Barbara's Useful SWAP part three

Some of you may remember my great success with Indygo Junction's London Jacket a while ago.

Since I am so in love with that pattern I do what I usually do when I find a winner and emailed the company with a link to my review. As the result of that exchange Indygo offered to send me a copy of the next pattern I reviewed to give away to my blog readers, on the agreement that my review would be exactly what I thought.

That pattern, and the next in my SWAP tops, is this one:

It is sort of zany (that's what I am calling it) and I completely, absolutely am crazy about it. This really is a well-drafted but simple pull-over top and just made for large bold prints - something I love but always have a hard time figuring out how to use.

Here is my version, on the quiet dummy until my whole SWAP is done and I do a photoshoot or what passes for one of those around here.

Now you might think this is pretty wild, but if you have ever met me in person you would know this is my personality - for better or worse. This is the only kind of floral I can wear:

On a hanger. This way you can see the pleat. After I made the pleat and hemmed the top I went back into the inside and edge-stitched close to the fold of each side of this box pleat, right down over the hem too, to help the pleat keep its shape as this is a cotton. The tunic view has you actually edge-stitch the pleat from the outside to set the pleat. 

You are supposed to notice I matched the print on the patch pockets. Really I had no choice with a print this obvious.

Crooked placement on a dress form. Oh well. Still a great top.

Having matched one pocket I had to do the other one. The skill level is amazing.

I am very taken with this pattern. How often do you get something that really is this easy to sew, a cotton around the house top even, that has some style? I think I look wonderful in it with slim pants or my Magic Straight skirt.

A few observations:

• The collar in cut on the bias and not interfaced. I made the shorter version somewhat lengthened in this top and a single layer collar. If I did it again I would use the collar version for the tunic when is doubled and folded over.
• The neckline is very early 60's and wide. Take advantage of the four raglan seams and the seam down the top of the sleeve to fine-tune this opening a bit. Baste first, try it on, and then commit.

I will definitely be making more of these (could be lengthened to a dress too) and the first person who emails me directly with a name and address can have a copy of this pattern sent out to her.

After two hits I am going to go back and look at a few more of patterns from this company - as a garment sewer I had never considered their line for someone who is not a quilter, which just goes to show, well something I am sure.

More than anything I am pleased to sew something so easy that doesn't compromise drafting quality.

Now onto cutting out the next few tops for my SWAP before I go back to work full-time.

The TNTs march on, this time in lace

A while ago I shared with you my discovery of the London Jacket as a nice well-drafted Chanel type jacket without all the heartache.

You know the one I decided was going to be my go-to collarless jacket after having spent about 15 years and $1500 on other patterns.

Well all fired up with this thought, I went looking in my sewing room for something different to try next in this pattern.

I am not generally a saver of remnants. 

Let's face it my chances of ever crazy quilting a scrap quilt out of garment fabrics are slim to none. I am sure those ladies who used to do that weren't online, didn't have paying jobs, and probably were exploiting someone in the kitchen.

Besides if it doesn't have a centre front I am not really interested in sewing it.

That said there are a few left overs from past projects I just can't bear to throw away. 

Sort of like that last few inches in the champagne bottle that turns up when you are doing the dishes. I mean it's champagne, do you pour it down the sink before you toss the bottle into the recycling?

Exactly.

So I have been holding onto most of a yard of sand-washed silk (remember that stuff?) and some weird but really wonderful heavy wool crepe with a sort of beefy bounce to it, not enough to make anything, and a random yard of lace that I bought from Fabricmart because I thought I needed a lace skirt. It was described as having a "felt- like texture" which I understood to mean it was not thin and polyester looking like a bridesmaid's dress and in fact was nice and substantial and suitable for a classy skirt, where in fact it was just felt-like therefore capable of adding inches to my lower half.

Well back to the TNT.

I used the lace for the sleeves and front of the jacket.

I used the wool crepe stuff for the back and to underline the front.

I used the sand-washed silk for facings.

And here it is:

Usual disclaimer.

Photographically this blog isn't exactly Vogue. Or even National Geographic. Maybe in particular not National Geographic.

In fact it would be fair to say that if my very nice husband and I ever have issues it is during one of our photoshoots.

He claims for example that my head is always blurred because I don't stop moving, by which he means talking.

I think it is the lens.

Anyway in the interest of world peace we shot this in the kitchen which he has been laboriously tiling with stainless steel tiles. Which look great but of course call for new stainless steel appliances. Which is something I am not going to be mentioning so close to a photoshoot.

I'm stalling.

The classic range hood shot with an attempt to hide now inappropriate white stove, a tactic that went unnoticed.

Felt-like lace close-up

The sleeve view, felt-like is perfect

I love, love this jacket. The lace is pedestrian enough that I don't have to hold this for New Year's Eve or similar events and it fits.

