My Chanel Jacket...Part 1

For years ,I've been wanting to make another Chanel type jacket.I made the one below before I learned how to alter patterns for a full bust, and sloping and narrow shoulders which are my fitting issues.

I've always really liked this jacket and have worn it in spite of the way it didn't quite fit. The pattern is S4954 (OOP)



I bought this lovely fabric



from Julie at Timmel Fabrics in Halifax when I attended the Sandra Betzina Workshop and I always planned on using V8043(OOP).



which is a Today's Fit pattern. I got to try on a sample and Sandra determined I was a size B for this jacket. But, since I've already made S4794





and really like it's lines, I decided to use it instead,but this time with alterations.

Here are diagrams of my alterations. The blue broken lines represent the new cutting lines (or the alterations).
The first one shows my Full Bust Adjustment or FBA. I usually add 1" here.



A close-up shows where I narrowed the shoulders by 3/8" from both the center front (CF) and the side front (SF) pieces.



You can also see in this pic how I fix my sloping shoulder problem by starting at the neck at size 12 and sloping down to size 8 by the shoulder.This amounts to 1/2". I then have to lower the armhole by 1/2".



This diagram shows the corresponding changes to the back pattern pieces as well as my sway back fix. For this I just fold out 1/4 to 3/8" above the waistline. This tiny change makes the biggest difference in the way the back of my garments fit!



Finally these are my trims which I plan to use but I don't know in which order yet!.



I'll also chose from these chains to weight the hem of my somewhat-like-a-Chanel jacket.



More later from

This and That

I've been back from Ottawa, aka Nana Heaven, for a few days now.Of course, I can't resist showing you my favorite of the hundred or so pictures I took while I was there.




I don't have a new garment to show you but I have a Chanel type jacket in the works. The pattern is chosen and altered, the jacket is cut out but not the lining, and I'm trying to decide on trims. I'll have more on that in a couple of days.

I just thought I'd tell you about a sewing group I've helped to organize and that I'm mentoring.Our small community is near a large lake ( Grand Lake ) and has a much larger population in summer than the rest of the year.Among the permanent residents is a fairly large group of retired people like myself who have time on their hands. There is a well equipped community hall about a mile from my house and I thought I'd try to persuade people to come and sew with me on Thursday afternoons. We've been getting together for about two months now and I'm very happy with what is transpiring.

There are about 12 regular ladies who are taking advantage of the chance to sew with friends and neighbours and who really seem to appreciate any help that can be given. We will soon be joined by a former Home Economics teacher who will be very welcome to help with instructions or just give a helping hand.

This week we only had five sewers who all wanted to make the cardi that I showed you here. I copied a couple of sizes out of newspaper ahead of time and after measuring everyone, they were ready to go.



So far, many of the ladies have made the Fleece Tied Blanket that I showed here and they were thrilled with their results. They all made Hair towels like this one . That was a popular project.



Some weeks, each member has a project of their own or someone needs help with fitting issues or pattern alterations.

It really makes me happy to see how everyone seems to enjoy these afternoons.
And I have to admit that I love stepping back into my teacher shoes.

I hope you had time to sew this week.

More later from

Dress for Tamara S2247

It's been a long time since I've made DD anything so I guess it was high time. I'm going to Ottawa next week ( I just can't go any longer without hugging Angel Baby Riley) so I thought a garment for Tamara was a good thing.

She mentioned a while ago that she would like a gored dress with a cowl collar. I knew I just had to find a princess style dress and I could use my cowl collar technique with maybe a little tweaking. I found S2247




I used the body of the dress ,rounded the neckline,and drafted a cowl by measuring the neckline.I didn't use the sleeves from this pattern. I have a sleeve pattern that I know DD likes so I used that.

The fabric is a poly/rayon ponti knit. I used a small zigzag stitch for most of the seams with a universal size 12 needle. I machine stitched the hems on the skirt and sleeves after serge finishing.

The only problem that I encountered was the collar which proved to be too thick when I doubled it. After over an hour of taking out the zigzag stitches and twin needle stitches, I recut the collar as a single layer . I finished the seams joining the two parts of the collar with flat felled ( is that the correct term?) seams and the edge of the collar with a quarter inch hem and it looks fine I think.



I used an invisible zipper (for once I found one that matched perfectly) but closed the seam at the top just above the zipper so I wouldn't have to split the collar at the back since there are already two seams on my version of a cowl.The dress still goes on very easily this way.




That's pretty much all there is to say about Tamara's dress so here it is.
.


As for the pattern, it's one of Simplicity's Amazing Fit and I intend to use it for myself. I really like it. There are many opportunities to achieve a really good fit with these patterns!

And here is a photo of Tamara in the dress! It ended up a bit too big through the hip area but otherwise it looks good on her.

Wednesday is my BIG Sewing Day

I've probably mentioned the fact before that Wednesday is my guilt free sewing day and other than a quick tidy up of the house, sewing is all I do on that day.And do you know what else? I have popcorn ( a big bowl of it ) for dinner with a glass of wine. Isn't that decadent?

On Wednesdays, my husband goes to the city to do errands ,groceries,etc and to do chores for his sister who lives alone. So I'm left completely free!

