The Muslin

Found here

When I started to actually think about the muslin for this pattern, I came to the conclusion that I needed to (wanted to?) use something thicker than cotton - something that would somehow mimic the final quilted jacket.  Also, I hoped that this would result in a second jacket, instead of a limp rag that would get thrown into a box.  I dragged out a remnant piece of navy double faced wool - something that I thought originally would make a vest.  With some piecing of scraps (side front and side back are pieced, and the collar was a real scrap project - 3 scraps to make the collar!), I actually managed to fit all the pattern pieces for the jacket.  To make the fitting/pinning process easier, I elected to sew pieces wrong sides together, with the seam allowances facing out.  Once the the fitting was done, the pattern pieces cut down to "my" size - I got on with work on the quilted jacket.

Then it was back to my "muslin".  How to finish it off?  I wanted a clean finish on the inside, and the seams were all sewn already facing out...  I opened all the seams, stitched them down with a twin needle from the wrong side, trimmed the seam allowances (which were rather ginormous), then covered them up with bias strips. These were all sewn down by hand through one layer of the double wool, so that nothing would show on the inside.

This was definitely one of those cases where my scrap hoarding paid off.  The plaid silk dupioni was left over from some flower girl sashes from a wedding that happened decades ago.  Periodically I would unroll these bits of fabric, thinking what on earth am I keeping these for? - then I would roll them back up and pop them back into the scrap drawer.  Guess I was keeping those scraps just for this jacket, though I didn't know it.  The buttons are green leather - yet again one of those things that I wondered about periodically, but elected to keep - just the right number and size for this jacket!  I suppose I could call this my "environmentally friendly" jacket - zero waste (almost) when cutting the pieces, using up stash - not that I'm a stickler for such things, but it's always nice to give oneself an extra pat on the back.  The result is a jacket that wears like a cardigan, and keeps me quite warm - no mean feat for someone who is always freezing.
Aside from the fact that this pattern runs very large - the only real problem, I found, was the way the sleeves were drafted - no differentiation for front and back (same problem I had with the Simplicity jacket), which made the sleeves skew backward.  My very unscientific method to fix the problem, was to pinch in the sleeve...

until it hung properly, measure the amount of extra fabric, then scoop that amount out of the sleeve pattern.

Hopefully you can see my pencil lines on the original pattern piece - I did scoop out the back of the sleeve a little (top pencil line), and the front was scooped out quite a bit more (bottom pencil line).

 

One more view....  Ah... the buttonholes....  I simply made machine buttonholes, putting a piece of black tearaway stabilizer underneath.  It's hidden in the stitching on the wrong side, with the hope that it will keep the buttonhole from stretching out.  Perhaps I should have corded it, but I didn't.  We'll see how that works out in the long run.

Geisha jacket take 2

This picture of me wearing jacket took some planning - like remembering to pop my camera in my purse when I went to pick up my cousin to go to the opera, and he graciously agreed to snap this picture.  Back view, because that's the one that counts with this jacket.

Is there some way of sitting in a car without making mincemeat of the back of a skirt?

The skirt (not blogged) is the Hollyburn by Sewaholic - lengthened considerably.  For the particulars on this jacket, please see my previous post.  Continuing information, i.e. the story of the muslin - coming soon.
By the way - did you know that the Met has a fashion blog?  Shows what people wore to the opera.  Rather fun.

Geisha jacket

Thank-you to everyone for such a warm welcome back!
Before I delve into the jacket particulars...
Allison - the dressform came as you see it - it's not actually a form for fitting, but a "decorator" piece.
Sheila - thank-you for checking up on me back in July.  I only just noticed your comment.
Barbara - I'll explain the sleeve fitting fix in a later post - I had to do the same for this jacket.

Back view

Front view

I just happened to walk into the store when this fabric arrived - love at first sight!  Quilting fabric - a panel print with geisha girls in my favourite colour  - brown.  Lots of coordinating fabrics.  Normal people put these all together and make a quilt or a wall hanging.  Not normal people (me) need to figure out how to make this work as a piece of clothing.  Part of the same shipment - this pattern.

It was difficult to choose just three fabrics of the too many choices, but I finally did.  And to be sure that this jacket would actually get made, it was to be a sample for a class.  It still took almost three months to get done in-betwixt and in-between various other goings on.
The pattern was an unknown commodity to me.  There was only a finished bust measurement to help in choosing size, which seemed huge.  Like it or not, a muslin was absolutely necessary, and that's a story for the next post.  The "muslin" became a second jacket.  Bonus.
Once the pattern alterations were done, each piece was traced onto the printed cotton and rough cut.  Then the print was layered with batting and lining (a silk jacquard that was supposed to be a blouse at some point, but it just happened to be the perfect match, and... well... lining this jacket was a greater necessity than a brown silk blouse... at the time).  Each piece was basted, then quilted.  Sounds fairly straight forward and easy.  Not quite.  I dithered and I procrastinated and I dithered some more.  It's a scary process, this quilting business, especially if the result has to be absolutely perfect, because people will be looking up close, and flipping to the inside to have a look, and... ( I do such a wonderful job of making myself fell incompetent.)  Oh, and then there was the issue of how to quilt each piece.  Couldn't run lines of stitching through the faces!  Should I do straight lines? diagonal? diamonds?  In the end, each fabric was done differently.  And no, I do not own a walking foot - I just held the fabric taut as I sewed, and I prayed ... a lot.

According to the pattern instructions, the seam allowances are to be serged.  Not on my precious jacket!  I opted for a sort of lapped seam on the inside - hand stitched to not show on the outside.
What a relief to finally get to the binding.  End in sight!

Buttons with flowers sort of blend in

Then there were the buttonholes...  My original intent was to stitch buttonholes by hand.  I machine stitched rectangles, made the cuts.  (Made several samples on scraps.) Those darn buttonholes looked just awful.  Even with two times around in heavier thread, the batting kept poking through.  After having a bit of a meltdown, then ripping out the stitching, I decided to simply wrap the "holes" in tiny strips of fabric and had stitch these down - a sort of bound buttonhole look.  Could have saved myself a lot of time and anguish, had I come to this decision much earlier in the process.

Inside detail at collar

The class for making this jacket was in early spring.  Interestingly enough - not a single person in that class chose the same fabric as I did, and I had thought that the fabric was the star of the show.  Turned out it was the pattern!
Having lived at the store for almost six months, the jacket now hangs in my closet - as yet unworn.  It just seems too "special" to wear on just any old day.  Perhaps I'll finally wear it to the opera this Saturday, even though "going to the opera" around here, is just going to the movie theatre for a live broadcast from the Met in New York.