Tucked Away

I had a business trip to Chicago  a couple weeks ago,  while the polar vortex was influencing the  weather in that area.  I thought the breezy cool weather with no humidity  was wonderful. The locals were complaining about wearing sweaters in July.  The  weather  cooled my stalled, overheated sewing engine, and I was able to restart it and finish one of the jackets in sewing limbo.

I had  approximately  1  1/3 yard of  60" wide piece of an off white woven with slubbed  navy stripes.  The fabric actually had a bit of stretch to it.  I am not sure where I got it.   It insisted on being a jacket. The pattern is Simplicity 2728, a jacket with many variations.  Though it came out in 2009, there are still reviews popping up on the PR site.

Simplicity 2728

 I made the collarless view with elbow length sleeves.  There was no extra fabric to spare. The back, front and shortened sleeve patterns barely fit on the fabric. The neckline and hem facings are in a contrasting navy fabric.

Barely enough fabric

The jacket is lined in navy Bemberg rayon.  No surprises on this jacket except that I should have checked ease over body measurement before cutting. It is a bit looser in the bust  than I like. Because there are no side seams; the front extends into the side back, it is a bit hard to tweak the fit. 

Close up of jacket fabric



Simplicity 2728 Jacket front

Simplicity 2728 Jacket Back

Simplicity 2728

 I also sewed the blouse worn with the jacket. The fabric is a pink cotton chambray.  I searched my pattern stash for a  blouse pattern with  a collar that could be worn with a V neck jacket.   The pattern I chose was an older Vogue Anne Klein blouse pattern, 2789 - view A with pin tucks in the waist area for shaping and sleeves with tie bands

Vogue 2789

  I love the look of tucks,  but  I had forgotten how much time and effort they require until I had completed about 5 and realized I had 35 more to sew. A pin tuck is basically just topstitching near the fold of a garment. They can be done with a special pin tuck foot and double needles or a regular pressure foot  and single needle. I use a edge stitch foot with a single needle positioned 2.5 to the left of center.

Stitching Tuck with Edge Stitching Foot

Finished Sample Tucks



Vogue 2789 



Tucks take up fabric in the area where they are sewn. Very few patterns with pin tucks tell you how wide they should be. The patterns typically have the marking for the tuck fold line and that is it.    My waist is a bit thicker than the typical pattern waist measurement,  so I was very careful to make small, even tucks.  While I was sewing them, I thought about other garments that I have made with tucks.  I have been sewing since before internet info sources, sew-alongs,  blogs, and even local sewing organizations.  I would tackle project that tested my sewing skills. Some of them were successful and some were learning experiences.  Back in 2002, Vogue 2621 was a learning experience where tucks and lack of fitting expertise (checking my measurements against the pattern) resulted in a UFO (UnFinished Object). 

Vogue 2621

The jacket has tucks along the hem and the sleeves. The skirt has them in the yoke.    I cut the two garments out of treasured eggplant wool crepe, sewed the tucks using a randomly chosen width, and constructed the garment.  I tried them on and they were both too small. I  wondered what became of those garments. On a whim I checked in my UFO closet.   Cue hysterical laughing. OMG! Look what I found.  With two sets of possible buttons pinned to the front shoulder. It is definitely time for a clean out. What is in your closet?

12 year old UFO