sewing

Like all great projects, when it’s done, there’s a little bit of a feeling of let down. So, let’s go through the details to review: (more…)

First, a bit of housekeeping detail. Because I wanted this coat to be as long as I could get it (no red chapped knees for me), I made the decision that I was NOT going to fold up the hem. The other thing is that the fabric is so spongy that I was afraid the hem would end up looking lumpy. Using the same poly shantung fabric that I used for the welted pocket in the lining and the bound buttonholes, I made 3″ wide strips of bias. I ironed down 1/2″ along one long edge and sewed it all along the bottom edge of the coat. I now have to steam press it and catch stitch it into the interlining. When I’ve done THAT, I’ll put in the lining. I know there are a lot of folks out there who are vastly more experienced than I am and who are vastly better sewists than I am..and who use something referred to as ‘the bagging method’. I, on the other hand, because I am stubborn and wedding to things that I learned at Mrs. Reynolds’ knee in high school, have sewed up my lining completely and will be pinning it in and sewing that baby in, invisibly, by hand. Part of this is because this coat weighs a ton (more…)

There’s a certain point in making a coat where you can switch gears and work on something else with the garment, an entirely separate part of the project. That is the lining. And I think in general, sewists view making the lining in a sort of ‘ho-hum, let’s get this over with, after thought’ sort of way.

Which Aunt Toby feels is a real mistake. This is the same sort of thinking that manufacturers use when they make linings out of the sleaziest, cheapest junk that splits at the seams, frays out and cheapens the product immensely. Linings perform several functions, most of them very important and so making a lining for anything deserves some real thought and attention. (more…)

Victory belongs to the most persevering.
Napoleon Bonaparte

The Little Corporal may never have picked up a pair of scissors and a needle in his career (actually, I’ll bet he did – everyone knew how to sew a seam and darn a sock in those days), but he did know about always moving forward.

And moving forward I needed to do because a) it’s getting colder all the time (isn’t that a Beatles song?) and b) that brown basketweave wool was just sitting there, glaring at me, filling me with despair. I had a new pattern, the Vogue 8626 and had been clutched by ‘fear of doing another muslin’. What if it didn’t work? What if this one looked as bad as the last one? What if it looked (gasp) worse? (more…)

Dayam. One of the truly frustrating parts of home sewing is that sometimes you can go through all of this:

Pit stop on the muslin
First Fix
Armscye
Choosing the right pattern

and still feel like this:

Sheesh. One of the only advantages to retail is that you go to the store and either they have what you want..or they don’t. And if they have it, it fits..or it doesn’t. You don’t have to go through all of this agony. But if you need a coat (which your Aunt Toby desperately does) and you can’t find one you like or you can’t find one that fits (ditto, ditto), then agony it is. (more…)

So, what can we do about this armscye issue? Well, I’m no good at redrafting patterns. I admit that and hope someday to ameliorate that situation. But I’ve used a particular technique several times and it does work. As you can see, the underarm seam is just too low. But how low IS it? I need to find out where my armpit actually is in comparison to the sleeve seams here on both the front and the back. (more…)