Simplicity 2508 – Part III

The sleeve ruffles are done – aren’t they adorable? They will be topped by a buttoned tab, one of my favorite details.

The finishing was very easy as they are fully lined. Although I will probably be using an aubergine lining in the coat I used black here since it will likely be seen and I didn’t want it to compete with the rest of my outfit.

I have the next two days off so I should make some really good progress on this.

Simplicity 2508 – Part II

I did manage to get everything cut out last night, woohoo! The pattern calls for several pieces to be cut on the bias (which is very cool if you are working with corduroy) but didn’t work out so great with my velvet. The pieces rippled unattractively so I recut them on the straight of grain. Fusible interfacing would have tamed them but this particular velvet didn’t fuse as nicely as I would have liked. Instead, I fused Armo Weft (I still have several bolts of it!) onto cotton batiste and then attached it to my fabric with little dots of glue stick. Actually, my “cotton batiste” was some old Touch of Gold interfacing that I had lying around. I’ll never use it again so I figured this was a good way to use it up.

I completed all of the little detail pieces: the collar, welts, tabs and back belt. Tomorrow I’ll work on the sleeve ruffle and interfacing the body of the jacket. I love getting all the little bits finished and then, voila!, you have a completed garment.

Last week I finally ordered some of the Japanese basting thread that Claire Shaeffer recommends in her new DVD and it arrived today! I found the best price and lowest shipping charges for this at The Sewing Place.

The YKK Excella zips I ordered from Zipperstop also arrived. These will be going on my black lambskin jacket that I hope to make next month.

That’s it for today. I’m saying a little prayer that the rest of my week is b-o-r-i-n-g so that I can finish this project before the weekend!

Simplicity 4109

Sorry I’ve been absent for so long but life has been so busy the past few weeks! Not only are my classes going very well (yay! and thank you to all of my wonderful students) but I had to cut and sew the upholstery for my son’s new restaurant to boot. His soft opening was on Friday night and I’m so happy with the way the booths and chairs turned out. And, of course, I’m so proud of him to have done so much and not yet even 23 years old.

Now that the dust has settled (only temporarily as I have to decorate for Christmas!) I decided that I needed a quick and easy project before going back to my outerwear jacket. Of course, my project queue is a mile long but this cute little swing jacket from Built by Wendy caught my eye!

I used a hot pink mid-wale cotton corduroy that I bought from Kashi at Metro a few years ago. I interfaced the facings, both collars, pockets and flaps with Pam’s fabulous Pro Sheer Fusible. The pockets are cut on the bias and just wouldn’t behave (they kept twisting) so I had to fuse them. Which reminds me, lately I’ve been reading so much online about not pressing corduroy. Where in the world did that come from? There is no problem pressing (even fusing!) corduroy. I generally press it from the wrong side or steam it and brush it with my hand or a self fabric scrap from the right side. You do not need a Velva or needle board.

Notice that I omitted the 5th button down the front. You really do need that 1.5 space (at least!) between the last button and the hemline. The 5th button just made the jacket look homemade, IMO. And, ahem, please note that the original BBW jacket in the pattern photo only has 4 buttons with the correct amount of spacing at the bottom so I am at a loss as to why Simplicity added another button.

I had overlooked this pattern in the past but it is a real gem. The back neck facing (not shown) is quite large and nicely shaped, the pocket flaps and collar (there is a separate two-piece bias undercollar) are very well shaped and the sleeves go in without a hitch. The pockets are cut on the bias,

as are the sleeves.

Of course, since I am on a mission to bind everything in sight, I bound all of my seams with a 1″ double-fold binder. I wanted some orange (I’m on an orange and hot pink kick) and found this orange/pink/purple Hoffman Bali batik in my stash, yum.

I started with a size 8 and made a 3/4″ full bust, forward shoulder and sway back adjustments. I went back and forth over whether to move the horizontal dart to a vertical dart and the horizontal dart won out because it’s barely noticeable when the jacket is being worn. A vertical dart in corduroy is a bit more fussy since you want to avoid a wiggly line down the front.

Okay, now it’s back to work on the outerwear jacket in between getting my Christmas decorations up and planning my Thanksgiving menu!

Yes, I know this is jacket #11 (woohoo) but I have at least three more jackets that I want to complete before years’ end! And, lucky me, Ann found a chiffon to match the red charmeuse for my Milly blouse so I have to squeeze that in before the big party!