a few thoughts on fitting

i had wanted to muslin and tweak and muslin again for my plaid dress, but time slowly got away from me so i had to streamline the process a bit. i had just picked up a copy of the palmer/pletsch "fit for real people" which goes to great lengths showing all sorts of possible fitting problems and how to tweak them out. now, you know when you have a rash or some weird ailment that you are just sure is a sign of something worse? then you google the heck out of it and come up with all sorts of possible deadly diseases and you're convinced that you are officially knocking at death's door? that's kind of what this book does to you. it's a little overwhelming and quite honestly, might be the cause of so many sewists over-fitting.

not to discredit the info, but it can be a bit much. and lest the sewing gods strike me down right here and now, i should clarify: i'm all about making clothes that fit. in fact that's what has fueled my sewing. i know i simply do not fit one size from top to bottom and unless it's good quality RTW (i.e. the kind i can not afford), it's difficult to make your own alterations. if i want a fitted dress, i'm gonna have to make it myself. but, i also need to remember to leave some breathing room and not reject a make simply because maybe i should have done this or that alteration. sometimes good enough really is good enough.

[steps off soapbox]

at any rate, these gals came up with the whole "tissue fitting" idea, so i gave it a half hearted try. i don't have a fitting buddy, and i'm not enrolled in any sewing classes, so an accurate tissue fitting is pretty difficult to do by myself. it did cue me in that perhaps my sleeve fitting problems are simply due to the dreaded "forward shoulder." curse not having good posture all my life! thankfully, this is a super easy adjustment to make, and one i will be making from now on. after tissue fitting and making several flat pattern alterations, i made up an actual muslin. turns out (other than the forward shoulder thing) i made a few too many "fixes," solvable by tracing out a new size. yes, tracing. cuz i do that now.

so, when i declared to all the interwebs that i was going to make a plaid dress and it was going to be awesome, that clearly came from someone who had never in fact done plaid. the envelopes always warn you to buy extra yardage for plaid-matching. did i heed the warning? no. no, i did not. in my defence, it's in tiny print.

i spent a full hour with my fabric on my dining room cutting table puzzling out how to arrange things when i finally traced off an extra copy of each pattern piece so i could arrange and cut the entire thing as one layer. then i went back to the cutting table and spent another two or three hours arranging and matching plaids. i was determined to get this to work! ultimately i found a way with minimal compromise. initially i had the fat black stripe going down CF, but i shifted things slightly and really, it's for the better. this is one of those uneven plaids so it isn't symmetrical anyways. ultimately, that works out in my favor so it's less obvious when something isn't perfect.

to make myself feel better, i kept referring back to some online pics with way less than perfect plaid matching. that they are selling for money. i would never in my life pay for such poor matching! sewing snob? guilty!

see that? one quarter of the fabric is upside down.

things aren't much better here either. look at that skirt! shameful.

[these are from modcloth.com. i seem to have lost the direct link if you're

looking to buy a plaid dress that is poorly constructed.]

but really to top it all off, the twill weave of this fabric caused it to constantly pull off grain. not only were my pieces butted up against each other for cutting, but the whole thing kept shifting. i kept stretching and pulling, then quickly cutting my pieces before it twisted again. all in all, this dress was not the quick make i thought it would be. i had wanted to finish it before thanksgiving, but alas it was not to be. which was okay. i was able to put it aside and come back to it without a deadline. and... it might actually be finished now. and... it might actually be pretty awesome. but more on that later.

—lisa g.

mccalls 6388

i've been needing to add a few pieces to my oldest daughter's wardrobe. whenever i bring home/receive in the mail new fabrics, the first thing out of my kids' mouths is: "is it for me???" the answer is usually no, so i have to appease my conscience by occasionaly making stuff for the ones who are constantly outgrowing their clothes. since anastasia is the first of three girls, she gets all the love (much to the chagrin of her younger sisters). once she outgrows the "mommy-mades" at least there are two standing in the wings to be the next recipient. the baby brother sometimes gets new makes, but since he's the only boy i have a hard time bringing myself to make clothes that will only get a few month's wear.

anastasia already has loads of knit tops (of the old navy and target variety) so i picked up mccalls 6388 to make her something in a woven. i found this bright fabric on the clearance table at joanns for $1.50. stupid cheap! it's from their "homespun" whatever line that hides out in the quilting section. maybe people quilt with this stuff, but all i see are visions of cute dresses and button down tops.

