A tale of two jackets

Today we have a tale of two jackets. One I made at the end of last summer and put away, due to what seemed like a serious error, but it might be redeemed on closer inspection. (Or time in the magic closet? a well-used and very apt phrase). The other is just recently completed, using a pattern repeat and while I think it will have a place in the rotation, it might not be quite the home run that the first version of this pattern turned out to be.  So you can be the judge, shall either of these be benched or make it to the starting lineup?  Enough baseball metaphors yet? Now I am determined to think of some others.

At the top of the order is my pattern repeat, the Jacket Express. This is a jacket pattern from Islander patterns that is included in the Craftsy Class: Sew Better, Sew Faster: Garment Industry Secrets.



You may recall I made this previously, here is a link to that post which has a lot of info on making this jacket.  This is a pattern that is included in the Craftsy Class: Sew Better, Sew Faster: Garment Industry Secrets. It is from Islander Patterns. I made it from a red denim that I found somewhere and it turned out to be something I wear ALL the time, as it helps to avoid the dreaded denim jumpsuit look (blue denim jeans + denim jacket = bad 80's music video or something equally hideous). The red in this jacket is just washed out enough to make it a very versatile neutral.



Also hideous, the versions on the pattern packaging. Anyway - if you are interested in the sewing details  - and there are quite a few  - in my previous post, here is the link.  Also I wrote a second post reviewing the Craftsy class which has other sewing details and some more pictures so here is that link.

Sometimes I just decide to swing away and make something even though I have a zillion other things I could be doing. But this jacket was on my mind, as I am going to make a similar jacket for my mom, from that pineapple denim I bought from Girl Charlee (visible in this post). So I made a test version in her size of this Islander jacket. And she didn't like the way it fit and felt. So I tried to adjust it but wasn't getting anywhere. Then she pulled a cute denim jacket out of her closet and said "I like everything about this one, can't you just make it exactly like this?" Yeeessss I can....by spending a good chunk of time (it takes me about 2 hours) making a copy pattern, then sewing up a test version just to check.  So that is done and soon I will start on her jacket. But meanwhile, back to mine. I wanted to try it out in stretch woven. This pattern and the instructor are VERY specific, in fact adamant - insistent - demanding that it be made in a regular woven. So phooey with that. Stretch is the way to go. I love stretch wovens such as cotton sateen or wool with lycra (although I am not a fan of ponte knits, although I guess they are in fact, knits! but they seem like wovens to the touch. I digress)  So I had this rather thick cotton sateen that was never going to be a dress as it is just slightly too heavy so perfect for a jacket. And you know I cannot resist that color.



It looks a bit rumply here but quite wearable. And pointless to iron (when finished) since it is cotton with lycra, so just go where the fabric takes you. Pressing as you sew - that is quite necessary. After all that topstitching will not be in the right place without nicely pressed seams.

Side view. All in all I consider this turned out well, maybe not one of my home runs but perhaps a good double or RBI. It was easier to sew in the non-stretch denim and that pressed perfectly, was a bit easier to topstitch but all in all this is done. You can see I left off the buttons on the upper pockets. Gave it just a little too much of the chest headlight effect. I did narrow this version at the side seams by taking it in at the waist, about 1 inch on each side, it seemed to need a more fitted look than the red one.



And here is a little warning, check your work before proceeding to the next step. This jacket is a topstitching bonanza, and if you do the topstitching on one sleeve but not the other and sew them both then you will have to rumple up the sleeve and squish all that fabric under the presser foot in order to do it. NOT my most favorite thing to do. Gnashing of teeth at this point. Oh well. Got it done. Who knows what I am talking about?



Now for Jacket # 2. Almost in the same color, but not quite. Also in stretch although this one is denim. Fabric I bought at Piedmont fabrics maybe 3 years ago, not sure why. I was with a friend. Peer pressure :)



Not bad but this is the one with the problem. I freely admit that this is a case of hasty sewing. Actually, hasty cutting. Last summer I thought I would squeeze out this jacket just before vacation, easy peasy, right? Using my self-made pattern blogged about here.  And it would have been perfect, but for one little problem. I put the stretch going up and down instead of around the body. And after I had it about 80% cut out, I thought "this seems strange" and then snap! realized and I was SO mad. So I shoved the pattern pieces in a bin and left on vacay. Returned and sewed it up as I don't like unfinished stuff hanging around. It is really cute but slightly uncomfortable. Restrictive in the shoulders and arms. Fine if I walk around with perfect posture but not so great for actual living. Although this denim is stretchy enough that even though the stretch goes up and down it does give a little with movement. Can you tell that it is starting to grow on me?



