Summer Blazer Jacket - Vogue 2853 - Part 3

Onward with my summer blazer jacket. Which is sitting on the dress form waiting for me to sew on a button. Hurray! So today's topic is welt pockets. Or to be more precise, pocket flaps.
You might think that is such a small part of the overall project but I had my camera handy when I was doing them and realized there are quite a few steps I do so here goes.
I am kind of fussy about welt pockets, flapped or not, and have been known to make more than just two pocket flaps so I could get a very nicely matching pair. This time I had all kinds of mishaps, nothing tragic but more funny so you get to see a couple of my mistakes which fortunately were things I could correct.

I will start with the end result and work my way back. Here is the finished pocket with welts and flap
looking ok by my standards. I wanted to show the inside on the left. I just leave the edges raw or pink them but no other treatment, as they will be enclosed in the lining.  Sometimes I round the bottom edge and sometimes not.

In my previous post I showed how I outline the pocket in a thread trace, so it is visible on the right side of the jacket front.

Then I make the pocket flaps. I have found the key to good pocket flaps is interfacing, on both sides. Outside garment fabric and also on the reverse (lining side). I use the same interfacing as the side jacket front which is Pro-sheer Elegance.

Once I have applied the interfacing it is time to sew the flaps. I have no problem with drawing the stitch line on garment, using a light pencil or chalk. It helps to get the curve just right, and it shows up well on the white interfacing.

Time to sew, and I lift the presser foot when going around those tight corners, turning the flap just a few degrees with every other stitch, because it is very difficult to turn that corner at without doing that. Also I use a very small stitch length here, which is anothe reason to draw the line, because I want to do it just once! with no unpicking.

Time to trim. The seam allowance is trimmed down to about 1/4 inch for this lightweight cotton. If it were a wool jacket then I would grade the seam allowances.

Now time to press. And I forgot to take pictures so I made a sample pocket flap from some scrap fabric to show this step. 

First I cut small pie shape wedges at the corners, so that when the flap is turned right side out the little wedges close up and fill in that curve. Carefully so as not to cut into the stitching.

Then the seam allowance is pressed open on the pointy part of the clapper. Press all the way around, this is the key to sharp edges. 

When it is all pressed it should look like this:

Then you can turn it right side out and give it a good press.  

And now for my pocket flap flubs. I was being economical (miserly) with fabric and I cut out the pocket flap with the stripes going same direction as the jacket front but for the underside I used some scraps and the strip was going horizontally.

I interfaced everything and sewed them together. And this is what I did. Not sure if you can see in this photo but I have sewn them so the interfacing would be on the visible on the outside of the flap lining. Oops, cut apart and re-sew.  Yes, I did both flaps this way.

Flub # 2:  after I sorted that out and re-sewed, pressed etc I sewed the welts and the pocket flaps on the jacket front. Luckily I caught this one after only one side was done. Here I have halfway removed the flap on the right but took a pic for evidence. I have the stripes going the wrong way. I suppose it could have worked but to me it looked off, not how I had intended so the one on the left shows how it should look. And now does. So glad I caught that one before I had finished off that pocket!

I blame these flubs on TV watching while sewing, which I often do. I started watching Call the Midwife only late last year so I never saw the first season but the last few weeks my local PBS has rebroadcast Season 1, and I have been catching those first episodes. It is a rare show that I actually causes me to put down what I am doing and just watch some scenes.  (also the costuming - fantastic attention to detail).

Ok, last pocket picture. Sew the pocket lining to the bottom welt first, then press down. Otherwise it is enclosed in the pocket and you can't quite get the crisp press that you can before it is all sewn closed.

That's all for pockets and flaps. After the welt pockets are done I always feel like it is easy sailing from here on out. 

This Saturday is the event at Britex Fabrics in San Francisco to celebrate their new 4th floor workspace. so that is where I will be, talking about my sewing style and how it has grown and evolved. So I hope to see you there if you are in the bay area, and please introduce yourself, it would be great to meet you!

Beth

Today's SunnyGal garden photo is a small hydrangea that is overshadowed by the big mophead one next to it, but this year is putting out a few more dainty blooms. 

Suit for a Japanese Wedding

This week I am working on a suit for Rita, who is going to Japan later this month for her son’s wedding.  She had a jacket with an asymmetrical front in mind, so I found McCalls 5759.  I saw a few versions of it on Pattern Review and liked the shape.  I am making the version with the stand collar.  We found a beautiful menswear Italian wool suiting and actually are using the wrong side of the fabric.  

I did a fitting muslin, and the lines look good even in muslin - so I am looking forward to seeing it finished.  Here is the muslin front view.

This pattern has a pocket flap but no pocket - what is the use of that?  A faux pocket is worse than no pocket at all.  So I decided to put a welt pocket in, underneath the flap which has a very specific placement and I didn’t want to mess with that.  

Below is the outside of the jacket, marked with red basting thread.  I placed it about 5/8” below the line for the pocket flap so it will be entirely covered.  In the photo you can see my handy Chakoner chalk marker.  It is an incredibly useful tool, makes a super sharp line and the chalk inside seems to last for at least 5 years.  Amazing. 

Here is the inside of the jacket, I put a rectangle of fusible interfacing over the target area,  actually I do that step first, then baste the red markings, following lines I have drawn using the tailor tacks to draw the lines.

Next I cut and sew the pocket edges.  For this I used straight grain fabric, cut about 3” x 8”.  it is really important to stretch and steam the pieces, to take any of the slack out of the weave.  This wool is very tightly woven but on a tweed or something else this is a really necessary step as the pocket edges will sag or become misshapen during wear and look weird.  For any kind of plaid I like to do the pockets on the bias because it is visually more interesting, but then this stretching step is crucial as the bias cut pieces want to stretch all the more.   The pieces are folded in half, and then I stitch 1/4”  from the folded edge.  

