October means blazers.

For months I've been planning to spend a fair amount of my fall sewing learning to make a tailored blazer.  I've gotten a small start on that, but to sort of ease into it - and because I wanted one - I decided to make an unstructured knit blazer first.

I've got plenty of blazer patterns in my stash, so I had a look through them and pulled out my favorites, then decided to go with Butterick 5926, which is made for "moderate stretch knit fabrics."  There are options for a shorter or longer length, and full or three-quarter sleeves.  I chose to make mine with long sleeves in the sorter length, which hits at my high hip.

My first version was a fit muslin but I was hoping (as one does) that it would be wearable.  Still, I didn't want to spend a ton of money on fabric, so I headed over to my local JoAnn's and picked up a couple yards of their Sew Classic Ponte Roma.  With a 50% off coupon, my fabric cost me $13; I spent another $3 or so on knit interfacing.  I'd never used this fabric before but for the (sale) price, I'd say it's fairly good quality - IF you check your yardage before purchasing.  I didn't, and after my fabric was washed I found a  large run.  Luckily, I was able to cut around it.  This fabric is 60% polyester and 40% rayon.  I was worried it might be too hot and polyester-y, but it's very soft and quite comfortable to wear.

I got a bit cocky and didn't take any flat pattern measurements or do a tissue fitting.  But I did look at the finished garment measurements, and decided to go with a size 10, which is where my bust measurement puts me.  I was surprised that the ease was pretty much perfect!

Before cutting, I made a bunch of flat pattern adjustments that are pretty common for me:

* Forward Shoulder Adjustment of 3/8" - less than my usual of 1/2" - 5/8"
* Broad Back Adjustment of 1/4" - again, less than my usual of 1/2"
* Sway Back Adjustment of 1"
* Shortened Sleeve by 1" and moved elbow dart up to correspond

I was pleased that the pattern had a center back seam and upper back shaping in the form of darts coming off the back neck.

So, how did it work out?  Well, I admit that I was a little underwhelmed when I first finished it.  I felt like I'd overdone it with the Forward Shoulder and Sway Back adjustments.  But I've worn it a couple times now and while I do think I can back off on those two adjustments just a bit, it's not too bad - not any worse than something I'd buy off the rack.  Here's me wearing it this morning, making my squinty face into the sun while Alicia took my picture:

I think this pattern is a keeper for me.  But there are a few things I will do differently the next time:

* reduce the Sway Back adjustment to 3/4" and
* narrow the shoulders by about 1/4" - this one is a surprise to me because my shoulders are on the broader side; it could be that I should really be in the size 8, but I like the ease I have here

The one thing I really don't like about this pattern is the placement of the buttonholes.  I worked them as written in the pattern and they are just too far in from the edge.  It looks a little ridiculous when buttoned.  It's not a huge problem because I'm not likely to button both buttons at once, but still . . .
these guys are about 1" from the edge.

There were a couple places I found the instructions a little lacking.  One was at the insertion of the collar, which wasn't too hard to figure out.  The other though was the hem.  The bottom hem is topstitched down, and while the pattern says to "trim" before hemming, it doesn't say how much.  I missed that part and fused the entire width of the hem back with double-sided fusible.  When I got to the point of topstitching, I realized that if I stitched at the edge of my turn-back, I'd be stitching through the pocket!  Of course, since it was fused down it was too late to trim it.  It won't show while I'm wearing the jacket, but it kind of bugs me knowing the excess fabric is there.

This ponte, while nice, is on the thin side.  I was a little disappointed when I tried the jacket on over some sleeveless dresses made from thicker ponte that the shoulder line became very lumpy. (P.S. this is my favorite dress, ever.  I have it in a gazillion colors, I love it that much.)  So next time, I may consider adding in some thin shoulder pads.  That said, it's pretty nice to have an unstructured, unlined jacket:  it feels like a cardigan but looks like a blazer.  I've been enjoying wearing this a few times in the week since I made it.

I did all my stitching on the regular sewing machine, using the "double stitch" as instructed in the pattern - really just two parallel rows of stitching before trimming the seam allowance.  I only dragged out my serger to finish the raw edge of the front facing.

I finished this last week, and tried a few times to get pictures of it.  As you no doubt know, trying to photograph a black garment indoors isn't the easiest thing to do.  This is the only picture from last week that came out half way decently - this is how I wore it to do some errands, with my white lace Renfrew, jeans, black flats and a sweet vintage leopard print scarf given to me by Andrea this spring.

And today I'm back at it with another Renfrew, jeans and a different pair of black flats!  Hey, if it works, it works!

Have any of you made this pattern?  Did you like it?  This one gets a thumbs up from me.  The great thing about an unstructured blazer is that even if the fit isn't stellar, I don't think it matters too much.  It's a pretty forgiving garment!  There's room for me to improve the fit here, but I'll enjoy wearing this one.  A black blazer was high on my list of holes to fill in my wardrobe.  I hope to do a more structured woven version someday, but this one will do for now!

Done.

Remember this blouse?  I cut out my second one last weekend and yesterday I finally sewed it up.  Not because I was really in the mood for sewing, but because I was sick of seeing it all over my coffee table.

Butterick 6085, from 1999
size 8

Remember on my first go, I made the size 10 and felt that it was too big.  Right after I finished it, I retraced the pattern for a size 8 so it would be ready when I wanted to make the next one.

Well, it's not too small, but the fit is . . . weird.  I'm still puzzled as to why there are no bust darts (but too lazy to put some in), but the major problem with this blouse is that the armholes are just strange.  Too wide, too deep.  And the sleeve heads have very little ease, which I think makes them hang strangely.  Plus, even with my big arms, the sleeves are too floppy.

