BWOF Trench Skirt: Complete

BWOF 8-2009-107

 (Thanks for taking the photos Anne!)

Fabric & Notions:

• 2 yards light-weight black denim (stash)
• fusible weft interfacing (self-facing and belt)
• 8 7/8-inch buttons
• regular, serger, and topstitching thread
• petersham for waist facing
• 80/12 universal needle
• 100/16 topstitching needle

Size/Alterations:  I traced and cut a straight size 42.  I shortened the skirt 1" and did not add a hem allowance.  I also added 2" to the front facing.  I read a comment about the front panel not being wide or structured enough to accommodate both rows of buttons. 

I didn't do my usual full seat adjustment and I don't know why.  Hmm.

The skirt is actually too small.  When I first attempted this pattern earlier in the year, I was a several pounds lighter.  Oops.  The buttons look off-center because the panel doesn't end where it's supposed to.

It's not too visible in this picture, but trust me, the side seams are not where they're supposed to be.  If I lose a few pounds, I'll re-sew the buttons so that the front panel is more centered.

The belt buckle came from the stash.  I think I bought it at the American Sewing Expo a few years ago.  It's black with a white frame and fits the skirt perfectly! 

Instructions:  The instructions aren't that bad. The pocket instructions are a little weird, but makes logical sense if you follow them carefully.  The only thing I didn't like is the placement of the pocket bag.  On the pattern, you're supposed to place the bag so that it meets a marked line on the pleat.

This means that the pocket bag would overlap the top of the pleat area.  When I first sewed the pocket this low, I couldn't get the pleat or pocket to press without showing an unsightly hump.  Yeah no.  Moving the pocket up an inch solved that problem.  

Construction Notes:  Sewing was time consuming but pretty straightforward.  I set up two sewing machines:  one for sewing the seams and the other for topstitching.  

The design called for diagonal topstitching on the front and back above the pleat.  If I were doing tone-on-tone topstitching, then this would have been okay.  But with contrasting thread, it looked weird... 

 ...especially on the back.

It's like my butt is in a frame or something and the skirt is saying, "butt is right here".  I removed the diagonal topstitching and settled for bar tacks instead.  Now the skirt is saying, "butt is in the general area."  I can live with that.

I really like the bar tacks on the front.

The instructions say to topstitch 3/8" from the edge.  Later, you're to edge stitch through all layers to keep the flap in place.  I found it impossible to do this with thick topstitching thread and settled for black regular thread.

I finished the waist with 1.5-inch black petersham, steam-shaped to fit the waist.  Since the front panel is self-faced, I ended the petersham just inside the fold to reduce bulk.

Conclusion:  Winner!  This is a pretty distinctive style, so I probably won't make it again any time soon.  I wore it today and felt very comfortable.

***

Up next:  I have all kinds of ideas running around my mind right now.  I really need to work on making more tops.  I have plenty of bottoms, but nothing to wear with them.  

I also want to make more dresses.  I make lots of separates, but rarely do I make dresses.  I see such cute stuff made by other folks and I want in!

I'll do my 2015 sewing in review soon.  I need to put the collage together and write the post. Until next time, peace!

L

BWOF 4-2009-101 (skirt) & NL 6407 (top): Complete

Yaaay!  Notwithstanding the BWTF instructions, the skirt turned out nicely!  Sewing it wasn't as bad as I initially thought.  Plus it's super comfortable to wear.  Score!
 

Fabric & Notions

• 1.125 yards of black and white wool tweed (stash)
• 1.125 yards of black Bemberg Ambiance lining (stash)
• strips of fusible interfacing for the zipper area
• 7" invisible zipper
• petersham for waist facing
• two metal buttons
• 80/12 needle for shell
• 70/10 microtex needle for lining
• regular sewing and serger thread

Size and Pattern Alterations:  I traced and cut size 44.  The only alteration I made was the standard 1.25" full seat adjustment.  The skirt back has two pieces:  center and side.  I added 1.25" in length across the entire center back and added the same length to the side back, tapering to zero at the side seam.

Here you can see that the back hangs lower than the front.  When worn, the view from the side shows a level hem.  If you have a badonkadonk, this alteration is a must!  Aside from this, I made no other changes.

Instructions:  For such a simple design, the instructions for attaching the yoke made zero sense.  I played around with the pieces for a bit and used Sharon's wonderful tutorial to attach it successfully.  

 

The buttons are not functional as I didn't see the need.  The skirt has a side seam zipper, so why make buttonholes?

I don't know how the inside was supposed to be finished.  The pattern has a back facing (cut on the fold) and two front facings.  Again, this makes absolutely no sense.  In the picture above, the back facing and one side facing would extend from the right front princess seam (left facing in the photo) around to the side seam zipper.  Fine.  But what about this other facing piece?  It's too big to fit in the space between the zipper and left front princess seam (right facing in the photo).  

Seriously.  What?

