Readers, Back with another episode of jacket-making using the Smart Tailoring with Kenneth King DVD set. I made the undercollar. I braced myself for this segment, because it seemed like the “old-schoolest” of the old school techniques. Collar felt! Pad stitching! Pressing! Pad stitching! Steaming and shaping! Pad stitching! However, once again Kenneth demystified the […]
Installing the Lining: Old School
Readers, The body of my 1941 McCall “Misses’ Mannish Jacket” is now lined, using the “old school” method in Kenneth King’s Smart Tailoring DVD set. No machine work in this segment, and, I know this threatens to get repetitive, but I continue to like the hand stitching. With hand stitching I have the option of […]
Preparing the Lining Unit, Old School
Readers, The lining for my jacket is done. I followed the “old school” method Kenneth King demonstrates in his Smart Tailoring DVD set. This is different from any lining I’ve done before. This lining is flat–not joined at the shoulders yet. The sleeve linings are separate from the body. Before cutting my lining pieces I […]
Side Seams, Hem, and Vent: Old School
Readers, Here is my 1941 McCall “mannish jacket” today, as I continue to follow Kenneth King’s Smart Tailoring DVD set’s “old school” methods: It will take longer to describe what I did than it took to do the actual work. I finally got to sew the back to the fronts. Yay! Kenneth demonstrates steam-pressing and […]
Installing the Lapels: Old School
Readers, Yesterday I sewed the facings to my jacket fronts, in my Smart Tailoring with Kenneth King project. I had fun with the process and like the results. Here’s what Kenneth covered in the lapel, old school segment of this DVD set. To prepare the facing, you mark the stitching line along the top from […]
Setting the Roll Line: Old School, Part 2
Readers, I had a little more to do to finish Kenneth King’s segment, “Set the Roll Line,” in Smart Tailoring, and I did that today. Here is one of the jacket fronts now. Three-eighths inch-wide double-fold bias tape, with one fold pressed open, is basted to the edge of the canvas from the bottom to […]
Field Trip: The Alley Vintage and Costume, Columbus, Ohio
Readers, What do you get when a master costumer in the International Costumers’ Guild and her professional makeup artist husband open a store following 30 years in the theater costume business? Why, you get The Alley Vintage and Costume, where the motto is “You Are Never Too Old To Play Dress Up.” I spent a […]