Simplicity: 8428 (Flawless with Pockets c.1951) - Type:Coordinates  | | Viewed 837 times
| | Review rated Very Helpful by 4 people | | Reviewed by: | bellelass | 
| About bellelass | | AUSTRALIA | | Member since: 12/7/08 | | Reviews written: 10 | | Sewing skills:Advanced | | Favored by: 3 people | | patterns reviewed: 10 | | Bio: more... |
| | Posted on: | 10/22/09 6:36 AM | | Last Updated: | 11/5/09 11:27 PM | | Project Photo: |  | | Pattern Photo: |  | | | | Related Links | Click on  to add a link |
| Jacket and buttonhole drama sorted. The blocking technique worked to straighten things out. I did a machine worked buttonhole on each of the pocket facings, then stitched-in-the-ditch to secure it. Peachy.
The Skirt is finished! Well, almost. I have the pretty daisy lace stitched to the lining, husband set the hem although looking at some of the pictures I took, I think the back needs a little help. I also need to put on the enormous painted coconut shell button I bought for the waistband, but my small child has run off with it I think.
Jacket has everything up to the facing. I need to play with the collar a little, might need to get inside and rip and re-sew some of the pad-stitching. I got carried away with the rolling on one side. I'll post a picture of the interior construction (complete with grosgrain ribbon waist stay, peplum skirt haircloth, shoulder pads and flannel sleeve cap) later. I've got an ear infection.
UPDATE the Third: I marked the pad stitching grid but it wasn't working for me, nor were the descriptions of how to pad stitch a collar. Luckily, our shop was having a tailor come and speak so I took him the poor little pieces of my jacket and he helped a good deal. I got the roll line centered, basted, the collars rolled beautifully and then the roll line pad stitched that night. Blanket pad stitching I used a matching 100% cotton thread because that would blend in best with my hemp cotton. Short, sharp needle. My lines of pad-stitching actually followed the curved line of the roll line, I spaced the lines about 1/2" apart and did it freehand. After several unsuccessful attempts at drawing a grid only to have the stitching come out flat, this was a revelation.
He also told me how to handle some of the other tricky bits down the line.
I wasted an entire free long afternoon perfecting my bound buttonhole technique. I wish I had just kept sewing and put in worked buttonholes, but I HAVE to try to learn new things. I tried the Martyn Smith method. I tried the method in my Janome machine manual (My machine down automatic b.buttonhole windows.). My lips were still unbalanced after about a dozen tries and the corners were a little puckered, but a frustrated google search turned up this technique for "Perfect" buttonholes.
After I got the hang of it, my test ones with this method were lovely. I carefully marked my jacket front and went for it. They turned out just disgusting on my jacket. I couldn't look at it for days. Yesterday I spent most of an afternoon unpicking a stitch here, a thread there, and carefully reshaping and clapping them. Then the buttonholes looked passable, but the jacket front looked wrinkly and baggy.
At this point I had a minor nervous breakdown. I'm not the sort to do that over a piece of sewing, but if I had had more hemp fabric to cut another front I would have made a bonfire in my backyard with these buttonholes.
Husband told me to get back on the horse and ride. I unpicked the basting and wet the whole jacket front, then carefully smoothed it down and pinned it with blocking pins, the same way I would with a piece of recalcitrant knitting. It mostly worked, except for the area around the bottom buttonhole. That one was just badly done but I'm not sure if I can fix it. I like the pins and needles method, but YOU MUST MUST MUST stitch exactly perfectly, even the basting lines. PERFECT. Length and width. Or you will end up with a mess like mine.
So now I'm past that hump, I think it is reasonable to think I'll have the exterior shell (including scary peplum haircloth) finished by the end of the week. Also the sleeves. I hope.
UPDATE the Second: This is already getting long, and I haven't made a stitch on my actual jacket! It works for me, though, because I usually keep notes on projects like this and I like the idea of being able to share my notes in case they're useful to anyone else.
After much conceptualizing, I decided to tweak down the waistlines on all of the pieces except the SB. Ladybegood, I did the elastic thing you suggested, it did help clarify matters. I was overzealous with my shortwaist alteration. I saw a little dot at the bottom of CF on my muslin which I had taken for a waistline marking (Watch your markings!) but it was actually 3/4" below the real waist on the original pattern. The SB waist marking matched exactly, so I just barely lengthened the rest of the pieces as necessary.
Also did a narrow shoulder adjustment, 1/4" on the SB between the shoulder and 1" below the armscythe, I felt confident also that it would suffice. If I need to take it in more, I can do that on the seam.
