V8988 - finished!

he'll fight you for it.

Not only is the suit done - but it has had its first adventure.   Greg wore it to an outdoor wedding in Virginia (aka - HOT - although it was only in the low 80s, so it really wan't bad for that neck of the woods)  and was cool and comfy and generally considered to be tremendously stylish.   So, I'm counting this as a major win.

 As with the pants, the directions were a bit of a mess, and my original attempt to follow along for the front pockets was such a disaster, they had to be remade from scratch.   fortunetly, we'd gotten a couple of extra yards, as I was a little intimidated by the project and wanted an insurance policy.

There are a few things I'll change for next time....  The back flap ended up being on a diagonal rather than straight, as I kept taking it in to fit correctly.  Also, the jacket cuffs don't quite lay as flat.  (Greg has also requested that there be an inner breast pocket on the left, as well as the right sides, bringing the total to *10* pockets for the suit.)  (seriously, how many pockets does one man use?   I've polled the ones I know, and none has ever used more than five at once.)   However, other than that (and the directions requiring serious thought to interpret) I'm really liking this pattern.

Once I simplify the waistband pattern, we're going to make a few more pairs of pants in more everyday fabrics.    One of them may end up as his first real sewing project, as the process has gotten him hooked on clothing that fits properly.  He is particularly excited about a shirt with long enough arms that doesn't have a baggy body, and is starting to really take note of the materials in the clothing he already owns.   Cotton/linen blends seems to be the reigning favorite.

 As a suit pattern, I think this is a good way to dip one's toe in the water.   It only has a facing, rather than a full lining, which means skipping the umpteen layers interfacing and pad stitching, etc...    The sleeves are still lined, and have to be put on by hand - but it's both necessary and not really that tricky.

If you are interested in the suit, and would like to see more detail on the pants, check out this link.

In which I vanquish a foe

 You may recall back in the hazy days of yore (December) when I couldn't find a zipper I liked for the turquoise polar feece.   Well -- its been sitting on my sewing table, upbraiding me with its fuzz for months -- and as winter is hitting us with its parting shot, I decided it was about time to take things into my own hands.  

The internet had failed me, so I turned to dye.  I found the perfect color, and in the pot it was exactly what I wanted.....

But rinsed out it was a pale shadow of the color of wanted.  (Still color color-family-wise than the other options... but not good.)   I considered going with it.. but I just wasn't happy.   I want my zippers to match, damn it!











Enter the sharpie!   I got a fatty and a fine tip.  Huzzah for the art store!

Behold the glory!    A little patchy, but lets be honest, no one but me is ever going to look at it.   (So, why, you ask, do I care so much?   It will show when the jacket is open, and I like it to be uniform.   Also- obsessive and crazy.)










Joy was felt throughout the city!

And as inevitably happens, I started trying it on with everything I own.

Obi / Tentacle Sleeved Jacket

 Remember about forever ago when I was working on this?  Finished!  (well, 98%, I still need to add clasps, but they are on the inside and this is how it will look.)    The pattern of the midrift keeps reminding me of an Obi, and with the tentacle pattern, this is turning out to be a rather Japanese-y jacket - most odd considering what I had originally planned - but I am very happy with it- all the more so because it will be ready the moment it is warm enough to wear outside.  (I've been prancing about at home - Its always a measure of success when garments make me dance.)

The green border took forever -- it was machine sewn to the right side, then folded over and hand stitched to the wrong - and besides there being many many yards to cover, a certain fuzzy gentleman decided to help the process along.

original

lace shirt

brocade jacket

This particular project has gotten me thinking -- at what point does the design become my own?  The base of the pattern pieces were from a dress by Tracy Reece for Vogue - however, I have modified all of them, added sections of my own and altogether altered everything over the course of several projects.  However, the core of the design - the building blocks are all hers.   My usual response when asked about something like this is that it is vaguely based on a pattern.   Anyhow, I found it interesting - at what point does it become my design.  Anyone out there have thoughts on the subject?


Also, and in other news, I may be going dark for a few weeks - you may recall a while ago I was going on about having waaay to much mucus - anyhow, I'm having surgery later this week, so depending on which one of the endless number of people who have been giving me advice is correct, I will either be unable to do anything, or  bounce back really fast and be crazy productive from all the meds.  In which case, tons of stuff!  I'm hoping for option number two.  Think happy thoughts!

turns out I like this color more than I was aware....

Turquoise polar fleece in progress!

the color choice is due to my massive restraint - i.e. I contain my kleptomania to within my head, and then use legal means to acquire the objects of my desire.  More specifically - a friend lent me a sweatshirt this color one evening, I loved it, and decided that running off into the night with it probably wasn't the best option.

So now I shall have my own!  huzzah!

same pattern as the white and the green

Tentacle Sleeves

At a cafe with internet, proving to myself that its the service provider, not my computer.  (they are threatening me with labor charges if I haul them out to fix things and its was my hardware)   Anyhow -- quick post as technically I am in French Club right now, but there are a zillion people so I can be anti social for a few minutes.   Anyhow, below are a few images of the tentacle sleeves of a artsy jacket I have almost finished, but being disorganized at the moment don't have more pictures of....   ah well.   (there is quite the back story on this one, but more later, when people aren't giving me funny looks.)