I LOVE retirement!

Yesterday (being Wed.) I started early and using this pattern, McCall's 6164 View A which is the pink one



...and made this.



The fabric is rayon jersey. I usually avoid this knit because it is thin and readily shows all bumps and accentuates the bust too much. I really liked this swirly,tie-dyed print so I decided I would double the body of the top and that's just what I did.

How did I do this?

I should have left the shoulders open as in when lining a vest but I don't like the results of that method on knit fabric so I started out by sewing the shoulder seams of each layer and then joining the two backs and two fronts at the hemline.



As you see in the above illustration,I then joined the side seams of the two layers in one continuous seam.

The next step was to turn the whole thing right side out, and to pin the necklines together and to check that everything was smooth and it was so I took out the pins and from the armholes I reached in and re pinned the neckline from the wrong side.(This was easy to do) and sewed the two tops together at the neckline. After trimming the seam I pressed carefully,pinned the armholes together and top stitched the neckline.

The sleeves were then sewn as usual and serge finished.I ran a row of stitching at the bottom where the hem stitching would usually be. ( I sewed and stretched a little instead of using a twin needle as I didn't have much thread left).

Here is the top from the inside.



The shirring on the sleeves is formed by threading elastic through a casing in the seam allowance.

About my Full Bust Adjustment on this one. I spliced and spread the pattern an inch in the usual place about 4" below the underarm. But instead of adding a dart, I ran a row of stitching for about 4" and pulled in the threads to form a slight gather




I then sewed my side seams with the front down against the feed dogs and this is how it ended up.You can barely see the gathers!



I really love this top. It's fun and rather youthful but I think I'm OK with that.
Maybe my grand-daughter Jessica will like it and I'll make her one.






More picks here.

Hope you're having a nice weekend and that you got some nice relaxing sewing done!

Two Quickies

I'm definitely feeling like my old self again and my sewing mojo is back full force. I decided after working so long on my coat that I would make a couple of easy pieces. I've had this cardi pattern for a while and have been dying to try it.



I also bought this bright and fun argyle knit and I knew I'd have to choose carefully what it would become.



This is what I came up with. I used my favorite sleeveles sweater pattern S3634 for this and just added a cowl collar using the procedure I described here. the only problem is that I forgot to center the darker rows of the argyle but oh well,if I don't point it out to everyone,it might go unnoticed.



I think pairing it with a black topper was a good way to tone the brightness down and I'm happy with the two pieces together.



The cardi is made of black rayon/poly ponti knit. I think the pattern and fabric work well together.The faced front drapes well thanks to the weight of the fabric. I secured the facing by stitching in the ditch at the front and back shoulder/sleeve seams. I used Steam-a-Seam to close the facing along the front.



All hems were machine stitched. I ended up facing the sleeves because I found them too short even for 3/4 sleeves.
I took off about an inch from the back bottom because I found it a little too long. Although the back of this piece is loose ,from the front it looks semi fitted.

I'm very happy with this combo and will likely make it again.






More pics here.

I hope you found time to sew this weekend. Have a great week!

A New Coat....Butterick 5295

This is longest I have ever worked on any one item! A whole month! But you know, I enjoyed the process immensely.

I made View A of Butterick 5295 with a few changes.



I'll show you the finished coat first and then if you're interested in the changes I made ,you might read on.



The fabric is a soft wool/poly blend that looks like mohair. It is fairly light weight . Here are the interfaced pieces.



I also added an interlinig to the upper back for extra warmth.



I used real leather for the buttonholes and the pocket flaps.



For the lining, I used a lovely plaid silky fabric .



Now for the changes.

I had the chance to try this coat on at Fabricville because it was made up as a display by one of the women who works there. I asked if I could try it on and when I did,I loved everything about it except it gaped at the center front bottom. And I know how to fix that problem.I learned it by watching Sandra Betzina on Sew Perfect and I never forgot it. Look here.to see how to do this. Here is a photo of the pattern piece altered.I added 3" of ease.



The next change was to the pockets. I don't care for patch pockets on a coat so I used the welt pocket from B6900 an OOP pattern than I made up a few years ago. I like that this pocket opens from the top of the flap and the lips of the welts were not required.





I ended up taking away from the flare of the coat because I decided it was not flattering because it seemed to flare up starting at the high hip point. So I tapered the side seams from that point and took off 2" by the bottom. It changed the style of the coat quite a bit. This problem may have been a result of the 3" of walking ease which might have been excessive. But all the same, I'm very happy with the results of my coat and the fit is quite good I think.





More pics here.

So I guess I'm back. I'm feeling like my old self again so I'll be posting again soon.
Happy Sewing from

Just Checking In

Well, I am working on my coat but only in small steps and I don't even have the energy to begin writing about it.

I've been visiting my favorite blogs and although I don't leave many comments, i am enjoying seeing what you are up to.

My son sent me this picture of Riley this week and the cuteness of it made my week so I thought I'd share.




Look at those eyes!!!She looks just like her daddy did at 14 months.

Have a great week!

Oh and I just learned how to do this ( sign my name I mean)



Well...I haven't quite figured it out yet.