On the Home Stretch

Moving along with the jacket. Yesterday afternoon I basted the facings/lining into the outer shell to see if everything was working out well. Once everything is complete and it has a good press, I think it's going to be just what I wanted. Hopefully, anyway.

So far, so good. This morning before all my errands, I went ahead and selected the buttons for the jacket, so now, it's going to be full steam ahead. Don't know why it's taken me so long to get this far. I've had some gastrointestinal issues for the last week, so haven't been doing much of anything at all. My hubs thinks it's due to the flu shot I got, but who knows?

Hope to have this finished and read for a final post before next weekend. More later!

Moving forward slowly and carefully

I am moving forward with my jacket and trying very hard to be slow and careful so it looks great once it's finished.

I am drafting the additional pieces needed as I go along, and it seems to be working pretty well. I have my lining pieces drafted and I initially cut separate interfacing pieces as the book tells you to cut off the seam allowances and I figured it would be easier before cutting.

Because this jacket doesn't have lapels, it's going much faster than it would otherwise, and because the fabric does have a tendency to ravel, I was pretty sure there weren't any welt pockets coming up. I'm using the patch pockets that are indicated on View A, so that's easier.

Not sure why, but my interfacing (perhaps too old?) is not fusing well so for the fronts, after carefully fusing everything, I went ahead and hand stitched the interfacing. For the balance, I'll sew it into the seams and then trim carefully along the seam lines.

After doing that, the front darts were sewn, and then I drafted a back stay. (Which will be refined for the next one. Although my Speed Tailoring book doesn't call for one, I remember an old sewing instructor who did alterations for many years insisting that all lined jackets need a back stay to keep the back looking nice and for stability. I didn't do it exactly correct, as after putting it in, I realized it is supposed to go to the bottom of the armscye. I'm only about half way. That will be remedied in the next jacket.

Hmmm...looking at the photograph, I may need to redo anyway as it has that fold right under the neckline.  I'll have to go check that out before moving on. It may be the way it's lying on the ironing board as I didn't notice it before this minute.

Next, I'll be sewing side seams and shoulder seams together. More late.

Pleased at last.

This weekend has been my pattern drafting weekend. I really wanted to move forward with things and have a chance at a TNT jacket pattern that fits my very atypical body.

My favorite pattern drafting book, (probably because it was my first foray into the idea that plain old folks like me could actually draft a pattern to specific measurements and make it fit,) is the 2nd Edition of  Patternmaking for Fashion Design by Helen Joseph Armstrong, shown here:

Publication date is 1995, so it's been awhile that I've been using this book. I also have the fourth edition from a more advanced class, but this is always the one I seem to reach for and have the most luck finding what I want. 

As I started to turn my one piece sleeve into a two piece sleeve, I realized that the instructions I'm using require a darted sleeve, which my sleeve that fit me, was not. So back to the drawing board.

I was quite pleased to realize after making the darted draft using the instructions, the sleeve was almost identical to the one I made from the Threads article. That was a relief and made me feel much better about what I'm doing. If two different approaches yield the same result, it's gratifying.

I'm hoping to start on my jacket tomorrow. My lining fabric finally arrived, and one of the two I ordered will be a great match. Somewhere along the line, AHEM, a brown wool flannel and a navy wool gabardine arrived that are both excellent matches to this jacket. I am sewing from my stash also, but every once in a while, the fabric bug bites and cannot be ignored! :-)

I do need to copy off the lining pieces and get them put together also, but I think that's going to be done in and around doing the outer shell. The tailoring booklet pretty much interfaces everything, and with this silk suiting, I'm going to use a weft fusible as I think that's going to work best.

So, onward and upward! More later.

Slight revisions required

I put together the muslin without facings, and have made a few more adjustments to the final pattern. Initial muslin shown, with sleeve hems basted, but no hem in the bottom. I have adjusted the pattern to reflect the changes I see are needed in the muslin for my final jacket pattern. I'm hoping to get a TNT jacket pattern out of this by the time I am done!

Currently, I am proceeding with drafting the two piece sleeve from the original draft, as IMO, that's the way jacket sleeves are supposed to be made.

Prior to adjustment:

Not sure why the hubby doesn't tell me to straighten out the jacket when he's taking pictures, but there it is. No head as I had just gotten out of the shower. :-)

This is Burda 6569, view A

Adjustments made initially and altered a bit more after the first muslin: Largest pattern size 20, and according to their measurement chart, I needed a 22 or larger.

Front:
Added 1/2" to front side seams, armscye to hem
Reduced dart by a total  of 2" (a bit more after this muslin)
Dropped dart point by 1 1/2"
reduced shoulder width 5/8"
After initial muslin:
raised shoulder point 1/2" for shoulder pads to zero at neck edge
dropped underarm seam by 1/2" to reduce excess sleeve ease

Back:
Narrowed back at neckline and dropped center back by 1 1/2" to zero at neckline
Reduced shoulder width to match front and dropped it by 7/8"
dropped underarm seam by 1/2" to match front
Raised shoulder point 1/2" for shoulder pads to 0 at neckline
added 1" to entire side seam
added 1/4" to center of armscye blending to shoulder and underarm
dropped back dart point 1/2"

I made several sleeve drafts from several different sources, with the best fitting choice (after more tweaking) being a print out of an adaptation of an original article in Threads Magazine. The reprint was adapted from "Add A Sleeve to Your Bodice" in the June/July 2007 issue of threads by Kathleen Cheethan (Threads #131); and the adaptation is available here: https://www.threadsmagazine.com/2008/08/19/create-a-custom-sleeve-pattern

I have also figured out FINALLY after sewing for myself for the last half century, that my right shoulder point is farther forward than my left shoulder point and I need to mark and sew the sleeve cap at different places on each side of my body to match up correctly and fit correctly into the bodice. There is about a 3/8" difference which will be used on the jacket.

The next steps will be doing the two piece sleeve, and starting work on the jacket. I have an old booklet copyright 1982, that I will be following to tailor my jacket.

It looks like there are reprints and some are available on Amazon. I'm looking forward to the process and having this jacket in rotation in my professional wardrobe.

More later,