie 2921 has earned many positive reviews, I though I'd give it a try. Here are my photos:



There is a scarf that is connected to the neckline that offers several tying options. Here I have it threaded through a slit in the front, and then knotted into a faux "gentleman's tie."





I used a cotton/polyester knit from JoAnn's . . . to be honest it was a little cheap, and as I found when cutting it out, the "horizontal" stripe was not perpendicular to the selvedge. Oh, well. It worked well enough to test this pattern; I cut the garment so that the stripes would be straight, and it still worked out in the end. The photos make the lighter stripe look blue, but it's actually a mint green color.

The pattern is fairly simple to put together, though I had a few tricky moments stitching the center front seam on the serger, since it has a slit left in it for the ties. Aside from this, though, it went together well and I really like this pattern. For those who are interested, I've included more information in my review for this top at PatternReview.com.

Happy New Year!

Just thought I'd put in one last blog entry before this new year (I've been having computer issues lately, so my posts have been few!). This is a dress I made to give as a Christmas gift this year. It's from a pattern called "Felicity's Pretty Clothes"; it was originally published by Pleasant Company for their 18-inch dolls, but now that it's been discontinued, it's available for free download at American Girl Playthings.



The pattern recommends taffeta, but it also worked for my dull-finish satin.



Instructions are included for making an alternate "stomacher" for the bodice, as well.



I love the pattern's dropped shoulder seams and shaped waist detail:



I even made one in pink!



The dress consists of three pieces (not including the alternate stomacher): dress, overskirt, and stomacher. The underskirt sits at the waist, and the dress fastens at the front where the stomacher piece snaps in place.



It's a neat little pattern, although the sleeve trim, skirt pleats and center back waist line can be somewhat tricky. The ribbon trim that goes around the neckline and down the front is pleated and sewn in place by hand, so it is a bit time consuming. One thing I wanted to mention, though, is that the doll for whom the dress is intended needs to be carefully measured and compared to the pattern's waist circumference. The amount of tummy fluff varies from doll to doll, and these patterns have basically no ease (even a doll needs a little wiggle room!) Overall, I really like this design. Aside from a few notions, I was able to make these dresses almost entirely out of scraps of leftover material.

Another Knit Top

Here's my second version of Simplicity 4076. This one has the same cut as my first top, in respect to the neckline and lengthened hem (see the details here), except this time around, I allowed a for bit more ease and tried a sleeve variation.





The fabric is a bright orange, cotton/lycra jersey knit from Fashion Fabrics Club. It actually has a bit more stretch than the material for the last top, and it's also "slinkier" than the other because it stretches in both lengthwise and crosswise directions. I pretreated it by machine washing and drying it twice to eliminate any significant shrinkage.

To construct the top, I followed the same basic steps as I did for the last one, but I wanted to have a little more wearing ease in the armhole and side seams, so I stitched using a 1/2" seam allowance instead of 5/8." Also, to stabilize the shoulder seams, I used clear elastic instead of seam binding.



When I altered the pattern for the sleeve, my original intent was to gather only the top part of the sleeve. I altered the pattern as pictured below:



My plans changed after I'd hemmed and set the sleeves; their fit was looser than I'd hoped, and they were a little droopy. :-( I decided to pick out the hem stitches and gather the lower edge to a band, similar to the finish of the neckline. In a way, I'm kind of glad it ended up happening as it did because I actually like the sleeve bands better.

Brown Knit Top

This is a brown and tan printed top, which I completed early last week, using Simplicity 4076 (view D) and a length of polyester jersey. As evidenced by the other projects I've posted, I haven't sewn much with knit materials in the past, mostly due to negative experiences in which my machine stretched them beyond recovery. Late last year, however, I was able to acquire a four-thread serger/overlock machine, which, coupled with a need for more tops and blouses, has given me a bit of incentive to try knit fabrics once again.



Pattern Changes
Since this top basically fits like a T-shirt, I didn't really need to make any fitting adjustments; my focus was more on learning to construct a garment with knit fabric. I did lengthen it by nearly three inches at the hemline, though, as well as bringing up the front of the neckline slightly. To raise it, I cut the neckline along the line for the largest size at the center front and blended it with the lines of the size ten, as shown below.



