Jacket Reveal + Give me Liberty or Give Me Shaukat

My new Marcie Tilton Vogue jacket went to London last week. It was a perfect travel companion. I kind of felt like the Union Jack with the blue pants and the white print shirt.

Taken at Windsor Castle

I'm thoroughly chuffed ( a bit if Brit slang) with the topstitching but unfortunately red is a pistol to photograph and red on red detail even harder. The seaming on this pattern is so cool. See previous post.

The fabric is a wool knit from Italy that looks and feels great. The jacket is unlined and is like wearing a fancy sweater.  The weight of it was just right for the weather while we were in London.

I wore it at least 3 times in the six days we were there. AND in other sewing related aspects of the trip we visited Liberty of London for the fabrics. The store itself is worth the walk from Harrod's where EVERYBODY goes and no one can afford a thing but a souvenir bag and some candy.

     It looks medieval but was actually built in the 1920's by a man named Arthur Lasenby Liberty from timbers of two old ships.

                                        This is the third floor fabric department

Looking down through the atrium. Only spent time in the fabrics and purchased 1 meter of 3 different fabrics:

 because...

http://www.shaukat.co.uk

            Visit the link and get a panoramic view of two floors of this fabulous find for fabric.

Visit Liberty's store but come HERE to buy. The prices were about 1/3 less if my conversion from pounds to dollars is anywhere near correct. AND the selection goes on and on and you can purchase online if the shipping doesn't bother you. Most of what I purchased will end up in my Etsy shop after it is transformed into some sort of useful goody.

Left Shaukat with:

Twill that will become handbags & totes

Lovely to look at and even better to touch

This cotton duck  picked up at Cath Kidston. A great store of fun pretties.

Watch for more about London here and on my other blog as I recover from the jet lag.

Another Tilton Comes to Life - Marcie This Time

FINALLY, I am going to cut into the beautiful wool knit that I bought in Italy last fall.  For the first time I made a muslin (see previous post). So perhaps I was over confident in cutting and not concentrating and did a really stupid thing. 

 First, I completely forgot to cut out the facing pieces since they were not needed in my muslin that was strictly for fitting my shoulders. Then when I cut them I really CUT one in half. AM I BLIND? Place on the fold seems pretty clearly marked.

 There is not enough fabric to recut so it is new machine to the rescue.  Here is the touchscreen showing my stitch choice. I butted the pics together with a bit of added interfacing (a black tricot)

It came out really strong and looks remarkably good especially since it will be on the inside of the jacket.

For the first time I used the buttonholer for this machine. The pattern calls for a 1and 1/8 inch button and the attachment only accommodates a one inch button but I just opened the thing to its fullest and made lots of practice buttonholes. Due to the stretch of the fabric, the button goes through perfectly.

 With it buttoned it looks pretty good BUT....

                               Unbuttoned, not so much. Very wavy. More interfacing?

                 And, the black interfacing shows on the edges even though I did stitch it twice around.

           My reason for choosing this pattern is the interesting seaming on the back and sides.

               
And I think I did a pretty nice job of topstitching using topstitching thread. Why is red  so hard for me to photograph?????

So where is the jacket in its entirety? You'll have to wait until I am able to photograph it in a perfect setting. Stop by in about a week from now for the unveiling.

Here is a hint.

Fabric Obsessions and Me Made Clothing Project

I found this fabric at Joann's the other day and it was even ON SALE! I don't sew a lot of clothing but  when I see something as great as this I can't resist.

IT'S REVERSIBLE! And dots and stripes together just really turn my sewing "hormones" on.

 I have made this pattern before but wasn't completely happy with it.  Then while poking around yesterday at my nearby outlet mall I came across this sweater.

I like the way it folds back more at the front drape than my previous pattern did.

SO, I bought it.





BUT, only for a while.  It's going back to where it cam from very soon.
















AFTER I pirate the front panel!

This is the pattern I'm using, sort of.  I'm a sucker for patterns that include
loads of pieces...especially when they go on sale.

 I took a large piece of the pants pattern which I don't intend to use and attached it to the original sweater pattern.

 I simply laid out the store-bought sweater front
over it and traced around it.  I know that a real expert would have been more particular about this but I have found knits to be pretty forgiving.

The thinner  part is the neck extension. I didn't like the way the original had you pleat up a bunch of fabric at the neck back.  This one is going to be
simpler and less bulky.

 Now see this sleeve? I would probably wear it
rolled like this because my arms are really short and even petites hang over my knuckles.









But look at it unrolled

There is a hole in the knit which could run AND that seam is not very nice either.


I had considered hanging onto it since the price wasn't terrible BUT, the fabric is...at least for me.

It's a rayon (60%) polyester (40%) blend which after having it on for only a short while produced a moist feeling.  I tend to "moistness" and prefer cottons and other natural fibers.




