Jacket and Buttons

The jacket is together and has been worn once... as referenced by the wrinkles in the pictures.

However, there is a lot of extra room in the back.  More than is needed for wearing over clothes, so I need to take a little in.  Also the sleeves are wider than I wanted, so I will be narrowing those slightly and adjusting the pattern.

I know awhile back I said that I didn't need anymore buttons... but look what I found at the Portland Antique Expo! 

The blue/green/yellow box was sorted by color until it tipped over in my bag... but it is still pretty.

You might ask where I wore the jacket for wear testing... that would be to a Weird Al concert!!!

He was at the Oregon Zoo.  Amazing show with his great band. He played most of his recognizable hits, but not all.  He did not do "Living With a Hernia" which I really like.  I bought tickets the day they were available.  Go see him... you will smile and laugh the whole time.

Jacket Progress

I have misplaced my tailoring book(s), so I'm doing most of this from memory.  And this fabric is nothing I would ever use for a true tailored jacket, so I am proceeding with mostly speed/fusible pseudo-tailoring techniques.  Basically anything that will help this floppy, rumply fabric take and hold shape.  I applied fusible interfacing to the fronts up to the roll line.

Double checking things before dropping in the upper collar/facings.  Both the upper and under collars and stands are interfaced.  I have been spending more time in Brooks Brothers and Thomas Pink lately and their collars and cuffs on everything could stand up and serve drinks!  I have a shirt from each maker and have come to appreciate collar and cuff weight interfacing.  They are crisp and smooth and require little pressing after wash.  For this project, I am using a standard medium weight fusible interfacing.  It was on hand, and I wasn't planning on this jacket being smooth and crisp anyway.  There is a collar and cuff weight fusible that I have used for other projects that is superior to this stuff.

I am loving that binder!  Look at the beautiful finished edge on the facing!  I am getting better at cutting bias strips too.  Things still aren't perfect.  The underside of the binding has fabric that is not quite turned under.  I think the binding scroll is too open.  A project for another day.  You would have to dig deep into the garment to see this problem, so I am not sweating it.

With the upper collar/facing pieces applied....

There is some strange bunching at the lower back just above the peplum.  This was not there until I bound the seam allowances on the CB seam.  The binding tension is too tight and has drawn up (taken up) the seam allowances, so things are not lying flat any more.  I will continue to press the heck out of it, but will need to adjust tension for the next jacket if I do the bound seam allowances.

Again... due to the weak hand of the fabric, I interfaced along all the hems.  This is a great technique to use with any fabric that needs a crisp hem but is too weak to do it on its own.  I also bound the raw edge of the hem... which also drew in the width of the fabric and caused some puckering when I sewed the hem in place.  Bad combination of weak fabric and too tight tension on the binding... but I am marching on.

Here is my solution for the body hem.  I applied interfacing to the narrow 1/2" hem.  Then I applied a bias strip that was folded in half and sewn a scant 1/4" to the hem.  Then I pressed the seam allowance down toward the fold and the hem, and then pressed up on the fold of the hem.  The result looks just like the binding but with half the bulk AND this method does not have any puckering along the curved hem.  I hand sewed it into place.

Discovering Tumblr

I'm a little late to the game with Tumblr.... but I found Stylesight's Tumblr account today..... beautiful.

Jacket Project

I usually don't post projects in process because sometimes I get distracted and they don't become completed projects.  But I am determined to finish this jacket because I love all the jackets that I see coming down the runway like at Gautier and over on Burdastyle.

Due to my shape, I rarely find things off the rack that fit me... and when I do they are usually knit... which is not what I want.  I want structure.

I am using Burda 01/2011 Cropped Jacket #127.  I adjusted the pattern using my block that I made last fall, and then cut out a muslin.

The balance looks remarkably good.  My shoulders curve forward or have more depth than those on a traditional pattern block, so oftentimes the garment sits to the back.

I am planning on using a lightweight cotton plaid for the first jacket.  Not a fabric than can be truly tailored with hair canvas and pad stitching, but more of a casual "just throw it on" jacket.  It will sew up fairly quickly and give me a change to check the fit more thoroughly before I move onto more expensive goods.

Since the jacket will be mostly unlined and the seam allowances will be exposed, I thought I would play around with binding some of the seams.  I set up my Singer Slant-o-Matic (you got to love that machine just for the name) and put on the binding foot.

At this point, readers, I would like to point out that one should ALWAYS read ALL the instructions FIRST.  It will save you a tremendous amount of time.  If I would have read everything, I would have cut the bias strip the correct width and been on my way to binding nirvana.  Instead I did a trial and error method that took an hour of fussing about.

Here is the Center Back seam with it's binding.  Lovely!  There is a peplum/back seam that I did not bind.  The binding does add some bulk, so for this jacket I am using a zigzag on the seam allowance edges.  I may wind up pressing the seam allowance down (toward the peplum) and clean finishing it with a facing... not sure yet.  Doing some field designing here.  The pattern calls for a lining, but for this jacket I want to keep it light.

Checking the fit this morning.  I have added the under collar and stand.  I will be applying some fusible interfacing from the edge to the roll line of the under lapel/front.  This fabric has NO BODY what so ever, so this will be a rumply, casual jacket when I'm done.

Handkerchief Curtain

Reloved magazine had a great shot of a pieced curtain in their Spring 2013 issue.  

And Mollie Makes featured the book Vintage Home in their issue 28 which also had a pieced curtain but made of vintage scarves.  Both magazines got me thinking about my excessive collection of vintage hankies.  They were originally upcycled into fanciful skirts for toddler girls.  The line was called Patache... hence the reason for starting this blog in the first place.  But that was a long time ago, and I have moved onto other things, but still have lots of hankies.  So I pieced them altogether into a sheer curtain.

The curtain hangs from brass upholstery tacks that are not hammered in all the way.

And what would a home project be without some sort of error or mishap?  It wouldn't be a home project!  I measured and calculated, but missed the mark.  There are two extra holes in the window frame that need filling and touching up.

Overall the end result is colorful and airy and works in the stairway.

Seattle Part II.... Chihuly's glass

We also saw the Chihuly Garden and Glass at Seattle Center last week.  It was almost color and shape over load.  Part of the exhibit was inside in dark spaces with only the glass sculptures illuminated and the other part was outside with plantings complementing the glass shape and color.  In between the indoor and outdoor spaces was a glass house with a red, orange, and yellow undulating stream of glass sculpture dancing across the ceiling.

The first section included a massive display of Dale Chihuly's Pendleton Blanket Collection.  It was incredible to see them displayed this way.  The display must have been 20 feet high and at least twice as wide.  He has collaborated with Pendleton in the design of blankets combining his design aesthetic and their craftsmanship.  Dale Chihuly also has a book available about his connection to and inspiration from Pendleton blankets.

Moving past the blankets the fanciful, colorful and massive glass sculptures begin.

We were in Seattle in the spring of 2012 went the garden was being installed.  We saw the steel armatures being built and then other workers carrying in the glass sections and installing them.  It was exciting to see the finished sculptures and garden.