Readers, This morning, May 2, I put on a spring green cashmere sweater, a wool tweed jacket I made from a 1941 pattern with dark blue-green threads running through it, chocolate brown pants, my duck’s egg blue belted topper made from a 1950 pattern, and vintage 1950s French cherry red rain shoes. I was doing […]
Project: Vogue 2461 (1990): Calvin Klein anorak, part 1
Readers, I didn’t know till five minutes ago that I knew any words from Greenlandic Eskimo: anorak. All I know is I really could use a new jacket of the outerwear variety for running errands, traipsing around the local lakes on walks, and taking on trips. It must be durable, washable, and have a little […]
Shirts: Best Feet Forward
Readers, I’ve been watching segments of David Page Coffin’s Shirtmaking Techniques DVD and practicing using the two specialty presser feet Coffin says are essential for professional-looking results: the rolled hem foot and the flat fell foot. The rolled hem foot came with my machine, which I bought in 1986. Years ago I tried using that […]
Shirts
Readers, I’ve made so many shirts in my home-sewing career, I’ve lost count. Say a couple dozen for Jack and half a dozen for myself. There’s no other item in my sewing repertoire I refer to in dozens. For ROI in sewing time and money, the shirts I make for Jack get the prize. I’ve […]
Clean Finish
Readers, Finishing two tailoring projects–a coat and a jacket–in (for me) rapid succession has gotten me thinking about finishing. What is finishing, anyway? Until I began examining everything I do for Getting Things Sewn, finishing was this: Stitching the last stitch in my project. Pulling out tailor tacks and other stray threads. Giving the garment a […]
Project: Butterick 5542 (1930s), Jacket, part 8
Readers, I finished my linen jacket today. Overall I’m really satisfied with how it turned out, especially since this was the first time I’d made up this pattern. What worked well? The fit. This jacket really does feel like it was made for me. I like the length, the sleeve length, the fit in the […]
Backstage at the Goldstein: Seymour Fox suit, 1955-’59
Readers, I volunteer one morning a week for the Goldstein Museum of Design, on the St. Paul campus of the University of Minnesota. Not at the museum itself, mind you, but backstage, in the offices. I’m working my way gradually through 2700 donor files, and am in the F’s now. Readers, don’t tell the Goldstein staff, […]