I didn't bother with the facings and just finished the waist with petersham.  It isn't as sturdy as I would like, but it's finished and holds well enough to wear.

 side seam:  back on left; front on right

 front

  close up of side front

 invisible zipper

Sewing/Lining:  Sewing was pretty  straightforward.  I underlined the entire skirt because I wasn't sure how to attach the lining with the front yoke piece.  If I had devoted some time to thinking about it, I'm sure I would have figured it out. =)  I was so over the whole yoke thing that I just wanted to skirt done.  In the end, I like that the underlining gives the fabric some heft since the tweed was a little on the thin side.

Once the lining was basted in place, I serged the raw edges and stitched as normal.  All seams are pressed open.  

Conclusion:  This pattern is a nice take on an a-line skirt..  I don't have any immediate plans to make it again, but I can see one or two more in the rotation; maybe out of linen for summer.

***

As for the New Look top, there's nothing new to show here. =)  I started this top back in August and finally finished it a few days ago.  The fabric is stretch cotton poplin from the stash.

Man, stretch cotton poplin is right up there with rayon challis in its evilness.  I like the shirt, but it's as stiff as a board, loves to attract lint, and wrinkles like crazy.  I'll wear it, but I don't think it'll be in the regular rotation as much as my other versions.  The only thing that's saving this from being a wadder is the interfacing from Fashion Sewing Supply.  That stuff is stiff too, but you get nice crisp collars and cuffs from using it.  Stretch cotton poplin, you have met your match.

***

Currently, I'm working on my second try at the Burda trench skirt.  Yes, there is a "trench skirt."  

This early-year wadder was due to fabric choice.  I had a lovely light grey twill that would have been perfect for a jacket.  As a skirt, it's just too heavy.  Here's a sneak peak of the next version:

I have to finish the waist, hem, and buttonholes.  More details soon!

Until next time, peace!

L  

   

In Progress: Burda Skirt, New Look Shirt

Super huge thanks to Sharon for passing along her notes on how to sew the yoke on the Burda skirt.  I gave up on trying to understand the instructions and fumbled around with the pieces instead.  When I read her tips, everything clicked and I was able to insert the yoke without any problems.

I am not adding buttonholes, so the yokes are pinned temporarily.  

This isn't an error in sewing.  The back side seams are higher than the front to allow for attaching the facings.  

I have a hate-but-I-get-it relationship with facings.  When sewing skirts, I never include them, opting to use peterhsam instead.  In this case, though I am not sure how the facings will work and I haven't played with the pieces yet.  

Since my fabric is bit flimsy and wool, I wanted to include a lining.  Again, with the weirdness that is the top, I wasn't sure how to attach it.  So, I underlined it instead.

I cut the lining pieces the same size as the shell and hand-basted them together.  I know there is another way to underline and add a Hong Kong seam finish at the same time.  If I sew this pattern or underline again, I'll adapt the lining pieces for this type of finish.  I think it will make the insides look much nicer.

As I type this, I am wondering if a petersham waist finish is actually possible.  Hmm.  I would have to cut it in two pieces.  One piece would wrap from the right (pictured) front around to the left side seam.  The second, much smaller piece would be sewn only to the left (pictured) front.  I'll play around with it and see what happens.

***

Back in August, I started another version of my TNT top pattern, New Look 6407.  I stopped working on it when I joined the PR sewing bee.  Still in need of tops, I resumed working on it and am almost finished.

The fabric is stretch cotton poplin and is most unforgiving with wrinkles.  Why oh why do I torture myself like this!  I thought I learned my lesson with my last foray into stretch cotton poplin tops:

The wrinkles are not nearly as hideous as this, but still.  Gaaah! 

***

Both garments are part of my Starting from Scratch wardrobe building plan.  I'm not really following the order presented on the Vivienne Files - which is probably not how this is supposed to work. =)  Instead, I am filling in holes in my closet and trying to make things that I need to wear now while keeping in mind the colors in my plan.

That's all for now.  I hope everyone had a peaceful holiday.

L

BWOF 4-2009-101

I finally cut out my next, hopefully successful sewing project:  a simple skirt.  At least, the design looks simple.

photo credit:  Miss Celie's Pants

I read through the instructions and have not an effing clue as to what Burda is talking about with the front inset.  The instructions start out okay, then delve into WTF midway through. 

1.  Lay each interfaced front yoke piece on yoke piece with no interfacing RST. 

2.  Stitch along front and upper edges.  

3.  Begin stitching on left front yoke exactly on seam line of joining edge.  

Um...okay.  What joining edge?  The edge that will eventually join with the side front?

4.  Trim seam allowances.  

5.  Turn yokes right side out. 

This wasn't done already?

6.  Work buttonholes in right front yoke.   

7.  Baste right front yoke to left front yoke, matching centres and not catching left yoke piece with no interfacing.  

What are you talking about?

8.  Clip allowance at marking on right inside yoke piece.

9.  Stitch yoke right sides together with upper edge of center front skirt panel, not catching inside yoke pieces.

Again, what are you talking about?  So the inside yoke piece isn't attached to the center front panel at all?  How does that make this stable?  I am so confused!

