In Which I Tell It Like I See It

It's not with any pleasure that I inform you (as if anyone could be in any doubt) that my suit jacket experience was undertaken, well, without pleasure. Regular readers know that I have blogged positively - and frequently - about (designer/instructor) Gretchen and her blog, and about Craftsy.

In case you're not familiar with those posts, I can recap in advising that some of my most seminal sewing experiences to date have occurred while participating in the Lady Grey Sew Along, which Gretchen so expertly instructed. I continue to assert that this sew along is a veritable public service. Craftsy courses, and a workshop, have facilitated my skill development in knitting through an innovative, modern community and instructive platform. I remain very grateful for these resources.

However, in the last 6 weeks I have been on a frustrating journey - one in which the Craftsy/Gretchen collaboration has fundamentally let me down.  You should know that I didn't pay for the Starlet Suit Jacket course. I was comped a course of my choice, by Craftsy, and I spent my credit on the suit jacket. It aligns with my current interests.

Having now completed the project, I have to advise you of the following:

• The Craftsy platform routinely crashed - like way too often. I have to assume it was a bandwidth issue. Note: I accessed the course using a variety of computers and networks and the problem persisted in all locations. It was incredibly frustrating to have to close and reopen the program numerous times, just to rewatch a key piece of instruction. This happened with my other Craftsy courses, but not to this extent.

• The instruction, while clear, detoured into unnecessary banter on several occasions. This course contains hours of instruction. Hours which I have rewatched over still more hours. Given the issue identified in the bullet above, I cannot tell you how irritating I came to find the "conversational" parts of the video.

• Alas, I am not the only one to note this: Craftsy purports that you will receive regular teacher feedback through its platform for as long as you need it, once you purchase the course. In truth, I don't see how this practice is sustainable. As a prospective instructor, there is no way it would be profitable for me to continue to answer questions indefinitely. Nevertheless, in this process - a mere month or two into the life cycle of this course - there has been practically no feedback (and, as far as I can tell, little meaningful feedback) from the teacher. On this topic, I'm conflicted. I have learned so much, at no cost, from Gretchen through her blog-based sew alongs, which are all still available and free of charge. The thing is, once you charge a fee, in my opinion, the professional onus is on you to respond - especially if that's the dictum of the production platform.

• Finally, and most disappointingly, it is my perspective (corroborated, correctly or incorrectly, by various comments in the course and via other feedback I've received from readers) that the pattern is provided with errors. I am by no means a professional, but I've been sewing long enough - and seriously enough - to recognize issues where I find them. When I undertook this project, I did not do so as a pattern-tester. I have to assume that most everyone else who has taken the course, or queued it, has done so at the regular list cost of $89.99 (or on sale). This is not a weekend project. I spent more than 140 hours creating my jacket - and many of those hours could have been spent otherwise if I hadn't, as I see it, been forced to resolve problems caused by suboptimal drafting. By this, I am not speaking about the sleeves (though I suspect they could have been drafted asymmetrically to better effect), but about pattern pieces that appear to have been mismarked and the lining, which was all over the map. Of course, regular and detailed feedback from the instructor may have ameliorated, by clarifying, this. 

In the final analysis, I can only recommend that you buy this course on sale and that you use the good instruction it provides with a tried and true pattern. Despite this criticism, I do wish Gertie future success. She has written an inspirational and instructional blog and speaks passionately about - and in so doing perpetuates - an art form of great value. I only wish I could endorse this Craftsy experience whole-heartedly.

It Suits Me!

I appear to have written a small textbook on my tailored suit experience and, scarily, we're not quite done...

As promised, here are some money shots :-) - taken by my tween who has a really good eye for composition, don't you think?:

Gotta love how I match my garden!

I'm so grateful to be outside without a coat...

OK, say what you will, that skirt gives GREAT ass!

I feel like a million bucks in this suit. Honestly, with every swish of the pencil lining, it is magic.

