Another new Coat/Jacket...Vogue 1060 #2

If you've been following my blog from the start (since July 2008!!) you might remember this coat made from V1060 (Today's Fit by Sandra Betzina..



Well I liked this coat but was disappointed that it was just too tight. When I compared my measurements with the Today's Fit chart, I was well within the size C
range as I had been when Sandra herself measured me in Aug. 2006.And although I almost always add one inch at the side seams for insurance,this time I forgot. To be honest I've worn this one very little.

I've had this piece of really stretchy and soft two sided denim that I bought from Julie at Timmel Fabric ( I miss you Julie),since 2006 and suddenly it told me it wanted to become Vogue 1060!I don't know why it didn't tell me this before because IMO, the pattern and fabric turned out to be a perfect match.

First thing was to alter the pattern. I had no idea how to do an FBA on a dolman sleeved garment so I winged it .This is what I did.



It worked fine except that I over did it a bit and could have used less space in the bust area. Live and learn.

I decided to cut the shoulder and neck area in Size C but the chest and hip area in a size D with an extra half inch fit assurance and that worked very well.
I also had to cut the coat about 4" shorter than the pattern because I just didn't have enough fabric.

After sewing in the darts I found the the waistline was too low so I simply raised them a bit (I didn't have to unsew them for this,but just reshaped them and they ended up a little longer but that didn't affect the look of the coat.)


I omitted the front and collar facing as I wanted to show the other side of the denim.I serge finished the edges and then top stitched them into place.



This is how I dealt with the collar.



I used the rust side for the cuffs. ( I know I didn't match the stripes but I just didn't have enough fabric)



I omitted the tie belt and added machine stitched buttonholes. First I sewed oval cuts of interfaced fabric to the wrong side and top stitched them in place. Oh yes and I used rust thread in the bobbin so it would show on the right side at the pockets, hem,the center back ,top of sleeves and around the buttonholes.



I chose buttons from my stash that had large holes. They were big enough to accommodate suede lace also from my stash and this is what I came up with. I think it makes for interesting closures don't you?.





So here is the finished product.




I really like this one and have a feeling it's going to get a lot of wear for a long time to come
.


More pics here.

I hope you've found time to sew this week.Next up for me is a cardi set made out of this yummy Messoni knit bought at C&M Textiles in Ottawa last year.

Catching Up

I don't know about you but I'm glad Christmas is over. Even though I love the Holidays, let's face it. They are hectic and a lot of work. I love all the preparations ,the decorating, the sewing of gifts and the shopping (notice I didn't say the cooking because I'm one of those lucky women whose husband loves to cook) . But enough is enough! I'm ready to get back to normal.

I just wanted to announce a few things that are new in my life.

First of all, I have a new grand-daughter, born on Nov.21st.Here she is ,Riley Grace, with her handsome father,my youngest child Jeff!

!

I haven't seen her yet because she lives in Ottawa and I don't travel at this time of year.I'll be going in March. But many photos have found their way to my computer!

Next is that I decided to stop working at Fabricville. Ann, I'm so glad you came in the last day I was there. We had a great chat (and your son is very handsome too!)
My body has been protesting rather loudly about all the abuse I was putting it through at my beloved Fabricville.I enjoyed my six years there immensely and made many wonderful friends .I'll visit often for sure.

Also,I have a new sewing machine! I had to give up on my Kenmore 19606. It was a real lemon. In five years, it was away for repairs for a total of 42 weeks!! Finally, Sears offered me a "buy-out" so I decided to buy this beauty,



I haven't learned to use the embroidery component yet, but I'll be having lessons soon and am looking forward to at least creating my own sewing labels for a start.

Last but not least, just before Christmas, my husband was in an accident. He hit a piece of black ice on a sharp turn and lost control, He hit a culvert. The truck rolled over once and then landed on the passenger side. Because he was wearing a seat belt ,my sweet man came out without a scratch , just a slightly stiff neck. I was on my way home from work and came upon the scene. It was a real shock to see the truck being pulled out of the ditch by a tow-truck. Here is one photo of the wreck.



Needless to say, our whole family feels very grateful that our Bobby was spared. I can't help smiling every time I look at him. Life is SWEET!

Now on to sewing stuff. I'm just going to show you the jacket I made in November as part of my What Goes With Brown collection



The pattern is Vogue1100

I added about 4" to the length and an inch to the side seams to make it roomy enough for a winter jacket.

