Burda 12-2008-116, Tuxedo Jacket of Doom

All right, it's done. The Tuxedo Jacket of Doom from Burda 12-2008-116 that I wrote about last April, having abandoned it in early March, is no longer wadded up on my sewing table as it has been the past year. I can't say it looks a whole lot better than when it was wadded up on my sewing table, but it will look fine on a lectern from 10 feet. I have a couple of speeches coming up so I will wear it to at least one of them. I made the dress way back at the beginning of last year (will try to review soon) and have the skirt cut out, which should be a nice, normal, easy project!

I had planned this for a conference I was running March 2009. I don't have to wear a suit too often at work (thank goodness), but I really hate wearing personality-less clothes even on an occasional basis. So I wanted a suit-ish outfit that reflected my style. Unfortunately, I just didn't leave myself enough time, nor did I have enough psychic energy, to complete the project while I was also doing the work for the conference. My final stumbling block was the welt pockets with flap. For some reason, I had in my head that you had to sew the flap on at the same time as the welt and I just couldn't figure it out and it seemed like way too much marking with basting thread, millions of times even.

I am not ready to switch to Spring sewing yet, because I have many Spring/Summer clothes but I am still not happy with my Fall/Winter wardrobe (though much happier than in years past). Once I go Spring, I don't go back so I need to capitalize on my Fall/Winter motivation while I can. However, I couldn't think of what project I wanted to do next. I took it as a sign (along with PR's UFO Contest that I should return to this jacket.

I happen to have Claire Shaeffer's Complete Book of Sewing Shortcuts out from the library, so I decided just to check and see what she has to say about welt pockets with flaps. And duh, there it was. You make the welt as per usual, and once it's completed you slip the flap inside and stitch it to the excess welt allowance. Well, I understand welt pockets so that was no big thing. I stitched the flap down when I stitched-in-the-ditch to keep the welt in place. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough fabric to make a practice welt; after managing to squeeze a dress, jacket, and skirt out of 3 yards there were no scraps larger than a few square inches. So I made the welt lips too wide and the ends are all squinched and it looks pretty homemade. But at least the placement matches up and I can keep business cards in the pockets.

I hadn't cut out the lining before abandoning this project. I chose this nice silk from The Carol Collection but was dreading cutting it out as it is a slippery, fiddly silk. Actually, cutting and constructing the lining turned out to be no biggie and a quick part of the project. So that was a small mercy!

Let's talk about the sleeves, shall we? Wow. Easing in sleeves is a common sewing dislike/complaint, but it has never really been a problem for me. I have a fairly high tolerance for tiny tucks and wrinkles so I just don't get exercised over it. But this. This was a whole other level. The back sleevecap is just HUGE. The front sleeve eases in no problem, very smooth and lovely looking. The back sleevecap is about twice as large as the opening it is supposed to go into. Seriously. I attempted it three times, using various methods to reduce the size and the armscye kept getting more and more distorted, with attendant pulling along the back and discomfort, that I finally gave up and just gathered the sleeve. It does not fit with the style and it does not look good. I used a large shoulder pad to give even more emphasis to the shoulder, in the hopes of fitting into the "strong shoulder" trend, but really it is a disaster.

I cut the center back with a seam rather than on the fold to give me better swayback fitting. I should learn to take photos of the backs of projects before I finish them so I know what they look like! This seemed fine in the mirror but is pretty ick. I think eventually I will need to open out the lining (there was a reason I stitched the hem by hand) and take some of that bulk out of there.

And now let's talk about the rest of the sleeve, with the bagging and bunching at the inner elbow and the spiraling of the sleeve down the arm. It is so terrible!!!! Given my shortness of fabric, it is certainly conceivable that I did not cut the sleeve pieces exactly on grain. So perhaps the spiraling is my fault, although the back sleeve seam appears to run straight down the arm. But that bunching is a drafting issue. There is an elbow dart and it doesn't make a dent in that baggy mess. It looks like I've been wearing it for two weeks straight. If there is a quick-and-dirty fix to take out some of that bulk by taking in either the upper or lower sleeve seam, I'm all ears.

