Project 13

I’ve avoided this write up because I’m not really happy with this jacket and I’m not sure what went wrong.  It was one of my 52 projects, and I started it way back in February, and I thought it looked great, but we had a few months of really hot and sunny weather round that time and I totally lost enthusiasm for what was a pretty heavy-weight jacket.  Over the last few weeks the season turned dramatically, by passing autumn/fall altogether and rushing headlong into winter.  My desire for a finished jacket spurred me into action and I set about lining and finishing project 13.  If I was a superstitious person I would have missed number 13 when I was setting projects for 2013.

It should have been a no brainer.  I used a pattern that I’ve used before successfully...

... and I’m no stranger to using furnishing fabrics for jackets.

 Somehow this just didn’t turn out right.

The edges look sort of curved, and the collar won't stay flat.  No amount of pressing will improve the look.

The pockets look as though they are in the wrong position.

The button hole went really wrong...

Maybe it would look better if I tried to look happy about it?

No.

I'll probably wear it because it's not really bad, but I really feel that this has failed to live up to my expectation.  Maybe I'll try hitting it with an iron again...

Handmade Gifts

One of my commitments for 2013 was to use some of my handmade items as gifts this year.  I suffer from an odd idea that handmade presents are somehow second best.  Last Christmas I gave my mother a jacket that I had made for her.  Her delight, combined with my sister’s envy convinced me that it was actually Ok to sew presents for people.  Far from regarding them as second best, people often feel especially pleased that I have spent the time making something for them, rather than popped out at lunch time and grabbed something from the mall. I often think it would be nice to offer friends and family something that I have made myself, but then don’t get my s**t together in time to actually have a present in time. 

This year I’m going to start a “Gift Stash”.  I will make stuff that can be given as presents without specific recipients in mind.  Hopefully when an occasion arrives I will be able to reach into the stash and pull out a handmade present.

My first offerings for the Gift Stash are kitchen items – oven mitts and gloves with matching T-Towels.  I didn’t actually make the T-towels, but I got a set of machine embroidery files from Urban Threads and stitched one of the designs on a pair of cheap T towels. The rest of the items were made from Calico and Thinsulate ^tm, a wading specifically sold for its insulating properties.  I designed them myself, and fully lined the glove and the main portion of the mitts with calico that was quilted with the Thinsulate ^tm, so the areas that are between the user and hot pans are all double layers of insulation.  I used the embroidery as the quilting.  The layers are too thick to fix into the machine hoops, so I used bulldog clips to hold the fabric and wadding on to the lower hoop.

For the gloves, I made four pieces for each glove, sewing them into two gloves, then putting one inside the other as a lining, and stitching them together at the wrist before finishing off the edge with black bias binding (made with the bias binding maker) made from black calico.

The mitts are two long oval shapes quilted with the Thinsulate ^tm, then two extra pieces for the ends.  I didn’t use Thinsulate ^tm to quilt these pieces as I don’t envisage these pieces being used to protect the user.  I then bound all the pieces together with more black calico bias binding.

I’m actually very pleased with this collection, and love the designs.  I will be quite proud to give these away.  Am I alone in feeling a bit iffy about giving home made presents?

FO - The Jacket with no dragons in sight

I’ve been a bit slack on this jacket.  It only occurred to me last night, when I read the Curious Kiwi’s post last night, that May was almost over and I hadn’t got around to finishing my Burda jacket. 

So last night I sat down with three episodes of Desperate Housewives and a needle and thread to sew down the underside of the black edging to the lining of the jacket.  Now, I know some people hate hand finishing garments.  Personally find it relaxing to curl up in front of the TV with a programme that doesn’t require concentration and a sewing project on my knee.  Last night that’s exactly what I did.  It took me two and half hours of mindless TV and the jacket is finished.

The style of this jacket is a bit boxy for me, and I do wonder whether a heavier interfacing would have given it a little more structure.  Having said that, it’s quite nice as a sort of cardigan-style jacket, which does “lift” a plain black outfit. 

My original intention (Project17) was make a skirt in the same fabric; the jury’s still out on that idea.   It might be a bit much, or a bit matronly.  I’ll sit on that idea for a while.

 

Overall I'm pleased with this.  I didn't use the Burda instructions at all.  Just using a little common sense and the numbers on the pattern pieces it was a simple sew, and I'd recommend it as a first jacket for anyone interested in trying jackets for the first time.