The fabric is a wool/rayon/polyester blend. I lined it with a printed "designer" polyester lining. I didn't add an under-lining as I had planned because I wanted to wear it in late fall and early spring. It's quite warm enough to wear now with a sweater under it.

I love the retro look of the 3/4 sleeves that is so popular at the moment. I added an inch to the sleeve length as well as the the cuff length. I can wear the sleeves with the cuff turned up or down with my long leather gloves I bought in Montreal.



I made bound buttonholes with a faux suede and used big buttons because I love big buttons.I also trimmed the welt pocket flap with the faux suede.





To complete the look ,I made a cool scarf with the animal print knit I showed in another post.

I'm loving this jacket and have worn it many times already.
Voila! What do you think?





For more pics, look here.

Have a great and Happy New Year each of you who so kindly visit my blog. It feels good to be back and I'm looking forward to another year of sewing and blogging now that I'm retired for the second time.

Hope you find time to sew!

Sewing for my Lifestyle

Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Canadians! Are you stuffed, tired and happy? Hope so.My Dh and I got up early and prepared our turkey and all the fixings so we could enjoy our family which includes our little cutie pie Sadie who is almost 14 months old. I can't resist showing a picture.



I'm almost too tired to blog but if I don't post this tonight ,I won't get another chance as we are leaving for Montreal on Thurs. and I'm then taking the train to Ottawa . I want to be in town for the baby shower my daughter and Co. are having for my daughter-in-law. My new grand-daughter is to be born in mid Nov.
I have a lot of baby stuff to make before Thurs. because as is my habit,I've procrastinated and waited for the last minute to make crib sheets, bibs, receiving blankets and even a quilt (sort of).

So here is what I have to show you tonight.





The fabric is a light chocolate brown sports weight stretch cotton that looks just like denim.The pattern for the jacket is this OOP Vogue Designer one that I've wanted to make for years.



This wasn't my first choice ,however. I had my heart set on making this OOP jacket, but horrors! there was a crucial piece missing.It probably found its way into another pattern envelope when I was cutting out more than one but since that was a long time ago, I couldn't come up with a solution so I had to settle for a different pattern.

I think the jacket is as cute as can be (and look at all that top-stitching which as you know I love to do) but I would have preferred it longer. I added a couple of inches at the bottom but I didn't want to mess with the style too much and it had no allowance for adding length in the body of the jacket.







I was having a hard time finding the right buttons (for the other style ) so the zipper closure on this one solved that problem
.



For the pants, I used the S.Betzina jeans pattern I used for my Swap, but I wish I had chosen to make a simpler style as there's an awful lot going on right at the stomach which we older women just don't need.But the fit is good and they went together really well.



I trimmed the back pockets with a design to mimic the trim of the jacket.



When I close the jacket, the wide band acts as a girdle and feels good,



but I prefer the opened look.



All in all, I like my new sportswear suit.It will be a great outfit to take with me to Montreal and Ottawa.Now if only I had a medium weight jacket to go with it.Mmmmmm!

More pics here.

Vogue 8605 for a Store Display

It's that time of year again when the staff at Fabricville is encouraged to sew garments or crafts out of the new fabrics coming in daily to be used as displays for the various fabric collections.
The deal is that we get all fabrics and notions including patterns,for a particular project at no charge.We must leave the item on display for about three months .After that we get to take it home.


Vogue 8605 caught my eye right away when I first saw it on someone's blog ( maybe Carolyn's?) It's that type of pattern that I know would be more suitable for that tall willowy model-like creature who is wearing it in Vogue patterns catalogue.You've heard me go on and on about that before.Well,since this jacket isn't going to cost me one cent and I get to add the pattern to my collection and I really like the skirt and pants in this one,I decided why not!





I used a wool /acrylic sweater knit that I feel was very suitable for the style .A light wool double knit was recommended and this knit would be very much similar in weight .It's a hazy floral with navy and other blues as well as a couple of shades of green.Because the wrong side of the fabric shows at he collar,I decided to use a navy knit facing and I'm not sure it works. I may decide to take it out and just let the wrong side show when I get this home in late fall.




When I chose this pattern I thought it would be a quick project but not so.First up, I hand-basted all the markings ( pockets,tabs,etc).Then the fabric insisted on curling at every edge so I ended up turning the seam allowances over a scant quarter of an inch and stitching them down.After joining seams I then top-stitched them on each side of the seam .This took a considerable length of time.What with having to figure out how to add a facing and working it in into the style of the piece,I worked 11 hours on this little beast.



