Fabric choices and a Tunic style Renfrew

Do you think some people have an extra-special talent for choosing fabrics? I do. We all have those garments where pattern, style and fabric are a marriage made in heaven. Sadly we also suffer through the opposite were the fabric is fighting us all the way and the end result shows it. A trip around the sewing blogisphere shows so many creative uses of interesting fabrics. I find lots of inspiration and occasionally a desire to copy outright.
Do you start with the fabric or the pattern? For me it mostly starts with the pattern, I am more attracted to shapes and techniques and then I find the fabric in the color family that I like.
Currently I am making a few garments for someone who had already purchased the fabric and her choices got me thinking about it. This is unusual as most often I work with a sewing client from the beginning to choose both the style and the fabric. In this case I think she has a real eye for choosing interesting and beautiful fabrics and the results have been a good stretch for my creativity.

She wanted a top made from a textured sweater knit and described a "drapey turtleneck type top". Which made me laugh a bit because I had been so wanting to get the Sewaholic Renfrew top pattern and that is why I made a few test versions last month before cutting into her lovely fabrics. By the way, all her fabrics were purchased at Stone Mountain in Berkeley.
Here is her Renfrew top, which I lengthened to be more of a tunic as she requested.
First a close up of this interesting fabric, very Missoni-like don't you think?

A few sewing details. I put a strip of knit fusible interfacing along the hems and then turned up about one inch and stitched. I lengthened the top about 5 inches? something like that, as much as the yardage would allow. I sewed this on the standard sewing maching, straight stitch and then after it was put together I serged the seam allowances. I don't like to serge things before they are sewn together, I think it distorts the pieces. 

The item that I sewed first from her stack of fabrics was this dress made of silk duppioni. I have kind of a love-hate relationship with silk duppioni fabric, the colors are fantastic, it does press beautifully but the dress/design needs to fit perfectly and the pattern needs to be a good one as there is no fudging the seams or easing sections like you can with a nice malleable wool. 

This plaid fabric really scared me, I was actually kind of shocked when she pulled it out of the bag and said she wanted a dress. I think this looks much better as worn rather than on the dress form, the warm bronze and coral colors give the wearer a golden glow and it is very pretty. 

Some sewing details, I used New Look 6643 which is my favorite basic sheath dress pattern. I made a muslin for fit, ended up lowering all the darts by about 3/4" and then made full pattern pieces (both sides of the front and back) so I could lay the full pattern pieces on the single layer of fabric and hopefully match the plaids everywhere. One thing to note when making a dress with plaid, if you have bust darts at that side seam, you must match below the dart. I recall I jumper I made in junior high where I carefully matched at the top of the side seam and then cried when I sewed it up and saw my mistake. Good learning lesson!

             

My last interesting project for her will be a 3-piece outfit (if yardage allows). The sheer embroidered silk will be a floaty jacket and the silk charmeuse will be a pajama style pant and sleeveless tank.
I plan to line the pants and tank with bemberg rayon. It is interesting how the design on the sheer fabric shows more when contrasted with the darker grey silk.

Here is the pattern I am using for the jacket. I like the style of this but the pattern has turned out to be very problematic but I have finally succeded in making a muslin that fits nicely. So this weekend will be all about sewing silk.

In garden news I impulsively bought bags of daffodils and tulips the other day - I cannot resist the colors on the packages - so those will need to be stuck in the ground. Then I will be on squirrel watch. Last year I read that the brown papery layer on tulip bulbs are like potato chips for squirrels and they find them irresistible. Nature, a constant battle even in suburbia.

Happy weekend sewing,  Beth

Sewing book Giveaway Results

Here are the winners of the sewing book giveaways:

First random draw is comment # 15, that is Carol S

 

Second random draw is comment # 30, that is Shar



So if you would email me and I will get your sewing books in the mail next week.
sunnygalstudio (at) gmail (dot) com.

I will keep on the lookout for more of these Singer books and I suggest you check your local library system. Search "sewing" in the catalog and you will be quite amazed at how many they have. My county library system is very good and I put an on-line request whenever I see a new book that seems interesting, have it transfered to the hold shelf at my local branch and pick it up at my convenience.  Use those local libraries so governments will know we treasure them!  Confession I checked out the BurdaStyle book 3 times - remember this coat I made last year?