All afternoon was spent cutting this out.  It shouldn't be that hard but I bought 2 yard and was determined to get the top (view C)  out of this fabric as well.

Keep following me as I take a sewing journey and a real journey.  This top and sweater along with a pair of RTW pants in my closet are going to be my overnight flight to Italy outfit next month.  I am so excited.  After I return you may want to stop by my other blog to see how it all went.

Note:  I cannot start sewing on this until MONDAY when a replacement presser foot for my serger should arrive. My serger went CLUNK like Peter's of MPB so I referred back to how he handled it. NOT, the same problem but discovered that when the presser foot was removed NO CLUNK!

See that tiny little tooth-like thing in the opening of the foot. It's bent down a bit and apparently hits a moving part when operating.  I have no idea how I managed this and hope a new foot is the answer! I don't suppose all those skid marks should be there either.

Questions:
1. Do you buy RTW to copy and the return?
2. Have you ever managed to BEND a presser foot?

Sewing Small

Sunny days call for sunny colors.  I made this little sundress for my granddaughter mostly from very small pieces of fabric. I had plenty of the lollipop flower fabric (Cloud9 organic cotton) but the others were limited. They were fat quarters from Pink Castle Stash Club. 

Can you see the way I had to piece the border on the hem?  Most people won't because she rarely stands still. It was really hard to get her to consent to pose but I think she worked it like a pro once we got started.

This was created with no pattern. I just had some simple measurements. I did not have a fitting until a week or so after completion when she visited for a weekend. Turns out that the bodice was too wide and gapped terribly under the arms. I had not yet attached the straps so I took a tuck on each side of the back opening and covered them with the wide straps. The straps also had to be moved in slightly which was easy since I had only attached them at the front with buttons.

There is only one pocket because I wanted to use the tiny scrap of turquoise piping I had leftover from another project and it was only enough for one pocket. I like the touch of asymmetry.

The back opening got a little wonky and I need to sew down the side openings of those straps. Right now they are kind of like big belt loops.  I actually had these 3 orange buttons and the 2 turquoise flower buttons on hand. I picked them up on sale ages ago with no idea what I was going to do with them.  I just love these colors together and I may try to wear more of this combo myself.

                               Grandson was feeling left out so I had to make something for him.

This leftover monkey face knit with some flaws in it was the perfect thing for sleep shorts since he had come without any PJs.  They took 20 minutes from cutting to wearing. Without pattern, I just sketched with a Frixion pen on the wrong side of the fabric. The length was determined by the amount of fabric and I made them large so I could just trim them off on the serger. A piece of elastic in a follower top holds them up and they were declared "really comfy".

Hers were my first serger garment.  Neither of these is made from "approved" fabric. Every fabric I see has NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN'S SLEEPWEAR stamped on it.

Will I be arrested?

Serging Knits for Fun!

I knew I had to get into sewing with the knits I bought at Mood in NYC right away or I could see myself putting it off and then failing to ever do it.  I have no excuse because the new serger makes it so much easier.

I decided to use a very simple pattern.

I picked this pattern up at Joann Fabrics one day when the McCall's patterns were 5 for $7. I really hate paying anymore than $6 tops for a pattern and this one seemed a real bargain because it has 4 garments. The rolling bag is not included!

The Mood fabric is too precious to me to mess up so I got out some knit in white with black polka dots I had found on a Joann's bargain rack to use as my muslin. I NEVER make a muslin but this great because it is the same weight as my good stuff. I think it turned out great even though it has a few issues.

The instructions, I thought, were weird. This pattern is meant for knits but the instructions barely acknowledged that fact.  The parts that wrap around the neck are shown sewn with wrong sides together and then the seam opened flat, stitched down and clipped. EEK! I couldn't make myself do it. I could only foresee a mess.

 I did follow the pleating instructions but fear I did a crappy job here.

I really have know idea what this might look like. Maybe I'll play around with the scraps and see what happens.  Overall I am happy with it and I made some adjustments in the shoulder width for the next version.  I also ditched the pleating in the back neck and instead sewed a thin elastic in the seam line to gather it.

 I love the colors and pattern in this. I have any number of things to match it up with. Its a great summer wardrobe piece when you go into blasting air-conditioning or need a little sun protection.

The back of the neck is scarf-like.

The next project is a dress! I never wear dresses but with this patterned jacket I think it is a real possibility. The machines are all loaded up with the right color thread for this teal... aqua...turquoise?? 

solid so I might as well dive in. See you if and when it turns out.

Added note 6/1: I also did not follow the directions in this pattern for sewing up the side seams first and setting in the sleeve. I sewed the top of the sleeve to the shoulder (much easier to ease) and then sewed all the way up the side seam and down the sleeve.