So the fact that I only got the collar on and the sleeves into my jacket this past weekend isn't a massive disaster! Mind you - I did only have one day to sew... on Sunday I traveled to Sydney with my stepdaughter to go to my friend Lucy's birthday party:
Love these girls
(L-R Miss Lucy, me, Miss Liv my step-daughter, and Miss Sasha)
(L-R Miss Lucy, me, Miss Liv my step-daughter, and Miss Sasha)
But back to the suit!
Putting the top part of the collar (that goes around the back of the neck) was mostly hand sewing once I'd gotten it together.
I ummed and ahhed about what to interface the collar with and I went with the tried an true organza. I sewed it to the upper collar piece and then sewed the upper and lower collar pieces together, and turned it out the right way.
I was able to sew the collar to the jacket body at the back of the neck, and then the rest needed to be hand sewed in.
I figured the best thing to do was to lay the jacket and the top part of the collar over my tailors ham, and then pin them so the butted up with each other. Then I hand stitched them together with something I'm going to call the 'zipper-stitch'...
I'm freestyling here people... I have no idea if this is 'proper' or if it has an actual name...
As I was doing all this I was watching Bomb Girls - great series by the way! I highly recommend it!!
I'm happy with the way the collar is sitting on the jacket though, so it was worth the extra effort.
Then it was on to the sleeves. I made up each sleeve unit (including ironing up the cuff which makes it easier when the seam is sewn together.
Then I sewed the sleeves into the jacket. They are a little more puckered than I would like, but a bit of steaming should fix that (I hope!)
And I don't know why the upper part of my jacket is so blousy. It must be part of the pattern... I do have a 1940s vintage suit with a similar blousy back, so maybe this is standard for the era??? Anyone know???
Meanwhile, Stella slept in my petticoats
Oh! And I almost forgot - I made shoulder pads!
I have a more detailed post on how I do this here if anyone is interested.
So the outside of the jacket is finished (apart from a leeeetle bit of hand sewing), which means that this weekend I'm on to the pretty bits - the lining, the bows and the buttons!
Bring on the weekend!
Beccie
xxx
Looks like it's going to be killer! I agree that hand-sewing is the way to go on tricky parts when you're making a jacket. If you get it the way you want, then you wear the heck out of it. It's worth the extra effort.
ReplyDeleteIts totally worth the extra effort! It can be quite meditative too, depending on your state of mind :)
DeleteI am so excited to see the creation of this suit. Would you ever consider selling the pattern you created for it, or reproducing it for sale? If you did, I would be more than interested in purchasing one. I'm not that great at drafting patterns myself.
ReplyDeleteSorry for my late reply! I hope you get to see this :) The pattern is a Hollywood Pattern from the 1940s - number 1392. You can find it for sale on Etsy and ebay (I bought mine on ebay). The only reason I had to do some redrafting was because it wasn't my size. Hope that helps :)
DeleteThe stitch you are doing is called a ladder stitch. It is good for connecting two pieces together and when you pull the threads tight it makes a lovely seam. I use it for attaching limbs to my dolls. In order to do it more "correctly" you keep your stitches more directly across from each other instead of diagonal. Great job on the suit so far. I always love your makes they perfectly suit you.
ReplyDeleteHooray!!! Thanks Connie - I knew I hadn't made it up!!!
DeleteLoving your blog. It's inspiring me to be more creative. Your hand stitch looks like a blind hem stitch, you could call it a blind seam stitch?
ReplyDeleteThanks Rosewiled - I love inspiring people :)
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