I dressed it down with a T shirt as my briefing was on the less fancy end of the spectrum. Once again, you can see how I love to mix the prints. I've got animal, stripes and floral coexisting happily in this outfit.

Lovelies, we're not quite done yet (sorry). I have one more wrap up post planned, wherein I discuss my final feelings about the process. And then, I swear, we're onto something new.

After all, 40 posts on the same topic seems, um, adequate.

Whatcha think???

The Tailored Suit: It's Done!!!!

Somehow I managed to beat my self-imposed finished suit deadline by a week. Given that I've been working on this thing ceaselessly since the beginning of time, I don't really know how that's possible. Not that I'm complaining. If I had to spend another day sorting it all out I think I would lose my mind.

What do you want to see first? The whole shebang? (On dress form still. You don't actually think I can be seen at this post-sewing-frenzy juncture. My greasy hair is plastered to my greasy face.) Or maybe I should show some pics the finished skirt and lead up to the suit.

What? You really don't care because at this point you are totally fucking sick of this theme? Amen to that, bloggy friends.

I'll choose for us.

Here's the high-waisted pencil skirt (V8640), which I lined (the pattern does not come with lining instructions) and faced with petersham ribbon:

Ooh, nice darts!

And the zipper inserted like this FIRST TIME OUT???

The skirt is really more straight than pencil...

And here's the interior - that silk is as awesome in the skirt as in the jacket. I slip stitched the lining to the hand hemmed skirt (same method as I used on the jacket). It's not bagged but it looks very lovely nonetheless. As gravity weights the silk, it will fall over the top of the skirt hem and create a jump pleat.

Honestly, that petersham couldn't have worked better.  You have to go to Sunni's shop and buy some now! I don't think I'll ever make a regular facing or waistband again. And I'm a total convert to lining a skirt. Not a casual summer one, but tailored, fancy ones.

In truth, the skirt profile is still too thick for my liking. This suit is most definitely winter weight. It'll manage in early spring or late fall but I think it's going to have a bit more limited application than I had originally hoped.  I have a lot more I could say about making the skirt. In short, it was a delight with some road blocks thrown in for good measure. Get it, good measure??!

OK, here's the completed suit:

Eeeeeek!!! Can you believe I made this??

Let's take a moment to reflect. I. MADE. THIS. Like from a few metres of fabric and some notions.

I'm less conflicted now about the jacket construction process than I was last week, which is to say that I'm definitively disappointed with many elements of the Craftsy course. I'm not going to crowd this happy post with that discussion, but I will speak more about it in the near future.

This weekend was very full of sewing. My sewing friend, S, came over and we worked on her pants sloper. Let me just say that fitting is a serious learning curve. Armed with Sarah Veblen's book (which is so worth the money, it's not funny) and a lot of pins, I did my best to be helpful, but I have ever more respect for S's abilities as I see what awesome fitting help she provided to me, while I can barely envision how to place the pins. I'm intent on improving.

Tomorrow S and I are starting a Pattern Review course on bodice fitting - taught by the same Sarah Veblen who wrote the book! I should have more to tell on that front as we begin the online tutorial. S has taken courses on Pattern Review with SV before and I'm heartened to hear that Ms. Veblen responds to questions, throughout the duration of the course time frame, multiple times per day.

So, there you go. One things done and the next is ready to begin. Gotta love that.

The Tailored Suit: Assembling the Skirt

You may recall that I decided to make my TNT skirt somewhat differently this time. I'm lining it and facing it with petersham.I've managed to construct the skirt shell (right) and corresponding lining/facing unit (left):

Here's a shot of the lining faced with petersham. Not a bad job inserting that zipper.

Tomorrow I have to figure out how to attach the zipper on the lining to the opening on the skirt shell. Seems that I can write a bunch of instructions. I just can't understand them.

No one can accuse me of failure to experiment with colour.

Fun Times...

