Slowly working

I've done several sleeve drafts trying to get one that will fit my shoulder and my arms without having huge amounts of ease in the sleeve cap or having a very low armhole that restricts my movement without having a sleeve so tight around my biceps that I can't hardly move my arm.

I think I have it now after I think using 5 different programs to draft a custom sleeve. I've got the jacket part of the Burda pattern altered to fit I believe using my best judgement on what I need, and I have cut the jacket out of a canvas "utility fabric" that seems to be about the same weight as my fashion fabric.

The darts are sewn in the front and back and I need to get in and change the threads and needles on my serger before moving forward. The cotton canvas ravels quite a bit, and since it's hopefully going to be a wearable muslin, I'd like to have all seams serged. If it works out well it will be a nice utility jacket for playing.

Hopefully next post will include some photos of a partially put together jacket at least.

More later,

Status Report

It's the middle of August here, and we've had a lot of days with triple digit temperatures, which kind of drains every single bit of energy from your body! 

I worked on the tunic top, and then set it aside for a bit. It was necessary to raise the center of the Vee about 2 1/2" for it to look decent. I did muslin the neckline with a regular piece of muslin, but now I'm convinced I need to muslin the entire top to be sure it's going to look right on me. With the look of the top, it will need a fabric that drapes well, so I didn't want to use regular muslin and have been contemplating what I have that I can use for a muslin that won't bother me if it doesn't turn out well. 

The light bulb finally went off yesterday, and I realized I have a very lightweight cotton sheeting that will work. It's a deep garnet red, so if it works out, will be a nice top for me as that's one of my favorite colors! Hooray.

In the meantime while that has been being mulled in the back of my brain, I decided it was time to finally bite the bullet and do a sleeve draft for my particularly un-typical arms. Due to genetics, a lot of pool exercise with weights, and extra pounds, my biceps are 18 1/2" around, while my shoulders are sloping and forward. That makes it interesting to try to fit anything, so I figured with a custom sleeve draft, I'd have better luck. 

I had done the Winifred Aldred draft a while back, (Metric Pattern Cutting for Women’s Wear) but never went ahead and did the muslin. I had purchased the Craftsy class (now Blueprint) of Suzy Furrer’s sleeves, Patternmaking + Design: Creative Sleeves at the same time I got the moulage class, but it was languishing in my queue, so needed to get that started. Since I had such good luck with her moulage, I wanted to go ahead and attempt that draft before moving ahead. Now, I have the two drafts and they seem to be fairly similar. I have not yet done the draft from the Armstrong book, (Patternmaking for Fashion Design) but may do so in the future as another check.

I did muslin the Suzy Furrer sleeve, and I think it’s a win for me. I’ll be moving forward with making it into a two piece sleeve for my jacket pattern this week. Unfortunately, I can’t stand for long periods of time, so it has to be done in fits and spurts. Hopefully quickly, but who knows?

For the lapel-less jacket, I’ll be using Burda 6569, View A and a houndstooth silk suiting in camel and navy. I pulled out the invoice for that and was actually quite shocked. I know back in the day, I bought a lot of really good fabrics on sale, on close out, or as bolt ends from Fabric Mart, but now as I look at the prices, I’m in shock and in heaven! The date on the order is May 9, 2009, and I bought three yards for $2.99 a yard!

Needing Ironing!

Unfortunately, when I looked in my lining bin, I didn’t find anything I wanted to use with this fabric. I figured I needed a camel or a dark navy, and was leaning towards a dark navy. My favorite and only lining I’ve used for the last multiple years is Ambiance Bemberg rayon lining. It’s wonderful and drapes nicely, and wears well.

When I went looking for it I was horrified to see that Logantex will no longer be importing it, so most of the places I looked were selling out of the stock they have with no possibilities of reordering. Denver fabrics had some, so I ordered a brown and an iridescent bronze (along with a piece of navy wool for trousers) and hopefully one or the other will work well with the fabric.

Onward and upward. Hopefully by the time the lining fabrics arrive, I’ll have the jacket ready for the lining!

More later, and hopefully soon!

I'm still around...but LIFE!

Ridiculous that I haven't posted for 2 months, but there it is.

I haven't really done that much sewing, anyway. My son-in-law passed away unexpectedly the end of June which brought up many, many issues, not only for my daughter and Grands, but some of my own as I was quite young when my own father passed away.

I did finish my beginning Spanish class at the local community college, and was reminded once again that having a class that takes a full semester and gets jammed it into 6 or 8 weeks means you are underwater with studying and homework the entire time. I did come out with a 4.0, but felt like I didn't learn enough. It was too jammed up with too little time to actually memorize all the verb tenses and phrases that are vital to having a conversation. So, good news, bad news. :-)

I wanted to get a bit more organized, and bought a new, very inexpensive bookcase from Amazon that now holds several boxes of patterns, some of my most vital reference books, my ham, my June tailor board, my clapper, and spare plastic pattern envelopes. I did get to bring some (12 pattern boxes!) of my patterns in from our back yard shed, so it's easier to find things. But there are still many out there in filing cabinets that I really need to go through and cull out any I'm no longer interested in sewing.

I haven't had a lot of time to sew, but did finish the skirt block and the flared skirt from the "in House Patterns" May challenge. This picture looks like it dips in the front, but it is an illusion.It is a black linen, that will work well for whatever needs I have for a skirt in the warmer weather.

After that, I made a couple of hot weather sleeveless tops from my TNT pattern that was first made in August of 2013! The above top is the same pattern! I'm not even sure what the original pattern looked like, but I believe it had a collar. Should check that out I guess. Perhaps it's time to change it up. Who knows? 

This first one is from a rayon remnant I've had in the stash forever. Not sure where or from whence it has come! It has a lovely hand and the colors feel like summer to me. Makes me feel cooler even in triple digit heat!

This second one is from a piece of cotton purchased (on sale!) from Fashion Fabrics Club.com in May of this year. I love making blouses that fit, I like the fabric, and end up costing under $10 for the whole thing! Pretty amazing to use a "new" fabric instead of one that's been around for years! LOL

I can't believe it, but it's already August. I promised myself that this year I'd start in August on fall/winter work clothes. To that end, I have two jackets on the list, one in a black and white tiny check, and another navy and brown herringbone. One will be lapel-less, and the other I think is going to have a shawl collar. But before that, I'm jumping in on the "tunic" craze. I found one that doesn't look all that 60's to me, and have just traced off the pattern. I do need to muslin the back and front yokes because from the way it looks to me now, the front Vee will be about 2-3" below the top of my bra. That really isn't my style! LOL

The pattern is from Bootstraps,#45749,  and it seems to me this will be a nice top to wear when I'm not interested in wearing a blazer. Lots of the ladies at my office never wear jackets, and this has a  similar look to their choices, but more my style. I have several nicely draping rayons that it might work for. We'll see what I think when it's done!

Hopefully, it won't be so long before I post again! I love to use this as my sewing record, so need to keep it more up to date. The sewing this year is way behind a typical year for me, and I hope over the next few months, to get it moving!

Wishing you lots of sewing mojo and the time to make lovely items.