Troublesome Trio

My week off and the Thanksgiving holiday was lovely. DS hosted the holiday dinner so the parents would not have to travel far. Here is her gorgeous table before the meal started

and after.

I was taking the pictures. When I had put the camera away and filled my plate, I found that DS the eldest (19) had promoted himself to the adult table and the only empty seat was at, you guessed it, the kid table. So I ate with my nieces and nephews, ages 6-17, and had a great time.

On the sewing side of life, I am working on a 6 piece wardrobe, part of a 6PAC sew along at Stitcher’s Guild 6PAC The goal is to sew a 6 piece wardrobe in 3 months.

The color scheme for my mini wardrobe was inspired by the colors I saw, for what seemed like weeks, on my morning drive to work. Gray skies or fog. Ribbons of concrete top stitched with lanes lines of dull gold and white. A leafy border of fading gold and rust above the ribbed cement noise barriers lining the side of the road. My drive home from work is in the dark.

The colors: greige (gray +beige), brown, gold, white, rust. The textures: smooth, ribbed or leafy. Techniques: top stitching, pin tucking, gathers

I have completed the first three garments. Each of them had an issue/challenge.

The knit top is Burda 1-2011 – 129.

I used a small piece of poly lycra animal print fabric. With a careful layout, ¾ sleeves and 3/8 seams, I was able to get all the pattern pieces cut out. I sewed the bodice using a straight stitch, something I do for fitting purposes on knits because I hate to rip out serging. It was too big, gigunda. I would have expected this top pattern to have been drafted with negative ease. But for the size 42 ( bust 36.25 inches) the pattern bust measurement was 38.5. I removed 4 inches of ease to get this top to fit snugly. Some of this may have been because my fabric was softer and stretchier than the jersey fabric used by Burda. On the back piece, which has the front armhole and shoulder cut on, I did it by creating a center back seam.  On the  front I cut the excess fabric off the sides.

The pants were a challenge because of operator (me) error tracing the pattern.

Where was my mind that day? I didn’t trace the front zipper area extension or the pocket extension. The pants pieces on the pattern sheet overlapped and  I inadvertently traced the grain line for the front pant piece on the back pattern piece and vise versa. It wasn’t until I was laying out the pattern pieces on the fabric that it occurred to me something might be wrong. The pant leg bottoms were not on the cross grain.

I discovered, after 20 years of using Burda patterns, that the grain line indicator on any pattern piece starts at the top edge. I caught the grain line and the front extension error before cutting the fabric. But not the pocket extension. I didn’t notice that until I was sewing the pocket to the pocket lining and they did not match up. The save was easy, but not satisfying. The side seam can be seen in the pocket opening. The fabric is a milk chocolate brown wool gabardine. I do like the style of these pants, especially the close fit in the upper leg with the gentle flare at the hem. This is not mentioned in the copy or obvious from the line drawing.

Finally the jacket – a Sandra Betzina Vogue pattern 1036 with lots of pattern pieces and top stitching.

I chose a cement colored polyester suede fabric. It was the perfect color and texture, but what was I thinking? I must have taken out the top stitching on every seam at least once because of wavering stitches and tension problems. My machine does great top stitching in the center needle position. But when I try to use an edge foot and a needle left or right position, the thread tension goes out the window. I actually have to tighten the tension of the  heavier top thread to fix the problem. And how the heck do you press this type of fabric flat? Heat, steam, both? Too much heat and it melts. Ask me how I know. I broke down and actually used a press cloth to prevent imprinting the suede texture with the iron. But the press cloth  I used was muslin and I couldn’t see what I was doing. It was very frustrating. I was complaining about this to my sewing friends over lunch, after a guild meeting, and one mentioned this Threads magazine article "Make a Press-Cloth Wardrobe," Threads #154, p. 44 Guide to Press Cloths about having a variety of pressing cloths, including one of silk organza which is slightly transparent. The silk organza worked great, but I still had to hand baste edges to hold them  in place for top stitching.  Any "how to press" suggestions are appreciated as I would like to make Vogue 1268, the Guy Laroche shirt dress, out of similar fabric. And to add more rework; I cut the lining for the jacket out of some heavier taffeta like material from my stash. It was too stiff and changed the hand of the suede. So I ripped it out and cut another lining out of Bemberg.

This jacket took forever. If I don’t look too closely at the top stitching, I actually like it a lot.

Right now I am trying to decide whether to make a few new holiday party outfits or wear ones I already have. Making new ones is definitely winning.