Though I haven't been blogging, I have been sewing. Mostly slower projects, and, as it seems, a lot of jackets.
This one is is McCall's 7818, one of their new winter patterns. It's a Unisex Unlined Jacket with a notched collar and back slits. An oversized, checked jacket ticks two of the current fashion trends. It is meant to be oversized and so there isn't a lot of fitting. It is unisex. I did a tissue fit and settled on a medium, but made some reductions to make sure it isn't too big. I took 1 2/8" from the shoulder width, and almost 3" from the length and also removed a little from the seams. This is a Palmer Pletsch pattern, and for those of you who are wanting patterns to help you improve your fitting, I would really recommend these. There is a lot of advise about adjustments and also some great tips for improving your sewing. You can really learn a lot from these.
Having doing a practice, I chickened out on the welt pockets. In the main this was because of the thickness of the fabrics and it is a double welt, flapped pocket.. As the welt goes across the dart you end up with more than 8 layers of the fabric, all interfaced and I just couldn't see how it would lay well. So I used some finer plain wool and added two patch pockets. These look fine, though not as nice as welts would be. I also didn't add a breast pocket.
The collar went in well, though the instructions were a little vague about where to put the seam fabric. You have to either hand-stitch or stitch in the ditch at the collar seams to keep the two together. I used a tiny stab stitch for better control.
The instructions were pretty clear, except for how to mitre the corners on the flaps, but I managed to work something out. The lining is some proper silk fabric used for the back of waistcoats, which I picked up for £10 for 7 metres! It's great.
The fabric is a gorgeous, fairly heavy wool from Fabworks.
They don't seem to have it on-line but they have a fabulous selection of other wools. I bought 2 metres and had loads left, enough to make ….
The Ariel skirt from Tilly and the buttons. This is my first time with this pattern and I really like it.
I think it's a pattern which benefits from fairly firm fabric, to keep the waistband high. I love the shape. I lined it and I really like the way the lining works with the facing, very neat. Like all Tilly's patterns the instructions are very clear, and this is a skirt most beginners could manage. I'm not sure I will wear the skirt and jacket together, but I like both and I am pretty happy with the pattern matching on both.
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