 

Nearly a jacket

After extensive deliberation I decided not to use the pink and grey patterned lining.  I just wasn’t confident enough that it would work. Anyway, I went with a plain black lining – boring, maybe, but at least I know it won’t clash.  Putting together the lining is exactly the same as the main jacket pieces (remembering to change the needle). In order to get the ease pleat in the back I simply cut the back piece 2 inches from the fold, instead of actually on the fold.  I then put a row of basting down the edge of the pattern piece.  Cutting out and assembling the lining took about an hour and a half.

I added shoulder pads and filled out the sleeve head next.  The pattern calls for lightweight shoulder pads.  Some time ago I bought a large bag of shoulder pads for two dollars, so I use them whenever shoulder pads are required, regardless of the size.  They are fairly basic pads, consisting of two layers, so if I need larger pads I add an additional layer from another pair.  In this case I cut the two parts into one part to make a lightweight pad. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I then used the discarded piece as the batting required to pad out the sleeve head.  I than had stitched the shoulder pad and the batting to the seam allowance and stitched in the shoulder seam to secure the shoulder pads.   

 

As this jacket has quite a narrow shoulder seam I also had to trim the shoulder pads at the neck edge.

This all took about half an hour.

Before putting the two together I interfaced one set of the edging pieces and stitched together the two complete sets of edging, then joined the two sets together.  This was fiddly and took another 45 minutes.

At this point I deviated from the Burda Instructions.  They suggest putting the edging on the fashion fabric, edge-stitching the reverse side down, then adding the lining.  I couldn’t see how that was going to work out, unless I hand stitched the lining in place.  If I was going to hand stitch anything I decided I’d rather it was the band.  I pinned the lining and the jacket together then added the edge band, stitching through all three layers.  This was quite quick – 30 minutes.

At last the jacket was starting to look like the one in the magazine!

 

I then left the project for the night, which was just as well.  When I came to photograph it this morning I noticed an odd kink in the front of the jacket – right where it will be really obvious. 

 

This will have to be unpicked and re-done this evening before I can sit down in front of the TV and stitch down the edging on the inside of the jacket.

So far I've spent about 7 1/4 hours on this project.  This has been made up of 4 sewing sessions (mostly evenings) of between one and a quarter and two and a half hours.

Slaying the dragons in jackets

Ok, so I cut out the jacket, now I have to put it together. Remember I said it was just like a blouse?  Well it is…mostly.

Using the numbers on the pattern pieces, I first find the two number ones.  They’re on pieces one and two, the two front pieces.  I match up the two ones and the first seam is joining these pieces together –front and side pieces.  

Next I find the two number twos.  They are on the side pieces and the back piece.  Same thing - match up the twos and sew the seam.  

At some point I need to add pockets.  Burda uses single welts, I used double welts – I just like the look of double welts better.  This is a good time to do them, while the jacket is still a more or less flat piece.  I’m not going to go into detail on the pockets; there are numerous excellent tutorials on line so I’m not going to re-invent the wheel.

Once the pockets are done I go back to sewing by numbers.  The number threes join the shoulder seam.

Here there is a slight confusion here, because there are no number fours. 

At this point there is a slight variation from a standard blouse.  This jacket has a two part sleeve.  It’s quite common on jackets and gives a sort of kink in the sleeve similar to a natural bend in the arm.   

This doesn’t actually present any major challenge.  It’s just an extra seam.  Going back to sewing by numbers I match up the number fives and sew the seam.   

Now the sleeve is in one piece.  Matching up the sixes and sewing the seam creates a conventional looking sleeve.  I usually press it at this point, using a very firm sleeve shaped cushion.

The next number to match is seven, which brings together the sleeves and the body.  The upper sleeve piece also marks the point that the sleeve joins the shoulder seam.  As a third guide point, the diagram of the rear of the jacket shows seam number five matches up with seam number two. With three anchor points fitting the sleeves is quite simple.  Suddenly the project looks like a garment

Assembling the garment and doing the pockets took about two hours, and I’m very slow at making the pockets (probably half the sewing session was spent on the pockets)

I left the project for the rest of the weekend and went out diving instead as I’m still undecided about the lining and the weather was clear for the first weekend in ages.

