A Not-So-Ugly Denim Jakcet

Using the same pattern that yielded the Ugly Green Suit I made a second jacket that's much, much better. The fabric made all the difference in the world. This time, I used a print denim from Emma One Sock with a yellow Bemberg rayon lining. The fabric is smooth, almost silky, with a bit of horizontal stretch.

I left off the bottom strip of the jacket, because it didn't look good with the large-scale print. If I had it to do over, I'd probably lengthen the jacket a bit, to make up for the lost bottom strip.

I wore it yesterday with yellow pants, but I think it will look better with a straight skirt.

I found some glass buttons at an ebay shop. I wish I could have found something similar in a periwinkle color. I do actually have 3 buttons that are exactly the right size and color, and I suppose I could have used them an put a snap at the top.

What I learned from this project:

1. When using fabrics with large or asymmetrical prints (or stripes or plaid, for that matter), carefully consider the layout before cutting. If I were going to do this project again from the beginning, I would cut out tissue patterns, omitting the seamlines and overlaps, and lay them out so I could see exactly how the pattern would match up at the seam lines and where the left and right fronts overlap.

2. I already knew this, but the project made it even more clear: choice of fabric is SO important. If one is on a limited budget, it's far better to save up and buy one length of nice fabric than to buy several lengths of low-quality fabric. However, if the high-quality fabric is expensive (which usually seems to be the case) it's also good to make the best use of the expensive fabric by making test garments first with inexpensive fabrics.

3. When setting in sleeves, I find it very helpful to hand-baste the sleeve into place before sewing it on the machine. I end up actually saving time, because if the sleeve is basted in, I don't have problems with puckered seams that have to be ripped out and re-done. Maybe as I get more experience I won't need to do this step, but for now, I'm going to hand-baste my sleeves.

4. When sewing very light-weight, slippery fabrics, such as rayon lining, always put tissue paper along the seam line when sewing on the machine. Don't try to save time by omitting this step.

Blue Denim Skirt

This was made from stretch denim from JoAnn's. The fabric must have been sitting around the shop for a long, long time, because there was a pale line where the fabric had been folded in half. I didn't notice this until I'd already cut out the pattern, but it's OK. This is another of my wearable practice garments.

I actually love this skirt, despite the pale line down the front. It's completely comfortable, and looks tidy enough to wear in public. I used Vogue 8606 as a pattern. What I especially like about this skirt is that it has a yoke rather than a waistband, which makes it fit very nicely, with no bulk at the waist.

I'm planning to make another one in wool. Since the wool I'll use is somewhat scratchy (I have very sensitive skin; the only sort of wooly fabric I can stand to have touching my skin is cashmere or angora), I'm going to make the yoke from cotton jersey in a matching color. I'd have used satin for the yoke, but I don't have any in a compatible color. Anyhow, the yoke won't show. I'm making the skirt specially to wear with a top I bought online last year. The color of the top turned out not to be what I had expected, so the top has sat in a drawer for months. The top will look best worn outside the skirt rather than tucked in, so it doesn't really matter what the yoke looks like.

An Ugly Green Suit

Well, I guess it's OK for a first attempt, but I'm not greatly pleased by it. In part, I believe the problem is the nasty fabric that doesn't drape well. there is also the problem of the style itself. The jacket hemline is just below the fullest part of the hip, which accentuates my pear-shaped torso. For the learning process, I will try making the same jacket in a more pleasant fabric and see how it looks.

I asked my husband to take 2 photos -- one with the jacket open and one with it closed. He says he likes it better open. I don't like it either open or closed. So I think I will not bother installing buttons.

For purposes of comparison, here are a couple of garments from my closet that are far more flattering. This one is a cotton knit skirt with a silk top and jacket:

This one is a silk dress with a wool crepe jacket:

The styles are different, but I suspect the main difference is in the fabric. In other words, you can't make a silk purse ...