Looking at this picture I think the buttons are slightly in the wrong spots or sewn on too tightly but I will never button it up so screw it, they are staying that way. Also the upper pockets are not there, I just put the flaps. The lower pockets are real, and I did put some interfacing as they are welt pockets under the flaps so need a bit of help.



Even though these two jackets are similar in color I can see they are quite different in style so I will probably wear the first one with denim skirts or pants and the second one might be nice with a dress. For me in the summer a jacket like this is just something to carry along in case the air conditioning is overwhelming (which to me it always is).

Now to compare and contrast:  Jacket Express



and denim jacket pattern made by me.



That denim skirt I am wearing in all the pictures is Simplicity 2152 which I wear all the time in the summer. The knit top is Simplicity 1916 pictured here.

So maybe I have scored a run or two with these jackets. And you know I have many, many, many items in my wardrobe that complement these colors so no problems there!

Perhaps a quick palate cleanser is in order, a knit top or pair of shorts, since summer has tentatively arrived here (finally - such a weird spring).  Something I can call a home run.

In any case, no more jackets for me for a while.  Ok, how many baseball references did you count? I think eight. For any overseas readers - yes, baseball and American english, kind of unintelligible, I know. My European friends who have lived here always remark on this very confusing habit we have of using baseball metaphors in so many conversations. Don't worry - soccer is taking over the world (or has done) and we will have to learn all the soccer references soon enough.

Happy weekend sewing, Beth

Today's garden photo is the foxgloves which live at the shady edge of the garden. You can just see them in the first photo above. You don't see them very often here in my hot locale but they seem so cottage-garden to me and I am happy I found a spot for them under the pink jasmine. Plus they seems to come back 2nd and 3rd years so you know I like that - plant repeats and pattern repeats

Quick Review: Craftsy Class "Sew Better, Sew Faster" featuring the Jacket Express

Craftsy fascinates me, both as a learning tool and a business venture. It is always amazing when an idea   or product finds just the right audience, often for something we didn't even know we wanted. I signed up for a class last year, mostly to check it out, see how it worked and was impressed with the marriage of craft learning and technology. Presumably they are a business success story based on their continued expansion of offerings and venture capital investors.  My former sales/marketing corporate self is so curious to know about the numbers and earnings which may come to light if they are ever gobbled up by some other entity. But that is another detour from my summer quest to sew the perfect lightweight denim jacket.

The title for this class is "Sew Better, Sew Faster" so they got me right there. Faster is something I am always interested in.

The instructor is Janet Pray of Islander Sewing Systems and the class included their Jacket Express pattern. Note that all sizes are included, XS - 4XL and I think this style adapts to that size range very well. I made the size Small and it was a bit roomy, I prefer a more fitted jacket and the sleeves were very long.  If you are very petite the XS may still be too big and I would suggest a quick muslin or pin fit of the pattern. 

As I mentioned in my previous blog post, the style is really not something I would pick out but it is a nice basic jacket with useable pockets so it is perfect for a variety of fabrics. 

Here is my finished jacket made with a soft red denim. It turned out to be a lucky choice and the perfect weight. 

So what about the class?  Here are few of my impressions:

• This would be a great class to sew along with at home. She goes through every step and there are logical places to pause, do the steps that she mentions and then press play again. I think if you do it this way you won't have a single error. 
• Her tips on using the sewing machine and how to sew without pins are very good. I do a mix of pin and no-pin on most of my garments, and this jacket has such short seams that no-pin is easy to accomplish.  (not something I do on a wool plaid designer Vogue, then it is porcupine time :)
• Yes to pressing!  She shows you when and how to press, and consolidating the pressing and sewing to maximize efficiency.

There are two different pockets on the jacket, an upper hidden pocket and a welt pocket. I liked the way the pockets went into the jacket, and the steps were very clear. I can confess that I watched about 4 of the lessons while I was doing something else and then cut out and sewed up the jacket, using the instruction booklet as opposed to sewing along with the video, but I did watch the rest of it this week - I  didn't want to miss any tips. So I made the pockets and then later when I watched the video I realized they would have been easier had I seen her method. 

