Readers, My test garment is underway. Here are the headlines: Patch pockets have been lined and edgestitched to the fronts. Fronts have been sewn to the back. The under collar has been sewn to the neckline. I sewed the darts and seams in the sleeve. They’re ready to be sewn to the jacket. Sigh. What […]
Project: Butterick 5542 (1930s), Jacket, part 1
Readers, The inspiration: blue and white Art Deco-era buttons, souvenirs from a little antique shop in Edinburgh. Combine with a crisp blue and white linen to serve as the perfect background, and a smart 1930s jacket pattern. Add summer. Result: splendid, I hope. I’m diving right into another sewing project: a jacket from the 1930s, […]
Project: McCall’s 8814, Coat (1952), part 5
Readers, I finished this coat this morning and took it out for its maiden voyage this afternoon. It performed admirably. I’m happy with the way it turned out, especially since this was only the first time I’d sewn this pattern. I’ll eventually post professionally taken photos of the coat itself and of me wearing it […]
Project: McCall’s 8814, Coat (1952), part 4
Readers, I spent a productive Sunday and part of today making lots of progress since my last post, as you can see. I now have two units: the coat unit and the lining unit. I slid the lining unit inside the coat to give you (and me) a sense of what the finished coat will […]
Project: McCall’s 8814, Coat (1952), part 3
Readers, A lot of my sewing projects seem to be like a Chinese stir-fry recipe. Most of the work feels like prep before you even get to the main activity: the cooking, or, in this case, the sewing. So interfacing the fronts and backs was prep, not worthy of photographing, but necessary to the final […]
Project: McCall’s 8814, Coat (1952), part 2
Readers, Sewing is knowledge work. Don’t leave anyone with the wrong impression that sewing is just about stitching things together. Sewing involves a lot–a lot–of decisionmaking. I thought this yesterday as I pondered interfacings for my coat. There’s only so much advice in sewing books and magazines that I can follow without further reflection. I […]
Project: McCall’s 8814, Coat (1952), part 1
Readers, I’ve pulled a 1952 coat pattern I want to make up as a raincoat for spring and summer. But first, as is the practice at Getting Things Sewn, I’m making a wearable test. (I just caught myself thinking “bearable test.” That too.) What’s a wearable test? I learned this from Edith, my sewing teacher. […]