the only design changes i made were to the sleeves. the pattern has a short sleeve with a gathered piece attached to make it long sleeve. i guess that's cool, but given the bright rainbow-yness of the fabric, i decided to err on the side of not looking like a clown and simplified it. i adjusted the sleeve to be one piece, gathered at the cuff with elastic in a self fabric casing, and shortened to a 3/4 length (she adores the 3/4 sleeve).

other cosmetic changes... i used snaps in place of buttons and cut the yoke portion on the bias for contrast (interfaced to retain shape). the inside yoke/facing i cut on the straight of grain since i didn't need any stretching to happen. she loves this top and the roomy fit will make it so she doesn't outgrow it in two weeks. i'm sure her next-in-line sister will have to pry it from her hands when the time comes.

wishing my fellow usa people a wonderful thanksgiving! try not to get trampled on black friday, okay?

—lisa g.

what i'm working on now...

kind of had to take a breather after finishing my coat. that was intense! of course by "breather" i mean make a few simple things that don't require much thought. i'll get to those soon, but i'm just too excited about my next project and wanted to share.

i love plaid. maybe it's my growing up in the grunge 90s that has solidified my love of all things plaid. i lived in oversized flannel button-downs (though why i ever thought XXL was "my size" will forever remain a mystery). that said, i've wanted a plaid flannel dress for as long as i can remember. since i haven't done much winter sewing ever... now is the time! 

if you go to the source, check out the neckline treatment. it looks
like exposed bias binding with the raw edge left to fray slightly.
i have to steal that idea.
[source]

i did some online browsing and found this cute dress from j.crew. lo and behold i happen to have a nearly identical pattern in my stash (minus the weird dart at center front. who wants a CF dart?). i love the shape; it's classic, modern, and versatile. and as it so happens, my birthday is *ahem* soon and what did i find in my mailbox, but a gift certificate to buy fabric! ah, my family knows me too well.

hopefully this will be my holiday dress for the season. not that i have many holiday occasions (and none of them are fancy, hence the plaid flannel). but, well... do i really need an excuse? i thought not! i've also had that nagging in the back of my head about making a well-fitted sloper from which i can devise a myriad of patterns. again, now is the time! i am even choosing to do this dress with a 3/4 length sleeve. i realize that sleeve fitting may do me in, and there is a good chance i'll ultimately abandon the notion of having sleeves, but gosh darn it i'm gonna try. the only other sleeved dress i've made for myself was my colette macaron and, admittedly, the sleeves don't fit. i can barely raise my arms in that dress. harrumph. 

mccalls 5927 has mixed reviews over on pattern review, but that doesn't really deter me. i plan to muslin it and hopefully walk away with something that fits. it's a single dart bodice with a high neckline and sleeve; which should make this pattern an ideal starting point. as a bonus, this pattern is already drafted for different cup sizes. score! fitting the bodice shouldn't be too challenging. the sleeves... well let's hope i can get that to work out. i'm super set on having a dress with sleeves.

any brilliant thoughts on sleeve fitting in a woven?

any holiday sewing plans for yourself or others? thanksgiving is only two weeks away!

—lisa g.

project winter coat: finished it!

holy smokes! i made a coat! a real coat that looks... real!

woooooo!!!!!!

way back when i started planning out this coat, the style, fabric choices, etc... my oldest daughter (8 yrs old) was nosing over my shoulder and said: "what, are you making a sherlock holmes coat?" huh? no. well... oh... hmmm. see, i kind of became obsessed with all the sherlock holmes novels and stories this year along with the fabulous bbc tv show "sherlock" (seriously the best show ever. ever.). in the show, his classic trench coat is almost a character in and of itself, and i noticed that it has red buttonholes. which got me to thinking that i, therefore, needed pink buttonholes on my coat.

so i finished this little beauty off with some fancy hand worked buttonholes. i won't go into detail about them as i am by no means an expert. i don't have a keyhole button feature on my machine so i had to go with either bound or handworked. and since i wanted bright pink thread... handworked it had to be.

oh how naive i was. not only was it a challenge just to locate the right supplies, my research indicated that handworked buttonholes are a tailoring specialty. and having  done a few, i can see why.

so i practiced and practiced and practiced my stitches. the thing is, using a contrasting thread color, every imperfection is highly visible. so as much as i just wanted to jump right in, i kept practicing until i had something passable. i have to say, i've kind of fallen in love with making them. so much so, that i didn't stop at the three buttonholes the pattern calls for, but added a lapel buttonhole and functioning buttonholes on the back tie.

while they are faaaaar from perfect, i love them. and i plan to order that giant spool of gimp so i can keep practicing, because there will be more of these in my future.

the only other detail i haven't shown here is my interior pocket. i had planned to show you how i made it and such, but i so badly botched the construction that i'm just happy it both functions and isn't terribly unsightly. seriously, i've made so many welt pockets over the years, why i screwed this one up so badly i will never know.

but, there you have it. you've seen every inch of this coat, inside and out, and i hope my extensive posting has been helpful. now i am soooo ready to make something quick and easy!

oh yeah, and i love it!!!