Also it cost me zero owing to the International Bilateral Agreement on pre-existing fabric which states that if you already have the fabric and pattern then it can be considered free owing to the statute of limitations on Visa records.

I am going to be re-using this pattern a lot.

London jacket building site shots

I know I know.

The rest of the blogging world has nice styled and shot photos. 

Not me.

This particular set of pictures was taken in the doorway of my kitchen as the door was being replaced. Since resident husband-builder-photographer was otherwise engaged the only way I could get these pictures taken was if I stood in the doorway, took the power tools out of his hand and put the camera in.

And of course it is styled in my sewing clothes, yoga pants and tank top.

I am really super pleased with this as a pattern with genuine TNT potential. I found the shoulder/chest fit to be nice and smooth and if you take a close look at the sleeves those aren't the clunky boxy sleeves you would expect in a very basic one piece sleeve.

The sleeve cap was pretty high and the armhole up quite close to the body but the sleeves went in very easily.

Of course the pockets were meant to be lower but I got the idea in my head that with such a short jacket  they would look cooler up higher.

This jacket is made in a patterned denim and what you can't see here is that the facings are really generous, the pockets' topstiching catches them, and the back neck facing is really deep and large , almost like a back stay which I feel gives the back of the jacket a more tailored structure.

If I didn't presently have a grandchild asleep in the room where the jacket is now, I would take more pictures of these facings to show you.

Listen I am really happy with such a simple pattern that can produce fairly slick results.

I have been frustrated a lot lately with my busy life.

It currently isn't giving me all the sewing time I need - no more course overloads next year. However I can see that one thing I have achieved is a series of TNT patterns that I will use over and over again with confidence.

The Linda pant
The Sasha blouse and the Annie blouse ( these three from Style Arc)
Pamela's Perfect T
The Magic Shirt (also from Pamela's patterns)
Butterick 5760 cardigan

and now this jacket

This makes me even wonder if I should attempt SWAP this year, it will depend on the rules and I have my eye on Stitches Guild to see if they are released soon.

Who knows?

On my mind and my work table this morning

I have had an interesting week.

The markings done until the next deluge. Both the students and I survived. Some of my students I suspect are brighter than I am, some I suspect put less work into their submissions than I put into marking them.

Which is just about right.

I also talked to a a very nice political reporter this week who wished me happy birthday.

"How do you know about that?" I wanted to know.

"Read it on your blog" he said.

So much for not having my worlds collide. 

But then I thought, so what. People are multi-dimensional and that would include me.

So Dave you are going to find a lot of this pretty boring and I don't drop political hints here. At least nothing local. But thanks for reading.

But on that note I went by invitation to a political event last night. This served to remind me why I am no longer in that business. Thank goodness there were a few students in the room. Folks move on and I have.

While I was out, my husband worked on dinner and installing a new kitchen door. He said he knew he had taken multi-tasking to new levels when he realized he was hammering with an oven mitt on and turning the ribs with a crowbar.

If you know my husband you know that this is exactly what happened.

The ribs were great BTW and I love the new door. I was glad to be home.

I have many things on my to-do list this weekend and I am not going to do any of them.

I need some sewing time- time to bring my spirit back to the mother ship.

A few days ago my daughter and I went to a quilt store to get things she needed. I don't quilt but I am good at taking three year olds to the bathroom and keeping them out of the notions.

But of course I had to buy something, so I picked up this pattern on a whim:

It is your basic simple shape. I have been thinking one of those in the arsenal would not be a bad idea for elaborate fabric that doesn't need a lot of seaming, or for Channel drop-outs like myself.

I hope to finish a sort of wearable hopefully muslin today out of some random denim and some cotton that I am going to have to use for facings and hem finishing because I am that short of denim.

Here it is on the mannequin shot at an angle so I wouldn't fall over all the machines I have on the floor since I am in a reorganization phase:

There is a center back seam for shaping and a very good dart in this pattern and the sleeves are pretty good. All in all, since I was expecting a fairly crude shape from something with so few pattern pieces, this is a nice jacket, even if this version is a little short.

I see potential here and will definitely finish this today.

My sewing room clean up is part of my list writing for my fabric scouting trip to NYC is a few weeks. I have realized that I am going to have issues with bringing fabric back and I have to figure this out. I won't be going by car this trip which is the best option for bringing back fabric, and I am on sort of a don't lift really heavy things restriction since the big fix up. So throwing 50 pounds of fabric on the carousal isn't going to cut it.

And you know how helpful they are at the airlines these days.

I am thinking of not taking any clothes, just my Visa and my passport and an empty suitcase, and wondering if I shop somewhere if they would ship it back for me?

Might have to investigate that.

Now off to the sewing room.

Talk later.