UFO Watch: Suit Jacket

So for the conference I ran in March 16-17 I had the idea of maybe making a new suit-like outfit to wear. My time was limited as I was needing to work on the weekends, so I wasn't totally optimistic (especially considering that jacket tailoring is not my usual type of sewing), but I figured I'd give it the college try.

I decided to cut into some really nice fabric I got at Paron about a year ago when I went to NYC to see Xanadu. It's a gorgeous color of crosswoven teal and peach that has a lot of depth. The fabric content is a scrumptious silk/cotton/wool/lycra.

I love the idea of dresses with matching jackets. I say idea because (1) I have never actually made or owned such an item, (2) I never wear jackets unless I'm speaking or meeting with opposing counsel, and (3) I really hate making jackets. There are so many steps involved and it's such a time-consuming project for something that I never wear and resent wearing when I do. I don't know why I hate having to dress in suits so much but I really, really do!

I actually finished the dress, BWOF 05-2008-128. I'd been wanting to make that one since the issue first came out, and when considering what would be a nice looking sheath to go with a jacket it immediately popped into mind. It actually didn't take unduly long and is indeed very cute. But I didn't get a chance to wear it because I did not have time to finish the jacket.

For the jacket, I was drawn to BWOF 12-2008-116. I like the shoulder princess lines (easier to ease in a heavier fabric than an armscye princess) and the single button closure, which will make the most of the fact that I'm wearing a dress underneath. A jacket that closes higher up makes it hard to tell if it's a dress or a skirt.

I actually got pretty far on the jacket. I traced it and cut it out, which was quite a chore because I wanted to make the dress, jacket, *and* a skirt out of my not quite 4 yards. My reasoning for this was that I didn't want to feel like I could only wear the dress when I was also wearing the jacket. So if I had a skirt to go with the jacket, it wouldn't render the jacket useless to wear the dress more often and have it look noticeably worn/faded with the jacket. But getting all the pieces for all three items to fit onto the fabric was a huge challenge (and the skirt will have an interesting "design feature").

OK, done. Then I fused all the pieces, which is another boring chore. Then I sewed the body seams of the jacket and found it to be HUGE. I had to grade down a size because the smallest size is 36, which is fine and I did so at the tracing stage. The style doesn't look oversized but really it was gigantic. I had to take in all the seams 1/4" (meaning 1/2 inch total per seam) and I think it's still a little big. Ugh. It was a lot of ripping.

The next step was to put in the welt pockets with flaps, something I've not done before and I just ran out of steam. I was too stressed about the conference to undertake such a stressful sewing endeavor. And I am not at all confident that it's going to end up fitting well or looking good.

I have basically done nothing since (I made the pocket flaps, that's it), and it's been over a month.

However, I now have a speech to give on May 7 and am trying to motivate myself to turn this from a UFO back into a Work In Progress.



Things left to do
-Mark pocket placement and do all the fiddly markings on the welts etc.
-Put in welt pockets with flaps.
-Sew shoulder seams
-Figure out collar and facing
-Cut out lining (double/triple/quadruple ugh, as I have chosen a beautiful but fiddly silk that squirms around while I'm trying to cut it)
-Construct lining
-Insert lining

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This is sort of compounded because I have not been sewing too much lately. In my end of year post from last year I said I might experiment with sewing less and I've been doing this. I'm not being any more productive in any other area of my life (*ahem* cleaning) so I don't know if I'm serving any particular end. It's not really a lack of mojo, it's just a slowdown. I don't want to feel obligated to something that is supposed to be a fun hobby! And since I'm not sewing as much as usual, I'm not interested in something tedious, drawn out, difficult, fiddly, and draining like a jacket.

But it would be nice to wear it May 7.

I will make a goal of doing the pockets this weekend. I will be at a volunteer event all day Saturday, but I should be able to find enough time the other days to do the pockets.

It will be a (re)start.

UFO Watch 2008: Burping Up Slugs

So, you know that scene in the first Harry Potter movie where Ron is burping up slugs and Hagrid tells him, "Better out that in"? And Ron says, "It's horrible" with the most pitiful expression? Finishing this dress was like burping up slugs: totally grim and unpleasant, and yet I felt helpless to just stop and chuck it in the trash. I felt like there was a virtue to perseverance. I think the end result is totally wearable (though by no means perfect). By the time Spring rolls around, I'm hoping this dress doesn't make me think of slugs at all.


Item: Butterick 3078 wrap dress

Stage: This had once been sewn, with the result that it looked like the "before" picture above. Obviously, that was never ever going to be wearable in a million years. For last January's UFO contest I took it apart. It stayed that way for a year, and when I picked it back up it was in pieces.



Reason Abandoned: This is possibly the worst pattern ever drafted. It was ugly in the first place (see pattern photo at right), what with that hideous bagging at the waist. But the pattern exceeded (deceeded?) even the terrible drawing. It was like they gave a blindfolded child a crayon and used the resulting crude outline of a wrap dress as the pattern. When it came out of the box looking like the before picture above, I knew it was going to need so much work to be wearable that I totally lost interest.

Time as a UFO: Three years. Two years sewn, one year in pieces, all three kicking around on my craft room floor. I gotta give props--that is some durable polyester right there. It was unwrinkled and unharmed by three years of walking on it.

Time to complete: Around 6 hours.

Work done to complete:

-Shortened the front shoulder by about an inch at the shoulder and two inches at the neck. This created fitting wrinkles radiating diagonally from the shoulder and downward toward the bust. I don't care.

-Sewed the seams with a 3/8" seam allowance.