—lisa g.

project winter coat: bagging the lining

it's time to talk lining. there are about as many ways to finish a coat lining as there are people lining coats. and, until you've done one yourself, it's just hard to visualize what the heck they're all talking about! what i'm showing here is a super easy, no-hand-stitching-required way.

but before i get to that... a long time ago i mentioned that i planned to interline my coat for warmth. i hemmed and hawed over how best to add that extra layer. initially, i had planned on constructing a flannel layer of the back and side front pieces then catch stitch it to the coat at the neckline and down the princess seam of the front. i was undecided on whether or not to do the sleeves, so i kept mulling it all over and did some online research. there isn't a whole heck of a lot of info on this topic, but most everything i found suggested underlining the lining fabric and finishing construction like that. initially i didn't like this idea, but ended up coming back to it and that is what i did.

everything was fine and dandy until i needed to do the bagging, and turning the coat and all the little interior finishings. since the inside of the lining was flannel instead of slippery, this all became quite difficult and i ended up doing a lot of hand stitching that otherwise would have been done by machine. if i were to do it all over again, i would definitely choose a different method. that said, my hand stitching was still minimal.

at any rate, while discussing this with my sister, monica, who is sewing up a different version of the same pattern, i suggested she try catch stitching flannel to the inside of the shell, so i'm sharing pics of her interlining.

here's a sneaky peek at her coat... so cute!


okay. so, assuming that you are going the "no hand stitching" route, when you construct your lining, leave an opening in one of the sleeves. you will need to allow 8"-10", because you will ended up pulling the hem of the coat out through this opening. i'll get to that in a bit. if you haven't attached the lining to the facing, now is the time.

your sleeve lining should be about 1" shorter than the shell (and the same at the coat hem). with your shell and lining together, make sure the seam(s) in your sleeves are lined up, turn them in toward each other then reach up through the hem of the coat in between shell and lining, and with your other hand grab that little part you had pinched and pull the sleeves out.

both the shell and lining of the sleeve will be inside out. if you haven't done this before, it will feel weird, but it works. just trust me. so pin all around the sleeve openings and stitch them together.

then stick your hand in the sleeve from the shell side and pull the sleeve out and adjust the hem so it is even and laying properly. repeat with the other sleeve. if you need to, take a few stitches and tack the turned sleeve hem at the seam allowance(s).

now turn the coat and lining inside out, and stitch the bottom edge of the facing. when you get to the point where the facing meets the lining, pull the lining down and stitch diagonally, then continue stitching the bottom edge of the coat.

repeat with the other side leaving 8"-10" open. check out sherry's post on this step HERE, she illustrates it better than i do. turn the coat right side out through the hem opening. now, to close the hem by machine, reach down through that opening in the sleeve, grab the hem and carefully pull it out through the sleeve just enough to finish stitching the hem. 

if you think you have too much bulk to do this, just slip stitch the gap in the lining at the hem. give the hem a good hard press making sure the hem is even and everything is laying as it should. but do take care not to let the iron rest over the plastic head of a pin...

guess who'll be buying some glass head pins? that'd be me. lucky this didn't melt on to my coat. eeps!

sherry has great tips about sewing the seam allowance on the inside of the coat to keep the hem laying properly (same link as before). if you can't do it as she instructs, just tack the hem at the seam allowances to make sure the hem stays crisp and in place. then remember that opening in the sleeve lining? just pull it out, pinch it together and edge stitch it. since it's tucked inside the sleeve, it will never be seen! so clever!

after all that, i finished off my coat with some top stitching, removed the basting stitches, and finally made my handworked buttonholes. actually, i just finished sewing on the last button this morning. so excited to show it off!

