Me-Made-May: Day 6

This must be the worst MMM picture ever. The camera just didn't want to photograph dark colors in natural light without a flash. Well, it was dark and rainy. Which also meant I could dig out another woolen garment, yay!

Me-made: Gray herringbone tweed jacket.

What I gained from MMM today: Relief that I made it through day 6. Apprehension about day 7.

See you!

Jacket Burda 9/2007 no. 105

I made DH take pictures of the jacket on me, which is a good thing, because seeing the pictures I like it even more, and am more likely to forgive and forget all the hard work that went into it!

(Details. The pocket lining peeks out and needs to be tacked on!)

I don't have the heart for a full recap, including the back stay (sewing book: "Cut the back stay according to the back stay pattern." Me: "???), but I put quite a bit of tailoring in it, and I think it shows. From the front, I absolutely love it; the back, although it feels like it fits, doesn't look quite as good, but I'll take it as is and keep this filed away for the next time: Take a picture of the back during the fitting process.

(Back: with buttons open at left, buttons closed at right.)

Another lesson learned: Towards the end of such an involved project, take steps to avoid sewing ennui (which steps, I'll have to figure out yet!)

All in all, it looks like I imagined it would, goes well with the rest of my wardrobe, and will hopefully get lots of wear!

Have a great Sunday, everyone.

SWALP patterns and jacket progress

My mojo has, resolutions notwithstanding, been lost for quite some time. Whether this is due to sewing in gray and navy since December, the slight seasonal blues that always strikes right after Christmas, or DD's not having been well since December... I'm dragging my (sewing machine) feet.

See this?

Looks like a finished jacket, doesn't it? And it IS finished, except for the tiniest amount of handsewing. And it fits. And I like it. So why do I have to force myself to do a little bit of hem sewing every evening, instead of rushing to get it done?

I had visions of showing the finished garment beautifully styled and shot, on me instead of the hanger one of these days. Maybe that will happen. Maybe I'll need to sew something bright pink before that, to get myself out of this funk.

(Thankfully, DS has wished for a Winnie the Pooh costume for carnival. Sewing all that bright yellow and red ought to set me right, don't you think?)

Instead of swinging the shears and needles, I have been organizing my pattern magazines by copying all the pattern overview pages in my Burda and Ottobre magazines and putting them in a ring binder. Happy hours have been (and will be) spent leafing through these while putting my feet up and nursing a hot cup of tea!

So, without actually making progress, I feel like getting on with my SWALP by circling possible patterns. The thicker olive green wool knit might become one of these:

The patterned rayon knit may become one of these:

And finally, the skirt to complement the jacket, not from the same herringbone wool, but a heathered dark gray woven:

(As a side note, I considered making up a quiz "guess the year these BURDA patterns are from". Some are quite obviously dated, but some not, I think.)

Obviously, I have my favorites, but I'm not decided yet. Which do you think would fit well with my SWALP?

SWALP Continues

I am, as always, in awe of real, grown-up SWAP sewers. As mentioned before, SWAP isn't going to happen for sewing-ADD-addled me anytime soon, but Sewing With A Little Plan continues.

To make the most my resolutions, I used today's 30 minutes of sewing (resolution no. 3) to work on the jacket lining, and to think about how to get the most use out of the jacket once it's finished. I pulled out my winter fabrics, laid them against the half-finished jacket, and chose two fabrics for matching tops, and a dark gray wool for a matching bottom (more mix-and-match garments, resolution no. 4).

Left to right:

The light green olive knit is wool. In winter I like to layer my sweater knits over classic woven shirts, so I might look for a pattern that enables this.

The green-gray patterned fabric is a thin jersey knit, rayon lycra I'd guess. I should be able to find a pattern for that. I love surplice looks, so it might be something like that.

The bottom weight will likely become a skirt. I'll have to look for a pattern/style that goes with the distinctive lines of the jacket. A pencil skirt would be a safe choice, but I'd like a bit of flare. I photocopied all my Burda pattern overviews of the last ten years or so, and will take a good long look at those!

That should be doable before winter ends, don't you think? I also pulled out the red-and-gray plaid fabric that didn't make it into a jacket (yet). A plaid dress would match the herringbone jacket very well, but how often would I wear it? And wouldn't it enforce my solitary garment sewing tendencies? So, it's on to the separates first. Once the jacket is finished. I'm optimistic.

Parting shot:


DH gave me a miniature porcelain bell with sewing motifs for Christmas. Yes, I like my kitsch. Especially sewing-related!

Jacket progress - backstay?

The jacket

Here's where I'm at with the jacket.

The back is done; as you can see, the diagonal edges of the upper part - the "V" - have stretched out a bit in spite of the interfacing. I can't try it on at this point, but I think I will have to do something about it, since my upper back isn't that rounded!

I thought of steaming it back in shape, and then adding a back stay, like EricaB recently showed when making her beautiful riding jacket. What do you think? Do I need one? Will it help?

I think I will need to tape the pattern pieces together and draft a new one, right? Has anyone tried this on a jacket cut like this?

Advent calendars

Here's no. 2 from last year. I think the construction is pretty self-explanatory; if anyone wants to make one and has questions, please ask!

Current project: jacket

How I'd love to be able to say, like Lindsay T in a post recently, "I really like making jackets". I like wearing jackets. I like having jackets. I don't even mind working on jackets. But I tend to lose my patience, and the one jacket I have finished sadly didn't turn out well.

I find myself in a lot of other bloggers, which may be the reason I read all you write. Faye says, sewing doesn't come easy to her, and that's why she tries harder. Well, jackets don't come easy to me, so I really ought to try another one!

I chickened out on the plaid fabric/Burda 9/2007 no. 105 combo, though. 3-part-sleeves, a 4-part-back, and all that pattern-matching with less fabric than called for made me realize I could either have my sanity or try to cut that out. Here's what I chose:

A dark gray herringbone wool for the Burda pattern. I debated whether this rather strict fabric is right for the playful vibe of the pattern, but we'll see.

The pattern is rather short; I cut all pieces (including the 3/4-sleeves) a bit longer and will try it on to determine the finished length. I also intend to add buttons rather than the tab closures Burda calls for. I just hope my buttonholes turn out okay. I'm certainly not courageous enough for bound buttonholes!

So far I've cut it out and fused the front and back parts with a very lightweight fusible; the hems and armholes where the pattern calls for interfacing, with a heavier fusible. Sewing to commence soon, wish me luck!

SWALP - and Jacket BWOF 9/2007 no. 105

I would, probably, rationally, not attempt a SWAP. Not as long as the children are little. Not as long as my attention span is shorter than the thread on my needle. Not as long as my inner teenager battles my inner sewing instructor.

I may, however, be in the middle of a SWALP (sewing with a little plan) right now. In this post I named a table runner, kids' pants and a jacket from my most recent fabric spree as a tentative plan.

Runner? Check. Girls' pants? Almost done. Jacket? Weeeellll...

I have a confession to make: Last year, I attempted my first jacket:

All went well. Until I got to the collar. Here's the sad story in pictures:




I tried to fix it, ended up where I started, lost heart (and fabric, since this was ravelling terribly), and finished the jacket as it was. ("Maybe it won't be so bad if I look at it next week." Right.)

There's one more year of intense sewing experience (no tailoring though) between then and now. Is it time for another jacket?

SWALP says yes. I'd really like this: