Sunday, April 14, 2013

The Spring Suit: Quick Update and A Brief Diatribe on Construction

The Update Part

S came over yesterday for a visit and to see the jacket in its current state. I was nervous, in truth, to show it to her as she hasn't been actively involved with this jacket (due to life intervening) as she was with the V8333 muslin (and the Starlet Suit jacket, of course).

The good news is that she thinks it's great - that's what she said, believably, and I'm sticking to it.

The other good news is that she corroborated my perspective that the fabric is crap - ok, really difficult to work with and suboptimal as it doesn't like ironing of any sort and, um, that's the basis of tailoring.

And the final bit of good news, which doesn't sound so good from where I'm sitting at this precise moment :-), is that she convinced me, in her understated fashion, that my sleeves were really way over-rotated toward the front. In the Starlet jacket, we rotated them a centimeter. Here, for some reason, an inch seemed good to me (actually I started with more than an inch but I've already ripped these sleeves back twice). Yeah, almost 3 times the forward rotation of the Starlet jacket. So, we repinned them in - it was actually a very mellow fitting session - and today I'll sew them in before beginning to insert the lining.

(Thing to remember: Although I feel very unfit and like I have ever-more hunching shoulders, apparently my posture isn't reflecting it to the degree that I'm feeling it.)

But back to lining... I'm not sure I've hit my stride with it. That is to say, I have most definitely not hit my stride. I worked for 5 hrs on Friday and 5 hrs yesterday and I still haven't actually inserted the freakin' thing. Of course, this worked to my advantage as, if I had, I'd not have been able to alter the sleeves this one last time.

I'm tending towards hand tailoring the sleeves into the shoulders and bagging the rest of the lining but, as I find it difficult to imagine how I'm going to affix the fashion fabric hem after bagging it, I'm concerned. How does one keep it tacked (at least at the seam points) after having machine sewn the hem shut. I know that other hems are tacked in this way - I've gone through my wardrobe. Since no one has mentioned this in any tutorial I've read, I have to assume that the matter takes care of itself - which is to say it's possible to invisibly catch stitch the hem after machine stitching the fashion fabric hem to the lining hem. My failure to envision things is a challenge.

Futhermore, I affixed the facing to my jacket before affixing the lining to it. I think this was a smart idea given how one needs to manipulate the facing and jacket shell during construction. However, now I'm a bit off-road because instructions refer to inserting the lining and the facing as one garment to the shell as the other garment. Effectively, my shell and facings are one garment and my lining is the other. Yeah, this is in the weeds but it's the world I live in these days.

Oh, wish me luck. If there were some chance in hell I could finish this today I would be so freakin' thrilled. If only so that I don't have to look at it again for a while.

The Diatribe Part

This jacket seems more and more in the wearable test garment category. As I see it that way, I'm able to learn from it rather than to simply be critical. The truth is that a jacket is a very complex garment - few get more complex than it. Muslins teach key elements about fit and, as such, they are non-negotiable in the jacket construction category, IMO. If you make a suit jacket that fits perfectly without making a muslin first (and subsequent alterations), trust me, you just got lucky. Really fucking lucky.

But muslins only tell one part of the story. Construction tells the other and it's impossible (unless you make your muslin from your fashion fabric) to perfectly extrapolate final dimensions, fabric ease, drape, wear, the way the fashion fabric will adapt to tailoring among other key elements.

In the case of a suit jacket, the muslin and the tailoring are interwoven concepts. Neither exists without the other and they come together alchemically, complexly. Why should I assume that I will have all of my construction kinks ironed out just because I've made 3.5 muslins? I've only made one finished garment (almost). I've made 3 jacket linings in my life. I've struggled with them all because I've only done it 3 times, at yearly intervals. I can whack out a skirt cuz I've made many. Linings, not so much.

Let's add to this that jacket lining is technically a garment of its own which you make in addition to your suit jacket. It's not an afterthought (much though I tend to see it that way going in).

And, above, I'm just speaking of construction in terms of lining as my example. The construction of the jacket is this complex in myriad ways. In some respects, it makes the muslin look easy. (Note: Not quite.)

Anyway, in between moments of painful conceptualizing, these are the thoughts I have, which I'm refining all the time.

I'm sure you haven't heard the last of it.

Today's question: If you've bagged a lining, how did you manage securing the hem after sewing the lining to the fashion fabric? Any info is greatly appreciated.

14 comments:

  1. I'm trying to think of something useful to say but am just sitting here in awe of your skills as they are and knowing that every stitch takes them to an even higher level. Even if you are sick of the sight of this jacket at the moment...it will be worth it. Chin up!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I suspect that awe is in no way warranted but I am trying to keep my chin up. xo

      Delete
  2. I just want to say how much I appreciate you putting out there the honesty of how hard it is to make a suit, specifically a suit jacket. The fast food, fast clothing culture has so deadened us to quality clothing that people think you can just whip something up in a weekend. Fitting takes time and is complex. Tailoring takes time and is endless. Then you have to make and add the lining. Too often sewing blogs gloss over the real work. So I appreciate you outlining the realities of sewing your own clothes.

    I am embarrassed that I am still "fitting" my Renfrew top, but then, I don't want to be embarrassed when I'm wearing it, do I? So it's worth it in the end. But I sometimes think it might be easier to just get bust reduction and a tummy tuck than to make all these endless muslins. Almost.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I second the second. Having searched for a jacket for my busty, petite frame for months and months, I fully now understand why the best local tailor said he could alter one but not build it.

      Delete
    2. Well thank you so much! Fitting is complex. One might even call it a total bitch... :-) Don't you find that the hardest thing is to know when to say "enough". The perfect fit is elusive. I'm still working hard to develop a sense of it, but occasionally it's nice to wear something I've made!

      I do think that a breast reduction and tummy tuck will just yield a new set of fitting issues. Life is funny that way.

      Delete
  3. have you looked over the jacket sew along on pattern-scissors-cloth? this is a rtw-style construction, but you may still find it useful. to secure the bagged hem, you stitch together the SA's that will be sitting next to each other once the hem is folded and pressed. it's impossible to describe without pictures... here's the link: http://buzzybeesworld.blogspot.com/2011/04/rtw-tailoring-sewalong-14-inserting.html

    i've used this method and it works quite well. another thing you can do is just hand tack the hem at the SA's where the lining bags so it's not visible from the outside.

    it's too bad your shell fabric doesn't take well to pressing. how frustrating!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Lisa. I have looked at it but I need to do so again. And I think that tacking the hem is key. But does one do this from the right side of the fabric i.e. from the hem to the shell (trying to only take a bite of the shell fabric, after having turned the garment right side out)? That's what I can't figure out...

      Delete
    2. it took a bit of head scratching to figure it out, for sure. the tacking is done from the inside before everything is turned the right way and pressed. so basically just imagine any pressed open seam allowance. fold it up as if you are doing a hem. now, inside the hem, the SA of the turned up part is tacked to the SA it is sitting right on top of (technically the same SA) which guarantees that the turned up hem won't budge, at least at the SA's. okay, not sure if that clears it up at all, but it's the best i can do! i followed her directions on blind faith and understood what was happening after it was done!

      Delete
    3. You know, I thought this might be the case - I will try it next time. It's so hard to understand till you've done it but this is very helpful info! Thanks a lot, Lisa.

      Delete
  4. The only accurate tutorial for doing this the RTW way is the nameless tutorial at http://fashion-incubator.com/tutorials/
    First time I've ever put in a lining without any crying/swearing breakdowns..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have read the tutorial but, for some reason when last I went to view it, the photos had been removed from it. As such, I couldn't really get the most out of it. I just went to check the site again and, voila, they pics are back up. Maybe Kathleen ran through her monthly bandwidth the last time I visited. Thanks for reminding me to try again.

      Delete
  5. You are absolutely right that construction tells the rest of the story. Martin thinks of ALL of his sewn garments as wearable muslins with something to teach about a particular element of design/fabric/fit/construction.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. At a certain point, you kind of have to! :-) And you kind of have to think of that as fun.

      Delete