My Sewing Space

Last spring I decided I wanted to make a white denim jacket in the traditional jeans jacket style. I never got around to it, but returned to the idea this year. My plan was to use this pattern and when I went to the site to download it, I saw this moto-style jacket and was quite taken with it. The fabric I used was a lightweight denim with a lot of stretch. Too much stretch. In hindsight, it's clear that I should have interfaced the bodice pieces to control some of the stretch. I think it will be comfortable to wear, but it was frustrating to work with. I quilted a block of the denim before cutting out the shoulder insets and upper sleeve pieces. I'm happy with how it turned out. I used a heavyweight thread and was pleased with how well it worked. When it came time to topstitch, it didn't work nearly as well and I had to do some switching around between machines, types of needles and thread. Eventually, I found an arrangement that worked, but a lot of the topst

I've been wanting to add some jackets to my wardrobe for awhile now. Back in the fall, I made some plans to get that done. The first jacket has been completed for a few weeks now, but I can't really call it a success and it hasn't inspired me to move forward with other jackets just yet. Sit back and listen to my tale of woe... I thought I wanted a pretty classic one-button blazer and chose Burda 11-2012-127 because it had the classic elements and it was easily accessible (by instant download at the time. It does not seem to be on the website anymore). My plan was to modify the lapel - I didn't like the peaked lapel and it was overall wider than I wanted. I made those mods and my standard lengthening of sleeves and then made the muslin. The muslin was too big overall, which I thought was odd because I followed the size chart and Burda doesn't have the excess ease typical of the Big 4. It turns out that I did not print the pattern correctly. We got a new printer a

One more new niece needed me to make something for her. Her older sister received this coat , and I suspect she will also wear it when she's the right size. So, I thought it might be smart to make something else for her. There is no shortage of Ottobre things I'd like to make, so it was just a matter of picking one! I love this little hooded shirt jacket and wanted to combine it with this corduroy fabric ( also seen here ) even though it isn't a knit as called for in the pattern. The piping helps define the yoke seam and makes the sweet gathers a little more noticeable. I was not intending to line the hood until I started putting the hood together and realized it wasn't going to look that nice with the wrong side so visible. Thankfully, I had this broadcloth that was a pretty good match for the piping. The skirt is a scaled-down version of this one , made from a dark purple ponte knit. I scaled it down too much the first time, so I had to add an e

It was beginning to seem like my siblings and in-laws only knew how to produce girls. Then I did get a nephew thrown in the mix earlier in the year. Since I didn't think he would appreciate a little girl's coat, I had to come up with an alternative. I went straight to Ottobre. I loved this little jacket! This is the tenth (TENTH!) pattern I've used from this issue (1/2010) - the very first one I bought. I'd say it's a winner. I chose to make it in this khaki-colored wool rather than the sweater knit recommended. It'll fit smaller than the pattern suggests, but everything still worked. The wool was really lovely to work with. Those little semi-circular pockets are my favorite detail. The seaming is pretty sweet, too. I left off the collar tab. I like how it looks in the diagram, but I really had a hard time getting it to look good. The inner collar is quilting cotton, but the rest is a heavyweight poly satin (but not too shiny because it'

My older daughter was in need of some nicer clothes. I found some large-ish leftover pieces of fabric from other projects and thought I would use those to make her a jacket and skirt outfit. I took her measurements and traced off the jacket pattern. She's tall and thin, so I decided I needed to use a smaller size and add length like I always do. Except this time, I only added length to the sleeves and completely forgot about the bodice. DOH! Thankfully, there is another girl around here that could use the jacket after I cut the extra length off the sleeves.  This girl is not in need of any more clothes, but she sure loves this jacket. Please try to over look that bit of lunch spilled on her skirt! The fabric is what remained of this jacket project . The pattern is designed for sweater knits. This twill has a good amount of stretch and it worked just fine. I have liked this pattern since I first saw it and I'm glad I finally got around to making it. The flaps are

When I thought through my spring sewing plans, I came up with five things I really wanted to make for myself. That was the short list and I'm not sure I will actually make it happen, so I thought I would start with the most involved project. If I left it for the end it certainly wouldn't have gotten done. This is McCall's 5525 in my very favorite color - sour apple green. The pictures don't really show the color accurately. It's pretty bright, but I love it. I should have noted the date when I actually started this project because it feels like it took me forever - partly because I just didn't have significant chunks of time to work on it and partly because I did some tailoring work on the lapels and the collar. That meant that I had hours invested before doing any assembly. I haven't done much classic tailoring work at all up until now. This book was a big help to me and I followed the machine method outlined in it. I also referred to this book an

It's somewhat rare, but once in awhile I produce something that I'm all around thrilled with. I don't feel the need to nit-pick imperfections or let myself get annoyed with what I wouldacouldashoulda done differently and I just really enjoy the finished product. That's how I feel about this dress and jacket: I used New Look 6089 to make these for my younger daughter. This is a great pattern. It isn't anything dramatic or unique, but the measurements and drafting are trustworthy and produce a flattering dress for a young girl. I purchased this fabric a few months ago with my older daughter and a certain jumper pattern in mind, but it didn't work out with the double border print. To make it work here, I straightened the side seams of the skirt and just made each of the pleats deeper. The bodice is lined with the same fabric and it turned out to be just the right amount of yardage. I love that. No waste or pondering what to do with those scraps. The ja

A huge thank you to the very lovely, encouraging, and generous Ann of Ann's Fashion Studio ! After seeing my post about my jacket that was lacking sleeve placket buttons, she sent me a package of matching ones!  I'm so grateful!  This makes the jacket much nicer to wear - no gaping sleeve plackets, and it looks much nicer, too.

I'm not really sure why it took me so long to finish this jacket.  I didn't find it all that inspiring even though I was pretty sure I would like the end result.  Anyway, here it is... My thoughts about the beginning of the jacket and pattern pictures are posted here .  There are a lot of seams with a lot of topstitching on this jacket.  I used regular thread with the triple-straight stitch for the topstitching.  My machine doesn't really like heavy-duty thread so this seems like the best option for me.  Getting nice straight topstitching on the corduroy was difficult.  If I was stitching in the same direction as the wales, the stitching either "fell" into the troughs or looked very crooked and messy if I wasn't stitching exactly parallel to the wales.  If I was stitching across the wales, the presser foot tended to slide one way or the other with the nap. The lining is a poly stretch satin that is pretty wild.  It might even be objectively ugly.  But, h