So I think I'm done with this pattern.  I'm thinking that the strange fit may be a result of changing tastes in style - after all, this pattern is nearly 15 years old. Anyone have any thoughts on the matter?

I also found the collar on this pattern difficult to insert.  Somehow, a separate collar and collar stand is a lot easier for me to deal with.  

I do love the fabric though.  I got it a couple months ago from Fabric.com, and was thinking I'd get some more and make some summer jammies, but when I looked yesterday, they didn't have it any more!  I call it "Lilly Pulitzer Goes to Woodstock." It's cotton voile like my first version, nice and soft.

I thought I had gotten the same buttons  as my first one, only in orange.  But it turns out they're a little different.  Still cute though.

I think the other reason I had so much trouble with this go is that I wasn't really in the mood to sew - I really just wanted to get it out of the way so I could clean the living room and dining room (a.k.a. my sewing room)!  I had SO much trouble with the second sleeve - I had to rip it out and re-do it at least 4 times, and in the end I finally just did part of it by hand.  I hope it holds up in the wash!

But it's done, and while it's not my favorite make, it's wearable.  And luckily, I've got some pink and orange espadrilles that will be just the thing.

In other sewing news, my Traveler Dress is featured on the Lisette blog's Wear Your Style Friday!  Gosh, it's like I'm famous or something!  It was fun to be contacted by Liesl - she's a very sweet and personable lady.

And don't forget that today is the last day to enter the Giveaway if you haven't done so already!

(Primarily) Self-Made Woman

I took some time to do a little photoshoot this morning before I headed out to run errands.  I've got a backlog of finished pieces I've been too lazy to model and photograph, and I managed to snap pix of all but one of them today.  I'll spread them out over a couple of posts though.

So let's start out with this week's finished pieces, the Ginger skirt and the Butterick blouse.  You all know how a Ginger looks by now, and having now made this pattern five times, I really don't have anything to say about it other than, look how great it goes with my new blouse!

I put on my most padded bra, and now the blouse is starting to grow on me.  I think in a size 8 it will be just right.  Hmmm . . . decisions!

I'm not sure I mentioned it yet, but when I got started on the blouse I was surprised to discover that there are no horizontal bust darts.  There are, however, two vertical double-ended darts in the back and the sides are quite shaped, so the finished product actually does have more shape than I'd thought it would.

Putting this together reconfirmed my need to hand-baste in sleeves - always.  I didn't do it on the first sleeve, and ended up having to pick out and re-sew a couple sections.  I did baste the second sleeve, and it came together so much easier - and it hangs better than the one I didn't baste.

This shot is here mostly so you can see
my shoes better.

I love this outfit for a spring day - red, yellow and blue!  When I went out, I wore a yellow sweater I made years ago.  Also note that I've coordinated my nail polish and even added a bezel-set murrini glass ring I made a few years ago:

China Glaze Happy Go Lucky

I know.

Last but not least, here are today's silly shots:

Oh Sergio, I love you so much!

You do things for me that Ken doesn't do.
Sigh.

Sewing Week So Far (previews)

Today I made blouse #1 from my plan, Butterick 6085 from way back in 1999:

See down there in the lower right hand corner, how it says "Fast and Easy Classics?" Ummm . . . compared to what?  It took me 4.5 hours to make this "simple" blouse. Granted, that included cutting out, but still . . .  I'm no stranger to making shirts and blouses, and this one doesn't even have the added effort of a collar stand or cuffs.

And I made it too big.  Again.  Here's how it went down.  Last week when I was getting ready to make this, I took a look at the finished measurements.  The bust for my size was 38" - a lot more ease than I wanted.  So I decided to go down a size.

Last night I traced all the pieces for size 8.  The front looked small.  I held it up to my body.  It felt small. I took a few minutes to read some reviews on Pattern Review, and a couple of them said the fit runs small on this one.  So I got scared off and retraced it all back up to the size 10 (my normal).  It's got quite a bit of ease. Not unwearable, but more relaxed than I usually wear.

Sorry for the bad light, but this is just a preview.

Thankfully, the fabric is very soft and has a lot of drape.  This is a cotton voile I got from Fabric.com.  I like it because it reminds me of Liberty prints.  But without the price tag.  I had enough left over to make a yummy soft infinity scarf too!

Infinity isn't as big as I'd thought it would be.

I remembered to use my favorite new trick for collars, courtesy of Pattern Runway:

It makes such a difference in how nicely the corners turn:

I really like the buttons I picked up yesterday:

So, I'm on the fence about this pattern.  I'm not quite sure I want to sacrifice my Anna Maria Horner voile to it, even if I go back down to the size 8.  It's very plain - almost camp shirt-like.  I'm going to have to think on it.

But - it goes great with the new Ginger, which is what I bought the fabric for:

This one is made from organic cotton twill, also from Fabric.com.  It's the same fabric I used for my Madeleine skirt (which is growing on me).  While I think it was a little too heavy and stiff for the Madeleine, it works great for the Ginger.  I originally chose this color to go with my Pussy Bow Blouse, but after I finished it yesterday, I spent some time going through my closet and finding other tops that go with it.  Look how great it is with this '50s sleeveless blouse:

I can't wait to wear these together in summer!  This blouse has some really inspiring details too:  all the designs are created by manipulating this striped fabric:

Just look at this collar!

and these tucks!

I bought this blouse many years ago; it's in perfect condition because it was dead stock.  But I've hardly ever worn it because it's a little short.  So I'm very excited to be able to wear it with this high-waisted skirt!

So I guess this is the moment of truth . . . since blouse #2 is on hold, it looks like tomorrow I'll start working on the pants!