Little French Jacket : Update #7

Just a quick update on my Little French Jacket project...

I started trimming my seam allowances and readying the lining for a lapped fell stitched seam.

I started on one front seam and worked my way toward the back but I decided to make a change on my second seam (the side seam)... to press the lining seams open and slip stitch closed rather than lapped and fell-stitched. Claire Shaeffer goes over both methods in her book, but doesn't really elaborate on why one might be preferable over another. I decided to make the switch because my boucle and my lining are rather light and the triple layer of lining on the lapped seam was quite visible and I didn't like it. It looked a bit unbalanced. After doing two seams open I unpicked the first seam and redid it. The show through is much less and more balanced in appearance. 

The open seams are accomplished by first pinning the seams together and pressing (above, top) and then basting with a quick running stitch on each side. After basting I can then slip stitch without concern for shifting the layers of fabric (above, bottom). 

I've finished the first half of the jacket and I have the next seam trimmed and pinned. I hope to finish up with all the vertical seams over the New Year so I can move on to preparing the sleeves. 

If I have one resolution for 2014 it is to finish this jacket by my 1 year anniversary (and to finish my thank you notes and photo album). 

PS... I REALLY HATE the new Flicker photo sharing code. 

"Chanel-inspired" French Jacket Revisited (Part 5) - Sleeve Pattern Woes

Soooooo.... Busy busy busy here, but obsessing again about my "Chanel" French Jacket project that has recently come out of hibernation. I figure if I can make a wedding dress there is no reason I can't finish this jacket.

Just to recap, I am using Vogue pattern V7975. I have recently decided to make a new muslin because it's been a while since I started the project and I still have some lingering doubts about the fit and size. So far I have only cut out and quilted the individual body pieces.  Having cut a large 2" margin around my pieces I have plenty of wiggle room to adjust for fit and size. 

One reason why I pressed pause on this project was because I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do about the sleeves as the pattern is a two piece and the classic french jacket is known for that 3 piece. I am not satisfied with the prospect of simply splitting the tops sleeve as this will not create the nicely balanced 3 piece pattern that I have seen on other blogs taken from another OOP pattern. It also wouldn’t look like the sleeve diagram proffered by Claire Schaeffer in her Couture Sewing book. I tried substituting the sleeve from Claire Schaeffer’s recent vogue pattern but it is not a good match. I’m waiting with anticipation for Susan Khalje’s new pattern/book and I plan to acquire Claire Schaeffer’s new book soon as well. I would really like to get the question of 2 piece vs 3 piece settled soon!

Another reason my jacket project skidded to a halt (other than The Dress project and my sleeve indecision) was because last fall I took a jacket and coat pattern drafting course at FIT and I think my brain exploded a little. I realized that substituting sleeves was not a wise choice without a little know-how and I knew my jacket project need to hang out while I processed my new knowledge. In class, I learned that sleeves are best drafted to fit the jacket body. The shape of the base of the armhole must match the shape of the base of the armscye and the proportion of the armscye is essential to creating a beautiful sleeve cap. If it doesn’t, there will most certainly be drag lines. Additionally, the amount of ease in the sleeve seams needs to be precise so that the sleeve will tilt forward and turn inward without any drag lines or collapsing. Drafting a good sleeve is a special skill, to say the very least.

This brings me back the V7975. The sleeve that comes with this pattern has a few identifiable problems. It is quite possible that most people haven’t run into any issues because they are ignoring the cutting lines altogether and carefully fitting and hand sewing their sleeves with excess seam allowance, or perhaps replacing it with a coincidentally better drafted sleeve. However, it’s been bugging me that there is no documentation about this online, so I felt the need to point it out incase anyone else takes issue with the sleeve pattern or doesn’t go the full couture method.

Vogue 7975 - via voguepatterns.com

Problem #1: The front seam doesn’t have a step. Both seams should have that step because it is the step and not the tiny dots that allow the sewer to correctly line up the seams. This may not be a problem for the couture enthusiast who is ignoring the cutting lines in favor of hand basting the sleeve carefully, but it aggravates me on a technical level.... production patterns have steps on both seams!

V7975 front sleeve seam - no step!

Problem #2:  If the front seam did have a step, the top sleeve would definitely twist and have drag lines at the back seam because the top sleeve step in the back seam doesn’t match the under-sleeve. If you match the steps (edit: and the tiny dots) and sew from the top down your sleeve is going to look like crap. Promise. Try walking the back sleeve seam up starting from the top notches and you will see what I mean. I believe that the double notches and the under-sleeve step are correct, and the step (edit: and the tiny dots) on the top sleeve should be raised to match. This will correct the wonky balance.

V7975 - Corrected size 18 back sleeve seam step

Problem #3: The underarm shape of the sleeve doesn’t match the armhole of the jacket. The back portion of the sleeve is higher than the armhole (if anything, the sleeve should peel away from the armhole, not jut up into it) and this will create drag lines on the under-sleeve.  I briefly talked about this concept on flickr in the Colette patterns forum when I noticed a funny spot in the Laurel sleeve/dress pattern.) It’s easy to fix though. I just layered my pieces on top of each other and retraced the armhole onto the under-sleeve.

V7975 - Pencil traced the armhole onto the under sleeve

So there you have my thoughts on the V7975 sleeve draft. Moving on…

I recently acquired McCalls 6401 (OOP, but check Ebay!) which has a D cup front. 

It’s a short jacket (20” long) but can easily be lengthened in the across front/back, waist and at the hem. I traced out the size 18 onto plain white paper and added 1” length in the waist & 3/4" length in the sleeve for muslin making purposes.
I also checked the sleeve for any step errors, and I am happy to say that the front and back steps are both correct.

M6401 - Perfectly matching notches and back step

I haven’t checked the shape of the underarm, but I will get to that and if there is anything to report, I will update this post. EDIT: The muslin for M6401 did not look as good as my latest V7975 muslin, so I'm sticking with Vogue.

So yeah, that's where I'm at right now with the French Jacket project.

Drafting a Personal Fit Jacket – aka Pattermakers Block

I have been taking a patternmaking course at FIT this fall specializing in jackets and coats. Every week, we practice drafting the jacket block for a standard size 8 and learn how to create different jacket styles by changing the style lines. The class is from a production point of view, so there are lots of patternmaking details, tricks and methods to remember that will help make the construction more efficient and how and wear to adjust the fit when making pattern corrections. It’s been great. The weekly practice of drafting the block has finally sunk in and I sewing up the half muslin in less time each week. Practice makes better!

So now I’m starting to work on my final project and I have immediately run into a BIG problem. The final has to be of our own design, include the complete production pattern (w/ separate lining pieces, fusible, and templates) AND be accompanied by a full garment sample (we are allowed to employ a sample maker if we like). It’s also due in exactly two weeks. The amount of time and the scope of the project isn’t the problem. The problem is that we are allowed to use our own measurements for once, and of course if I’m going to go to all that effort I want to make the final sample wearable for myself.

Why is this a problem? Because I have a massive bust circumference (43”) and I carry a large portion of it on the front half of my torso. My front bust circ is 5” larger than my back. When we draft a block for jackets we place the side seam directly in the middle, which would make the back too big and the front too small, and give my a badly shaped back armhole to boot. This was never a problem as long as I was drafting for a size 8 (which apparently my back is). I am stumped on how to proceed and time is ticking away. Do I move the side seam closer to the back? Or do I draft the block based on my upper bust measurement and then adjust the bust as I would the hips when I add in my princess seam style lines? The later is closer to what I do with commercial patterns, but is a bit of a work around and defies the concept of drafting from scratch. I feel that there must be a right way of drafting this particular fit problem.

I was hoping my boss would be in the office today (he's also my professor - gotta love FIT) so I could pop into his office and ask him for 2 minutes of advice but unfortunately he is not here today, which means I am wasting another day that I could be working on the final.

Update: I've been busy

Just checking in for an update. No time for pics, just details:

Slow Sewing:
I managed to finish my Alabama Chanin green tunic/tank and a plain grey corset tank. I made everything in the XL size, and I think they may be a bit too loose for plain and moderately embroidered styles. Next time I think I need to take at least ½” off the back shoulders because the seam very forward on my shoulders (my back is kinda flat, my front is not so much) as well as raise the front neckline 1”. In the pipeline for the Alabama Chanin slow sewing is a blue sleeveless bolero and a pink retro panty and bustier set (burdastyle pattern). After a fruitless search of the interweb I ordered a yard of the pennant felt from Alabama Chanin which is slated to become a Paisley stencil and an Angie’s Fall stencil. I also bought a craft airbrush. 

Sew-Sew Summer:
I made a few dresses this summer to varying degrees of satisfaction. Hazel, which has a weirdly shaped facing (size 12 - am I the only one?) does not flatter me but the fabric is awesome and I wear it anyway. I also made a Tiered Maxi dress with that burdastyle pattern that is so popular. The fabric is a delicious Italian cotton floral, but without trim looks a bit like a nightgown. Also, the side zipper itches my tender flesh and is kinda unnecessary since I can pull the dress on over my head. I need to pick the zip out but the side seams will be different which bugs me. I want to make another version; short, no zip from a rayon challis floral with some wee trim at each tier. I cut a BS Fatima dress, but the fabric is noisy so I’ve lost interest half way through sewing it. I also cut a long striped jersey maxi dress but I need to take it in at the side seams (damn Big4 sizing again!) and it’s tricky to get the stripes to match up the 2nd and third time I stitch the side seams.

Chanel Jacket Update!
I attended a 90 minute “class” at Mood NYC this week with Susan Khalje where she went over the methods employed in making a classic french cardigan jacket. The class was very informative but I didn’t learn a whole lot of new information. I did find it helpful to go over everything in detail with a master couturier and I immediately got my Chanel jacket mojo back after seeing several ladies try on Susan’s famous samples. I brought both of my patterns to the class and Susan mentioned that she prefers the v7975 pattern to the newer v8804 pattern due to the built in shaping in the pattern. She said it is possible to convert a 2 piece sleeve into a 3 piece by splitting the upper sleeve vertically from the shoulder notch. She also discussed the dimensions and shape of the canted sleeve vent. Also worth noting; Susan uses silk organza to interline the top portion of the side front and back panels in order to stabilize the armholes. Overall I felt encouraged that the techniques employed, although labor intensive, are not terribly hard or complicated. No need to over think it. I confess, the pattern instructions in v8804 intimidated me with its specificity and additional construction techniques.

ETA: I found an AMAZING flicker set for the new Vogue pattern 8804. It makes me want to give that pattern a muslin. I think the sleeve is intriguing. Much of the online discussion about this pattern has been in regard to the "strange" grainline of the front top sleeve pattern piece however Claire Schaeffer herself weighs in on the subject in this flicker set!

Moving onward; last night I decided to remake my muslin in a larger size (16) using more traditional couture methods which I learned from Susan’s Craftsy couture dress class. One tip I will share is how I was able to easily transfer the pattern to the muslin. I have a Clover tracing wheel that has two adjustable wheels. The wheels are blunt so they don’t pierce or otherwise damage the tissue pattern. I set up the wheels 5/8” apart so that as I traced along the cutting line with the outer wheel the inner wheel traced the all important stitching line. This made it possible to skip drawing the cutting lines onto each pattern piece. I’m going to fit the sleeve as a two piece but I will draw the vertical seam line on it so I can check the placement.

Confession: I also bought a black tweedy boucle, complimentary silk charmeuse and thread for a 2nd Chanel jacket for fall. I will need to find appropriate trims later.

Knitting:
I participated in the Ravelympics, no wait, EXCUSE me, the Ravellenic Games. I did not medal (drat!) but I did finish my sweater. I love it, but I have no acceptable photos for the blog. Ravelers can check it out on ravelry.

I impulsively started a traditional aran fisherman sweater (stash busting, I swear) and I am already on the 2nd sleeve. It’s interesting and easy enough; great for tv knitting and commuting.

