Rolled hem on thin fabric

Progress on the Chanel style jacket is slow, as expected. I do plan to share my progress and a few construction details with you, but to start with I accidentally erased the first pictures from the memory card. And Sheila, I don’t want to raise the bar for anyone but myself. It’s been on my to sew list for a long time, I’m happy I finally started it, but not quite sure how long it will take, it might be quite a bit longer than I thought.

 

To differentiate a bit, I’m working on a blouse as well, part of the new spring garments I want to make. This is a sheer, thin fabric as you can see in the pictures, the grid shows through the fabric. I tried to serge the edge of the collar that will be folded to the inside (it’s a wrap blouse) and didn’t get it right. In a Dutch  book on serger techniques using a water soluble stabilizer was advised. I didn’t have that anymore. Instead I used a fusible table, ironed it in the seam allowance and then serged with a rolled hem on the inner edge of the tape. This worked perfectly and the hem is straight and a bit firm.

Next post either on the blouse or the jacket.

Slow sewing

And this time I’m not referring to speed of sewing or the lack of finished projects lately. It’s time for a more complicated project again and I’m starting a Chanel style jacket. The pattern was very kindly lent to me by Jane (you know who you are) THANK YOU again! The “deadline” I have in mind is the PR  Brussels weekend April 9-10, so there are almost 4 weeks to go. The pattern is by Claire Shaeffer and has two variations: the couture construction with quilted lining and the more rtw construction method. I will follow the couture construction, which has 99 steps. A few less for me, as I will omit the upper pockets for obvious reasons. Still a lot of steps to do, and I want to take my time and perhaps sew an easy top in between.

 

The fabric I’m using is the bouclé in the upper left corner. I showed this picture in an earlier post with my spring fabric plans.

 

The muslin was made end December and this is the second version. First I made a size 14, a size I’ve used for Vogue tops before. It was too small everywhere, so then I traced the 16, which was pretty good.

I’ve given a bit more waist definition to the pattern, because I didn’t want it too boxy. Further I took a bit out of the front shoulder seam, the center front remains more straight that way when worn open. I posted about this alteration in this post (scroll down a bit).

 

 

The back doesn’t look very good in the picture, but it’s better in real life and with a shoulder pad, which I didn’t use in the picture. The sleeve is a bit strange: it feels a bit snug at the inner side, but has a lot (too much?) space in the sleeve head. I will follow the instructions and sew the body of the jacket and then sew the muslin sleeve in the jacket to check on the fit then.

  

And something most of you won’t understand: I cut away all seam allowances from the pattern, except the hem allowances. Working with seam allowances is difficult for me on complicated patterns like this. All parts have to be thread traced on the seam line, better not have the seam allowances then anyway. Isn’t it strange that I prefer patterns without seam allowances? European patterns never have seam allowances, so I learned to sew without them and like to work with the actual seam line. A lot easier when matching plaids or stripes too.

A skirt for spring/summer

Absent from blogland for two weeks again, but this time not so much to show. The Knip mode pants that I showed a detail of in my last post is a wadder. The fit in the back is no good at all and the fabric too stiff. In the next weeks I will continue my efforts to make a good pants pattern. I have lost a bit of weight, so I need to start again.

I made this skirt from the March Knip Mode issue. It’s an A-line skirt with side pockets and pleats that go over the waistband. When I received the magazine, the fabric used for the skirt immediately appealed to me and I ordered it online from Jerseyfashion. The fabrics they sell are mostly expensive, certainly if you compare it to US prices, but the fabrics I’ve bought are of very good quality. Just a happy customer, though I must say that though this fabric is a beautiful quality cotton, it is not really a bottom weight quality. It’s more a cotton I would use for a shirt. I would never wear a shirt with this print, so just used it for the skirt. I did line the skirt and used fusible interfacing where the zipper was inserted.

It’s nice to have this in the closet, with a white blouse or t-shirt it will be good on the first spring days. For the moment it’s still too cold here to wear it.

The front and back

 

Details of the pleats in the front

   

 

The magazine picture and line drawing. I think it’s one of the very few times I made a pattern in exactly the same fabric as shown.

 

Tops

Thank you so much for your congratulations and kind comments on my last post. Lucky there were quite a few people to help me eat the cakes, otherwise I would certainly not have fit in my clothes anymore ;)

Katharine, the green fruit are grapes (in halves), not olives. 

Though I haven’t posted very regularly lately, I’ve seen quite a few new names in the comments on my last posts: thank you for reading and leaving a comment.  I’m a very irregular blog reader and commenter myself at the moment, I’m sure I’ll be back on track sometime, but not right now.

The last weeks I’ve sewn a few tops, which were none of them very difficult, but took me ages to do the last finishing touches. This time pictures on the dressform only.

 

A tunic from Knip Mode November 2010. A very sheer fabric, must be worn with a camisole underneath. Don’t remember when I last used a thin, slippery fabric like this, but it went well. The cuffs and neckband are interfaced with Pam’s Pro sheer elegance, a wonderful interfacing for this type of fabric. I’ll wear the tunic with a belt.