—lisa g.

project winter coat: the collar and facing

now we're ready to sew on the under collar to the shell. this can be a little tricky, and honestly i don't have too many words of wisdom here other than TAKE YOUR TIME. this isn't one of those "i just want to finish one more step before i stop" bits. if you rush through it, you will most likely be disappointed.

this the the under collar piece with  an extra layer of fusible to
serve as a collar stand. this supports the collar and helps it fall properly.

now, some jackets have a neck seam that is curved all the way around and some are squared off and have a pivot point. either is tricky, but i tend to prefer the type with a pivot point because you can stop and evaluate your work before getting the whole thing in. for the type that curves, just remember that you are lining up the seam line not the edge of the pattern pieces. how ever your pattern is drafted, you will need to stay stitch the neck at the seam line and clip in a few places to make all of this easier. if in doubt, hand baste first to check your work! i don't really have pics of all this because you wouldn't really be able to tell what i was doing anyhow, but here is sherry's post with really nice pictures! when you have the collar on, press the seam allowance open. if it doesn't lay perfectly flat, clip where necessary.

now that your shell is complete, you can assemble your facings and/or lining. if your pattern has a back neck facing, sew your facing pieces together at the shoulder seams and attach the upper collar. if there is no back neck facing piece, you will need to assemble your whole lining, front facing pieces and then attach the upper collar. if your pattern doesn't have a back neck facing and you want one, see how to draft one here.

now, i'm not doing much hand sewing for this coat, but i found it really helpful to catch stitch the seam allowance on the collar side up. doing so is optional, but it keeps this seam out of the way nicely.

okay, now things start to get serious. pin the collar pieces together around the outer edge. your pattern should have some turn of cloth allowance so the upper collar will be slightly larger, and need to be eased onto, the under collar piece. the easiest thing to do is let your sewing machine feed dogs do the work by sewing with the piece that needs easing on the bottom. where you begin and end sewing around the collar, make sure you turn up the seam allowance. most likely your pattern is marked with a dot here, this is the notch in the collar. by the way, if you have a shawl collar, obviously this won't apply and your collar and lapel will be all once piece.

once the collar is sewn, next you sew the lapel. beginning at the notch (again, your pattern should be marked with a dot here) and making sure not to catch the collar pieces, begin sewing and sew all the way down the front edge. repeat on the other side. there should also be some easing of the facing onto the shell, just let the machine do this work for you.

now you'll need to trim, clip and grade all the way around the collar and facing. i ended up trimming down the corners to about 1/8", but leaving the straight bits as you see below.

once the collar and lapel is sewn, pressed and under stitched where necessary, reach up and grab the seam allowance under the collar around the neck edge and stitch them together as close to the seam line as possible making sure all your points are matched. this will anchor the collar in place and keep the shell and facings from shifting.

i first line up and pin on the seam...

...then flip up the facing, grab the SA and stitch

lastly, i basted the entire collar, lapel and front edge so i could give it a good hard press. if you do this, make sure you roll the seam allowances under around the collar and lapel, then toward the inside from the break point down.

things are looking good now! so close to finishing...

—lisa g.

project winter coat: custom shoulder pads

i'm not much of a shoulder pad person, but i do know that a tailored coat needs some oomph to maintain the structured shoulder you've worked so hard to achieve. i never could remember to hunt down  shoulder pads when i was at the fabric store or shopping online, so i decided to make my own. i loosely followed instructions i found in singer's "the complete photo guide to sewing" (good book, by the way. i found a copy at the library and it seems really useful!). they call for batting, but i just used more of the polar fleece i have lying around. if you use fleece, it won't be quite as structured as the stiffer batting, so just keep that in mind when you select materials.

to start, take your front and back pattern pieces and line them up at the shoulder's seam allowance. tape it together then place tracing paper on top. trace the armhole between the ease points and mark the shoulder seam. make sure to label which side is the front and which side is the back, as they are not symmetrical. then just draw a curved line up to about 1" from the neck seam.

determine how many layers of fleece/batting you need. for me, three layers gave me 3/8" which is a hair thicker than the 1/4" called for in the pattern. since fleece is more squishable than batting, it will work out perfectly.

cut each layer to be about 3/4" smaller than the one before it. make sure your shoulder seam is marked on each piece so you can line them up easily. now, curving them in your hand, make a running stitch along the straight edge to keep it all together. don't bother with knotting your threads, just take a back stitch at either end.

once you have done this, make radial stitches throughout the shoulder pad starting from the center and shaping it as you go. once you're done, your pad should hold a curve on it's own.

now cut two pieces of muslin and pin it together around the shoulder pad and trim the excess from the bottom layer so it is even. then serge or zig-zag around the rounded edge (careful to maintain the curved shape) to close it up.

on the straight edge, just whip stitch the muslin to the next layer of fleece/batting to keep it all together without squishing it down.

and there you have it... custom shoulder pads!

—lisa g.