Jacket

Ok, so its been a little longer than I expected,,, but here's the finished jacket..

Well, what can I say,, my Dh got me to laughing, and took the pic. and handed the camera back to me, laughing as he left,,,, after I looked at the pic,, I laughed to....

Jacket

I am starting on a jacket.. I had 1-1/2 yds of sweatshirt fleece that I have been wanting to make a jacket out of for some time,,, problem is,, none of my patterns call for less than 2 yards, so my dilemma how do I make it,, then I got to thinking, I can make a loose fitting top (tunic) out of 1-1/2 yds of material,, why not just use a knit top pattern for it,,, ssooo....the most important thing I knew to do was to make it a little bit bigger than the pattern, since this was quit possibly going to be worn over that shirt pattern,, I just had to figure how much to add and where,,,,

 I kept the neck the same,, I added 5/8in to the cf,, and cut that edge for the zipper,,, I added 1/2in to the shoulder and extended that to the armhole tapering down, and eventually cutting off 1/4 in at the side seam,, then extending the side seam 2 in,,,

I then did the same thing to the back...

Here is where not having enough material started to show,, I didn't have enough for the sleeves,, now looking at this pic, it looks like I have plenty, but that is because this is a 3/4 length sleeve pattern,, I needed it about 5 in longer..

I was going to sew stay tape into the shoulder, but couldn't find it, so I put clear elastic  in instead,, hmm that didn't work, so I had to find my stay tape,,,,

Much better...

So far, not bad,, a little big at the sides,

This is the the other place I ran out of material,, the collar, I had a piece of black material, the same kind,, so I just used it,, now I didn't have a pattern for the collar, so I decided to wing it,,, cringe,,, well, you do what you gotta do,,,so I cut a big rectangle,, the width of the neck line plus some, I wanted to make sure I had enough,, plus 7 in,, enough for the extra 4 in of zipper.. will post the finished jacket tomorrow....

The shirt that wouldn't go away,,,,

I have made this pattern several times.. but not out of woven fabric,, well woven that stretches.. I have never had so much trouble putting in a binding for a neck.. Of coarse part of the problem was I didn't take into consideration the "lack" of stretch the material had... But I finally got it right,,,

I just wish she liked it,,,, 'sigh',, no she doesn't like it....  she got home from school and I asked her what she thought of it,, because you know that now matter how much you like the print, the pattern or the style,, if it doesn't feel good,, then it won't work,,, well she told me she doesn't like anything about it.,... WHAT!!,, I am like,, you don't like the material,,, the last time I asked, you did.... so I start asking her about other pieces of fabric she had picked out while back that she did like,, well she doesn't like half of them,, so long story short,,, I guess she is going through a phase,,, after looking at 3 stores to find some shirts,, and only finding 1.... I decided that if we cant find anything she DOES like, then what I make for her is just going to have to do,,,,,

So until then,,,,,, I am going to do some sewing for me,,,,, yeah!!!!!!!!

Vogue 8636

I love this top...

I have actually made 2 tops for Holly out of this pattern so far,, the 1st was out of some green material she didn't really like,, so it probably wont see the light of day,, but the 2nd is  nice,,,

I have had this material for a while,, it is a stretch mesh,, I never realized how much I like stretch mesh,, it is fairly easy to work with,, there are lots of options for tops,, and you can leave it both single layer or line it,, depending on where you use it at,,,for the hems, I just did a rolled hem on the serger...

I was really at a loss on how to do the neck line,, I knew I needed to bind it,, but I needed the stretch of the cover stitch machine but was too lazy to thread it,, plus I didn't know how the material would word in the binder,, so i got to thinking,, yeh, i do that sometimes,,

I have seen this type of finish on other tops and thought it would be neat to try it,, besides,, I wouldn't have to line it this way.. It worked great,, I just measures the neck opening,, making the material that long,, then cut it I think 3 in wide,, marked every inch on each side of the material,, instead of matching up the opposite marks, I offset them by 1, thus creating a "wrinkle" in the fabric,,,clear as mud??

I lined the fabric with grey knit,, in the front and back,,,it turned out great,, she had her School pictures taken in it...

MIA...

I've been missing here,, but I have been sewing,, trying to get more done for Holly,, I really like this pattern, especially now that I have it almost perfect,, ha ha,,,its taken me a while...

I had to raise the dart,, it is supposed to be angled up, but with this material it has a horizontal lines so I had to raise them,,, I also had to raise the front shoulder,, funny thing,, the back shoulder line is higher than the front...