Then I pinned CF to SF from the shoulder down, and pinned SB to CB from the shoulder down a few inches. I lined them up, matching seams, just as if I were sewing the shoulder seam. I had to play with it a little bit because the sway back alteration I did left me with a weird wedge at the top of the shoulder. I matched the pinned seams, and I matched up either end of the shoulder seam to be sewn and then just trimmed off the excess wedge. Now it all fits together properly and looks like a normal shoulder. I am sure it will be right because on my last muslin I forced the seams to fit each other using some easing but ended up with a weird pointy shoulder.
Then I took a deep deep breath and spent two nights cutting and marking the hemp. Decided not to do another muslin because 1- Time is a-wasting and 2- The adjustments I made were really obviously right and not huge.
The fabric was pretty and soft in the long length, but as I cut it I fell deeper and deeper in love. It is amazing stuff. Rather open, I would say coarse but that isn't exactly the right word. It is drapey but not slinky, luminous but not shiny, firm but not stiff. Tailor's tacks in two colors of silk thread, but I cheated and used a washout marker for the lining. I cut the lining mostly as per the instructions, though I did move the CB about 1/2" from the fold of the fabric, from the top to the bottom instead of angling it as the pattern showed. My way preserves the grainline, which is especially important because I'm using stripes for the lining. I marked the edge of the CB fold by the pattern, and I'm going to stitch along that line from the neck down 3" or so, and from the bottom up 6" or so, leaving my pleat across the shoulders and mid-back. Probably play with it a little.
So right now I'm marking my pad stitching grid directly onto the haircloth. I can't find much information for pad stitching a collar that is cut all in one with the jacket front with no lapels so I'm researching and making it up as I go along. Spent my daughter's naptime yesterday on that. I know the careful research and preparation will make all the difference in my finished jacket, but I'm getting a little frustrated at how much prep I'm putting into this thing. Impatient to have something to show for all my work because right now I feel like all I have is a stack of Franken-pattern polytrace. Part of it is my own inexperience and part of it is the lack of usable information. I'm also pondering whether I need to alter the peplum haircloth piece for my sway back, and also how to pad-stitch it best but I think I'll just ponder that one and play with putting the polytrace peplum piece into my jacket muslin. Only the haircloth is cut as the skirt, the jacket itself has no waist seam. Tricky.
UPDATE the First: I took the laundry list of alterations and tried them all out. I have a suspicion that I made the waist just a shade too high. Or rather, I think I cut it precisely right in the back, but each of the other four pieces were slightly shorter waisted, or so they seemed as I sewed them. I did the sway back alteration on the thread that was not the tuck. I tried the tuck and was freaked out because it made my pattern piece really bendy. The cut and slide to the shoulder one was good, I think I need to true up the shoulder seam now because when I was sewing it, it became a little pointed. Have a look at my back and tell me what you think. I think the side backs waists are both a little high and I think they are still too full at the top but could I take that out in the seams?
Back
Front
I am utterly besotted with this pattern. The triangular collar, wingy little cuffs- both thrice top-stitched. The sly little dart on the princess seamed side bodice. THE PEPLUM! The pockets that parallel the lines of said peplum. The dear little buttons on the pockets. These are just the reason I fell in love in the first place. The pattern is truly wonderful, the drafting top notch. I knew it would be a long-term affair.
I like the skirt, too. It looks a little ordinary, but on closer inspection of the pattern it is exceptionally well-cut. I plan to fully line it, top-stitch the seams and probably attach some pretty lace to the bottom of the lining. Invisible zip goes without saying.
This one came off ebay. When I opened the pattern, I knew I was holding something special. The entire pattern, instructions and all came carefully wrapped in tissue paper and tucked into the little envelope.
I merrily traced off the pattern and after very little looking, I found just the perfect fabric on fabrics.com. I love it when the fabric and pattern find me at about the same time. The fabric is a 60/40 hemp/cotton. I have never worked with hemp, but did a deal of reading and found I should more or less pre-treat it like linen. When the fabric arrived, I was entranced with the gentle texturing, but even more so with how the tone of the red worked with my complexion. I need a slight blue undertone to be able to pull off red. It brings out the darker shades in my hair, too.
Four times washed and dried, and I overlocked the raw edges before. It lost a little dye, but not as much as I expected and the hemp seems to have a dull luster rather like dupioni. Like a very soft, textured, durable dupioni- if that makes sense.