This caused the neckline opening to become slightly smaller, so I trimmed the neckband piece by about 1.5" to 2" to compensate for the loss of length.


Construction
When constructing the top, I followed the instructions provided with the pattern, except for the portion on setting the sleeves. The pattern recommends assembling the sleeves and main part of the garment separately, then setting the sleeve "in the round," but I found it easier to hem the sleeve, set it into the armhole, and then stitch the underarm and the garment's side in one continuous seam. When the seams were complete, I pressed them toward the back of the garment and topstitched them in place at the hems of the sleeves, as often seen in ready-to-wear (the topstitching is barely visible in the photo below).



Working with the Fabric
Prior to stitching into the actual garment pieces, I spent some time testing scraps of the fabric on both machines to become more familiar with the knit material and adjust the stitches and settings. Once everything was finally ready, assembling this top was fairly simple.

When sewing all of the seams, I used a four-thread overlock stitch on the serger. With some of the seams, such as the neckline and armholes, I found it helpful to set the differential feed at 0.3 to slightly ease in the fabric. The easing didn't show in the finished garment because the fabric was only being eased enough to counteract the stretching that would have been caused by the feed dogs, had they been at the normal setting.

When working with the sewing machine, I used the straight-stitch foot for the basting and topstitching; the foot's narrow hole for the needle helped prevent the needle from pulling the fabric up and down. In order to prevent the fabric from stretching too much, it also helped to reduce the the pressure of the presser foot. The hems were sewn with a twin needle, using a stretch stitch - not the triple-stitch type, but one that greatly resembles a zigzag stitch, where the needle doubles back with each stitch it takes forward. Finally, I also hand-wound a bobbin with wooly nylon thread to lend the hems a bit of stretch.

In Conclusion, I think I actually had a bit of fun experimenting with knits. It seems that once the stitching and construction issues are resolved, this type of material can be somewhat forgiving in the way it fits the body. Aside from preferring just a tiny bit more "wiggle room" at the side seams, I'm pleased with the outcome of the pattern. And since it never hurts to get more practice, I might just find myself using knits again in near the future. :-)

Simplicity 4233 . . . a Skirt "Refashioned"

I can't believe it's been over six months since I've last posted any updates here! Things have been a bit busy for me, as other aspects of my life have been consuming my time, making my sewing projects somewhat sparse. Within the past month, however, my pace has started to pick up a bit, with efforts toward using my ever-increasing pile of scraps, experimenting with alterations on ready-to-wear clothing, and remaking old items to be more wearable. This particular project is a skirt that I recently remade using Simplicity 4233 (which is now out of print).



The original skirt (pictured above) was one that I purchased at a consignment shop a few years ago, thinking that it might be cute to wear, but after trying it on, I found it to be less than flattering; the heavy gathering and wide sash only seemed to create bulk in the hip area. It had quite a bit of fabric in it, though, making me wonder if I couldn't possibly turn it into something else - especially since the Simplicity pattern had been waiting in my "stash" for some time and offered a way to use the embroidery at the fabric's border. After dismantling the skirt, I found enough material for the pattern pieces, and this is what it looks like now:



The pattern went together easily, though I have to confess I didn't really follow the instructions much. I needed to insert a lining, an invisible zipper, and a hem facing, which changed the construction process considerably. For the interfacing, I actually basted a scrap of woven shirting fabric to the yolk pieces. Even though the color of the interfacing is a little lighter than the the fashion fabric, it doesn't show through when the skirt is being worn. . . yet strangely enough, looks like it must have been illuminated by the flash of the camera ;-)





The original skirt was lined, so I reused the lining by cutting the top of it to fit the bottom of the yolk pieces. With all of this re-cutting, however, the skirt panels actually ended up being slightly longer and the lining panels slightly shorter, so I tried to make the lining hem as narrow as possible. The pictures above and below also show the hem facing that covers the embroidery on the interior. This was salvaged from the original, too, as it conceals and protects the wrong side of the embroidery while providing a nice finish for the hem. In addition, I understitched the seam that attaches the the facing to the lower edge of the skirt to make the seam roll slightly inward and prevent it from showing on the outside of the garment.



For the most part, this project was rather enjoyable - it can be interesting to take a garment that would not have otherwise been worn and use the fabric to make something wearable, not to mention being able to try a new pattern, as well.

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):

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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 :-)

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