I really enjoyed making this garment though. It was fun!I love trying different things.The only change I made,besides adding the front facing, was to make the buttonhole in the "band" rather than in the spot indicated by the pattern because I just didn't like the effect of having a buttonhole so far from the edge of the jacket.

Do I like this rather boxy and floppy cardigan-like jacket? Yes I do. I think it's cute and will be fun to wear with jeans. It would look great with a longer pencil skirt like the one in the pattern but to be realistic,for me ,it will be a casual piece. And if I change my mind and decide it's too baggy ,I'll at least wear it as a wrap while I'm on the computer in the winter on those cold days.

It has been so terribly hot and humid for the past ten days here that I just couldn't persuade myself to try the jacket with a turtleneck and the appropriate pants for a photo. Instead, I waited to get a couple taken at work. The setting on my camera wasn't right but these pictures will give you an idea of how it looks on .




Look here if you want to see more V8605.

Hope you got the chance to sew this past week.If not, maybe you will this week.

One UFO Finished...Adri V2976

Just a quick post on this one.A couple of years ago, I bought this black and white herringbone (yes, herringbone again) linen and I made culottes. They didn't fit well and I just cast them aside and decided to make the jacket from this pattern:



Well, I started it but it was late August and I decided to leave it for spring (2008). Here it is spring 2009 and I decided it had to be done before I can go on to a new project. My new thing is to alternate one new garment with a UFO. So this is what Adri 2976 looks like.
The culottes have now morphed into wide legged cropped pants, by the way.






The fit isn't great (the jacket is snug across the bust ) and if my daughter likes it , she can have it. But,Tamara be forewarned that this is linen and although I washed and dried the fabric three times in hot water and hot dryer respectively a la Sandra Betzina, it is still quite wrinkly.



More pics here.

Adri Times Two

Does anyone else have this pattern?

I made this jacket last spring as a store display. I made it out of metallic linen and I loved it.



It is a great pattern for top-stitching and as you know, I love to top-stitch!



I also made the tank but out of a light cotton.



The pants are made from linen , They're cropped and I used an old favorite TNT.



Of course being linen, the outfit is very wrinkly but I love it anyway!



Now back to the present.The minute I had finished my Swap, I cut out and made this version of the same Adri jacket.




The fabric is a two-sided denim so what could be better? The collar and lapels have
only one layer and you turn the seam allowances to the outside. I used two spools of polyester thread for the top-stitching. I threaded one of my extra machines with the green thread and that made it very convenient.
Also, I wanted buttonholes instead of the loops, so I added an inch to both. front pieces at the centre line.

For the pants, I used this Pattern.

I had used this pattern for my grey Swap jeans and I knew they were a little big. I used View B and since I thought this style could stand to be a little roomier, I just cut the size C with no alterations and they fit perfectly!.



The back pockets were another Top-stitching Opp.The colour in this photo is terrible though.



I used the contrast side for the sides and the label is to cover up an"oops".



This is the kind of outfit that I love to wear and that will fit very well into my lifestyle.My husband and I are going to Vancouver next week and I'll be taking this with me.




More photos here.

Now on to a UFO, another Adri Pattern.

Swap #5 Vogue 8497

I've had this pattern and have been wanting to try it since last summer.This week I planned to make my daughter a surprise Valentine dress. I am working on it but I got side tracked when I realized I had a lot of the red fabric left.

Well, my lucky daughter is in Las Vegas right now, and there's still plenty of time to finish her dress .Once I got the idea about this top ,I couldn't stop.I think this pattern just begs you to interpret it in your own original way. This is what I came up with.



The fabric is a wool double knit -like polyester and it was a dream to work with. The trim is a cotton/lycra blend. Since both fabrics were prewashed, I hope the different fibres won't be a problem when I wash the top.

I cut the black polka dot fabric on the bias in order to make the best use of the dots. I simply zigzagged the edges with red thread and sewed the trim to the unfinished edges of the garment again with a zigzag stitch. Then, I trimmed both very close to the stitching.
As you can see on the photos, the trim is used on both the front, back, and sleeves.





And then, I couldn't leave well enough alone, so I made this corny flower which probably makes the top scream HOMEMADE.I have a few pics on flickr to show how I made the flower. My photos of the steps for the trim were fuzzy for some reason so i dudn't post a lot of them






This top will work well with my black and grey bottoms of my Swap.
For more pics, look here.