the poppy jacket is finished!

The poppy jacket is finally DONE! You can read my PR review here.

Here is the finished product:

Here is the inside of the jacket:
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I'm glad this beast is finally done, now I can focus on the other projects I have planned!

Read all posts on this project here.

poppy jacket #1

I *finally* found time to finish the muslin of Simplicity 4698. Ok, so I didn't do as complete a muslin as I should have - but I was so dumb for thinking that I could just cut out the 22 and alter it down from there. After taking in almost 3" in the back, I decided to tear it apart, cut it at a size 18 and start over. What was fascinating to me was that the straight size 18 fit pretty darn perfectly (with the exception of my 1-1/2" length alteration). I decided not to worry too much about other alterations and just go for it - especially after seeing that JoAnn's has two more bolts of the fabric in stock. I've been too busy working on the jacket to download the pictures to post, but I'll rundown the changes I have made (or have planned):

Fit alterations:
The only fitting changes I made was to add 1-1/2" to the length

Other changes:
Sleeves - Instead of the long sleeve or 3/4 sleeve options, I decided to use a short, cuffed sleeve from a shrug jacket pattern I already had in my stash. It was a one-piece sleeve. The gathered cap and bottom looked cute on my muslin fabric, but I think the twill may be a bit heavy for the look, so I may just pleat the cap and bottom to get the same fullness without puckery-looking gathers.

Closure - I awoke from a deep sleep several nights ago with the idea of having a buckle/belt closure for a jacket (the original idea stemmed from this great piece of black velveteen I've had in the stash for a couple of years). Since the poppy fabric was relatively inexpensive ($5/yd), I decided to test out the idea on this jacket. It should work well since I am making View E, which is the single-button front. I will attach the belt to the side seams, have a pair of belt-loops on each side to keep the belt from flopping about.

Embellishment - Since the fabric is quite busy (and impossible to match the pattern without several additional yards of fabric) I thought it might make be a nice touch to bind the edges. I opted for a white bias binding (I was originally going to use a white twill, but it was too heavy, and white satin was too shiny and transparent - so I just went with the pre-made stuff). I edged the belt in a narrow binding and the jacket will be done in a slightly wider binding.

Finishing - Because I decided not to line it at all (just using a high thread-count white sateen cotton for the facings to keep a clean look), I used a modified Hong Kong finish completely binding the seams. The front princess seams were heavily clipped, so I pressed those towards the center front and am going to enclose those in the facing instead of binding them. I also think I'll make the center-front seam just a bit larger than usual to ensure that the front pieces meet in the center rather than overlap. I would ordinarily cut off the extra allowance first, but because I'm experimenting I wanted to make sure I wouldn't change my mind and have to go to the store and buy more fabric to start over.

There are some things that I would do differently next time, but those will be saved for the next - and probably final - post on this jacket.

Read all posts on this project here.

re-learning to fit patterns

It has been AGES since I've had to really fit a pattern. I had a nice TNT method that worked well for most patterns (assuming they went up to a size 22). I would make a FBA, add a half inch to the length of the shoulder and an inch to the width of sleeves for two or three-piece sleeve patterns, increase the overall length by an inch and a half and in non one-piece sleeve patterns I would widen the upper arm portion. Some patterns I've never had to modify for size at all (such as my wedding dress, although plenty of other modifications were made). I've lost 50lbs since October and am finding now that I have to make totally different types of alterations. I've been working on the Simplicity 4698 jacket and even though I've made this jacket numerous times, now that I've gone from a RTW 22 to a 14, I decided to make a muslin.

Well, my muslin attempt didn't get too far off the ground because I was having a heck of a time making a decision on the size to start with. I don't really think I'll have to make ANY modifications and I can probably get away with a size 14 or 16, but I traced off the pattern in a 22 to be on the safe side. The only modifications I made to the original sizing was adding overall length to the front and back. I didn't make any width modifications to anything. I don't know what my deal is, but I just can't seem to come to terms with the fact that I'm not as big as I used to be.

I was hoping the muslin would actually be cut out today, but that's not going to happen as I realized I have a paper due in a week that I haven't actually started. Let me tell you, it was so difficult to get away from the cutting table to work on that paper. Fortunately, the paper is almost done and I can hopefully have the muslin cut out and the first fit done before the end of the week.

My re-fitting of this TNT pattern is this:
1. Cut out and sew together the size 22 muslin
2. Make whatever fitting adjustments need to be made to the jacket front and back only (I'm not worry about sleeves right now because I'm still deciding what kind of sleeves I want)
3. Once I get the fit perfected, I'll figure out the sleeves and get them perfected in the same way (I may need to draft a new sleeve altogether)
4. Mark the muslin and re-trace my pattern pieces. This will also help me definitively decide what size to make in the future :)
5. Cut out my stretch twill poppy fabric and make my first summer jacket!

I still have 25-30 more pounds to lose, but I think if I make this jacket just a little bit more snug than usual, I won't have to take it in too much when I get to my goal weight.

Read all posts on this project here.