Vogue 1309 Issey Miyake Tunic

One of the other sewn garments I took to NYC was an Issey Miyake tunic  made from a recently released  Vogue 1309.  I wore it to dinner on Sat night. It is described as a pullover tunic with front and back cut-in-one, no shoulder/side seams, square armholes, left side back zipper, shaped hemline, stitched hem, and unfinished and continuous bias finished edges.

I have been a big fan of Issey Miyake garments and patterns for many years.  They are intriguing in the way they are constructed and the fabrics used  are often quite unique. They are often more works of art than garments. Some are wearable, some are not.  The Vogue patterns allow me to experience the creativity of the design and  construction for myself.  Every time I successfully complete one of the patterns, I marvel at people who can think so "out of the box",  and lament my inability to do so.
I always enjoy the construction/process and  feel these types of patterns force me to use my weaker  creative sewing skills, compared to my fully developed process/ production sewing skills.

The tunic in this pattern is constructed using a huge rectangle, a small rectangle and a square.  The largest rectangle has a slit down the middle of its length which you finish with 1/4 bias binding. It forms the central section of the tunic. The smaller rectangle and square form the underarm section /gusset/ and stays for all the draping. 

Tunic starting point

Recommendations

1. Clearly mark all the dots and their associated letters for your size. My pattern was printed in blue ink rather than the normal black and the letters A-G were teeny and not located right next to the dots as I would have expected. The letter/dot combination is critical to putting this together correctly.  My fabric was busy and textured. I used little pieces of scotch tape with the letters and arrows on them to mark the dots. I peeled the tape off the fabric after sewing the seams.  All seam allowances are ¼ inch, and some are covered with bias binding so my normal marking method,  snips into the seam allowance, was not an option.

Underarm gusset and markings

2. Mark the little squares too; they are for the shoulder shaping. They are really hard to locate on a partially constructed garment, after the pieces are twisted, turned and sewed, Ask me how I know.

3. Read the direction through completely so you understand the whole construction process. Some steps make more sense when you know where you are going with subsequent steps.

I cut the three pieces out of muslin in a roughly 1/5 scale and went through the construction.  Example : Size 14 main rectangle  19.5 x70 in , My sample  4” x 14. It was like making an  Issey for Barbie.  That helped me  a bit.

 I failed to notice that the instructions start with the shaping of the back. I was doing the draping and pinning together on the dress form. I assumed the construction of the garment started with the front. There was a bit of confusion until I read ahead to the end of the instructions and realized you start with the back.  Needless to say, the shaping made a lot more sense when I put the fabric on the dress from correctly.

All seams are ¼ inch. My fabric is a sheer/solid stripe poly in variegated colors that had been permanently pressed with random crinkles. I purchased it at Jo-Ann Fabrics a couple of years ago.  I serged (3 thread) all the edges that were not finished with bias, to prevent raveling. For some of the seams, you are sewing 2 bias bound edges together or an unfinished edge and a bias bound edge. This puts the bulk of the bias trim in the seam allowance. I used a zipper foot so that I could sewon the seam line,  next to the bias bound edges.

I did put in the zipper, but it is hard to see against my fabric. I can pull the tunic over my head easily without unzipping it.

zipper

Front

The garment was too big in the bust area, but I fixed this by doing some creative tucking of my own and taking bigger seams on the side panels. There is a big droop of fabric in the back that I think is unflattering , but for someone with more of a bottom, it would be filled and look great. This is one of those garments that will fit different body types, but may be looser or tighter on one person than another due to the bias draping of the fabric and the wearer's height, and size and location of hips, bust, etc. Ann  has also made this pattern successfully in both a knit and woven and they look great. She is a very different body shape than me and she mentions some issues I did not have. I really enjoyed making this and like the way it turned out.

Vogue 1309 Issey Miyake

Side View

Back view

All Done!

I have finished all my SWAP garments. The last two tops are the Issey Miyake blouse in a lightweight gold red cross woven silk and a Carolina Herrera inspired blouse in the wool poly blend from Timmel Fabrics. The CH blouse did not turn out as light and ethereal looking as the inspiration picture. I used commonly available polyester ribbons for the trim. I suspect CH used lighter weight silk or rayon ribbons in keeping with the weight of the garment fabric. I have rolls of white silk ribbon I could have dyed, but with the time constraints I decided against that approach. I also lined the blouse body with Bemberg rayon so that I didn’t need to worry about the color of the bra I was wearing. I have a penchant for brightly colored undergarments.
I have 11 well fitting, well made, coordinating garments that make a great work wardrobe. I haven’t got a SWAP name yet, but am seriously considering "wonderful work wardrobe" abbreviating it to www. Remember I work in IT. Okay, so IT people can be weird some time. I still have some other garments planned that I may use in the final 11-garment submission. My strategy has been to share my ideas, progress and pictures along the way. The pictures especially provided me with visual feedback on fit and color coordination, and a record of the possible combinations. Other SWAP participants chose different sharing strategies based on their technological restrictions, and I suspect also, their competitive style.
I am glad I finished early. Life is starting to throw distractions at me. Like gorgeous spring weather. It was 70 degrees here yesterday. On a morning yard tour, I found daffodils and miniature iris in full bloom. I bought some seed packets for flowers and herbs recently. I need to get them started. Eldest son announced he is in the school play (the chorus) and needs various costume. And an Easter week vacation on a Caribbean island has caused me to lose interest in winter fabrics and colors. It has also changed the location of my lunch hour from the cafeteria to the company fitness center. I thought about a small vacation SWAP, but really don’t have the time. Though I am using my SWAP planning experience to choose the clothes I will pack for my vacation. Maximizing wardrobe combinations and minimizing suitcase size.

Issey Mistake

After a busy week, I decided to resolve the issue of no fabric for the partially finished SWAP blouse It is Vogue 2761, a 2002 OOP pattern for a loose fitting top with front and back tucks gathered at neck and waist. I hung the sleeves, cut out of the "almost the same color", fabric against the blouse and decided I could not use them. I then dug out every scrap of the original fabric I could find and proceeded to figure out how to piece together 2 sleeves. I think I can get 3/4 length sleeves if I splice some pieces in the under arm area. I feel better now that I have made that decision.
The name of the posting is what my father called the designer when he saw my 65 year old mother, cavorting in the harem pants and tunic top made from Vogue 1328., and threatening to wear the outfit to the grocery store in the small Maryland, eastern shore town where they live. Think watermen and chicken farms. It makes me smile remembering the incident http://new.photos.yahoo.com/aud1ts/album/576460762313744053