I couldn't decide what to do about the closure. I didn't want to make a bound buttonhole because I just wanted it done. I didn't have a good button to match anyway. I finally decided on a covered snap. I used this tutorial from Threads Magazine (thank goodness I saved those tiny scraps). I interfaced the circles for covering the snaps because the fabric is not a tight weave and subject to breaking. I fray-checked around the post of the post side, and inside the hole of the hole side so hopefully they will hold up. I actually like this snap treatment.

(At least the jacket looks cute in this view.) This project was about getting it done, not getting it perfect. It was a total nightmare and I don't think I sewed a single seam of the body jacket only once, and only a few of them a mere two times. It was two steps forward and one step back the whole way. I think even Tim Gunn would have abandoned "Make it work" for "I'm very concerned."

But I kept thinking, I'm never going to learn if I don't do it. It was my first successful notch collar in a jacket. My oldest UFO is a notch-collar jacket I started shortly after graduating college in 1996 in which the collar went horribly wrong; I finally threw that one away this year. Without sewing diagrams, I first sewed--and serged--the wrong edges together (you sew the widest edges together in a collar, right?). So I had to unpick that and use what was left of my seam allowances. Then I accidentally put it in upside down, with the undercollar on top. I had diligently trimmed the seam allowances a fraction to allow for a good turn of cloth, so the undercollar was different from the upper. I left the collar that way until the end, when I acknowledged that it just wasn't going to work. So I ripped it out and fray-checked the heck out of the spot where I had clipped the facings down to the stitching and put it back in. The entire unit is not perfect, but I will give myself that the notch on that collar is sharp.

I am, if I may be immodest, good at the sewing things I do. I'm good at dresses and skirts, my invisible zippers come out perfect 98% of the time, and I have an eye for prints and colors and styles that will flatter me. But I rarely stray from my comfort zone. I don't feel bad about this. Sewing is my hobby, not a test of my character. However, finishing a project like this, that is quite outside my comfort zone, is an accomplishment and I feel that the practice will help me expand my skillset. Whether I ever want to use those (rudimentary) skills again is a whole other matter!

All photos of this project are here and the pattern review is here.

Vogue 7876: Am I Malformed or is the Pattern?

This is Vogue 7876, a very cute design with a cool flounce collar variation. This is my pajama muslin, made of the Vera Wang silk/rayon blend from fabric.com (you can see it is utterly ruined by the washing machine). It looks innocuous, right?

Ugh. This is the second most uncomfortable thing I have ever made, the first being McCall 5466, the cute plaid dress with the exact same problem. I attempted to wear McCall 5466 last week for the first time this winter. I lasted about 10 minutes wearing it while getting ready for work and then took it off and put it in the giveaway pile. I would like not to do this again, so I am begging for your fitting help!




The issue in both pieces:
-pulls very tight across the upper back when I move my arms
-very tight across the sleeve in the shoulder/upper arm (above the bicep) when I move my arms in any direction

Unlike the McCall, the armscye here is not unbearably tight around the arm, but it is definitely snug to the point of a little bit of discomfort.




I know that the shoulders are too wide as you can see in the relaxed back; I always forget to fix that in Big 4. I need to make it a standard alteration to shorten the front shoulder about 1/2 inch and then take a dart in the back shoulder. However, merely having the armscye in the wrong place does not explain this fit, I don't think, because when I try to hike the armscye closer to my actual shoulder point (granted, this is difficult because it is tight) I don't get any more mobility, and of course the sleeve is still tight across my shoulder/upper arm.

To get any mobility at all I have to hike the sleevecap up over my shoulder, and even then I don't have much movement going on.


So, what is going on here? It feels like I need more room across the upper back, but where do you add that? I tried in the past adding some extra room to the upper back at the Center Back on Butterick 4985 but the collar stands back from my neck and you can see the pouchiness of extra fabric and it didn't really solve the mobility problem anyway.

And then the sleeves--do I need a taller sleevecap? Do I need to slash and spread along the center all the way up to the top and add more fabric there?

It seems so simple: if something is too small you make it bigger. But it is not so simple when it comes to armscye/sleeves.

And then on top of all that, there is a weird bulge of fabric at the crossover. Although the illustration makes it appear that the front wrap is supposed to cross all the way over to the opposite side seam, the line drawing and the pattern markings indicate that is not the case. Mine appears to wrap at approximately the right place, but then it's all bulgey there. I can't tighten the wrap any more, so I really don't know what that extra fabric is about.

