Sunday, September 5, 2010

Jacket and coat

I didn’t do as much as I thought I would today. It was a glorious late summer day and I spent the morning in the garden, that needed some pruning and cleaning after weeks of rain and storm. The afternoon was spent with a great walk through the woods with old friends. In short: a perfect day.

This is the jacket in its current state. I made the collar, sewed the facings together but that’s it for this weekend. But ít’s definitely getting shape.

Now that I’m really using the dressform, it has a few things that are different from the real me: its hips are wider (could be caused by the little weight I lost), the waist is a little too high and the neck circumference too large (difficult to make paper tape fitting very close to someones neck). It means that it’s not the perfect tool I hoped it would be. Did you see the professional dressform Robin is having made? With all the different stages and measuring in between that will be perfect. I will make do with mine, but I loved to see how hers is coming along.

A detail of the pocket.

And of one of the bound buttonholes. Needs a little pressing at the top, it has a little crease, though if pressing doesn’t help, this crease won’t be seen when the jacket is closed.

In yesterdays post I wrote about the wintercoat I’m making. It’s from the Knip mode September issue. I’m making view B with the tabs on the sleeves of view A.

First muslin (sorry, no pictures) in size 40 had perfect fit, IF it would have been a jacket, but absolutely too small for a coat where I want to wear a jacket underneath. So I upgraded to a size 44, which was much better.

I experimented with piping, (I do know how to make sewing time consuming) , here on the tabs for the sleeves. As you can see the top one is better than the one on the bottom. The back is in a thin, solid black fabric. In this way the tab is not too thick. The first picture is best showing the color, the second one is too yellow. The opening for the buttonhole still has to be made in the back of the tab. Think I like the piping and will use it.

15 comments:

  1. Oh goodness, I have to be careful to to gush too much. The jacket looks SO GOOD. I love.love.love that coat pattern you selected as well as the houndstooth fabric with black piping.

    I feel certain I have seen the same (or maybe just very similar) fabric at Michael's store. I have been admiring it.

    Better to take your time and add the special details than to finish quickly.

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  2. The jacket is looking gorgeous. It may take more time but your details are worth it. Your details are so well done. I do like your decision to use the contrasting fabric for the binding. I love the coat too. The samples look great and the piping is perfect. What type of fabric did you use for the piping?

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  3. I admire your tailoring skills so much. Your jacket looks fantastic. And the winter coat will be extra special.

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  4. Wow! Your details look amazing. I think the piping is really nice. I can't wait to see your finished coat.

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  5. I love the jacket and nice details you put in it. Adding the piping to the coat gives it a nice extra touch. I'm anxious to see your nest posts on both projects.

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  6. Very nice! I love the piping too, it's perfect for this kind of fabric, and you're totally right to line the tabs with lighter fabric.

    A dressform that doesn't fit your particular body isn't necessarily very helpful, not when you're trying to do the level of fitting that you're already capable of. I wonder how it'd be to make a duck-tape double and just put it on this form? A couple friends made them recently, but didn't get real duck-tape so the result wasn't structurally stable enough, and they had a hard time hanging them and filling them with stuff that was stable enough but not too heavy. I wonder if it'd be relatively easier to use a standard dressform, a little smaller than yourself, inside a duck-tape double, and just stuff the gaps with ordinary cushion poly fill?

    Another solution is the pads that I think Fabulous Fit makes, which can be used to make your form more realistic. But I don't think that'd help the neck/shoulder issue much at all.
    I have a Uniquely You form myself, and it's been really perfect, so much like me you could screams :-). It's the kind with a heavy canvas cover that squeezes in a large hunk of foam. But it mostly works because I benefited from a friend with theater costume training who did a fabulous job of fitting to begin with..

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  7. As always, your attention to details really makes the garment.

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  8. So many fabulous features on this jacket - it looks very special indeed!

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  9. I think both of these pieces will turn out wonderfully! I love both patterns, and the piping on the coat will just define the details better.

    Good for you for taking some time to be outdoors and to be with friends!

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  10. That coat pattern is fabulous and the fabric looks like it will be a gorgeous coat. I love the sleeve tabs with the piping. You do such lovely work.

    The jacket too is going to be lovely, with the hint of pink in the fabric, and the meticulous job of aligning the pocket flap.

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  11. Your jacket is progressing nicely. I am looking forward to seeing the finished garment. I really like the look of the bias cut fabric on the piped tabs. Will they be bias cut on the final garment?

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  12. Wow - this jacket is coming along beautifully - it's going to look wonderful. I am so impressed by your care and attention to detail!

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  13. The jacket is looking good. Love the contrast binding. And the piping on the coat is looking good too! And the pink jacket with misaligned stripe hurts my eyes too :)

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  14. Excellent post! I love the jacket. It is so gorgeous and perfect for me.
    Gonna have it... =D

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