Between the stress, the endless fitting and the booze, can't say I'll remember much of this weekend. So here's something to remind me:


Consider easing that side front bust curve into the jacket front piece. I suspect that's why they advise you not to add more than 2 inches overall when you're doing a TBA. Don't worry, I've been living with these boobs for a long time. I know how to work around them with fabric.

The classic rock internet radio has been going almost non-stop for 5 days and I have to say, if I never hear "You Can't Always Get What You Want" again, it'll be too soon.

The Tailored Suit: Final Improvements -Sleeve Fit

I really hope this is the last time we ever speak of this muslin, but I do want to let you know that all of your comments of yesterday were so helpful. My sewing partner, S, came over again this morning (I know, part sewing helper, part saint) and she assisted me in sorting out that pulling at the front seam.

Here's what we realized:

• Turns out, I had cut off the seam allowance?!? On the plus side, I had the side front armscye curve dead on. So we added the seam allowance back on.
• We rotated the sleeve 1 cm towards the front. Wow, that's easy. All you do is move the sleeve head notch 1 cm towards the front sleeve. And it made a BIG difference. (Thanks Sherry.)
• We moved some width I added to the front sleeve onto the back sleeve - because the underarm seams weren't aligning. We don't want to move the extra space over the bicep, but we do want the seams to line up.
• We removed some fabric from the arm - there was too much. (Thanks Phyllis.)

In truth, S realized all of this. I just agreed with her. Gotta love friends!

In the final analysis, these adjustments should make the sleeve fit pretty close to perfectly within the armscye.

I have a lot of emerging feelings about the need for sewing partnership - 2 brains are better than one (as are 4 hands) - and the expectations we can reasonably place on a paper pattern to fit without major adjustments. No doubt these will be the topics of some future posts.

This afternoon will be all about cutting the pieces. Never thought I'd be so thrilled to spend 3 hours cutting and marking fabric. In a rather amazing twist, I'm actually on target with my work plan. Sure, I had the benefit of a 5 day weekend (not originally factored in), a genius helper and I've been working many weekday evenings (not my usual thing), but I'm happy to say that this 70 hour undertaking hasn't put me behind schedule. Even if that schedule is arbitrary.

Do you have a sewing partner? If so, tell us about it. What are your thoughts about the need to make numerous alterations on patterns? Do you think it's the sign of sub-optimal pattern drafting or do you feel it's the role of the sewist to undertake any and all fitting challenges to gain the final result (s)he seeks?

Houston, We Are Go For Launch

Can you tell I'm one of those long-suffering, space-program documentary wives?

People, I am very thrilled to tell you I have a workable pattern. Too weary to jump up and down, but inestimably grateful that I didn't give up, and largely because of the help, good vibes and encouraging comments I have received lo these past 2 weeks. Hasn't it been longer than 2 weeks?

Anyway, below I present muslin 8 - but I warn you that it's only the right side (my right side) you want to pay attention to. I used the left side to diminish the seam allowance - to see if it would improve the fit. I was afraid I'd forgotten to reflect seam allowance in the final pattern pieces I'd (natch) already cut. That was the anxiety I awoke with this morning... It appears I did not, because the right side of the jacket definitely fits better than the (seam allowance-diminished) left side.

Here I make it easy for you to keep your eye on the right side - I've cropped the left one...

Keep in mind that I inserted the shoulder pad quickly - and it's got too much fabric along the top of the shoulder - I'll have to alter it slightly for fit but I don't want to start fooling around with it to fit the muslin. I want it to fit the finished jacket. I also shortened the sleeve so as not to have to deal with the dart etc. I was only considering the sleeve head on this round...

I'm not lopsided. I've got a whole different seam allowance happening on the left side of the jacket.

I realize that it's not perfect but you have to consider the following:

• I'm working in a very stiff and heavy muslin (all I've got left). It's not going to drape like my fashion fabric - especially once it has a slippery lining on the inside.
• The shoulder pads need some work.
• I'm ok with this fit. It may not be the world's best, but I think it's the best I'm going to get without a fashion design degree, at my current level of experience, with a pattern that started off extremely unsuited to my dimensions.