Here be dragons

I was chatting to a friend overseas the other day, and I mentioned the Burda sew-a-long.  She used to sew before babies came along, and kept coming, but finds the demands of six children a bit tricky to juggle in sewing time.  I mentioned that one of the projects that I was considering was a jacket from Feb 2013.  She was horrified at the idea of sewing a jacket from Burda – “aren’t they really difficult?”  

I’m far from an expert, entirely self taught and have just as many failures as successes.  My first ever jacket was from a Burda magazine, and I guess that no one told me it would be difficult so I just did it.  Since the instructions were in German I just sort of guessed at the method.  It’s not a perfect jacket, but I still wear it.

I went and had a look round the sew-a-long pinterest board – blouses, skirts, dresses, and even a cape, but no jackets.  I get that the northern hemisphere sewers are losing enthusiasm for jackets at the moment, but there are plenty of sewers in NZ and Australia, but no jackets.

I know that there is a bit of a myth that jackets are hard, and a bit of a myth that Burda magazine patterns are hard.   

Let’s get this one BUSTED right now – Jackets are like blouses in a heavier fabric.  Lined jackets are like two blouses sewn together.  I appreciate that notched collars can add a little panic into the mix, but the jacket I have chosen doesn’t have a collar.

So without further ado, I’m going to sew a jacket from February 2013 Burda and document the process, including the actual time investment.  Look through it – there’s nothing here especially challenging.  You could do it.  The big bonus with jackets is that they are often really expensive in RTW, so the potential for saving money is greater than blouses.

First I traced the pattern.  I’ve already documented how I do that here, so I won’t repeat myself.  The jacket I have chosen is the cover jacket from February Burda, and has five pieces, which took just under an hour to trace off.   I’m using a pink and black houndstooth with a plain black for the edges.

The pattern for the edges is part of the main pattern pieces, so the first thing I had to do was remove the edges…

…and glue them together to form the pattern pieces for the black edging.

Since they don’t have seam allowances I used a small ruler and very sharp chalk pencils to draw the cutting lines on the black fabric.

Whatever the instructions say (if I read them) I prefer my jacket bodies interfaced.  This is especially valuable with a fabric like this one that has quite a loose weave, so a light-weight interfacing gives the jacket body and improves its wear.  I marked the cutting lines on the interfacing, and then fused the interfacing to the fabric before cutting out the fabric.  I find that this keeps the fabric stable while cutting, and makes it easier to match up patterns and checks because you can usually see through the interfacing.  I did the fusing and cutting out on the floor so that there was no risk of the weight of the fabric distorting it while I was fusing.

The fusing and cutting out process took about two and a half hours, including stopping to take photos.  

I’m going to line this jacket.  My original plan was to use plain black lining, until I came across this fabric in the stash (no idea where it came from)...

... and am considering using this instead.  I’d really like some honest feedback on this.  If the patterned lining is too busy, someone please tell me.

Project 6

I’ve been silent on this for a while, but I have actually completed all 20 blocks in the Craftsy Block of the Month course.  It ended up being a project that I could pick up and do in small bites, rather than having to clear a substantial block of time to be worth tackling. 

Bit by bit I made twenty blocks.  Some were so simple that I could have done them with a picture; others took two or three goes to get right. 

Once I’d finished the twenty blocks laid them all out into what seemed to be a pleasing way, and decided that the quilt was going to be smaller than I wanted, so I decided to do an extra five blocks, which would give me a quilt that was five feet square, before I added sashing.  With sashing I’m hoping that it will be close to two metres square – a substantial bed quilt.

I did one of the 2013 blocks, but most of them are not the standard 12 ½ inches square, so don’t add easily onto Amy’s blocks.  I invented a few more, using the techniques that I had learnt over the course, and finally have my 25 blocks!
Next step is to sash them together.  I’m going to use a plain black to join them so that each block looks “framed”.  The next exciting bit is going to be the quilting.  I’ve done a little experimentation with using the embroidery machine to quilt, and while it works on smaller pieces of quilting (Project 45 has been started with smaller quilting samples.) I can’t see how I will be able to manage a large piece round the machine.  I’ve also seen some very impressive quilts just using Amy’s ditch stitching technique.  There’s still plenty of learning to do with this project.

Once I’ve done all this I’m not sure what I’m going to do with my quilt.  It’s not going to fit into my bedroom (wrong colours) and I can’t really see anywhere in my home it will fit.   It seems a shame to put all this work into a project that then sits in the bottom of a cupboard.