After stitching, I trim the pieces 1/4” from the stitching so they end up being 1/2” wide.

It would be impossible to start with a 1” piece, then fold and stitch accurately, plus you lose that fraction of an inch with the turn of the cloth.  So this method results in very accurate pocket edges ready to go.  I really get annoyed at patterns that have little pieces for the pocket edges,  who are they kidding?  Never gonna work.  

Next I pin the edges onto the jacket.  It is not visible, but the cut edges line up with the red basting threads.  Note I have marked with chalk where the stitching ends.

I sew right on top of the previous stitching, which results in a perfect 1/4” pocket edge.  This photo is kind of upside down, as the pocket lining is on the bottom,

After I sew across the edges, the moment of truth comes when I slash open the pocket, directly in the center, again using the red basting thread as a guide.  About 1/2” from the edge I stop, and then cut diagonally to the edges.  Then push the pocket through the opening, and attach the pocket lining, again along the same stitch line.  Lastly stitch around the pocket, catching the little triangle into the stitching, which secures the two ends of the pocket opening.   

I did a one-welt pocket, so the bottom has a welt and the top is the jacket fabric, sewn to the pocket lining.

Finished pocket - hidden under pocket flap (unfiinished at this time).

Here is the jacket assembled.  Collar is not on yet, but you can see all the tailor's tacks for the hidden buttonholes.   In a few days I will finish this jacket and have more photos.  

and today's SunnyGal Studio garden photo,  some sunny primulas in bloom.

Vogue 1037 Badgley Mischka suit for Cathy

January settled in gloomy and rainy here in Northern California. OK, not like other parts of the country - but it wasn’t sunny. Perfect weather for some serious sewing, however I really didn’t have any projects on deck. Until my good friend and neighbor Cathy said she needed something to wear to a meeting. She was being inaugurated as this year’s president of the San Francisco Professional Food Society. Cathy has her own company which manufactures kits for making gourmet chocolate truffles and other goodies at home. www.thetrufflekit.com

She wanted a business look, something she can wear again on other occasions and also as separates. We had the idea of a suit in mind, but nothing specific. We shopped for fabric and inspiration at my favorite fabric store, Stone Mountain and Daughter in Berkeley CA, which is filled with fantastic silks, wools, cottons and so many other interesting choices that I have to be very disciplined when I step in the door.

We checked out all the wools and found a plum colored wool crepe. She chose Vogue 1037, a Badgley Mischka suit with pretty portrait collar and three-quarter sleeves.

She needed the suit for the meeting on Wednesday - so time was short.

I couldn’t start until Sunday - and then I went into speed mode. Making a tailored suit in about 3 days is definitely fast, but a nice challenge for a rainy week.

The pattern was one of their designer series - but not as difficult as some of their advanced patterns. I did a flat pattern measurement and cut out a size 16 jacket (which probably compares to a size 10 or 12 in a department store - more on this topic in a future post). The princess seams made it simple to make adjustments on the body after the jacket was basted together. The instructions called for lining all the jacket body pieces with fusible knit interfacing, which I did. I am not sure it was entirely necessary, in most wool jackets I use armo-weft fusible interfacing on the jacket and undercollar, and then fusible knit on the jacket front facings and upper collar. However since this was a different style - more like a 2 piece dress than a tailored jacket, I went with their instructions.

I have noticed that some fusible knit interfacing behaves better than others, perhaps it is the brand and I will be doing a test on some of the yardage I have on my shelf. I had to press and steam much more than I expected to get it to fuse properly. If you miss a little spot it can leave a slight bubble impression on the right side of the wool, which has to be repressed. I did get it all fused up and just about gave myself a steam facial in the process. The benefit of the fusible interfacing is that it gives the wool crepe a great weight and body, so that the jacket holds its shape nicely and doesn’t wrinkle at all.

Next I did the welt pockets with flap. For any welt pocket I never look at the pattern instructions, nor use their ridiculous little pattern pieces. I learned to make a welt pocket from Sandra Betzina at The Sewing Workshop in San Francisco some years ago and have used this method more times than I can count.

Next time I do one I will take photos and post. Suffice it to say that almost the LAST step is slicing open the pocket. I have seen a lot of instructions that call for cutting the pocket slit before applying the welt pieces, and that sounds dangerous and could lead to needing a new jacket front piece if it didn’t go well. Or at least a larger pocket than one planned to have. Possibly eliminating the need for a handbag but that is another story.

Once the welt pockets are done on any jacket I feel that I am home free. So the rest was just sew - sew - sew as fast as my little fingers could move. I made the lining from the jacket pieces instead of using the lining pieces in the pattern envelope as I was too lazy to pull them out and the jacket pieces were still at hand. Then I sewed the lining together, turned the jacket inside out on the dress form, and applied the lining, trimming as I pinned to give it the correct shape. Then hand sewed the lining in, and did the buttonholes with my handy-dandy Singer buttonhole attachment. Noisy little bugger but whew it makes great buttonholes. Maybe I could become a sewing hoarder as I bought 2 more of these gizmos last year at a garage sale for a couple of bucks which was a deal as I had seen them on Ebay for upwards of $ 20.

Next I sewed up the skirt. For this I used Simplicity 2564 which has no darts and a shaped waistband. This style is a lot smoother, falls over the waist and hips very nicely. The skirt included with the Vogue 1037 is a very traditional (shall I say old-fashioned) skirt, with front and back darts. So on a whim I used the different skirt pattern and Cathy was really happy with it.

Suit finished by Wednesday morning, with not that many minutes to spare.

She looked great and now has a nice suit that is ready for a lot of occasions.