I've hit fit fatigue - and I'm seriously worried about totally over fitting this in a fabric that isn't even vaguely like my fashion fabric. Drag lines happen. It's a function of the requirement for ease that permits movement. Apparently, on suits, we call the drag lines drape. Go figure.

I think, in the online sewing community, we're nearing a point of such anxiety about "wrinkles" that we're in danger of removing the ones required to allow us to move gracefully. At least that's what I'm telling myself.

But never mind me, what do you think of drag lines (the good ones, the bad ones, the necessary ones)? Are they all bad, in your mind? What do you think of this muslin? Note: I am very sensitive at this juncture - so please express your true feelings with care :-)

This Is the State of My Brain And a Question

I don't know that I've ever worked in such a state:

See the wine on the floor?

OK, I actually think I might be getting somewhere but my fix is SO BIZARRE I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't come to it with trial and error pinning. Note: I'm about to make muslin 8 (I think it's 8). I've actually started tracing the pattern pieces because I'm afraid of the cuts I'm making now.

Here's the sleeve in its original form:

There's slightly less curve on the right side (the front sleeve) than on the left (the back sleeve).

However, given the changes I've needed to make to the side front piece - and to get things to fall smoothly in light of a) where the side front meets the front at the armscye and b) the topography of my chest leave me with a sleeve that looks like this:

Again, the right side of the photo is the front sleeve. From the sleeve head to the left (the back sleeve) there are no alterations from the original pattern.

I've pinned this and it works. Is this even possible???

The Tailored Suit: People, I'm on Muslin 7.

I can't not talk about this. Trust me, I considered it, but the story is too good.

A while back, one of this blog's readers - a sewist - contacted me to suggest that we meet for coffee. Let's call her S. S recently moved to Toronto. She has been reading for a while (but isn't a blogger). She's a delightful person who makes lovely clothing and she's passionate about fit!

At any rate, she must have felt my blood pressure through the internet and she (incredibly kindly) offered to come and help me with the jacket today.

Man, what a gift! I cannot tell you what an awesome and instructional experience it has been.

We worked for about 5 hours - which flew by - and at the end of it I have another muslin. It's not a perfect muslin. There are still more kinks to work out, believe it or not.

Let's just say, at this point, I might as well have drafted this jacket myself.

Some fascinating things I learned:

• My upper bust tapers to the size 4 in this pattern. My full bust probably correlates with a size 10 - but only very briefly. We actually ended up doing an SBA (small bust adjustment) on my TBA (targeted bust adjustment) above the full part of my bust. Hilarious! (Fortunately S is all too familiar with that adjustment.) It was nice to learn that someone else concurs that my boobs are very hard to fit. The size differential between them and everything else - is really challenging. I know, cry for me.

• The side front pattern piece is marked erroneously. Either that, or it's badly drafted. My previously determined, one inch tapering of that piece is non-negotiable - no matter how I put things together. S noted that almost immediately. And I made her look at all of my cut lines to ensure I hadn't made a mistake. The error is not mine this time.

• Nonetheless, I may not need to redraft the armscye - the problem is only in one spot on the side front - and the length added to the armscye by the alteration is supported already by the original length of the front sleeve cap. It remains to be seen if it will be required, but I'm committed to that alteration too, if it comes to it.
  

• The back is looking good - but with room still for sleeve insertion. Tomorrow I'll fit the sleeves in again and determine what's next.

Note: We did work with shoulder pads.

I'm sort of in an altered state at this point. I can no longer manage to work up the will for a quick conclusion. I just want to get it as right as possible before I make the real jacket. I'm sorry to keep on about this but, undoubtedly, this is the most challenging sewing experience I've had to date. I don't want to deal with anything harder until I forget this - and I'm wearing a suit jacket of such fantasticness that people stop me on the street to ask where I bought it.

Let's just say I only hope I can return this favour with as much skill and patience as has been shown to me.