Also a quick search on Etsy (search words: Singer sewing book) yields a few of this series as well as quite a few vintage books.  You can tell the books in this Singer series that I am referring to, they all have the same style cover, a photo superimposed with Singer in red and the title in white letters. There are a few copies available of "Sewing for the Home" and I can't tell you how many times I have referred to that one. It shows all the variations on decorative pillows, window coverings and comforters/bedspreads etc.

Thanks for all your great comments on my black tweedy plaid jacket and you have motivated me to do more process and technique posts in the upcoming months. 

happy sewing, Beth

Time for a Giveaway: in Autumn we turn to Tailoring

There are a lot of good sewing books out there but my favorite is the series of Singer Sewing Reference books. They have clear explanations and great photos to illustrate any technique. I have a couple that I bought ages ago in a bookstore but over the years I have found many of them at estate and ASG stash sales. If you see one, buy it!
Topics include Knits, Pants that Fit, Home Dec, Time-Saving tips, Formalwear, and my favorite, Tailoring.  I see they are available on Amazon (search Singer sewing reference library). Books with illustrations (only) just don't do it for me, the way this series photographs the works in process and also shows many alternative methods is really key to my understanding a technique.
I am always on the lookout for these books and this week found one that I already have in my library, so how about a giveaway?

The title is a bit misleading because it mostly about technique and construction, and covers a lot of tailoring as well. I don't know how they cram so much into a relatively thin paperback. They include pockets (all kinds), facings, creating a lining, lapels, shoulder shaping, shirt collars etc.

Example of page from the book: how to sew a shirt collar with a stand. That looks a whole lot more comprehensible than the instruction sheet in a pattern. 

Second find for the giveaway and now I will contradict myself! These Palmer and Pletsch paperbacks are only illustrated, no photos but they are good. Very clear. If you are a beginning to intermediate sewist I suggest reading this like a novel - run through the whole book and just let it sink in. Perhaps these P & P books are the graphic novel for the sewing set. Lots of good tailoring info and they include tips on fitting, fusibles and timesaving techniques. 

So leave a comment if you would like to be in the drawing for one of these books (random drawing, first name gets first book, second name gets second book.)  International is OK. 

If you are a member of Pattern Review and you liked my Faux French Jacket, I entered it in their Lined Jacket Contest. The voting is now open until the 9th so click over there and vote for me today :). Despite thinking it was an item that would have limited usefulness, I have worn this jacket so many times in the last week and really love it. So all that fringe-making and hand stitching was worth it!

As for my previous post on the potential refashions, thank you for lots of great suggestions and I will report back in an upcoming post. Not sure when I will get to them as I suddenly have quite a sewing to-do list plus I feel like re-organizing my sewing space....eeek.

Beth

Edit:  drawing closed now (11/9, 10:30am Calif. time).  I just did the random number picks and will be posting later this afternoon. 

Struck with a passion for refashion and I need some suggestions

Merci beaucoup for all the great comments on my faux french jacket. I wore it today when took a shopping trip over to Stone Mountain in hopes of finding something to make a top but didn't see anything that grabbed me. I am about to start on a similar jacket for a sewing client using the same pattern but the look will be very different, more on that soon.

Recently I got together with my neighborhood friends for a clothing swap. Great way to clean out the closet of some no longer worn items and maybe get something new. Of course I intended to come away with nothing but more space in my closet but instead I got 3 pairs of pants, including some black jeans. Yeah! No shopping or trying on in stores, just a fun get together (drinks involved and lots of encouragement). In preparation for swapping I did a closet clean out and came across some items that I never wear but seem like they might be good candidates for some refashioning. So I am looking for suggestions, please chime in.
First up is this suit I made about 9 years ago, pattern date is 2004. Dates back to my former life of tedious meetings negotiating with ambitious people all trying to outsmart each other. Yikes, could it be any more serious?
Business executive nun?  Tweedy schoolmarm or librarian? (no offense to any of these lovely vocations). What was I thinking? Although I didn't run around with the jacket all buttoned up like that of course. Wore it with a silk top, nice heels etc. I don't like black but this fabric tempted me to try it.

                                        
Separately the pieces have potential. I played around with the skirt and I think that changed into a pencil skirt instead of the A-line I would wear it this winter. It even has a hidden inside pocket at the waist for my mad money and business cards. Prepared, just like a boy scout! Looking at the technical drawing I can see why this jacket fits so well, it avoids the issue I often have of too wide across the top with the front shoulder and back neckline darts. Also I see that I used a size 10 instead of a 12 so I am definitely going to try that on my next Vogue and save some narrow shoulder alteration. A very nice shape I might revisit. It's the little puny collar that bugs me.  What about lopping that off and changing it to a V-neckline? or some other kind of collar.  Ideas welcome.

