Happy New Year!

I have been working at perfecting a pants pattern, even though I have one that magically fit with very few alterations. But I’ve been using that one pattern for over 10 years and wanted the educational experience of working through the fitting of a new one.

My old nearly perfect pants pattern was from a very old Burda Plus issue. In order to be able to compare, I chose another Burda pattern for my experiments. The new one is from the first issue of Burda Classics, and it is indeed a classic. Single pleat, with medium legs – not skinny, not too wide.

I got out my issue of Threads #195, the one with Sarah Veblen’s in depth article on fitting pants, and resolved to work through the process. I’ve always appreciated this article because she actually spells out how to use the grain line and balance lines to determine whether extra fabric or scooping is needed.

So, three muslins later, I thought I had done a pretty good job in fitting and the rear hung  pretty darn straight, like trousers should, and it was time to make a real pair. Some cotton/poly twill was waiting and ready.

When the pants were done, I was pleased with the fit. I was even more pleased that I had gone through all the fitting and thought I finally understood something about the mysteries of fitting pants!

The only quibble I had was with the front thigh binding just a bit when I walked. That is something I’ve experienced before, but only with certain patterns, and didn’t seem to have anything to do with leg circumference or full front thighs or anything like that. Googling for answers, I kept reading references to “the fork”, but nowhere could I find a definition of what this fork was that I could understand.

So, the question was posted on PatternReview and several helpful members responded. Kayl suggested taking a tuck across the front to see if that helped, and what do you know, it did. But taking the tuck messed up my nice fit in the back.

Finally I got the bright idea to compare my new fitted pattern to the old TNT and here are the results. New pattern is on the bottom, old is on the top.

What the hey? All that length I kept adding to make my horizontal balance lines actually horizontal…the humongous crotch extension I added…all so much more extreme than in my TNT.  Maybe I didn’t do such a good job with all the fitting after all. The comparison did make me try taking a tuck all around , about 3 inches above the crotch level. Even removing all that length, that I thought I needed, the pants seem to hang nicely.

The one encouraging thing is that the fitting yielded a crotch curve nearly identical to the TNT. The angle of the center back seam is the same, the scoop of the curve is the same, there is just more crotch extension. There is more difference in the front, where it looks like a little scoop is in order.

My twills are absolutely wearable, but now instead of cutting into the good fabric which is all ready to go, I need to go find some more test fabric.

Mystery…still not solved…

I’ve been on a mini sewing binge.

My last shirt got me pretty excited about the collar/stand directions Jalie gives with this pattern and made me want to make their actual design right away.

Lucky for me, Fabric Mart was having a timely sale on challis, so I ordered this fabric and made it up as soon as it arrived. It’s a very fine and floaty rayon, just right for swingy Rose.

I did some measuring and was happy to discover that I could cut a straight size and did not need to enlarge at the hemline. What that means for everyone else is that it has a very A-line shape. It also has the back pleated into the yoke, for even more hip room. Bust darts give it a bit of fit but overall it is very loose, very cool, very nice for hot weather.

The front button band is tiny – only about 5/8″ wide. If I understand the instructions, following their procedure would result in two layers of interfacing on both sides. That would have been too much for my lightweight fabric, so I cut and installed two really skinny strips. The little collar has a pretty shape. And then there were the collar stand instructions that I read very carefully to be sure I got it right this time. On the previous shirt, I mixed up an interfaced and uninterfaced layer. Still got a pretty darn good result. This time it was even nicer.

The yoke and neck fit me very well. No forward shoulder adjustment needed! The forward yoke seams actually lie forward of my shoulder. These last two shirts have sat exactly the way they are supposed to on my shoulders without shifting around. That’s gold.

The armholes are faced with narrow bias – which brings me to my one complaint about this pattern – the armholes are too low. Wait…one more whine…I still like 5/8″ seam allowances for most seams, and Jalie uses all 3/8″.

I won’t be making another one of these right away because autumn is coming, but will take the time to make a nice tracing (cut this one from the PDF printout) with an altered armhole to have ready to make again next year.

I think it looks great with jeans.

This pattern was a find because it enabled me to scratch two itches at the same time: it’s a vintage pattern from 1976, and it has French darts – or at least darts that start low and angle up. These are both things I’ve wanted to dabble with.

Finding an older pattern that isn’t obviously vintage took a little searching. This shirt turned up in an Etsy shop, and the seller is in New Zealand. I never thought I would be making impulse buys from a place so far away! There it was though, in my size, at an impulse-buy kind of a price, and even the shipping wasn’t what I would have expected. It only took about a week to get it. What a world, what a world.

The pattern has a front band, collar on stand, back yoke, bust darts in front and vertical darts in back, sleeves with cuffs and plackets.

I did some measuring and felt good about cutting out as-is, except for adding width at the hips and lowering the darts a smidge. The only other real change I made was modifying the super large and pointy collar to something more classic.

The sewing experience was a mixed bag. I was looking forward to vintage directions that I might prefer to the methods I usually use. That did not happen. When I scanned the instruction sheets, I thought I would like the method they used for the front band. Nope, not going to do that again.

But I did like the single-size pattern. There was heaps of information on the tissue, including directional sewing, lots and lots of match points, and of course, seam lines with all the intersections clearly marked.

I also used a couple of outside helps. This pattern finally gave me a chance to use the sleeve placket template I bought from Lunagrafix. My plackets turned out very nicely.

And while I was working on this shirt, I read some reviews and The Sewing Lawyer’s blog post on Jalie’s Rose shirt. Several people mentioned the great directions for the collar stand. One PDF download later, I was able to use those directions. I misread them and made a mistake, but still got a better than average stand.

Those are the two most tedious parts of making a shirt and now I have better ways of doing them!

 

And the vintage pattern gave really nice results. This is a trim-fitting shirt. It’s been so long since I’ve worn something like that, I’m a little shocked. The shoulders are not too wide. I didn’t need a forward shoulder adjustment. The collar doesn’t pull to the back. It’s much more close fitting than I’m used to, but there is plenty of range of motion.

I think I will like having a TNT fitted shirt to wear with the wider pants that we keep hearing are coming. Here is a rare bathroom mirror selfie to show how nicely it fits.

Conclusion: This is so different from the loose and boxy shirts that are current that it seems kind of formal. Even though I like it, I’m not going to make a pile of these until I see how much I wear this one.

This project seemed to take forever. It’s not particularly difficult, but there is lots of topstitching. Since I decided to topstitch with a double thread, there was plenty of times when the machine needed to be rethreaded. Whenever that happened, I tended to get up and walk away for a couple of weeks.

Pattern Art:

My version:

The fabric is a stout cotton, crosswoven with aqua and violet. The overall effect is blue. I love crosswoven fabrics, and ordered this one lickety-split when it turned up on Fabric.com a few years ago. I should have inspected it right away, but didn’t…and later found that they had not only sent my yardage in three pieces, but that it had flaws like snags. I notified them, but never heard back. Since it had been a very long time since the purchase, I just let it go. Until now, when I just had to share the story. 😛

I wondered if the fabric was too heavy for this pattern, but I saw that Margy had made it in denim – her blog post is here.  It took a little experimenting, but I was able to cut out the long length (it’s about knee length on me) with all the snags on the inside so they don’t show.

Now I want to rant about another supplier. For a while, it seemed like JoAnn’s was stepping up their button game. But the last time I went to my local store, all the fashion buttons were gone. Way in the back, they had some crafting-type buttons and there weren’t even many of those. I would patronize brick and mortar stores if they carried things I need, but it gets harder and harder to find stores that stock what I want.

Except groceries and wine. I can still get those. And the wine was important when making this tunic. My new sewing machine did not come with a spindle for a second spool of thread, and I wanted to use double thread for the topstitching. I will order the spindle, but in the meantime, this was my makeshift solution:

I cut down a wine cork to fit the slot where the spindle was supposed to go, stuck in a couple of toothpicks, and used them to support a bobbin wound with my thread. A real spool would have been too heavy, but this arrangement worked just fine with the little plastic bobbin. Should have cleaned up the little wad of threads before snapping this picture.

That’s the “making of” story. I can wear this as a tunic with leggings, or open as a long jacket.

Pattern notes: To get a larger size at hip level, I added to the princess seams only, and kept the side seams nice and hanging straight, like an asian garment should. Next time, shorten the sleeves about 5/8 inch. I meant to do this, but forgot, and when I did remember I did not want to pick out all the top stitching. Also next time, I’ll make a little modesty panel to go behind the buttons. I put them close together to prevent gaps, but a little extra coverage would be good insurance.

Detail: pretty cross woven colors, button, topstitching.

 

 

When browsing Farmhouse Fabrics I found a listing for handkerchief linen with several different co-ordinating stripes of white and natural. That is one of my favorite color combinations and I knew I wanted to make something that would use two of them for some subtle low-contrast contrast. I also needed a lightweight summer jacket for those air conditioned places.

I bought enough fabric so that I could line whatever pattern I chose to the edge. That in effect makes a reversible fabric, and two layers of handkerchief linen is a good weight for a summer jacket. The Anything But Ordinary jacket from Cutting Line Designs is a nice simple design that goes together easily and made handling the two layers almost trouble free.

Cutting: I eliminated the center back seam and shortened the sleeves to bracelet length. The two layers were cut exactly the same, except that the collar was cut only from the stripe that was being used as the contrast side.

Construction order:

1. Sew the shoulder and side seams of the inner and outer bodies separately.
2. Construct the collar
3. Attach the collar by sandwiching it between the inner and outer body layers and stitching the neckline seam.
4. Right sides together, stitch all around the outer edges of the jacket: center fronts and hems. Turn right side out through an armhole.
5. Construct the inner and outer sleeves.
6. Right sides together, stitch the sleeve hem edge. Turn.
7. Press under the seam allowance of the inner sleeve cap.
8. Stitch the outer sleeve cap to both layers of the body.
9. Attach the inner sleeve cap by hand.
10. I decided to stitch in the ditch at the side seams through all the layers to give the hint of structure I would have gotten from underlining.

In all cases, I trimmed the seam allowances so the inner layer was not as wide as the outer layer. And when sewing the outside edges, I skootched the inside layer away from the edge so that the seam allowance for the inside was only 3/8 of an inch, while the outside layer was 5/8. It’s a bad look when your lining is too short and pulls on the outer layer.

Here is how the collar and the sleeve cuff look, showing the subtle contrast between the layers. I will probably always wear the sleeves turned up to 3/4 length.

 

My pressing is not perfect, but this piece will probably never be pressed again! Rumpled linen suits me fine.

When trying on the jacket and deciding on the buttons, I liked the look all buttoned up to the neck, even though realistically I would not wear a jacket that way. But I think I will make this pattern again soon as a loose shirt and make it button all the way up.

Happy summer sewing to any readers!

 

The end of my vintage sewing machine era, that is.

I enjoyed collecting and sewing with my old machines for about 15 years. While I didn’t have a huge collection, when we moved and downsized I didn’t have room for them all any more.  They went up on Craigslist this last week and were claimed in a matter of days. Here is a surprise – all my buyers were men.

The “in memoriam” portion of the program…

My Viking Husqvarna 21 was the first to go. The young man who bought it collects Viking machines and didn’t have this particular one.

The Singer 503A went to a man who was replacing another similar model to use in his upholstery business. He was thrilled with the condition of my baby and I’m sure he will take good care of it.

The Kenmore 158.65 and the Singer 66 whose picture is below went to a third gentleman. He and his wife run a quilting retreat and they will be using them for decor.

I used and enjoyed all of these machines, and am sorry that I can’t keep them.

My Featherweight is the one vintage machine that is staying with me. After all, it doesn’t take up a lot of room. And it does give me the option of using a dedicated straight stitch machine when I want to.

The machine that is replacing them all is a Janome DC4030P. I don’t have the machine yet, but I have cut out the first project that I will sew on it, and that’s a white shirt. I think that’s a really nice new beginning. I can’t wait to get started.