Wednesday, October 18, 2006

The little jacket to match

Here is the finished skirt:
8 gore skirt finished
I was asked in a comment about how the French seams affected the drape of the skirt and I don't think they do. I used to use them exclusively on all my shirts and never noticed a problem. On this skirt, the fabric isn't very thin or "drapey" but it isn't stiff either. Either way, I think French seams are not an issue. I wore the skirt today and with a slip over tights, it worked well. However, the thing that didn't work was how I finished the zipper at the top. I folded it over in such a way that a little hard bit of the zipper now pokes into my side. Stupid me. I will have to devise some sort of "zipper garage" to keep that plastic away from my skin. I thought about not bothering but then if I don't fix it, I won't wear the skirt much and this skirt could go a long way with other clothes so I think I will work on it.

The jacket is a little (that new, slightly shrunken look), 3/4 sleeve, unlined model I have made once before in a cotton. I have worn it too so I know it works. I am just not sure how odd it might look in a "wooly" fabric, as opposed to something summery. But I'm doing it anyway.
cotton jacket
Here is the cotton jacket - I am pulling it open so you can see the inside (don't forget, you can make the pictures larger for detail if you click on them and go to Flickr). It is only partly lined, with lining panels on the front, attached to the facings and on the back, at the shoulder level only.
facing fabric
When I cut the fabric, I didn't have enough for the whole jacket, even if I did go with 3/4 sleeves. So I had to find something in my stash that would work with this fabric that I could use as the under collar piece and the two front panels that serve as facings. I was going to go with the nubby cotton stuff I made into a jumper that was like a tent on me and so I never wore (seriously - I could have gone camping in it). But it was too thick and nubby. Then I found some really faux suede in black that I think will work. It has texture to it but it is very thin (hence the "really faux"). Black fabric is notoriously hard to photograph so you'll have to imagine what you are looking at.
contrasting thread
Finally, and as always, I am starting to have thread tension issues. I started sewing with the white bobbin and the black top thread but then I stitched the interfacing (not iron-on) to the front piece and saw that the white thread was showing a little. Going for consistency, I changed the bobbin to black and continued in the stitching on the right side of this photo. So all the seams will be finished in a modified flat fell (where I turn under both sides of the seam allowance) and stitched in black thread. I've already done a couple seams that way and it looks okay.

3 comments:

Linda L said...

Commenting on your jacket to be. I have made this jacket twice. Once in lightweight corduroy using the pattern as instructed. I then used a wool boucle fabric and I chose to fully line it. I found the jacket to do well in both fabrics and actually prefer the fully lined one as that back halflining or facing gets wonky when wearing the other coat. I think you will like the jacket in wool as well.

ML said...

Lovely skirt. Based on the picture, I think it drapes nicely.
I'm in love with the jacket. Not only do I like the style, but I like the fabric you chose.

JuliaR said...

Linda, thanks for the encouraging words! I haven't had any "issues" with the half lining but then, I haven't worn the jacket much.

Thanks ML, wait until you see the next post! But for nice houndstooth, go look at Linda's latest purchase (at her blog in the comment above). Yum!