            

Item # 2:  faux fur coat in deep emerald green.  Yes this one is a bit wacky but I have worn it enough to justify making this - maybe 17 years ago?  OK, now you can see that I keep almost everything I make (at least in the coat or jacket category, I do let go some dresses/skirts etc that are past their prime)

It is a very nice quality of faux fur, despite the color, which actually looks near black at night. The big shawl collar is so cosy. Just imagine wearing for a long car ride home from a party on a late winter night - like having a blanket to snuggle into. Having other coats now I never wear this but hate to part with it. What about a long tunic type vest, maybe with a soft black leather belt for a closure?  Suggestions please!

Item # 3:  men's cashmere overcoat. This one is quite a find. My sister called me one Saturday morning, she was at the local thrift store which was having a 50% off everything sale. She is quite the one for finding expensive handbags among the array of worn out vinyl or cloth bags. So she said, do you want a men's cashmere coat for $ 20? Her words were "I think you can make something with this...maybe for me"  After my initial confusion as to what it was I said yes, absolutely, buy it! I figured it would be in a sorry state but this is what brought home. It seems to have been never worn, or so we thought until we found $ 5 and change in the pockets. But believe me I have lived here all my life and do not know any men who wear overcoats  - it is just not cold enough for that here. The label is Dillards which I believe is in Texas? or somewhere back east. It is labeled 100% cashmere and very luscious. There are few seams which means lots of fabric but do I dare cut it up?  So I am very much wanting to refashion it into some type of jacket for my sister but still giving it thought and welcome yours.

Those are my potential refashion projects, the second and third are quite daunting and would take a lot of commitment.  If you have any ideas or style suggestions please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts.

Happy weekend sewing and enjoy the extra hour of sleep,  Beth

C'est fini! - my Faux French Jacket, V7975

Finalmente finito! Because this jacket seemed to take me forever! Okay, not really but I have so many other things in the queue that I wanted it to be finished. I think it was the fringe! Plus the plaid matching, the hand sewing, the constant vacuuming. Okay, not really on that either, until I couldn't stand seeing all those little boucle fibers everywhere.  The final result:

Just think if I had done the real "Shanel" method, with the hand quilting. Although that does not seem so bad to me, I love hand sewing and if planned I could stretch it out over a few weeks at a relaxing pace. Next time. On my previous post Carolyn asked if I "planned to add any additional embellishment to the trim?"  As you can see in the photos, there is no blue trim to be seen. I did the fringe with the intention of putting the blue braid trim on last but when I was making the pockets it just looked weird to me. A bit too much, so I tossed that idea aside and just did only the fringe, which I am quite satisfied with. Perhaps the light blue braid trim is too much of a contrast on the black, so I will set it aside for a more springlike fabric pairing. 

Here is my final pocket design, small square pockets, hand sewn on with a fringe edge on top. Better, huh?

The lining is silk charmeuse and I intentionally made it a tiny bit bigger than the jacket, it doesn't change the shape of the jacket on the outside but makes it roomy enough so that it does not pull across the shoulders during normal movement. There is a also small pleat in the lining center back.
I used silk organza for the neck and front edge with a one inch seam allowance, then turned that back and hand sewed with silk thread. I sewed the lining in by hand, up to the edge of the seam allowances.
So quite a few changes to this pattern which is Vogue 7975. If I made it again I might change the neckline a bit, maybe make a slight V-neck.

I am really happy with this plaid matching. And I have two more plaid wools in my recently acquired stash - should I keep going on a plaid kick? maybe a skirt. Or I am thinking of somehow blending two plaids in one jacket, could be great or an epic fail. 

The previous posts had a lot of details on construction. 

First post on this jacket: all about matching the plaid and some tips on marking.

Second post on this jacket:  some details on marking and sewing sleeves, plus a closer look at the fringe which is added to the jacket body.

Who says we don't have fall color here in N. California?  Just a little bit sometimes. That is a crepe myrtle tree behind me turning all kinds of orange, plus the start of a few pale pink camellias in the background.

This jacket needs some other pieces, I have to figure out just what top to wear. That shirt was in the back of my closet but is just the right shade of blue to set off the boucle threads. I could see wearing this jacket over a solid color dress, blue or black. Or maybe a black suede skirt. 