The instructions for attaching the facing are equally confusing.  I normally don't include facings on skirts, but I couldn't think of a better way to clean-finish and stabilize the top edge.  Ugh!  Maybe I should have read the directions first before cutting out my fabric.  Waaaaah!

Oooooooh Shaaaron!  You've sewn this skirt, yes?  What in the holy hell is Burda talking about? =)

Anyone have any ideas?

L

BWOF 9-2006-104 (trench coat): Complete

The coat is done!  Though it took a lot of movement from the universe to make this happen, it is finally completed.  

Fabric & Notions

• 3 yards of cotton navy twill (stash; Fabric Mart)
• 3 yards of plaid silk broadcloth (stash; Fabric Mart)
• 1 package of red piping (stash; source unknown)
• fusible interfacing (Mood NYC)
• navy mottled buttons (Wawak)
• navy mottled belt buckle (Mood NYC)
• short piece of twill tape to use for hanging
• bias cut fleece strips for sleeve heads
• muslin for back stay
• 80/12 universal needle (for shell)
• 70/10 microtex needle (for lining)
• regular sewing and serger thread

Size and Pattern Alterations:  I traced and cut a straight size 44 for my muslin.  I compared the pieces to another shoulder princess seamed coat (Indygo Junction 740) and was happy to see that not many changes were needed.  I used 5/8" seam allowances all around.  I sewed 3/4" seams at the start of the shoulder princess seam on both the front and back as a cheater narrow-shoulder adjustment.  Then, I tapered to 5/8" above the bust and 1/2" at the bust for a little extra room.

I did a 1" swayback adjustment by removing the length completely in the waist area and adding the amount to the hem.  This way, the side back seam lengths remained the same.

I took out a 1" wedge below the neckline; the muslin showed a bit of bunching in this area.

I also shortened the sleeves 3 inches (1.5 inches in two places).

I did not add a hem allowance since the "unfinished" length was slightly longer than what I wanted.

Instructions:  My brain was no match for this Burda word salad.  In addition to the instructions being sparse and confusing, you are to jump back and forth to other views for different parts.  Yeah no.  To construct the majority of the coat, I used the instructions for McCall's 5525.   To make the inseam pockets and pocket flaps, I used the ironically less confusing word salad from Burda 8-2009-107. 

Construction:  Sewing the shell was pretty straight forward; it's cotton after all.  The fabric was easy to work with and pressed beautifully.  The lining, on the other hand, was a pain in the ass.  Me and slippery fabrics just don't get along; plus the lining is a plaid.  It's an even plaid, but still.  Even though I pinned carefully and sewed slowly, I only managed to marginally match the plaid.  Using a walking foot made it WORSE! 

I brought this on my self.  =)  I had to have THIS lining with THIS fabric come hell or high water.  Yeah well, it was hell on high water, but I made it work.

Front/Front Facing Problem:  As many suggested and as I suspected, the lengths of the front and front facing were off.  Somehow, the front was 1/4 to 1/2 an inch longer than the facing.  This minute amount caused the massive amount of pulling.  I must have erred in tracing/measuring - despite checking my work twice.  Oh well.  

Kenneth D. King fixed it by taking a deeper hem and trimming the excess.  He also corrected the pattern by creating new stitching lines on both the facing and front.  The fix resulted in the coat being shorter, but it at least it's not pulling wildly like before.  I was ready to send this coat to a watery death in the Detroit River.  

I had the coat professionally pressed by my dry cleaner.   

Other:  I removed the sleeve loops because they were way too close to the hem.  If I make this pattern again, I will move the placement lines up 1.5 to 2 inches so that they're more proportionally positioned.

I added some red piping between the facing and lining because why not?  I did this on my last two coats and really like it.

The one thing I'm bummed about is the wrinkling along the bust curve.  

I picked and restitched this area a couple of times and steam-pressed it over and over.  Of course it's on the side that's not covered by the flap.  o_O  If I had enough fabric, I would have recut the side front panel and sewed it again.  Oh well.

I used navy mottled buttons in two sizes (large for the front and small for the epaulettes and belt loops).  It was surprisingly difficult to find a navy mottled belt buckle.  Thank you Mood!

Conclusion:  I am very happy with coat.  It will serve as a great transition between seasons or whatever we call the days between hot and arctic in Michigan.

As for the pattern, this was my trial run for my super warm tundra-life winter coat.  I don't know if I will use this pattern for that.  Even though Kenneth fixed the length issue, I don't want to run into the same problem again.  Maybe I'll make a muslin of the front with facing just to be sure it works.  I plan to go all-in (pad stitching, hair canvas, interlining) with the coat and want to make sure everything is sound first.

Up next:  Probably another coat or two.  And maybe some more pants.  I still haven't given up on Starting from Scratch.  I'm in turtle mode for a while.

Until next time, peace!

L