Look What Came Home With Me Yesterday

This is called a "pattern card." It has a line drawing of the garment and lists all of the pattern pieces by number and how many pieces should be cut from the fabric, lining, interfacing, etc. As you can see from the scratch-outs, I should have used a pencil to write down the information! There are A LOT of pattern pieces connected to this garment!

The first meeting of the advanced sewing class was yesterday.  The class meets each Friday for 6 1/2 hours.  And it is expected that we will be able to move fast! That said, we will be working on our tailored jacket for nine weeks. Our task for yesterday was trace off the manila pattern and cut the pieces out.  Until, that is, we found out that our planned field trip to the garment district for today, Saturday, was scrubbed because our source for the wool is closed this weekend for the Labor Day holiday.  Mrs. Poteet told us that we could go get our fabric if we wanted.  Soooooo, my friend Alex and I hopped into his car and rushed down to the garment district two hours before everything shut down.

Jacket Fabric and Notions (and Samples*)

• 2 1/2 yards of 100% wool (note from prof: “The best choice is a wool flannel–easiest and most successful = higher grade”)
• 1 yard fusible weft insertion interfacing
• 1 1/2 yards tricot knit fusible for upper collar, front facing, and samples.
• 2 yards tailor’s edge tape for the roll line, shoulders, and underarm (try to get 1/4″ wide)
• 2 yards 45″ wide lining.  Bemberg ® rayon is the best choice for lining fabric; silk fabric may also be used.  Acetate and polyester should be avoided.
• Shoulder pads–Model TTF
• Sleeve heads
• All purpose thread
• Silk thread
• Three 3/4-7/8″ buttons
• Seam roll
• Ham
• 1 package of hem lace (non-fusible) in a color that matches fabric
• 1 package narrow double fold bias tape –1/4″ wide
• 1 package Seams Great ® tricot binding
• 1/2 yard Bastiste or other lightweight cotton for back stay in color that matches fabric
• 1/4″ Steam a Seam fusible tape

*In addition to our jacket, we have to create samples of various techniques, such as making welt pockets, using a page size square of our fabric .  These are put into our notebooks and graded.

What Came Home With Me Yesterday

Our first stop was B. Black and Sons Fabrics for the wool because they gave us a 25% student discount. I knew exactly what I wanted: the same royal blue wool flannel that Mrs. Poteet had brought to class as a sample wool.  I haven’t seen a beautiful blue wool like this since I moved from the east coast.   Fortunately they still had some, so I snagged it.

Royal blue 100% wool flannel and Bemberg® rayon lining

While Alex was looking for a tweed he liked, I looked at the wool crepes.  I love crepe.  I love it!  I can blame Caroline (from Diary of a Sewing Fanatic fame) for getting me hooked on it.  She knew just where to buy it in every color of the rainbow for dirt cheap in NYC’s garment district.  I like crepe because it is a high-twist yarn which means that it is like a whole bunch of thread springs woven together to create the fabric.  It has a nice drape and is more forgiving when having to travel.  Finally, it is lightweight enough that it can be worn here in California for most of the year.

100% wool crepe and Bemberg ® rayon lining

My husband and classmates are trying to get me out of the “black clothing” rut I’ve been in for a very long time.  Part of the reason I’ve relied on black is because my favorite colors haven’t really been available in the ready-to-wear world for a very long time.  So, I avoided the impulse to buy black crepe and Alex gave his nod of approval for an icey-pale-lilac shade (and, according to Vogue Patterns, icey shades are “in vogue” this fall).  As the clerk was rolling out the fabric, I noticed that the tag said to watch for dirt.  So I did.  The dirt was on the outside along the fold–it looked like the bolt had been put down somewhere it shouldn’t have been put.  As a result, he gave it to me for 1/2 price.  I just took it out of the washer and the dirt is gone!

We also bought the fusible weft, tailor’s edge tape, the shoulder pads (these aren’t like the ones you buy at JoAnn’s!), sleeve heads, and Gutterman all-purpose thread.

Shoulder pads and sleeve heads in the foreground; the black fabric is the "weft" interfacing

Our next stop was Michael Levine so that Alex could get some canvas to support the bodice of a wedding gown that he is making and we wanted to get the batiste for our jackets.  This store is “the store” that home sewers feel the most comfortable going into their first time visiting the garment district.  There isn’t any haggling but everyone I’ve encountered has been very helpful AND they are open on Sundays when the district isn’t quite so crazy.  They didn’t have any batiste so we bought some Kona quilting cotton.

Our last stop was IDS International Design Supplies (they seem to be having trouble with their website right now but I want to provide the link for when it is working again).  IDS International had been visiting our classes all week and dropping off fliers offering great prices on design tools.  Alex needed a new portfolio and I needed a Vary Form hip curve ruler and we both needed more glass head pins.  The women who run the shop remembered us from their visits and offered to sell a “rabbit punch” to me at cost.  I wasn’t going to pass up that opportunity!

The Kona cotton, pins, vary form, and rabbit punch

What the heck is a rabbit punch???? The easiest way to organize your pattern pieces, pattern card, spec sheet, etc. for a garment is to hang them on a pattern hook.  The rabbit punch is like a hole punch that creates nice big holes that enable you to hang the patterns and paperwork on the hook.  When buying one, always go for the cast metal one.  They are often the same price as the plastic ones but will last forever.

Pattern hook; this enables me to store all of the patterns I've made for my classes in the closet in my home office

Another view of the rabbit punch

What I Still Need to Buy

Aside from the various packaged tapes I can buy at JoAnn’s, I still need to find very fine silk thread (used for basting) and…

Seam roll (I’ve been faking it with a rolled up towel):

Tailor’s ham (mine has disappeared):

Clapper/point presser combination:

These tools are pressing tools.  The school has them but since we’ll be doing a lot of our sewing at home, I don’t want to do a half-baked job on the project just because I don’t have the right tools.

So, there you have it!  That’s what followed me home yesterday!