For a change I accessorized, a la Chanel, pearls and another 50's vintage necklace from my dresser drawer, by way of mom. You can see the bracelet in the picture above. The color is much more white on the pearls, it came out a bit golden in the light when I took this photo. There are some earrings as well. I should wear that bracelet more often...

Now on to the next thing(s).  

Happy almost Halloween,     Beth

Faux french jacket - more about sleeves

Hello stitchers and happy Friday! I am in the home stretch on this jacket and just getting to the point where I want it to be done. Always happens with coats and jackets, they are so much more involved than dresses, even this simple one. Plus my sewing room is a mass of black fibers as this boucle type fabric sheds constantly. Even migrating to the rest of the house. Do you ever see a dark squiggly thing on the floor and think it is a bug only to find on closer inspection it is a piece of thread? Happening extra often with this one.
Plus yesterday I was trying the jacket on for last fitting before doing the lining and trim when I decided that the fit was not quite right. Needs shoulder pads?  Something else? So I let it marinate during the evening, and finally decided that I should have narrowed the shoulders at the princess seam. Which is quite an easy adjustment with shoulder princess seams and one I could have done from the start. So now I have to open up those seams and adjust. Here is the jacket with some pins to indicate the alteration, about 1/2 inch out of the seam at the top tapering down about 5 inches frot and back. I am kicking myself as I did this same adjustment on this very similar Vogue 8865 blogged here and here.

OK, enough whining, now on to sleeves. I have noticed when I teach sewing students that sleeves are a big mystery to a lot of people.  How to fit, sew, ease, grade, press etc. They do have a lot of details that I think the pattern instructions, whether in Big 4 patterns or indies tend to omit or don't show in excruciating detail. The attention to detail and some tips can help take some of the pain out of sleeve sewing. In this post there is a run down of all my steps for putting in the sleeve in a tailored jacket if you want more info.

Getting a nice sleeve starts with marking the pattern pieces. Here are the upper and under sleeve pieces.

On the under sleeve it is easier to see, but on both sleeve parts there are both LARGE and SMALL dots. It is really important to mark these dots and use them.  When I was first sewing I never really paid attention to the various dots and it showed!

Red arrow, back of sleeve is always double notch

When you mark your sleeve pieces mark all the dots. You know I love tailor's tacks so that is my method of choice and on a textured fabric like this boucle I think it is the only reliable method. The LARGE dots, circled in red are used to place the sleeve in the jacket body. There is another large dot at the top of the sleeve cap which I have not marked here but those are all match their corresponding large dots on the jacket front and back. The small dots circled in blue are for matching the seams of the under and upper sleeve to each other. Note they are on the seam allowance and when you match them up the top of the sleeve often looks kind of strange but it works.

Here is is with the upper and under sleeve sewn together. Once those pieces are sewn together the result is a sleeve that matches the armscye (armhole but I think it is fun to use this archaic sounding word). Some of the dots are close together and it is tempting to ignore them but it really does help to get the sleeve lined up properly. Same goes for all marking dots on patterns. It is very tempting to match up the top ends of the sleeve and just stitch but if you do that you will find they are off at the hem edge and your sleeve armhole will not be quite right. Although on this pattern they have continued the seam allowances out properly so you could do it that way. But I like to match the dots, for some reason it is like ticking items off a to-do list, as I go along a little voice in my head is saying matched here and here and here. Steps accomplished, yay! Small victories, but in a long process the little steps add up. 

My lining is sewn together and I need to do one more thing before I sew it in. Carolyn(cmarie12) asked if I was planning any other trim and the answer is yes. I have been experimenting with fringe and this is the result. The fabric is sewn onto strips of silk organza and then fringed. Last night I watched 2 hours of Project Runway (the reunion show, hilarious and those people are crazy) and then the All-Stars Episode 1, also crazy, but entertaining. While I pulled the threads and made fringe. Strangely relaxing and mindless occupation.  I think I will add the trim, fringe and multiple pockets...or will look at it and hear Tim Gunn's voice saying " edit edit edit".  Time and staring at my dress form will tell.

Thanks for all the great comments and letting me know you appreciate the plaid matching tips. One comment really made me smile, from Laury who said "you have some mad skills". You have no idea how happy that concise comment made me. Big smile!

OK, off to meet a friend for lunch and then time to get this jacket completed - time to move on to the next thing. 

No garden photo today, everything is looking very dreary. And it is chilly today - I have to wear a jacket, and real shoes, eek, no more sandals for a while.  oooooh I so dislike autumn, despite the fun fabrics and patterns.  

