Sewing distractions

I guess they are not really distractions as I am still sewing. 

The sleeves are in. The instructions with FSG 1963 are very good about putting in the sleeves with a wool header to give the sleeve cap shape. 

The Chinese wedding pocket is straight from Threads 63. It's is very soothing to create the pocket edge decoration. 

I stitch the coat and sleeve gems by hand and attach the linings by hand also. These can be done by machine but I prefer the look, the hang of hand stitched. All that remains is top stitching and button holes. 

The distracting projects have been making Pillow cases for a friend's massage therapy. Bartering for massages. And clothes for Sasha dolls. 

I lined the bodice and hand picked the under stitching at the neck. 

Fashion Sewing Group 1963 - shoulder and side seams and collar

I was feeling depressed about this coat. I tried to make the welt pocket match the stripe pattern. That meant cutting them off grain. Even with iron on interfacing I could not get them to be flat and ripple free. I did them on grain and they were perfect, just not matching. 

I took a day off and launched a new outfit for Sasha dolls in my Etsy store. 

Today I tackled the center back seam, shoulder seams and side seams. All the stripes matched!  To iron the seams I dampen them with water then flatten them with the iron until they are dry. The pattern designer recommends a 'dauber' made of rolled up wool. I use a spray bottle and spread the water with my fingers.  This sets the wool into the right shape and flatness. 

The next step was the collars. In this pattern the lower collar is slightly smaller than the upper collar. This allows the upper collar to roll slightly to the backside.

The lower collar is attached to the coat. The upper collar to the front and back neck facing. This takes s bit of careful sewing to line up the stitches but creates a lively collar.  Once you have pressed everything properly you sew the two collars together by hand. This allows the two pieces to sit together yet be flexible 

Here is the underside of the lower collar. 

This shows how the facing seam has been slightly rolled to the underside. 

Here I am making sure I am happy with the fit. It all falls nicely. The armscyes look to be in the right place. 

Next the  sleeves. 

Cutting and fusing. FSG 1963 coat

I have to admit that fusing interfacing is not my favorite job. Fusing the whole front is very tedious. I used a fusiknit interfacing for the front pieces and the hems of the sleeves and the back pieces. I also fused  the shoulder seam on the back panels. For the collar and the front facing's and the pocket welts I used an iron on hair canvas to give the fabric some crispness in those areas. The iron has to be placed on top of the press cloth which is on top of the fusible interfacing, on top of the fabric and then held for a slow count of 10 then you pick up the iron, no sliding, and put it down a few inches away and do it again. I use the cotton setting on my iron.

 For two fronts, the facing, the collar, the welts and hems, this is a long day.

Here are the fused fronts.

The bust dart went extremely well and, as always, the wool pressed beautifully into shape.

Here you can see the markings for the welt pockets. This must be done very carefully so they end up perfectly symmetrical.

Here I am checking to make sure that both fronts markings or the same. 

I originally made the pocket markings on the fusible interfacing and you can see from the blue marks how far they are off when you do the final marking on the garment front.

I am not 100% convinced that I made the right choices regarding the pattern. I cut the back is if it were on the fold even though the back is in two pieces. The front I cut so that the design angles oppose each other. Perhaps I should've done the same with the back but it's too late now!

Fashion Sewing Group 1963 coat. Version 4

I have made this coat several times in a number of different fabrics. The shorter version was done in pleather and was very chique. The pleather recently started do disintegrate. I did a long version for Vancouver in a water resistant plaid that is almost a Burberry plaid. That one is long with velveteen collar and cuffs. I call it my Fauxberry.

   For Chicago weather I made a gorgeous camel wool, over 15 years ago. I relined it last winter but it is looking a little tired. My son and I have a trip to Toronto planned for February. Perfect excuse to sew something fabulous! 

   Fortunately I have, in my stash, 3.5 yards of wool houndstooth that has been waiting for me to be inspired! 

Deciding which side is the right side is tough. As long as I decide and have that correct on all the pieces no one will argue. 

Step 1 is to do all the ironing piled up on the ironing board. 

Step 2 is to steam the fabric. 

    Some people send it to the dry cleaner. Others put it in the dryer with a damp towel on fluff or cool. My preference is to steam it with my iron. It is an opportunity to examine to whole piece, particularly as it has been stored for some time. I use the extra steam button on my iron and move the iron one iron width at a time, overlapping a little each time. The iron should not be pushed across the fabric. Rather it should be lifted up and placed in the new spot. This prevents the iron pushing the wool out of shape. My fabric is fairly loosely woven and could easily be stretched. That would make matching the pattern more difficult. 

   I leave it out to dry completely. This is a  process and is cheaper than dry cleaning and gentler, I think, than a ride in the dryer. 

Sewing for dollies ( and a little for me)

After a battle with the elastic waist I finished the Ottobre design pants. They came out very well. No photos. 

Sewed another doll outfit. Someone bought one of the Christmas ones. 

Here is the baby outfit. I used as mocking embroidery pattern to embellish the top. 

Had help from the cats. Just a little jealous 

Successful sewing for Sasha

I have been working on launching a new outfit or piece of clothing in my Etsy store each week. Last week was a baby outfit. Today it was a copy of the classic red duffle coat. I used a heavy cotton twill and lined the hood with contrasting stripes.  I left the body of the coat unlined like the original. I did clean finish all the raw edges. 

The buttons are a bit oversized but, once again, it's true to the original. 

I am very please with how smart this coat is. There was quite a bit of sewing for such a small garment. It's great for sharpening your sewing skills because the seam allowances are small and the top stitching is very close to the edge. 

1 molar sodium chloride day

In the lab there are days where early on nothing goes right. Rather than waste valuable experimental material I would put all the important stuff aside and make 1 M NaCl solution. Basically things you can't screw up and if you do the cost is small. The lab can always use the simple solutions so I was not wasting my time. 

Today was that day in the sewing room. Shoulda walked away but I tried to fight through it. Now I hate my elastic waist band.