I am very unhappy about all the pointless work I did adjusting the pattern. Suffice to say I traced off the side front panel no less than four times, and the rest of the jacket panels twice. Also suffice to say that after teaching myself to do a complete FBA on a princess seamed jacket, I discovered that the unaltered pattern fits my body like an absolute dream. I did shorten the area between bust and hip by about 1.5 inches, which is more than normal, but I threw together a second muslin last night and the body fit is divine. I should be more pleased. I'll put on the muslin sleeve today just to check the fit, but after that I think I can cut into the hemp.
Cut the skirt lining and assembled it exactly as per pattern. I think I will shorten the skirt by two inches so it falls just under my knee. I feel that to be my most flattering length. I will turn up a hem on the lining and put it on with my "finished" muslin just to be sure the proportions are right.
So I think the next phase is to fine-tune the fit, just to be sure, and then take a deep breath and cut it all. I'm getting horizontal wrinkles across the small of my back, just at and above the waist. I have this on another dress (the tuxedo dress) and I hate it even though most other people don't notice. Any ideas? It fits ok across the shoulders so I'm not sure that it is a narrow back situation. Any ideas at all. Maybe a short back, even though it has already been shortened for short waistedness?
I have the haircloth all pre-shrunk and I have the lining also washed. It is a grey/charcoal/black stripe on white. Mercerized cotton, although the sleeves are very very fitted so I *may* use silk in the sleeves although I know perspiration degrades silk. I refuse to use synthetics, my clothes have to breathe. I love cutting, it is one of my favorite things about sewing. I take great pains with the cutting and marking.
My readings recommend overlocking all raw edges to keep the hemp from fraying, but I *HATE* overlocking before I sew. If I'm going to go to great trouble to cut it precisely, I don't want an imprecise machine mucking around with my cutting. I may compromise and stay-stitch 1/4" from the raw edges. Besides, I don't want to overlock something that will be lined. Waste of time. | *LOGIN to add a comment to this review
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<< Previous Review Next Review >> | Reader Comments | | davin | 10/17/09 | A pleasure to read your writing, speaking as an old writer myself. And about my almost favorite subject: sewing.
Thanks, D. | | * * * | | ladybegood | 10/17/09 | This pattern is stunning! I can't wait to see teh result! Perhaps your problem is a sway back? There's plenty of stuff on the boards about sway back alterations. The standard adjustment is the "sway back tuck". | | * * * | | bellelass | 10/17/09 | oooh of course. for some reason I'd always assumed that was an older woman's fit problem and sort of passed over it.. I think the illustrations in my books must be of older women. I took a horizontal dart in the back of the muslin and it is so smooth and pretty now! I'm just wondering whether I should take the tuck or play with the princess seams...? | | * * * | | eugenia123 | 10/17/09 | This is a beautiful pattern - I'm looking forward to seeing how you progress with it - you're clearly off to a great start with the fit. | | * * * | | bellelass | 10/17/09 | "sway back" sounds like an old mule. It should be called... "Perky butt." "Sexy Back" or maybe "Junk In the Trunk". | | * * * | | ladybegood | 10/17/09 | Well my vote is for "sexy back"! I don't know about removing through the princess seams since its more of a center back thing. A lot of people add a center back seam to the pattern, and indent it at the waist. I always used the tuck method, and then add back length to the bottom to keep that level, but I saw an interesting alteration on the boards: http://www.fitthat.com/swayback.htm. It was under the thread called "Reality check on sway back adjustments" | | * * * | | Erin D | 10/17/09 | This patterns looks fantastic. Looking forward to seeing the results of your hard work! | | * * * | | Kellie R. | 10/18/09 | I can't wait to see this finished - it is a great pattern indeed! | | * * * | | ladybegood | 10/22/09 | I like to tie 1/4" elastic around my waist to check where the muslin falls, but it seems like the waist is too tight rather than too high. The old patterns make a really sharp indent at the waistline, so maybe if you smoothed out that curve it would lie better. Also, did you remember to clip the seams and darts at the waist? I always forget to do that myself, but it does help those sharply curved seams to lay more smoothly. | | * * * | | kws | 10/23/09 | l love the attention to detail you obviously relish. It was a delight to read. | | * * * | | lynnewill | 10/23/09 | Looking forward to watching your progress on this gorgeous jacket. Love the color of the hemp and it sounds like an exciting marriage, the vintage pattern with a contemporary cloth. | | * * * | | ladybegood | 10/28/09 | Thanks for sharing the process with us. I'm totally addicted to reading about fitting. Its like a brain teaser... sewing sudoku. I'm curious about the pointed shoulder seam after the sway back alteration. If you get a chance, I'd love to see a picture. | | * * * | | Trephas2003 | 11/3/09 | It sounds beautiful! | | * * * | | Kay Y | 11/15/09 | Your jacket is coming along beautifully! | | * * * |
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