It would seem for some reason when I drew off the sleeve, I made it too small, can't imagine how I did that,, the brighter white is the too small sleeve... the top pattern is Tru-grid,,, I love this stuff..

Tracing off the sleeve,, this stuff is so see through,, you can see both the pattern, and the lines from my cutting table through it, making it very easy to line things up...

Oops, ran out of material,, oh as they say in heirloom sewing,, there are no mistakes, just opportunities..

                                                       And  whallaa..

I think I need to take a little more in in the front armscye  (sp) (I looked it up and tried spelling it three different times,, you get the idea,, sigh)

                                              Sleeve looks pretty good...

I've been shopping

I have had some of these for a while,, just thought I would load them all at once,,, most of them are for Holly,, 

                                                                   

  I love skirts with seam and hem options,,unfortunately, since Holly and I are such different sizes,, I have to get two patterns,,, one in her size, one in mine,, and equally unfortunate,, since Joann's is so small still,,(tornado in May hit it) they only had her size,, so I don't know if I am going to go ahead and get one in my size, or try to make these big enough for me,,,

  These are for me,,,I need some new aprons for work,, and the bags/purses,, well they were only $1.00 each, so I thought why not,,

Instant gratification,,,

After my last jacket,, I needed something quick and easy,, well add "er" to each of those,, ha ha ,, and this was just the thing,, I found some cotton crinkle material in my G-mothers old stash, and in going through my old Thread magazines,, I found an article in there on making broomstick skirts,, now for me,, making the actual broomstick "look" well i'm iffy on that,, but I do like the layers look,, and that is what this skirt is about,, and it is so easy,, you just measure and sew,, basically....

Now it wasn't as quick as I would have liked it to be,, since I did the seam the way I did,, wright side of each upper ruffle to wrong side of lower ruffle,, but it still was enjoyable...

I just like the idea that I can make this skirt in lots of fabrics,, you aren't limited to the crinkle look,, and you can make the layers and depth you want,, and have as many layers as desired... the seam finishes are also changeable...so,  many options for this skirt..

The jacket from &^($%^%!!!!!

You know how sometimes you want to slip a project in while you are working on other things,, sometimes it works out,, sometimes it don't?  ha,, well this one didn't.. read on,,

Have you ever worked on a garment that seemed like it just wasn't meant to be,, well McCalls 5668 is it for me,, and it really ticks me off, cause I really liked this pattern,,, it looks so casual and easy,,, uhhhummm, right!!!

First of all, I HATE a pattern that the front princess seem go to the side of the bust... and the problem with getting pattenrs like this, is you don't realize this is  how it goes together till you get it home and open it up,,,, I think if I even get another one of these, I may just take it back,,, ok enough of that, onto the next problem,, 

Adjustments,,,I already know my shoulders are 41/2 in wide,, so I have to take the shouders in over an inch,, then I have to take the pricess seams (PS) in front and back at the arm hole,,  1/2 in in back and almost an inch in front,, now when i take up the PS in front, I forget that because this pattern has the seam to the side of the bust,, there are going to be some gathers in the front piece,, so the front piece it going to be a little longer than the side front,, #1 mistake...

Next alteration,, I need to add to the PS below the bust line down to the hem,, so I add at both the front,, (because I do need a little there) and at the side front seams.. #2 mistake,, I add too much..

. I usually do a sway back adjustment,, but this pattern has an optional belt that I likes,, so that would "supposedly take tare of the wrinkles in the lower back,,, heh,,,

It looks good, at first,, but,, the belt I realize it way too wide,, so need to narrow it by half,,,

Ok constrution time,, lets see what I have done,, taken in the shoulders, taken in the ps  at the front and back arm,, let out ps at the underbust,, made the belt narrower,, Oh and the biggest Pain in the BUTT,, that collar,, oh where did McCalls ever come up with an idea like that,, now other seamstress's may do good with this pattern,, NOT ME...... I never did get this collar figured out,, I just muddled trough it,, uuuhhgg,,,

Anyway,, I hadn't sewn the front together yet, had to take some off the front,, an inch at the hem, tapering  at the bust, so guess where mistake #3 came in at,, I cut off the side front,,not the center,,,

So at this point I am thinking can this jacket be saved?? I make the belt narrower, sew up the seams, everything but the sleeves ,, I get up to try it on,, and one of the belts get caught on something and tears it out of the seam,, buy this time I am thinking,, well you don't want to know what I am thinking at this point,, I put it on,, and realize,, as big as my waist is, I probably don't need a belt anyway,, BUT the waist is almost too small now,, WHAT,,,, I guess when I cut off that inch, i cut off too much,, so I decide that I am just going to put a hook and eye closure in,, that will be ok,,

