My trip to the west coast was fantastic. It was just the tonic that this winter-worn man needed. Birds singing, flowers blooming, sunshine, PLUS the chance to hang out with my amazingly talented and beautiful daughter. My coat proved to be very travel worthy. I wore it on the plane both coming and going, and [...]
Blog posts
Banging out a shirt. — and, what’s with buttons?
Sorry, no photo shoot of the new jacket yet. I'm headed to the west coast in a couple of days to meet up with the fabulously talented headmistress of the Foster Monster's Orphanage. While she's not busy disciplining her unruly gang of monsters, I'm hoping she'll agree to be my photographer. Plus it will actually [...]
Tailoring Geekery … Conclusion
Moving forward, it's time to attach the lining to the jacket. Unfortunately, I don't have many photos of this process. I was so focused on the sewing that I totally forgot about the camera! In all honesty I was dreading this step, but it ended up being much easier than I anticipated. After placing the [...]
Wrestling Match
Things moved ahead so smoothly with the lining that I completely forgot about inserting the shoulder pads. Oh man, what an ordeal. Not that this is a particularly difficult process, it's just that there suddenly seems to be a lot of jumbled fabric sitting in one's lap. It starts to turn into a wrestling match. [...]
A Lazy Man’s Lining
With the sleeves set it's time to turn my attention to the lining. This is where I start to part ways with the Cabrera book. I think we should all feel free to pick and choose the techniques that work for us and meet our needs. Personally, I find linings difficult. Mostly because the (insert [...]
Sleeves
Welcome back. This post is all about the sleeves. Again, it's not a tutorial, just an overview of the process. For us sewists there's a great deal of satisfaction to be had by a well set sleeve. Am I right? Do you find yourself looking at the sleeves on couture garments on Style.com? I do. [...]
Sit by a window, listen to some music….stitch
The next step in the process is to tape the edges of the jacket and reinforce the vents. It's all about handsewing, which I happen to enjoy, probably more than I'm supposed to. I find it very enjoyable. Not only is it satisfying, I also love the fact that I'm participating in an activity, a [...]
Working on the jacket fronts
Today I finally had time to tackle the jacket fronts. I'm making this jacket out of a raw silk patchwork fabric. As much as I like the look of it, it's proving to be a challenge to work with. It's very loosely woven with flaws and slubs everywhere. Not to mention that it frays and [...]
The Revised Muslin (the male bust adjustment?)
Readers, I've completed the adjustments to my muslin. It's not pretty, but at least I have the satisfaction of knowing that what I thought would work ... will! So here's muslin #2 I added an additional 1/2" to each side of the neck opening as planned. Gone is the gap between the edge of my [...]
The Blizzard Fitting
Readers, today I'm hunkered down in the middle of a huge nor'easter. Thankfully I still have power and heat. With nothing more than shoveling and snowblowing facing me, it's a good day to try on and evaluate the Spring jacket muslin. So here goes.... All things considered, not too shabby. Goodness knows, I've started out [...]
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