A zillion million facings

transferring the pattern with wax paper

Okay.... they noticed and are making fun of me.   I think its time to pay attention again --- but look! green lining!     happily all the pulls and wrinkles are hidden in the final, as its a sleeve and it just looks like normal movement crinkles.

Oh -- and the khaki is a stash-buster!  from the original January 2011 set!

My Coat of Many Colors

I liked the pattern pieces so much I decided I needed to share  :)

Also thanks for the well wishes, I’m fine and all is well – and not only that, but the coat is fitting!  There was another muslin, but it was out of a shiny lining fabric and to say it did not photograph well would be an understatement of enormous proportion. 

I can safely say the thinsulate is warm – and not too difficult to work with.   I cropped off the seam allowances and butted the ends together and sewed them up.  However, as the fuzzy side was either going to get caught in the presser foot or the feet dogs, I covered the seams with extra bits and pieces of hem tape (huzzah for hoarding!  It really does come in handy).  As you can probably see, the butted up parts ...drape more cleanly.  I don't think drape is the right word for such a solid material, but look at the right vs. the left.

hem tape seam facings

And lo! There was a white jacket!

 Holy crap - this took WAAAAAYYYYYY too long.  However, after forcing myself to finish the cuffs last night, I got to wear it today, and am most pleased with the result.  Lovely and warm, but with a mildly distressing habit of picking up fuzz.  (It doesn't help that I have two dark furred cats)  Anyhow, I've decided it looks very elegant, so we're just going to go with that.


Unrelated, almost on topic - the jeans are me-made too.   As my wardrobe slowly converts, mostly me-made outfits are happening more and more often. I look forward to the day when I can take off my glasses and claim everything else I am wearing.  Have I mentioned my secret desire to learn to cobble?   I looked up classes, but they were either in the thousands, on the west coast, or otherwise not workable.    However, someday, someday I am going to make my own shoes, and they will be both flat and reheelable, so I don't wear them out in two months. (I walk funny - not noticeably so, but you can see it if you compare my shoes to a regular person's. )  I also want knee-high brown leather boots with a round toe, a kitten heel with a slightly fluted bottom, a button closure up the side.   No zipper allowed.   I've yet to see such a thing for sale - there have been similar options, but once again, very very expensive...    So, I shall learn to cobble.  (because, obviously, taking up a new hobby, with all its tools and materials makes more sense than buying the damn things and having them now, rather than many years hence.   Do not apply logic.  Apply the joy of taking off my glasses and taking credit for *everything* because lets face it, optometry might be a bit beyond what I can pull off in my living room.)

the right side (on me) tends to fall on both jackets - most interesting.

Fixing the Neckline - Pearl Necklace Style

Just off enough to drive me insane

 To my shock, horror and dismay I noticed the the center front was in fact tipped to the side while admiring my jacket in the mirror.  (I figure I can pass it off as 'checking the fit')

For a minute or two I contimplated leaving it, on the grand theory of who-else-pays-that-much-attention-to-my-clothes?  But I realized it was going to drive ME nuts, so out came the seam ripper, and away with half the seam.   I took in in about an inch at the neckline sloping down to nothing around the midrift.

even from right to left, but not up and down

As may be seen, this left the neckline a bit wonky and uneven, so I tried a technique I learned in a drafting class.    Put on a pearl necklace and pin around it, and voila! An even neckline!  Technically any sort will do, but little pearl ones tend to be close fitting and curve evenly.

ready for a collar! 

Really shows off my unevenly sloping shoulders, hunh?  Also, holy crap my neck looks long.   If giraffes made noises I would make some.   Currently trying to think of things I can eat to turn my tongue black.  hmmm....

Anyhow.   Even neckline, no fuss, no bother :)

Things may have gone a little off the rails last night..  I decided I wanted to use my new blue gauze to make Tanit Isis' Grecian dress, however, when I got home I remembered the printer is broken, and the nearest one I have access to is further away than I cared to go.  So I winged it.     I spent a while looking at her techical drawings, patterns and instructions and then basically just re-drafted it - and by 'it' I mean an insane series of costume like things.  I still haven't quite hit her original concept.   

Now, for a while, I intended to veer off, as I thought longer sleeves would be nice (and I like them in the pictures) but IRL they weren't working for me.  The bottom right is the current incarnation, which I was really annoyed with last night, but am actually kind of liking in the picture.  So we shall see what becomes of it.

Come the cold light of day, I couldn't face the gauze anymore, and decided it might be nice to actually finish something.  Thus, I've added sleeves and a zipper to the white jacket.  It still needs a collar, cuffs and a hem and it will be done.  I fixed the odd hip curve I had on the last one - but a few more flaws are showing up in greater prominence on this version  (primarily around the sleeves)  Not sure if I set them in a different way or if green hides more mistakes.   Also, the white turns out to be just slightly transparent, so all the seams show through.  C'est la vie.   I still like it and plan to wear it, so, it becomes a great big whatever.