Happy weekend sewing, Beth

A little something of a jacket

It is easy enough to post about my latest project, but when it comes to writing the title I was stumped. This is in the style of, and mostly inspired by the classic Chanel but oh, so far from the meticulous versions I have seen recently. So I wanted to call this my "faux french jacket."  It is faux because the fabric does not deserve the full treatment, quilted lining and all but I wanted to play around with the pattern and proportion on a jacket for myself.

This boucle-ish fabric is some kind of wool and acrylic blend which has been in my storage closet for almost 3 years. To see my first use of it scroll down to the bottom of this post - which also has lots of tips on working with plaid. Appropriate as I decided to focus on plaid matching in today's post, in particular sleeves and how to match them to the body of the garment.

I did make a muslin of this jacket because I wanted to cut it apart and then use each muslin piece to cut out the boucle fabric in a single layer. That is really helpful for matching the plaids as you can see everything lining up and don't have to rely on the folded or doubled fabric layers staying aligned. It may not be visible but I have marked all dots and notches in pencil on the muslin and then will do tailors tacks.

Ok, lets talk plaid matching. Firstly it is soooo much easier with an even plaid, which this is. If you look at older sewing and tailoring books they usually have great examples of even and uneven plaid. But my tip - stay away from the uneven ones unless you want to tear your hair out. 

The red squares indicate places where the plaid should match. This fabric has 1" squares of blue thread and then a black metallic thread so I am using the blue as it is easily visible. I actually started with the front pieces, and matched at the center of the bust on the front princess seam and them moved from there. Depending on the style it may get wonky as you go around the jacket but you want the front to be the very best spot. Important NOTE:  the matching is at the seam line, not the edge of the muslin or the paper pattern piece. Does that make sense?  This is more noticeable at the shoulder, where the edge has a sharp angle. Sometimes it is not possible to match completely here, and a princess seam makes it a bit more tricky, but I just chose a spot and matched front and back. 

I made a note about the one inch seam allowance at the neck as that will come into play later.

Once I get the body of the jacket all stitched together then I cut out the sleeve. Sometimes I do it all at once but I think it is better to do it after, then you can use your muslin pieces and see where the notches etc. are actually landing on plaid.

To place the sleeve on the plaid, I match the front single notch of the sleeve to the single notch of the jacket front body. If the pattern is properly designed, and you have kept on the straight grain then the sleeve should match at the armhole and match the jacket body as the arm hangs. This is a simple 2-piece sleeve, on a non-faux version it would likely be a three piece sleeve. But let's not get crazy for this not worthy fabric. For the under sleeve, I match at the top where the double notches are on the back seam. This seam is more likely to show than the front seam which is more hidden under the arm. Grainline is very important here, and then there is usually some ease on a good pattern for the elbow as I note above. 

I am pretty impressed with this pattern, Vogue 7975. I started with a size 12 which is my usual Vogue size and only adjusted a little at the hips. The sleeves fit very well into the armholes with no excessive ease. I am making View B which meets in the center front, no buttons. What is up with View A here? She is looking a bit stern and cranky as I would be if they put me in that weird neck bow version. 

So after all my persnickety plaid efforts how did the sleeve turn out?  Here is a sneak peek at the jacket in progress. I am happy! Maybe this fabric is not so unworthy after all. In any case, the sleeve is just sewn on, no pressing or sleeve head yet. Plenty more steps and some sleeve sewing details in my next post. As for the trim, I got that last week at Discount Fabrics in Berkeley where I was pleasantly surprised to realize just how many unusual things they have on their shelves. Most trims were about $1.29 a yard. Every time I go there I pet all the leather and suede skins...one of these days I will buy one. So this trim,  I am still pondering but leaning towards yes, seems like this jacket needs a bit of punctuation and the color match is perfect. 

Can you see my yellow tailor's tacks there in the princess seam?

So that is the progress so far on my "Shanel" and credit for that name goes to Goodbye Valentino who just finished her gorgeous classic version here. 

Truth be told I started this jacket as a dry run. One of my sewing clients inherited a piece of Irish wool from Avoca handweavers and it is going to be sewn into this style jacket, soon I hope. My mom has always wanted a Chanel style jacket so I think one could be in the works for her as well, with more of the classic handstitching details. She deserves it :)

So onward with my fuzzy ravel-ly black fabric, I am at the "just want to be done with it" stage.

Happy sewing,  Beth

Today's SunnyGal garden photo, some purpley blue asters which are outgrowing their pot.