Monday, September 07, 2009

A new project


School has kept me so busy that I haven't had time to do much of anything else! I'm behind on email, blog reading, and definitely blog writing! Not that there has been much to write about - I certainly have not been doing much sewing. I did, however, finish a top this weekend and start on another new project.

This top at the right is New Look 6807. It is supposed to be a 2 hour top, but it took me way longer. Especially since after I finished it I couldn't stand how big it was in the back, so I had to undo the tie opening in the back, cut part of that out, and make the CB seam much larger in order to keep the top from falling off. I'm pretty happy with it now, so if I make it again, I will be taking almost 2" out of the back on this one!

Even though it is still in the high 90s here with the occassional 100+, I'm kind of getting in the mood for some fall sewing. Today I decided to start on a jacket that I wanted to make LAST fall! It is Vogue 8522 and I am making the one shown in gold.











I got this really interesting fabric last year, but today as I was looking at it, I realize that it is just to flimsy to make this jacket. I decided to underline it with silk organza to give it a little more body. I want it to be lightweight, but I also want it to hold its shape.

So, basically, I had to cut this out 3 times - once in the fashion fabric, once in the silk organza, and once in the lining. All three of these fabrics are very "shifty" and difficult to lay out and cut. I might have been able to stack the fabrics and cut all three at once, but I was having a hard enough time as it was keeping the fabrics from moving and distorting out of shape.

After cutting out the pieces, I sewed the underlining to the fashion fabric. Since both layers were so fluid, I had to be really careful not to have them shift around when sewing. As you can see below, first I laid both layers on top of the pattern piece, then I sewed them together. Next, I laid the pattern piece on top of the fabric pieces again, and cut to even them up. So, basically, that is all I got done today on this jacket. A lot of pinning, cutting, and sewing layers together. I did also get the lining cut out, so I think I am ready to go. Hopefully I'll have some time to sew this week in the evenings. DH is out of town for the week, so that does give me a little more time to sew!


As you can see in this picture, I stitched down the center of the darts on the underlining. this helps the layers stay together when you are sewing the darts and really helps get a neater result.
This is laying out the layers on top of the pattern piece.

Here, the layers are already sewn together and the pattern piece is placed on top to trim the excess.


I hope it will not be another 2 weeks until my next blog post!

9 comments:

Gail said...

I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product. The outer fabric is very interesting in its colours and texture. I reckon you may be on a winner.

gwensews said...

Nice top. I love the fabric for your jacket. Have fun sewing that.

Carolyn (Diary of a Sewing Fanatic) said...

Glad you got some time in your sewing room and your jacket components look very interesting. Hopefully things will settle down with school soon and you will get some more time in your sewing room!

Summerset said...

The top is cute and probably nice to wear in your weather. Good luck on school - those first few weeks are always a bit crazy.

Donna W said...

Beautiful fabric! Please be sure and post a pic of the jacket when you have it finished.

Maureen said...

"I hope it will not be another 2 weeks until my next blog post!"

Us too!

Mariela Alethia said...

Sewing the middle of the dart down to keep the underlining from shifting was a great idea. The outer fabric is interesting.

KID, MD said...

Thanks for the underlining tip! I'm about to embark on my first attempt at underlining (if I EVER finish my current project!), and that is very useful.

designdreamer said...

Oooooooo!
That fabric is very pretty!
Can't wait to see the finished jacket, speaking of which . . . . I LOVE that pattern. JoAnns' had Vogue patterns on sale thru today - durn the luck! If only I'd read your blog a little earlier! Oh, and on those "shifty" fabrics, have you ever tried using spray starch? I learned this tip a few years back when I commented that I wasn't looking forward to cutting out the chiffon fabric for my dd's prom dress. It really, really helps! don't wash it out until you're done sewing. Helps with the "shifty" sewing problem as well.