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!

Betty Draper’s white dress intrigues me because I love pleated skirts and the buttons that partially go down one side of the bodice.  I’ve been trying to figure out how to adapt it for Southern California fall where it stays warm clear to Thanksgiving (and beyond) but I don’t want a sleeveless look.

Simplicity’s 4399 might do the trick!  Although Betty’s is not a true wrap around, this pattern could be adapted the following ways to evoke the white dress without actually replicating it:

• Use View 1 bodice and sleeves
• Use View 2 skirt but pleat it instead of gathering it.  Debating about whether to keep the flat panel and wrap around or to simply eliminate the wrap around and put a zipper into the side seam.  The flat panel would masquerade stomach pooch that might be emphasized by pleats sticking out where they shouldn’t be.

Image courtesy of Out of the Ashes Collectibles

The second ensemble is a Hitchcock Blonde suit and easy to replicate.  Oh how I wish I were a Hitchcock Blonde!  But only for the fabulous wardrobe, not all of the trouble that besets them.

We only get the gist of it but I’m guessing that it is in the mode of a Jackie O dress/suit.  There are a lot of Jackie O style dress and suit patterns available but most of them do not have a collar.  However, Simplicity 5383 not only can be adapted for our use, but it also has a vintage Chanel attitude about it (Betty’s wardrobe seems to be moving in that direction), too.  To adapt this pattern, simply scallop the front closing and collar.  Interestingly, when I was looking through a mid-40′s Butterick pattern book, there were a lot of dresses that had that scalloped look.  I think it is a great way to add interest to a rather simply silhouette, don’t you?

Image courtesy of Out of the Ashes Collectibles

What do you think?

As I’ve been sewing for Joan-the-dress-form, I’ve been thinking about the projects I would like to complete over the summer.  I have to temper my ideas by the reality that I will be needing to help a sick family member but I think the following is doable:

My mother’s 2009 Christmas present using Simplicity 3935.  She lives out in the desert and it can get pretty chilly out there (and, yes, it even snows on occasion) so she asked me to make some flannel pajamas for her.

A dress or two for Alice using a reproduction Simplicity ’52 vintage pattern (#2900).

A basic block/sloper for me so that I can have the foundation for making garments for me (plus, I just want to practice the concept since I’ll be having to make more slopers next semester)

A pair of slacks using either Claire Shaeffer’s  Vogue 7881 “custom couture” collection pattern, or Simplicity’s “Amazing Fit” patterns (2700 or 2860).  I will be making a pair of jeans next semester for Joan-the-bifurcated-dress-form but I have such a hard time finding any pants that fit me that I’d like to wear something other than the one pair of black “mom jeans” that I own.  We’ll see how the summer goes.

And somewhere in there, I need to make some new pajamas for myself!

What about you?  Do you have a sewing dream list for the summer?

My prof is also a vintage fashion fan and she gave me the nod to recreate the look of a vintage pattern.  In fact, she loaned me her prized 1947 Butterick pattern catalog for me to look through for ideas!  Again, I refrained from hugging her on the spot.

For our final project proposal, we had to submit 10 “flat drawings” (they look like the line drawings on the back of the pattern envelope) to her along with fabric swatches.  She also said we could include photos/photocopies of the “inspiration garment,” if we wanted. As I was looking through her vintage Butterick catalog and my pattern stash, I tried to keep in mind that I’d only really have a couple of weeks to devote to the project.  We are about to start our next class project and then the final three weeks of class are set aside for our final projects (we still have SEVEN weeks of school left!  It goes on forever!).

I have owned the Simplicity 3874 “Jackie O” inspired dress for several years.  Despite my desire to create View 1  (the green one, on the left, in the photo), I also knew that it would take a lot of resizing to make it fit.  It is a basic princess-seamed sheath with in-seam pockets in the skirt and gathering on the side-front panel.  I included it with my proposal.

I showed the sketch and the “inspiration” (photocopy of the envelope) to her and told her it was the one I really wanted to do.  She said it was completely doable and didn’t even need to look at the other sketches.  Again, I refrained from hugging her.   She wasn’t too keen on my fabric selection, though, because it was a bit too drapey (my swatch was a poly almost-silky woven).   She suggested something more substantial.  I suggested a linen weave.  She agreed and suggested a navy linen would look great with white detailing.

And so it is that I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief  after class tonight and bought my navy linen while I was at JoAnn’s buying some muslin today.

Why I harp on the importance of a basic block:

• I will be able to simply trace off my basic bodice back.  No changes.
• I will need to create the princess seamed front bodice
• I will be able to trace off my basic sleeve.  Only change is to shorten it.
• I will be able to trace off my basic skirt back.  Only change will be to slash and spread at the waist to create the gathers (although I may just be able to change the darts to gathers)
• I will be able to trace off my basic skirt front.  I will need to slash the skirt front to make a center front and two side front panels.  The side front will need to be slashed and spread at the waistline for the gathers.
• Need to make a pocket pattern.
• Need to make a belt pattern.

And that, my friends, is my final project, in a nutshell.

Remember this blouse?  It is Butterick 5365 and I started it last summer when we had a  Sewing Circle “camp shirt” sew along last summer (don’t forget that we’ve moved the Sewing Circle to Facebook).  Since then, it seems like I’ve sewn for class and for Baby Alice but have not “made the pocket of time” to sew for me.  And now that spring has arrived, I really wanted to finish this blouse.  All it needed was the buttonholes and buttons sewn in.

So, in that 30 minutes, I set up the Viking, made a couple of practice buttonholes and then went at it.  Thirty minutes later, I had seven beautiful buttonholes.  And a huge weight was lifted off of my shoulders.  Something I had been avoiding was taken care of within a mere 30 minutes!

Although the Viking has the capability of sewing on buttons, too, I think I’ll sew them on the next time we’re watching a movie.  There is just something soothing about sewing buttons onto a garment.  It is like the finishing touch, don’t you think?!

On the Docket:

Aside from the sewing I have to do for my flat pattern making class, I need to finish up a couple of Christmas presents….from last Christmas (sewing for Alice just threw everything off…but it was worth it)!

I’ve decided it is time to go semi-glam in my nighttime attire.  I’ll eventually work up to totally glam, but I think this is an ideal first step.  And, speaking of steps, I’m thinking I should ask for marabou slippers for Christmas.  What do you think?

I prefer the regular ol’ style of pajamas but I want them in a silky fabric.  I don’t do flannel anymore.  I used to wear flannel because I’m always so cold and I love how snuggly flannel is but then we started using flannel sheets in the winter and all I can say is “flannelgraph.”  The solution is to wear flannel backed satin.  Glam on the outside, snuggly on the inside.

I’m debating whether to just by some the flannel backed satin from JoAnn’s (and use my 50% coupon) or to buy the kasha lining from MacPhee Workshop.  When the dollar was stronger, it was a no-brainer.  I could order the lining for what seemed like dirt cheap, even with the shipping.  But here’s the rub: The kasha lining is such a better quality than the JoAnn’s that I will probably be disappointed with the outcome.  But, the kashi will be $135 CAD + shipping because I’ll need to order 9 meters.

I think I’ll run down to the garment district next weekend and see what is available at Michael Levine.

Anyway, here are the two patterns I will be using:

Butterick 6837, view C, F for the pajamas

And Butterick 5152, View B for the robe