Plaid wool suit

The New Year. When I went back to my sewing room after making the GOLD top (which was successful and comfortable, if also very very GOLD), I pulled out all kinds of remnants, none of which inspired me to make more of the cap-sleeved top. So I put them all away and ironed the beautiful beige plaid wool I got from Darrell's. It feels wonderful too.

As usual with really nice fabric but mostly because I want to match the plaid lines, I am cutting out each piece individually. Also, with each pattern piece, I line up the straight-of-grain arrows very carefully and then decide where I want the darker plaid lines, both vertically and horizontally.

Once I get one piece cut out and all the dots marked, I unpin it and lay it right side down so all the plaid lines line up exactly before cutting out its mirror image piece. I have examined this fabric minutely and it appears to be identical on the right and wrong sides, so I am being careful to mark each piece to indicate which was the "right" and which was the "wrong" sides.

I started with the large front piece and then I lined up the plaid lines and the notches for the side back piece. I want the plaid lines to match horizontally at the underarm seam, where the front piece is sewed to the side back piece.

This just shows a little closer what the lining up of notches looks like. Don't forget that you can always click on the photo and see it larger at Flickr.

This is the back piece, which I am lining up with the notches on the other side of the side back piece. What I forgot to show was how I also lined up the notches on the top of the shoulder with the back and front pieces, so the plaid lines will match vertically as well as horizontally. You'll see that as I start sewing the pieces together. Right now, I am still cutting and I haven't even got to the skirt!