Yesterday, Caroline and I had a leisurely morning talking, drinking coffee, having breakfast while the guys bustled about loading up the van for their trip. They headed off at about ten o'clock and we headed down to the studio.
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After auditioning several choices, I used a light-weight denim fabric for my jacket because it was cotton... 100% natural... not synthetic. That's certainly an interesting way to make decisions and it will work for now. Most of my stash has a percentage of synthetic - including the denims - which are typically stretch. There were two without and this was the lightest.
The results won't be cardigan-like but they will let me "muslin" the pattern, hopefully with a wearable muslin. There was barely enough yardage especially as I made a mistake and had to re-cut the peplum pieces. I had shortened the center back and center front lengths above the waist but forgotten to add back below. The finished length would have been too short.
The pattern - Vogue 8767 - is well drafted and goes together easily. It has lots of darts. I sewed the two at the back neck but not the six below the bust or the six on the sleeve caps. Originally, I sewed one set of bust darts and then unpicked them and substituted pleats because the pleats were softer. I also made a sleeve muslin to test the length and fit and sewed the darts but used pleats in the fashion fabric for the same reason. The darts were too pointed and sticky-outy.
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Caroline and I talked about slow sewing including taking the time to complete the techniques to the best of our ability and re-doing things that we know aren't working. She started with the longer view of her jacket and shortened the length three times before she was felt it most flattered her figure. She also redid the collar when she realized she'd made a mistake.
I spent more time up front prepping the pattern and then pin fit the seams to test the fit as I went along. So far, I've altered the shoulder angle to be more correct, substituted the pleats for darts, and changed the sewing order somewhat.
I much prefer the slow sewing mindset as opposed to the sew it today philosophy. Definitely, there are garments that are easily sewn in a day but not all and there doesn't seem to be any need to rush. Why not enough the process and the finished product?
Today, we plan to do more sewing... and move slow... and just have fun. This is good.
Talk soon - Myrna
Grateful - just enough fabric
After auditioning several choices, I used a light-weight denim fabric for my jacket because it was cotton... 100% natural... not synthetic. That's certainly an interesting way to make decisions and it will work for now. Most of my stash has a percentage of synthetic - including the denims - which are typically stretch. There were two without and this was the lightest.
The results won't be cardigan-like but they will let me "muslin" the pattern, hopefully with a wearable muslin. There was barely enough yardage especially as I made a mistake and had to re-cut the peplum pieces. I had shortened the center back and center front lengths above the waist but forgotten to add back below. The finished length would have been too short.
The pattern - Vogue 8767 - is well drafted and goes together easily. It has lots of darts. I sewed the two at the back neck but not the six below the bust or the six on the sleeve caps. Originally, I sewed one set of bust darts and then unpicked them and substituted pleats because the pleats were softer. I also made a sleeve muslin to test the length and fit and sewed the darts but used pleats in the fashion fabric for the same reason. The darts were too pointed and sticky-outy.
Caroline and I talked about slow sewing including taking the time to complete the techniques to the best of our ability and re-doing things that we know aren't working. She started with the longer view of her jacket and shortened the length three times before she was felt it most flattered her figure. She also redid the collar when she realized she'd made a mistake.
I spent more time up front prepping the pattern and then pin fit the seams to test the fit as I went along. So far, I've altered the shoulder angle to be more correct, substituted the pleats for darts, and changed the sewing order somewhat.
I much prefer the slow sewing mindset as opposed to the sew it today philosophy. Definitely, there are garments that are easily sewn in a day but not all and there doesn't seem to be any need to rush. Why not enough the process and the finished product?
Today, we plan to do more sewing... and move slow... and just have fun. This is good.
Talk soon - Myrna
Grateful - just enough fabric