Things I learned from making this suit:

1. Silk crepe makes a very comfortable lining;
2. It seems to work OK to interface just the front of a jacket, and not the back;
3. Jackets look better on me if I install small shoulder pads & make the right pad a bit larger than the left;
4. Henceforth, if a pattern calls for tiny little pockets, I'm not going to bother with them, because they are useless (I may re-think this one -- after all, one could carry a few dollars and a set of keys in the pockets of the ugly green jacket);
5. I don't like straight skirts with pleats in the front. Next time, I think I'll try darts instead;
6. Making a lined jacket takes a long time.
7. Making a straight skirt takes very little time.

A New Skirt and a Jacket Lining

I made a cotton interlock skirt using New Look pattern No. 6730. I wore it to work today with a formal cotton blouse then wore at home with the salvaged cotton top.

More exciting, I'm making a lined jacket. I wanted to try sewing silk chiffon, and the jacket lining seemed like a low-risk choice of project. I found some silk chiffon on sale at Vogue Fabrics for $5.99 per yard and made the lining first, because I was eager to see what it was like to sew such delicate, floaty fabric. I used tissue paper on the bottom of each seam as I sewed it, and a walking foot on top so I could try to feed the fabric evenly. This system worked very well for me. I'm pleased with the way it came out, and it fits well.

Far as I know, silk chiffon is not commonly used as a lining, but when I tried it out with the somewhat nasty fabric I'm using for the jacket, the chiffon improved the drape of the nasty fabric. This is the same fabric I used to make a straight skirt that I have not yet worn, because I have not yet hemmed it or attached the hook at the waist.

The fabric, which I believe is meant to be used as upholstery, is sort of stiff and doesn't drape at all well by itself, but with a cotton lawn lining, the skirt's not too bad. I think the jacket will look OK too, with the silk chiffon. If not, it's no great loss. I got the fabric on sale for something like $2 per yard, with the intent of using it as a tool for learning. If it turns out ugly, I can wear it to work in the garden on coolish days. I'm using Burda pattern # 8761.

Two New Tops

I have been unexpectedly busy at work, because one of our employees quit, and the rest of us have had to work harder to take up the slack. So I have not had time to take photos of the gardments I've worn each day. They've been repeats anyhow, since I don't have that many self-made garments. Here are two new tops I recently finished. The first is like the one I showed in my most recent post, except that I used thing braided trim on the shoulder and armholes to keep them from stretching. I'm sad to report that the spray-on fabric stabilizer did not work.

The braided trim worked very nicely. No stretching at all, and I'm very pleased with the way the top looks when I wear it. In fact, I wore it to the office today with a blue/gray silk suit.

The second top was made using McCall's 7978.

I used fusible interfacing on the neck edge, which helped somewhat to prevent stretching.

SSS 21 - Salvaged Knit Top

I wore the stretched and subsequently gathered-neck cotton knit top today, under a light-weight jacket.

A Tragic Knit Top

I used a pattern for woven fabric to make a top out of cotton interlock fabric. To compensate for the stretch, I used one size smaller than I would normally wear. When I tried on the top after sewing the pieces together, it fit perfectly. I loved it and looked forward to wearing it for SSS Day # 18.

But when I top stitched the neck and armhole edges, they stretched all out of shape, and the top was unwearable. To salvage it, I gathered the edges. I was afraid the stitches would pull out, so I stabilized the neck edge by sewing in some flat braided trim. I kind of like the way the neck looks, but the armholes look weird. Still, the top will be fine to wear under a jacket.

So I decided I absolutely must figure out how to keep the knit fabric from stretching when I top stitch the edges. I could have used interfacing on this particular top, since the neck opening was large enough to slip on over my head. But what about when I want the neck edge to stretch -- when I wear it, not when I'm sewing it?

A Web search turned up the following:

(1) decrease the tension on the presser foot;
(2) use spray-on or paint-on water soluble stabilizer
(3) use elastic

I tried decreasing the presser foot tension and still had stretching. I didn't want to use elastic, because part of what I like about this fabric is its softness and light weight. The elastic would make it feel heavy; besides the elastic would look weird on the edges of the armholes. So I went to the fabric store after work and bought some spray-on stabilizer and some more of the black cotton interlock, to try once more.