And even though I shortened the wrap section two inches along the diagonal, there is still a little bit of gaping and the crossover is very low.

I had intended to make this out of some navy silk I bought at Jomar in October. It is a lighter weight than the VW silk/rayon and is mixed with some lycra, but there was still no way I was wasting it on this pattern. Luckily, I found a perfect Burda pattern in a back issue and don't have to mess with this pattern ever again.

But I am wanting to make Vogue 8413. I haven't yet gotten it out and compared the armscye and sleeve but I assume they are a similar draft and it would be useless to attempt V8413 without addressing this fit issue!

All the photos are here and the pattern review is here.

Vogue 8597: Headmistress in Space Cowl Top

I might as well get both fails of 2009 out of the way in one week. Hearing about patterns that didn't work is perhaps even more valuable than patterns that do work, so I've got to tell y'all about Vogue 8597. I dropped by Joann a while back and figured since Vogues were on sale I'd take a quick look. I loved the pattern envelope drawing for this--it looks kind of slouchy and relaxed but hip. I was thinking it would make a great loose-fitting knit dress, very casual chic.

However, I was idling around online so I decided to check out the reviews. Hmmm. Although there was an explosion of making this top at the same time I did at the end of November, when I made it there was only one review with photo of View A/B with the cut on cowl made up, Nikki's version, and it doesn't look at all like pattern drawing. The drawing indicates that you'll be showing some skin at the neckline but the made up version looks rather prim. I couldn't tell if this might be a function of the fabric, though, as Nikki mentioned that her fabric had quite a bit of body.

I needed to make a pajama t-shirt anyway, so I decided I would use it as a *gasp* muslin. I'm glad I did. This pattern is kind of fug. My fabric is a thin cotton interlock, so it has a *tad* more body than a polyester ITY, but not enough to make this much difference. Instead of looking slouchy and relaxed, this looks like the self-imposed uniform of a strict headmistress of the future who runs the on-board school of a Star Trek-like space ship. Seriously, just picture it made up in a heavy white double knit, add a glass fish-bowl helmet, and voila. She engages in banter with a surprising frisson of sexual tension when she and the captain meet in the hallways. Someday, she will take off the glass fishbowl helmet and they will kiss. In fact, it might make a good Halloween costume. But it does not fit in with my style at all.

It's not just the style either. The drafting is also kind of bad. Check out that wrinkle that catches over my bust. And I have a small bust, tiny even. Imagine on someone with an actual bustline! It would be terrible.

It's drafted with a skimpy hem-type facing for the cowl neckline that you sew in place. First of all, a cowl needs to be fully self-faced. Nikki mentioned that her fabric has a distinct wrong side and the top is very fussy to wear to keep the wrong side from showing, and I can back her up on that. Second of all, in addition to maintaining the look of a cowl, the self facing is also there to avoid having some kind of tacky-ass stitching line across it. Ew.

It was so yucky that I couldn't even wear it as drafted for pajamas, so I chopped off the cowl neck.

I need to get rid of this pattern so that I don't accidentally give it another chance, so I'll send it to the lucky winner of a drawing from this post. After all the bad things I've said about this pattern it's possible nobody will want it, but it is mostly a matter of taste (other than the lack of a full self-facing on the cowl). This is just NOT my style. If you want to enter a giveaway for the pattern, mention that in a comment below. It is size AA(6-8-10-12). The pattern pieces for this view are cut out along the largest size line (I think--that's my usual MO) and the pieces for the other view are uncut.

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.

Simplicity 2473: Quotidian Fail

In my 2009 roundup I mentioned two fails. This is one of them. This dress is not an Epic Fail such as seen on failblog (warning: not necessarily safe for work or tasteful but sometimes funny), but more of a run-of-the-mill, every day kind of fail. It's wearable, and I will wear it often during cold weather, but I don't love it.

I really liked the look of Simplicity 2473 when it came out. I've been wanting a coat dress for a while without the work of a coat dress, which would be as much effort as an actual coat but at a fraction of the wearing value, and I thought the collar version on this would give the same feel. Perhaps someday I'll try again.



