I've Made A Start On The Green Suit!!!

This is another one of those outfits that is inspired by something that could be viewed as an accessory.

This vintage beaded and embellished mink collar appeared on a swap and sell Facebook group I'm a part of called Ooh La La, and I snapped it up super quick.  I'd seen fur collars before, but the beading and rhinestones on this one were just amazing!  I had to have it.  And I immediately started planning a suit.

First up I looked for wool to make a suit from.  I tried really hard not to go in with any preconceived ideas about colour.  I wanted to see what was available and then make a decision from there.

I found this amazing bright olive wool, and a lovely lining to go with it.

Thats the lining up there in the top right corner.

Then the search started for the pattern.  I went through a few searches on Etsy until I found this one.

No, I won't be going ice skating any time soon...

I picked this one because I loved the cut of the jacket, the way it buttoned all the way up AND it had a rounded collar.  It also got extra bonus points because it was my size!

I've had it all sitting in my sewing room waiting its turn, and on the weekend its turn came!  I spent a little while cutting it all out including the lining and the hair canvas.

not that you can see any hair canvas in this pile...

I find the first job when I'm making a suit is to do the bound buttonholes.  You don't want to do bound button holes when the suit is under construction because its a pain in the butt.  Get em done first and get em out of the way!

I use silk organza when I'm making bound button holes on a thick fabric like wool.  Its strong, and it doesn't add bulk.

This step always reminds me of tissue boxes....

The next step is sewing the darts, and then adding the hair canvas.  This step is more than likely not covered in the pattern instructions (I haven't looked at them yet), so I'm referring to my tailoring book Vintage Couture Tailoring by Thomas von Nordheim (which you can find here).

I modified the facing piece from the pattern to cut my hair canvas, and once the pattern pieces were pinned in, I trimmed them so they will sit just inside the stitching line when the seams are made.

I then pinned single fold bias tape around the external edges of the canvas.  This then needs to be hand sewn on to permanently attach the canvas to the fashion fabric.  More hand sewing.

Much more hand sewing.

By the way, the pink bias will never be seen when the jacket is finished, but I'll know the pop of colour is there.  I love doing things like that with my garments!

So this is where I'm at now.  I've repeated the above process for both fronts and the back, and they are now waiting for me to hand sew my little heart out.  I'm hoping once I get a roll on it won't take me too long, so I will have something to show you next week!

Oh! And I got another hair cut!!

If you'd have told me my hair would be this short 6 months ago I would have told you you were completely mad!  Isn't it funny how things happen sometimes...  I'm loving it, and I've got really good feedback about it from everyone around me.

I need to stop writing this now, and start on the hand sewing... so much to do!

Beccie
xxx