Oh, and my halloween costume is a surprise. :)    Mostly because I've been refusing to tell people I know IRL, as I want to see jaws drop and helpless laughter, which I think will be more likely if no one knows what to expect.     However, it will be glorious, and I will fully document the process so I can share it later.

white jacket progress report

Ignore the wonky lighting, both the jacket and the wall are actually white.  Microsoft photo gallery only allows so much editing.... 

Anyhow, inside out and missing sleeves, but its coming together.   I'm slowly but surely taking down all the seams so it will lie flat.  I still have to do the sides and the shoulders, and then I'm ready for sleeves, a collar and the piece de resistance, the collar.   

In other news, I finally ordered the thinsulate early last week, so lets think hapy thoughts about it arriving soon, so I can play with it and see if it will in fact be warm enough, or if I will need a second interlining.   (This coat will be WARM) (and pretty!)

On a side note, I've been developing a bit of a fixation on the gowns (particularly the skirts) of the early 1900s.  Someone needs to have a fabulous ball and invite me.

Plans, Plotting and Pictures!

I got a few more pictures of the green jacket yesterday afternoon, as my poorly lit living room isn't really an ideal place for photography.  Funnily enough I was grumbling to myself about how hot and muggy it was, and this was going to end up waiting for weeks until I'd get to actually wear it -- until this morning when I woke up to a cold steady rain.    Let me tell you, it is cozy.   It also helped me decide that the white one will be identical, as the HVAC system at my office leaves a great deal to be desired, and the ability to wear this unzipped came in where the air wasn't pumping (although most of the day I was freezing and had it all zipped up)   However, last night I started on an even more fiendish plot, one that would involve all the design features I've been mooning over, without sacrificing practicality a bit. I need a new winter coat - while my current one is still in good condition, it really isn't warm enough.  As best I can tell without taking it apart, its a layer of wool and a layer of lining, and that's it.  Needless to say, the winter winds cut right through, so I layer, but its still rather frustrating.   So, since in the middle of winter I stay all buttoned and zipped, it will have a side zip.   Since I often have trouble getting gloves on with my packed full of layers sleeves, it will have arm zips.   Since I am tired of hat hair (although I do have a very cute hat to make up for it) it will have a hood -- and not just any hood, a really cool one, that I've been calling the hoodie-from-space since I saw it last year.

  Lisa was kind enough to send me her patterns and directions, which ought to help this particular process.     Anyhow, I'm currently working on figuring out what else I want to incorporate, and then I will start drafting the muslin.  I'm going to base it all on V1040, since I have the fit down, but it will require a fair number of modifications to incorporate the hood, the zippers (and zillions of pockets) and to extend down to at least my knees.

The jacket  below and on the right (I think BurdaStyle, although I'm not sure) is the source of my fascination with sleeve zippers, although mine will be on the bottom.  The jacket on the left appears to have a gently curved front zipper, which is also appealing to me just now.

Huzzah to Thee, Green Jacket!

..and it zips up the front

 Which doesn't look a thing like I had intended.   Turns out there are these wacky things called "seam allowances" and just because the front lines up perfectly when one is playing with the lapels, and happens to think "hey, think would make a kickass motorcycle style jacket" doesn't actually mean there is quite enough fabric to make it work.   Who woulda thunk?    Ah well.   I have a great big pile of white, which is yet to be cut out, and may very well end up incorporating design features at a much earlier stage in this whole crazy process.  (I am still thinking thoughts, but it is going to be awesome.  Just so you know.) 

And then, there is the second "what on earth was I thinking, oh wait, guess I wasn't" aspect of this particular project, i.e.  obtaining the perfect zipper. I live in Philly, we have 4th street.   (skip ahead if you are familiar with the area)   Once upon a time the city planners decided it would be handy if all the merchants of a particular type were located in the same place so that people could comparison shop to their hearts content and generally be assured of a good deal.  Not much of this has remained over the intervening centuries, but we still have jewelers row (solid diamonds) and fabric row (about 4 blocks of 4th street south of South) on this street (which is sadly in its decline) one can find just about anything, with the exception of batik calico cottons, a particular weakness of mine, so I don't often bother.    Not long after writing the last post it suddenly occurred to me that I was an idiot, and that there was a damn good chance one of the stores would have what I wanted.  and lo and behold, I found my perfect zipper, for a whopping 95 cents.   Anyhow, thank you to those of you who got in touch with me either via the blog or IRL with sources - I have been happily perusing them and will probably end up getting some of the wackier stuff at some point (such as totally clear zippers!)

However, despite everything, I have ended up with a lovely jacket that I intended to get a great deal of use out of.   As usual, there are any number of errors - the side pulls oddly, the neckline is slightly crooked, the hips are just slightly wonky, but I get to fix them in the white version, and in all honesty, who else is ever going to look that closely?   so, I say Huzzah to Thee green jacket! welcome to my closet!