So now its time for the sleeves,, they go together good,, I get ready to put them in,, you know how you normally have to gather the sleeves a little,, its called ease,,, this was the last straw,, I had to s-t-r-e-t-c-h- the sleeves to fit,,,, somehow I either had the armhole too big,, or the sleeves too small,,, I don't know,, but that was mistake #4 i think,, and that was it,, in the trash it went,, I was done,,,

So,, all the tops I had planned for Holly I decided were going to be put on hold,,, I needed something quick, easy,, fail proof,, if there is such a thing,, stay tooned...

McCalls 4932...

Well sort of...

You might remember this post I was making some lace to go on a jacket,, well after trial and error making a jacket and shell, I finally got working patterns..

This is what the jacket looked like, basically,,, no dart,, allready starting off bad,,

The shoulder seam was too wide...then it had to be angled...

This is what the alterations look like that work,, take in the shoulder seam but 3/4 in,,, raise the armhole 1/2 in,, where the waist comes in,,, let that out,,, and the piece of pattern going across the bust, that is where I have to put a dart in....

I have also learned a little trick,, I have started putting the date on my pattern of the last time I altered them,, that way I can remember...

Now for the shell,, the  waist from the shell from the pattern was just like the jacket waist,,I didn't feel like messing with anymore alterations if I didn't have to,, besides, I had a knit top that fit me almost perfect,,so I thought, just copy it,, so I  went and got some Press and Seal, (P&S),and laid it out,,, you can see in the pic that that stuff really sticks,,,

Getting the P&S laid out good on the top,,,

After I have traced around the edges..I cut it out,, the very thing that lets P&S work so good.. also lets it stick to about anything else,, so I knew I needed something to stick to the adhesive side,,, introducing Pellon  Tru Grid,,,

All Tru Grid is is a see thru  fiborous material that has an inch grid on it,, after I cut out the P&S, I laid it on the Tru Grid and cut,,,

This is what it looks like,, the shine is from the P&S,,, the lines are from the Tru Grid,,

This is a try on,, I wanted to see just how much of a difference the dart made,, the left side is with no dart,, the right,, with one,,

Finished jacket and shell.. I think I could use a little deeper of a dart,, but this works pretty good for now,, will make the alterations for the next set...

Completed..

I am still here,, and have been sewing,, I really like this top,, it was a pain,, I have always felt that God gave me a gift for sewing,, BUT,, I didn't realize he was going to give me such a busty daughter to sew for... and it is a challenge..I managed to incorporate most of the excess fabric into the dart at the waist.. and I took in another inch in the side seems,, there is actually another 2 inches that could  be taken up, but I didn't want the top to be too tight,, so I left it... the material is a little see through,, so she will wear it with an undershirt..all in all, I think it will work...the only other problem,, this is 100% cotton which means lots of ironing,, why do I do this to myself???

First up.

I have had this pattern and material in my stash for a while, so it is time to make it..New Look 6563,,, I am making view E, the sheer one on the left,, my material is a light weight cotton not sheer,, with a ribbon look like thing running through it,,(will take  a pic later,,,)

I had to do a 2 in FBA to start off with,,

Ha, this is bad,, I got the Cd from Palmer/Pletsch Full busted,,, but I feel like this is going to bust me,, and i am just starting out,,,, its kinda hard to see, but after the 2 in alterations,, look at the bustline compared to the neckline,, there is a good 1/2 in difference,, now I know that the pattern is lower than this, but this is how high we want it. well maybe a little lower, but not much,,,.. sooooo...

I realize one thing about sewing for Holly, darts are my friend,, i need to use them everywhere,,,, so I took out a 1/2 in dart in the neck,,,

 Plus I took up 1 inch in the back, I actually went all the way down with the tuck, but after looking at it,,, I realized that below the neck,, it got tight at the mid back,, but I still needed a little tuck in there, now the CB is supposed to be cut on the fold,,, not anymore,,,,,

I hope you can see, it, forget that, i hope you can understand it,,,,lol..first,, I had to take out the dart in the neck,, see that black slit just below where the neckline line is,,, that is the dart that I made,, BUT then i rotated it to the waist,, now wait for it,,, I had such a big side dart,, that I rotated some of it to the waist to,, see the tape in the middle of the side dart,, well there you go,,

  Now if it goes together in the material like it is supposed to,, Hallelujah..