I got the fabric, a rayon/wool/linen blend, from Fabric.com for $4.49/yd, so I can't mourn the unloveliness of the result too much as at least it wasn't an expensive mistake. When the fabric arrived it was perfect, a chunky but smooth coat-y houndstooth. I pre-washed (cold water wash, hang dry), because I just don't dry clean. The fabric really fluffed up! Although I didn't lose much length, holy cow did I lose width! It got down to about 38 1/2" wide. I thought the fluffy loft would be well-suited to a coatdress so I kept my original plan, but it made squeezing the pattern out of what had once been 3 yards of fabric into a jigsaw puzzle. I managed to do it with pretty much zero fabric to spare and no scraps larger than my hand.

I started with my pattern alterations. First of all, I don't like that this dress has princess seams only on the front bodice. It looks cheap. So I split the back into princess seams as well. Of course, after I got started with the cutting layout on this one I realized that an appropriate subtitle for this post could have been: "Houndstooth is Just Another Way of Saying Matching Plaids" and had a moment of regret for my princess stickling. But in the end, I think it looks so much better that way, so meh. One of the adjustments I really should be doing as a matter of course but never do is narrowing the front shoulder and creating a dart in the back shoulder. I didn't do that here, but next time it will be easier since I've already got the back princess seams, right?

Next comes swayback. I split it between the midriff piece and the skirt piece because I find in Big 4 I need a huuuuuuge swayback adjustment and I figured it would distort the pieces less to split it. Had I thought of houndstooth as the stripe/plaid that it is, I might not have done any adjustment to the skirt. I have a whole other grotesque houndstooth matching problem on the right back skirt panel, but on the left back skirt panel you can see the houndsteeth march upward a little bit at center back.



When I was still planning this project, after I had prewashed the fabric and it lost so much width I was trying to figure out whether to line or underline it, unsure which would be the most comfortable and best for keeping it from bagging out. In the end I did a hybrid--I underlined the bodice as it would look much worse if the bodice bagged out and lined the midriff and skirt (with a heavy interfacing fused to the midriff). I finished the neckline with bias tape. After a few wearings I can say that this system seems to have worked well.







After all this planning and anticipating, it turned out that I couldn't use the collar after all. It actually looks ok there in the photo where I pinned it on, but in real life it was way too bulky. And that was pinned on. I literally could not imagine how to attach to the dress (three layers of fluffy fabric turned under to make six layers) without it being two inches thick. It was not going to work.






The back skirt. Ugh. It is horrible. I am not going to repost the picture because it is too embarrassing, so you will have to scroll up. Instead I have posted a side view where you can see how nicely the houndsteeth match up at the side seam. I assume that I had not folded my fabric carefully enough to cut doubled (although miraculously the rest of it is reasonably lined up--I used the lengthen/shorten lines as my "check" as Burda would say). Because I had no more fabric my two choices, when I saw the back pieces, were to mismatch the houndsteeth or to ease the right back piece in so that the houndsteeth match at the side and center back seams, but the panel is on a slight diagonal. I chose the latter, figuring that most non-sewing people would not be arrested by the terribleness of the slight diagonal, but would be more likely to notice the non-continuousness of the stripes at the CB seam. It was a Hobson's choice, and the result is awful. Ugh. I hate it so much. Luckily it is behind me and so I can wear it without obsessing about it. Out of sight, out of mind.

I wanted to trim the seams, not only to add interest but to cover very slight mismatches. I was thinking some sort of fancy black cording type trim, but neither Joann nor G Street had more than two yards of any black trims. So frustrating!!!! I ended up using flexi-lace hem tape in pewter.

This dress was a lot of work and it was disappointing when I was done and unfortunately I can't blame the pattern! It's not just the houndstooth mismatch at the back, although it is truly awful. The fabric just was not suited to a dress and I refused to recognize it. The fit is very boxy, which I can blame on Simplicity and their Ease of Doom, but I have to blame my fabric choice for the fact that I couldn't alter this to fit because the fabric is too bulky. So it has to be worn with a belt, which is fine, but the fabric is kind of bunched under the belt which doesn't look nice. It is just a mediocre dress. It is warm, however, and I am complimented when I wear it. My goal will be to wear it as many times as I can stand it this winter, maybe even every week, and then I can get rid of it at the end if I want.

All photos of this project are here and the pattern review is here.