-Put it on Violet, my dressform, and cut it apart at the waist. I just eyeballed it.

-Took two inches off the bottom of the bodice front at the waist. This makes a total of four inches of length removed from the wrap. It does not gape.

-Bound the raw edges of the bodice and the right half of the skirt (the half that shows). I cut the blue crepe into strips four inches wide, folded in half, sewed right sides and raw edges together, then turned to the inside and hand-sewed in place.

-For the tie, cut the blue crepe 10 inches wide and two 45" lengths, sewed together (I would later unpick the center seam so the left side/underlayer of the skirt's tie could come out through it at CB), made a tube, turned.

-Sewed the bodice to the tie/tube.

-Made a skirt extension for the underlap, sewed to skirt, sewed skirt to tie/tube.

-Set in sleeves. This was originally supposed to have long sleeves to be an early spring dress, but it didn't look good. I kept shortening the sleeves until they were OK. I still didn't like them because the fit of the sleeve was too close to look good--not uncomfortably tight, just unattractive--and they needed *something* to deal with that. I bound the hems and that added the needed something.

-Hemmed.

If you're interested, you can read more about this project in the PR review or browse through the photo album.

UFO Watch 2008: Cowl/Funnel Neck Tank

Item: Simplicity 3830 cowl/funnel neck tank

Stage: Technically the side seams were sewn, but not securely (see difficulties with sewing). So basically everything.

Reason Abandoned: This was probably my most legitimately abandoned project. This poly knit is damn near impossible to sew. I couldn't get my machine to leave a stitch in it to save my life, no matter what kind of needle I used. It was too hard to pierce the fabric with a hand-needle to complete it manually. I finally gave up in disgust.

Time as a UFO: Approaching three years. I know I started it before I joined Pattern Review, which was May of 2006. After joining PR I attempted a project in a similar horrible knit and again couldn't get my machine to lay down a stitch. Some helpful sewists recommended a stretch needle (I was using a ballpoint, which wasn't working) and it was like magic! Once I actually acquired stretch needles I have no excuse for not picking this back up.

Time to complete: About 30 minutes.

Work done to complete: Resewed the side seams; sewed the shoulders; attached the collar; hemmed the bottom, armscyes, and neck edge; hand-tacked the collar down at CF, CB, and shoulders.

UFO Watch 2008: Pillowslip

Item: Pillowslip

Stage: Needed to be stuffed and crocheted closed

Reason Abandoned: I didn't like it much, and yarn is not my strong point

Time as a UFO: about three years (I think it got it at Christmas 3 years ago)

Time to complete: About 30 minutes (not counting trip to Ikea)

Work done to complete: Bought a pillowform from Ikea, stuffed it in, crocheted closed, wove in the ends


So, in the Great Craft Clean Up Event of 2008, many UFOs were unearthed. Y'all know I make no bones about my habits and slovenliness, so I'm not trying to make myself look unwarrantedly good when I say I don't make many UFOs. It's my one saving grace as a sewist and crafter in general. There are several factors involved: I get obsessed with whatever I'm working on and can only overcome the obsession by finishing it; I generally work a project to completion before going on to the next; and...ok, maybe there are only two factors involved. But "few" UFOs is not none. I knew they were in there, but they were kind of blending in with the mess. When I picked everything up, I had to face them.

Some of them I tossed, mostly of the "if I alter this fairly hideous article of clothing it will become less hideous but not actually wearable" variety. But there were a few I wanted to finish. I bagged them up in individual bags so I could have the satisfaction of ceremoniously putting the bag in with the re-use pile after it was emptied.

One of the first I tackled was a pillowslip from my grandmother. Now, I come from a family of women with exquisite yarncraft abilities. My mother wields the crochet hook with intimidating speed, and my grandmother's knitting output is phenomenal. Their work keeps me warm while I watch TV on the couch. My grandmother knitted the purple afghan in the background, and my mother made the multi-colored one in the foreground to match my condo decor for my birthday.



Clearly this amazing skill skipped a generation. I can allegedly "crochet," by which I mean plain single crochet chain stitch. Please observe the washcloth below. Also note that I tore the entire thing out not once but *twice* to get it so "nice."



When my grandmother gave me the purple afghan she gave me a matching pillow. Since my family lives in Texas and I received it in person, it made no sense to give it to me with a pillow form in it, as I just had to shove it in luggage for the plane ride home to DC. The pillow isn't really my style (I'm not hip enough to do ironic kitsch, so in my hands it's just kitsch) so I didn't bother dealing with it. For about three years it sat on the floor, waiting to be tossed or finished.

It seemed too rude to throw away my grandmother's work, so I decided to finish. I bought a pillowform from Ikea, shoved it in, and--with fear and trembling--set to work with the crochet hook and yarn my grandmother had thoughtfully provided. I had no idea what I was doing so I just kind of made it up as I went along, but amazingly it turned out pretty well.

I should have washed the pillow cover before closing it up as it was rather dusty from sitting on the floor all that time. Oh well. It's done! And it appears very happy to be with its sibling the afghan.



I just won my auction on eBay for the black version of the red boots I'm wearing here, which I got at Ross for $15 and have been wanting black ones ever since. I saw some at Marshall's for $40 and have been kicking myself for months for not getting them, but now I got them on eBay for $25, including shipping, so patience is a virtue? Or cheapness was rewarded? Or something. That means I can go to bed. I'll leave you with one of my favorite TSA jokes (which I think is an ironic comment on racism rather than racist itself; I certainly do not mean to offend):

Q: Why was the grandmother denied entrance to the airplane?
A: Because she was knitting an Aghan.