The Waistband

For this waistband I tried something a bit different.  

Since I already had hair canvas out for the jacket, I cut a piece the width of the finished waistband and applied it to a strip of organza.

That was then basted to the waistband.

A set of permanent stitches keep the organza in place at the fold line.

The inner edge was then pressed under.

Next, the waistband was pinned to the skirt.

And hand basted into place.

Two lengths of ribbon were stitched to both side seams.  Then the only thing left was to fold and hand stitch the waistband in place.

I am going to leave the hem alone until the jacket is finished and I can figure out proportions.  But this piece is finished for now!

Crazy Collars

I love a great collar.  And this suit definitely has one!

The main reason I decided to go all in with the tailoring on this jacket is that very collar.  The mid-weight cotton has quite a bit of drape and not enough structure to keep the proper shape.  Hair canvas seemed like a good bet.

The upper portion of the collar is underlined with silk organza, and the under collar with hair canvas.  I knew the under collar needed to be pad-stitched.  The question was, what to do about all of those darts.

I wanted a lot of body through the collar, but not the bulk that multiple layers of hair canvas would give.

The stitching lines are traced on the hair canvas and organza.  The underlinings are then basted to the cotton along those traced lines.

The darts are removed from the hair canvas, and those cut edges get catch-stitched to the cotton.

Next, the darts are pinned and basted.

And then they are finally stitched!

Once they are pressed, the darts are catch-stitched in place.  (The darts are balanced by pressing the under collar ones in the opposite direction to the upper collar ones.)

The same goes for the silk organza, although none of that gets cut away.

Which leaves me with this . . .

And it looks like the hair canvas is doing a fine job of shaping!

I am going to need to count the number of darts on this project because I think it may be an all time record for me!

A Suit Skirt

I decided to start with the skirt for this project.  There is a lot of tailoring to do on the jacket, so I decided to ease myself in.

The skirt is underlined with cotton instead of silk organza.

Because I am using a very textured cotton that easily hides small hand stitches, I decided to stitch the fabric layers together where they might separate just outside the darts.  This is probably overkill, but I thought I would try it out and see if the extra work makes a difference.

Speaking of darts . . . there are ten darts in this skirt - add the lining, and that brings the total to twenty.  And that is just the skirt!

After I cut out my skirt pieces, I suddenly realized the fabric had more give than I was expecting and I was worried about the seat bagging out during wear.  

Instead of cutting a duplicate piece in organza, I cut a shortened version of the skirt back piece that covers the the portion that might stretch out during wear.  I think that should do the trick!

Other than that, the construction is pretty self explanatory.  Straight skirts are pretty straight forward!

The zipper is a hand-picked, lapped application.

I am waiting to cut my jacket pieces out before I deal with the waistband and hemline, so this skirt will be set aside for a bit while I spend some time with my bodice pieces.  But it's a start!

Mock-ups & Muslins

Time for a new project!!  I knew (or expected) that I was going to need to take this pattern in a bit, so a muslin was my first step.

The natural waistline is marked on the pattern tissue and is miraculously in the correct place (the seamline that bisects the jacket sits high on the torso).  So while the shoulders, sleeves, and overall width of the jacket is too large, the torso length fits me perfectly!  Go figure . . .

I think I am most excited about the collar on this suit - I have never seen anything like it.  It may end up looking silly, but at the moment, I think it's fabulous.

What surprised me was how much I needed to take in the skirt.

One thing I will say about making skirt muslins . . . take the extra time to baste a zipper in – it is so much easier than fighting with pins and wondering what the garment will really look like when the opening is properly closed.

I purchased a large bag of zippers years ago which included some heavy duty ones that I will never have a use for in any finished garment I ever plan to make, but they are super easy to use on a muslin.

And so my sewing adventures continue . . .

Sewing Friends are the Greatest!

Not too long ago, I pinned this image of a lovely vintage suit pattern (aren't Advance Import Designs awesome!?!).  Soon after, Peter mentioned that he happened to have a copy of the pattern, and would I like to borrow it?

Why yes, I certainly would!!

So not only is the pattern here via New York City, so is my fabric.  Last summer I picked up this textured cotton at Paron Fabrics during Male Pattern Boldness Day with no real idea of what I would do with it.  Who could have known that it was destined to be this 1960s suit - all thanks to Mr. Male Pattern Boldness himself!

This is going to be my next big project.  I am ready to jump into something involved, and this is it.  "Mushroom collar" here I come!