This will be a difficult post to write. How do I sum up the experience of a lifetime? I've been back home in Maine for about three weeks, and it already feels like it never really happened. How did it all go by so quickly? From the witty border patrol agent who welcomed me to [...]
Hard to believe, but the wedding has come and gone. I finished the coat with plenty of time to spare. Thanks to my daughter for helping with the photo shoot. The location is the lovely Juniper Hill Inn in Ogunquit, Maine. I truly enjoyed wearing this jacket. All the other men at the wedding [...]
Before setting the sleeves a 3/4" strip of pocketing is pressed into a curve and then basted into the armscye to prevent stretching. I then gathered the top of the sleeve between the notches with a long machine basting stitch. Mr Cabrera doesn't do this. Instead he bastes the sleeve into the armscye stating "Do [...]
The patterns for the sleeve lining are easily made by tracing. Extra fabric is added at the vent and at the sleeve head. My tailors chalk from B Black and Sons makes this very easy to do. Knowing how much I hate working with lining material, the quicker and easier this job can be done [...]
Since my last post, the better part of a day was spent sewing the lining into the jacket body. There will be some detail shots later, but the process isn't really worth belaboring. I'm just glad it's done. The next step is sewing and setting the sleeves. At this point Mr. Cabrera has one [...]
This post is all about "collar insanity". I never dreamed the collar would be completely handsewn and created "on the fly". Here goes. Hold on. Only the undercollar pattern is used. The seam allowances are trimmed off and a piece of bias cut French canvas is attached to one side. I used a fusible from [...]
I've regained my composure after the lining fiasco, and I'm soldiering on. Getting out the Swedish tracing paper is where I should have started in the first place. I've laid it over the jacket front and drawn a new pattern. I actually went back to my old "gal pal", Edna Bishop to do this. The [...]
I'm sure no one is crazy enough to be sewing along with me, but if you have the Cabrera book there is a huge error (or at least an area of potential confusion) on page 117! BEWARE! This is the beginning page of "The Lining". Of course he has you toss out any patterns you [...]
We all know the feeling. You're dutifully following the instructions and then things start to get a little crazy. The coat fronts are moving along nicely, and then Mr. Cabrera tells me to throw out the facing pattern that comes with the pattern, and just wing my own. Oh man, this is the slippery slope. [...]
OK, moving along. The next step is to pad stitch the lapel area. I was really dreading this for some reason, but it wasn't difficult at all. I think all the practice on the plastron paid off. The pad stitching begins along the roll line in parallel lines. This time, however, the pick stitches will [...]
Mainelymenswear 