I need to cast on for me wedding shawl (to say nothing of my DRESS) but I am distracted by my current intarsia obsession. It’s all Kafe Fassett's fault. I found a 2nd hand copy of Glorious Knits and I am dying to make a carpet patterned (kilim inspired) cardigan jacket for fall. I’m going to Lion Brand Yarn Studio this evening for an event. I might end up purchasing a sweater worth of Amazing. If I do, it’s allowed because I finished my Ravellenic sweater with stash yarn and my current sweater is also stash yarn.

Studies:
I got an A in Patternmaking II. Hurrah! I am now enrolled in Patternmaking Jackets and Suits for the Fall semester at FIT. Learning to fit a jacket is supper helpful for work and especially for the Chanel jacket project. I am much more confident about fitting the new muslin. Two of the important things that I've learned so far are: 1) the Shoulder Slope is critical to the overall fit of the jacket, and 2) the Collar Sweep (outer edge of the collar) is critical to the shape and break of the lapel. If the collar sweep is too long, the lapel will break too high, if the sweep is too short, the lapel will break too low.

REFINED DESIGN CONCEPT

Reality Check

Recent FOs

•  Friendship bracelet (swap); Not sure how long it should be, but I made it 6" long plus ties. I’m supposed to mail to my swap partner in Australia tomorrow. I finally have a reason to mail something for personal reasons to another country! I am so tickled, it’s silly. 
• Slim line T-shirt; This is a procrastination/instant gratification project that I cut out Thursday and whacked out on Saturday. The pattern is by Angela Kane and is supplemented by her newest video series. I love her videos. They are a bit long because she doesn't edit away the majority of the working steps. You see her go through every step, and during the processes she mentions a lot of handy tips that probably wouldn't make it into a shorter video. I've gleaned a lot from watching her work. Plus, her voice is so soothing and encouraging. I used a 100% cotton XL t-shirt from MM that he didn’t wear because it had a pocket (I unpicked the pocket, ha!) I used the original shoulder seams, neck binding, sleeve seams and sleeve hem, so all I needed to do was serge the side seams & set the sleeves. Because the t-shirt was so long it turned out more like a t-shirt mini-dress. It's perfect for hanging out around the house in. I had my BF try it on for size and I think the shape is a bit to slim in the shoulders and the armholes a bit deep for his liking. I 'll try out the classic t-shirt next for him. 

Current WIPS (that I have worked on in the last week)

•  Knit nautical top (franken-knit from a this pattern); 85% complete – just need to finish the front. So close to done that I am almost completely bored. I CANNOT start another knit/crochet project until this is wearable.
• Raglan sleeve t-shirt; Burdastyle 01/2011 120. Cotton cashmere rib knit - I've had this cut out for months but finishing the sleeve hems came first and my twin needle has been very very finicky and that honestly killed my sewing mojo. Last night I got it out and made it work. Assembling the rest of it was quick and all that is left now is the hem. 
•  Chanel Jacket; the muslin is done. I need to finish refining the pattern and then cut out the fashion fabric. For the first time in my life I am terrified of cutting fabric and am procrastinating with the above and below items. I have been telling myself to get on with it for a week now and I find myself making excuses to do other things instead, like the above mentioned recent FO's.

Desperate Start-itis (things I am forbidden to start until one or more of the above are done) 

• Another tiny pocket tank (#3) with slight FBA. Loud floral rayon up-cycle!
•  Lion Brand Mesh Raglan Pullover. I have the yarn! It was frogged from another desperately ill-begotten project (crochet bathmat… yeah… BATHMAT) I must redeem the yarn. I also need to get it off the floor of my craft cave where it taunts me.
• Tiger Lily Tank by Lion Brand. Yarn was on sale, it was a heat wave, I am weak, and I still want to knit it.
• Bombshell dress (Burdastyle/Craftsy/Gretchen Hirsch). I totally impulse bought this course since. Who knows how long that sale price will last!? It was the promise of FBA handholding for that bustier that did it, and the thought that I could look like Joan Holloway at a barbeque by my birthday if I start NOW.

Feeling overwhelmed and I haven’t even mentioned my UFOs.