Thursday, May 16, 2019

Blue Mix

The inspiration for my latest sewn garments is this picture. I liked the combination of the crisp blue striped jacket and the floral print top.  I had similar fabrics in my stash. A medium weight blue stripe cotton chambray fabric and a blue and white silk  scarf print.


For the shawl collar jacket I considered  a recent  BurdaStyle magazine jacket and Kwik Sew 4223



 I chose Kwik Sew thinking it would be the easier sew.  In hind sight I would have been much more satisfied with the Burda pattern fit. I had forgotten how much ease  Kwik Sew patterns have. My measurements put me in a Large size. I chose to make a size Medium based on the finished garments measurement for that size,  which still had 3-4 " wearing ease over my measurements. The shoulder and back widths are also wider than other patterns I use. I  reduced both of those areas which was easy enough to do by moving  the armholes in about an inch on each side.  I changed the front  lapel,  which was double breasted, to single breasted and adding elbow darts to shape the sleeves. To make the chambray fabric a bit more robust and reduce wrinkles,  I underlined all the pieces with a white silk jacquard fabric. Another piece from the box of fabrics gifted to me by my aunt.

The fabric for the top was a "remnant" or "by the piece".  I am a sucker for these types of bargains.  Buyer beware. Below is the website description.

When the fabric arrived, the colors coordinated beautifully with my jacket fabric and the silk was a lovely weight. But the new guy must  have been running the printing machine because this is what the print looked like.

The pattern and style of top I had planned to make required two full square scarf panels. Sigh! The project stalled until one day I was  sitting in my car, at a very long red light, with a  bag of "to be donated" sewing patterns on the passenger seat beside me.  I grabbed a few off the top to confirm they were no longer need.  One was Simplicity 2570.


I noticed the top was designed for wovens and had gathering at the center front, sort of like a scarf might be gathered if worn under a jacket.  I decided to play around with the pattern pieces on my weirdly printed fabric.  With some creative pattern layout I was able to get a top I liked.



Simplicity 2570 top in scarf print

Simplicity 2570 top back  in scarf print





Kwik Sew 4223 jacket, Simplicity 2570 top