A Good DVD on Jackets

I've become an information junkie and am always scouring around for new learning tools.  Here is a good DVD by Sandra Betzina.   What I like is that she describes jacket construction on real jackets, shows a teaching presentation then goes to the machine and sews it up.  I personally don't love when instructors jump from one completed step to the next, I want to see them on the machine making it all work the way I will when I do it myself.  Sandra does it all from soup to nuts.  I find myself playing chapters during construction and it really helps, especially with sleeves and linings.  I consider this one a good investment.

Vogue 8644

Cut and ready to sew.  I need a dress for the grey jacket and ordered a beautiful print from FabricMart but the color wasn't quite right once I received it.  To the stash, found a lovely remnant wool from BBlack and Sons, it's a summer weight wool with a touch of lycra and I'm hoping it will turn out.  I'm only doing the dress for now, but may make the jacket later.  I was inspired by The Mahogany Stylist who made it in yellow and it is stunning.

BTW, I wore the black and white jacket today and received a constant stream of compliments, doesn't it feel good after all that work? ;-)

Simplicity 4047 Jacket Done

Here's the jacket, it was easy to make, all the pieces fit together easily and construction was very basic.  The front of the jacket stretched a bit and had to be eased back onto the facing very slightly.  This is something that happens a lot during construction and should be checked.  Sometimes I lay the pattern back over the piece to check but this time I used fusible hymo from B. Black and Sons on the facing- it didn't change.  I like to use hymo in any jacket that requires good shape, even if the pattern calls for fusible tricot you may want to beef up a cuff or collar with hymo as I feel it gives controllable shape (collar up or down, it stays where you style it!).
My tool for this post are my Kai Tailoring Shears, I love the 10" size and use them most often, they cut ALL fabric like butter!

Collar up

Collar down

Scissors on fusible hymo

Enjoy!

A little inspiration

What makes a great suit?  I love a good cut, smooth fit and great fabric.  Marilyn Monroe is wearing a sophisticated suit that shows off her figure and looks very chic.  Then, there's this Lilli Ann suit, this is my idea of dressing at it's finest, I can do without the fur sleeves but the rest is a knockout suit for a special occasion.  Inspiring?

Halfway with the jacket

Here's a look at the front.  Fabric ravels very well :)!  My solution for marking was to use tailor tacks everywhere, they really helped a lot.  I also used the Clover chalk marker to mark the darts and foldline for the vent in back.

1950's and 60's Trend for S/S 2011

Fashionising.com gives great information about fashion trends and I am intrigued with this one.  What luck, as I've been sewing these patterns up lately.  I'm going to look through my patterns to see what else will work because I love the fit and cut of clothes from that era, everything conforms to a woman's shape.  I may even try a full skirt- haven't worn one since 1984!

Retro Again?

I love this jacket, it's from the 50's and has a very nice cut also it isn't fitted.  I'm losing those 10 lbs. I gained over the holidays and need to sew pieces that aren't too form fitting; what if I did?  I'd probably get too comfortable in this size and we can't have that.  I'll be cutting this out in black and white tweed and will post more later.