 

    

 

 

Next Simplicity 2603 (the wrap cardigan pattern, a top is included too), a simple basic.

Another basic and new pattern company for me: Christine Jonson V-neck tee no. 714. I loved the versions I had seen in blogland and in reviews. It has a little similarity with Jalie 2682, but I love that is has no horizontal line under the bust like the Jalie pattern. The shoulder seam is a bit too far to the back for me, so that I’ll have to adjust when I make it again, which I certainly will do, the neckline is wonderful.

 

The last item is a co-production with my daughter. The pattern is from Knip mode February. She likes it very much, I’m not so enthousiastic about the “pockets” in the side seam. They basically are just an outward corner on the side seam, turned to the inside. Could have been drafted better. Daughter happy, so it’s fine with me.

 

 

And last picture in this picture-heavy post: detail from the pants I’m working on. Not sure whether these will fit. As the fabric was as cheap as muslin fabric is, I just went ahead and thought that if it wouldn’t be ok, only a little time would be lost, no expensive fabric. By now I know there is some tweeking to be done, I’ll keep you posted on the outcome.

Update

Over two weeks since my last post, quite a long time. I have been sewing a bit but have not written about it, nor made construction pictures. The first week I was busy organizing a small birthday party. Normally I just keep my birthday very quiet, but this time (the milestone of 50 was reached!) I thought it a good occasion to invite family and friends. Which was very nice to do and see and talk to everyone. A bit of baking was involved:

No, not much time for sewing when all these things have to be made. I like baking though, and my dh told me it was allright if I did this, but that we would order the savouries and salads for later in the afternoon. He was very right about that.

Well, on the sewing side: I’ve been sewing this set:

 

As usual, all the fabric and notions are from Kantje boord in Amsterdam. Don’t you love the shoulder strap embellishment?

 

There are some other projects I’m working on, I’ll show them when they’re ready. A tunic which only needs cuff buttons, a shirt with only a hem to be done… this weekend probably.

AND: I’m updating the tutorials blog. A very slow affair. I’m checking the links and try to add new links to tutorials.Something to be done in little steps.  Robin had the nice idea of a button in her sidebar to refer to the tutorials site. After a little experimenting you can see the result in her and my sidebar, and since yesterday also on Nicole’s blog. If you want to link to it too: feel free to do so. If you know a tutorial that is worth adding: let me know.

Plans for spring

I’ve read it on several other blogs from sewista’s in the northern hemisphere too: I’m soooo tired of winter. We don’t have snow anymore, but it’s cold, the days are often grey and cloudy. I do notice that the days are getting longer, it’s always such a pleasure to notice that.
Right now I’m working on a lingerie set, but mentally I’m preparing for spring sewing. Time to dive into my closet with fabrics and see what I have to start with. Quite enough, don’t you think? I’m not committing to not buying fabric, as that is a commitment I’ll certainly break (especially as a Pattern Review gathering is planned in Brussels in April. A visit to the Antwerpen fabric market is part of the plan!).
There are more plans than time probably, but I’d like to start with two capsule plans for the moment. The first one is in light colors: top left will be a Chanel style jacket, to the right is a beautiful cotton with a woven stripe that’s hardly to be seen in the picture. It will be a blouse, just like the silk below it, which I bought in New York last August.
Bottom left is an ivory fabric that will be a pair of pants. The plan should be extended and should probably include a few simple knit tops and another bottom.


The next plan is very different in color. More bottoms than tops at the moment: the brown top center is heavy bottom weight cotton. I’ll probably try another style of pants with these, there were so many nice ideas in the Knip Modes of past months. Bottom left is a linen/silk blend for a pair of pants, bottom right a  linen that will be a skirt. Top right a knit fabric for a t-shirt and top left a more or less sheer fabric for a tunic. Probably a tunic from Knip Mode, think it was in the issue of September.
Other patterns still to be decided upon, it was just nice to get out the fabrics and see that I had quite a bit to get started for spring. My own impression from my fabric closet is always that I have too many dark fabrics and it surprised me to find enough fabrics for two plans that are not mainly black or have to be worn with black.


ETA: you were all right about the last project: nothing ventured, nothing gained. It's what happens.
And Shams asked whether there is a source for old Knip Modes. Alas, the online shops that sell Knip Mode usually only have issues till a few months back. The September 2008 issue is not to be found anymore. There is a local site (I assume that Craigs list is something similar) where people sell their stuff and regularly older items are sold. But it's only in Dutch.

Nice idea, no success

 

That’s how about I feel about this little project. In the end I chose the plain knit fabric to work with, mainly because I had enough fabric of that to make a matching sleeveless top to wear with the cardigan I had in mind.  I chose the Jalie pleated cardigan pattern, which I made before in a print. This time no print on the whole but only dots at the shawl collar. It doesn’t look too bad on the dressform, but it’s too much white on me and the fit is no good. This was not too clear in the my previous version. Because of the plain fabric the folds/pleats and too spacious back are very obvious now. It’s a very nice fabric, so I already started unpicking the pleats and I will use the fabric for something else. Live and learn. Just wanted to share the idea with you, which I still like, but could have better done in a darker fabric.