                                 

Here is the inside so you can see the pockets. I used some quilting cotton for the upper pockets but used the red denim for the yoke. She makes a big point about the construction method for the yoke which I have seen on many other patterns. But hey, it works !



Most of the seam allowances are 3/8" except for a few that are sneakily 1/4".  If I had been following along that would have been fine, however I zoomed ahead and sewed a few things (the upper pocket flaps and the hem facing) at 3/8" however it made no distance. She did something that I do all the time, which is mark the stitch line with a pen or pencil. For tiny fiddly parts and pieces which have interfacing I think drawing the line is a no brainer. That makes sewing faster and no-fail. You can see here that I marked with pen. The blue painter's tape is marking the 5/8" seam allowance. This new machine is really great but the seam allowance markings are a jumbled mess, because they have both the metric and inch measurements. The lights on the new machine are just a bit harsh to me and make a glare in that area so the blue tape is on the 5/8 line which helps and cuts down the glare.

Here is a look at the back. I guess seeing this angle it is less boxy than I thought. If I just shorten the sleeves it might be perfect. 

In summary, there is so much to recommend on this class, particularly if you are looking for ways to streamline your sewing. Lots of the techniques can be used in any garment and some really helpful explanations on topstitching and pressing.  She shows lots examples at the beginning of different jackets in a variety of printed fabrics and those kind of put me off, not really my style but the suggestions about fabric weight are interesting. Also she is a bit obsessed with topstitching so if that thrills you there is plenty to see. 

Here is the link to my previous post with photos of the finished jacket. 

Coming soon - my search for the perfect lightweight summer jacket has ended with success. And the pattern will be a bit of a mystery and a surprise so stay tuned. 

Happy late summer sewing, Beth

Here is today's Sunnygal garden photo. Not much blooming now in the August heat but here are some pink snapdragons. I think next year I will plant lots of these, they have done really well.

The black denim jacket, final version in time for fall, Part 1

Have you ever felt like Goldilocks with your sewing?  I have been feeling a bit like that lately in my quest to make a lightweight jacket from an interesting black denim because nothing has been "just right." For my first version I tried a Simplicity pattern which seemed interesting and you can see the result here in this post. I even tried a new sorta fancy half-lining technique which was fine but not really worth the trouble. In the end I just didn't like the style or fit on me so I gave that jacket to my good pal Alice and it suited her very well.
Then I made the Jacket Express from Islander patterns, which is available via a Craftsy class. While I liked how it turned out that was mostly due to the red color and super soft denim fabric. You can see that jacket here in this post. I also did a review of the Craftsy class here.
But I still wanted a black denim jacket and every time I put on my old blue denim jacket I thought why isn't there a pattern just like it? That question bugged me and then one night around nine o'clock the proverbial lightbulb went off in my head and I realized the answer had been there all along. Right in my closet. So I grabbed that jacket and made a pattern from it.
Here is the original which is a Ralph Lauren dark blue denim jacket I bought at Macy's ages ago, maybe 7 years? and have worn so often. I like it because it is a shaped like a blazer, not a western style in the traditional Levi's blue jacket look (although I have one of those which is even older and I cannot part with, something so great about an old perfectly worn out Levi's jacket).

The fabric on on this original jacket is a little bit stiff, so you can see it holds its shape very well and give a nice curve at the waist. I realized that the latest version is much lighter fabric so doesn't have that shaping on the dress form but when worn looks just about the same. 

Here is the pattern I created using mostly the method described in this post. I use a combination of the rub-off method and a some educated guesswork, particularly for the sleeves which I find tricky but not impossible. You can see a fold in the main sleeve part where I had too much fabric on my tissue pattern piece so I folded it out.  Now can I say it, "Look Ma, no muslin". Yes, I confess I was in a giddy mood after I made this pattern and went directly to my fabric and cut it out. No testing at all :)

I do NOT recomend this but I just had a feeling it would be OK. Plus I did walk all the seams, and flat pattern measure against the original to check dimensions. At this point in my sewing life I can look at a pattern and judge that the dimensions look right, checking if the shape of the armhole or collar, the sweep of the princess seam seem correct. That is why I do a lot of adjusting on purchased patterns, in particular my pet peeve - dress patterns with a sleeved and sleeveless version, the sleeveless version is often so clunky and needs refinement. 

When you make a pattern from an existing garment it is really important to give yourself a lot of guide marks for placement of things, all those notches and dots that we frequently ignore on a printed pattern are sorely missed when you do a self-made pattern. But it is easy enough to create them. Here is an example of the two front pieces and the collar.

And this is the shoulder seam, I marked a dot where the front princess seam matched with the back shoulder seam, which may seem unnecessary but every little bit helps.

For interfacing I used Pro-Sheer Elegance Fusible, not sure if it was the lightweight or the medium weight but either way that stuff is the best and pretty much all I use now.

My sewing tip for this jacket is to press all the seams open before you press them flat. I hope this photo shows what I mean. That is the collar where I have trimmed the seams down to about 3/8 inch and then press open before turning right side and pressing the flat collar. If this were a wool jacket I would grade the seams but on this type of thin denim it is not really necessary. 

OK, I am going to do it again, leave off here with a sneak peek. I just looked at the clock and need to get moving. I will try to post the finished jacket tomorrow.

happy sewing and I hope you can stay out of the fabric stores - Halloween is just around the corner and their are some frantic costume makers shopping this weekend and next!

Beth

Today's SunnyGal garden photo is the lonely apple. Just three or four on the tree this year, it barely bloomed which was a complete mystery. And there is the colony of bees living in it so it should have been covered in apples. However it is a good thing because the apples are terrible and make a big mess. Thus I can admire the lonely apple and appreciate its pretty color knowing there are not hundreds to pick up!

Sewing Detour for the Jacket Express

Sewing blogs are like a wonderful magazine subscription that magically appears every morning, something to dip into with my coffee and blueberry muffins. The other day I thought, where are the new posts from my favorites? It must be summer vacation time and the posts are getting a bit less frequent.  Perhaps a bit of a summer blogging slump going around. Then I looked at the date of my last post and realized it was more than two weeks ago. So guilty as charged, with my own lack of contribution to the sewing blogosphere. Despite the minimal blogging I have been sewing like mad, doing some stuff for sewing clients as well as playing around with some ideas for knit t-shirts that may come to nothing.

However I did take a detour from my July plans when I saw the "Sew Better, Sew Faster: Garment Industry Secrets" Craftsy class taught by Janet Pray of Islander Sewing Systems. Who doesn't want to sew better? I always figure if I learn a few tips or new to me ideas then books, classes etc are worth the investment. In this case I would say I did learn a few things and she has a very nice teaching style. Also I wanted to get the pattern which is included because I knew that it would be perfect for my mom as she loves this type of casual jacket.

The pattern comes in size XS - 5X and the measurements don't really correspond to any other pattern companies so I decided to make a version for myself to check the sizing AND test how "Express" it was using the techniques from the class.

I made the size Small which is mostly roomy all over. I probably could have made the XS and then just added a little at side seam hip. The style is very boxy and not really to my taste but now I have to confess that I have worn this so many times in the last few weeks. Probably because it is not blue! It is just the thing to wear with a blue denim skirt (as opposed to my dark blue denim jacket which I love but looks weirdly suit-ish when worn with a denim skirt) Also it is...gasp...very comfortable! 

The fabric is kind of odd but ideal for this jacket. Not something I would have picked out in the store, but I bought a great big piece of it at a thrift/antique/junk shop that was liquidating for a move. Got all kinds of good stuff that day for about $ 10 so of course I like this result even more.  This photo below is a better representation of the color and you can see all the topstitching which I did in white because I am lazy and didn't want to change the thread in the machine. 

So how Express was this jacket? From cutting out to sewing on buttons it was 9 hours. I am not sure that is so speedy, I guess considering it has 2 welt pockets and 2 other hidden pockets plus collar and cuffs and plenty of topstitching it is OK. 

Why I shoved my hands in the pockets and buttoned up the front I do not know, but you can see the shape here. 

And for comic relief I include this picture below. Now you can see why I have the sleeve cuffs rolled up. Yes, I should have checked the sleeve length but it did not occur to me at the time. Oh well. 

To be continued in another post with some further details on this jacket and the Craftsy class. 

I hope all your sewing detours turn out well, Beth

Now it's time for the most summery of summer garden flowers. Grown from random seeds and I always love it when one of these bi-color ones pop out with a touch of red.