Lies - and Some Truth

I know, I said I'd never speak of this jacket muslin again but wonderful commenter Phyllis has alerted me to a potentially huge issue with muslin 5. Remember overfit territory? Well, all of those drag lines I worked for an hour to remove on the jacket back were probably a sign of necessary ease - for when the shoulders are inserted.

Thanks to her advice, I inserted one shoulder (I used the bias strip easing method which worked beautifully) and everything fit was once again wonky. Now I've got to start all over and figure out how the pieces need to go together - AGAIN. All of this (and late-stage insertion of shoulder pad - thanks for the reminder Taran!) has fucked with the bust height. And, I think, obviated the need to cut off the tapered inch on the side front armscye. You did read this correctly. I suspect my 6 hours of work yesterday was for naught.

Honestly, I'm in a vortex of "I have no freakin' idea of what to do next." I have to assume though, if I just keep doing things, something will work. At times like this I think of my great aunt Jean who was a fancy seamstress and house designer for Saks (I believe that's where she worked) in NYC in the heyday of the mid century era. She learned her craft in Italy, where she was born in the early 1900s. (She used to make me the most perfect doll clothes when I was a young girl.) Jean would window shop at all of the chicest shops (so the stories go) and sometimes go into those shops to try on insanely expensive dresses (New Look, anyone?) and then go home and impeccably recreate those garments. She wore them well as she was beyond slender. Sadly, in later years she could barely eat because of a myriad of stomach problems and surgeries, likely foreshadowed by her youthful, stylish slimness.

I only knew her in those later years when the ravages of time and life circumstance had taken over. I wish I'd been able to have some meaningful discussions about sewing and tailoring with her. Sometimes, now, I have imaginary conversations with the only pedigreed sewist (to my knowledge) to whom I am related.

Though I didn't know her well, she has given me a great deal: confidence, ephemeral support and an awareness that I am part of a continuum, that this is something I can do because it's in my blood. The people who come before us show us what we're made of. And given that we all go back more than a thousand generations, imagine what is in all of us to be accomplished.

Onward.

The Tailored Suit: I Promise, This is the Last Post about Muslins

When I said I was on muslin 3, I misspoke. I was actually on muslin 4 - and, as of right now - muslin 4 is a mashup with muslin 5. In case you can't keep it straight (like me, apparently):

• Muslin 1 - the one where I cut all the side pieces in the wrong size because I followed the wrong cut lines.
• Muslin 2 - the one where I corrected this and figured out a) I needed and FBA, b) the armsyce/sleeve fit was problematic and c) I needed to shorten the length of the bodice above the waist.
• Muslin 3 - the FBA version aka the sack, the paper pieces of which took 2 hours to alter.
  
• Muslins 4 and 5 are shown in photos below - the left side is muslin 4, the right side is muslin 5.

Before I show them to you, and tell you about where I'm at and what I've resolved, I should tell you that I do NOT recommend princess seam FBAs if you are a) small and b) narrow(ish) and c) there's more than a 5 inch difference between your underbust and your full bust. I'm not going to say it can't be done. But I will say that I believe that the reason it seems to work better for larger and wider people is because the disparity between added bust fabric and added waist fabric PLUS length is easier to manage when you are tall and/or broad. Feel free to debate this, btw.

I will also say that I have NEVER had as much trouble cutting a pattern in the correct sizes (according to pattern markings) as I have done with this one. I LOATHE pasting together pieces of paper and cutting them. I'd rather trace every pattern till the end of all time than do this again. Even today I discovered I'd cut something wrong. And I have gone back over each piece AT LEAST A DOZEN TIMES. It's like my eyes can't focus anymore.

Final proviso: I have never had as much difficulty fitting anything as this jacket. Why? Well, I presume it's for the following reasons:

• I've never known as much about fit and how to correct it as I do right now.
• Suit jackets are, bar none, the most HORRIFYING thing for me to fit, even RTW. (Man, I've got a lot of capital letters going on in this post...)
• I don't know that I shouldn't have just started with the 8 (though I suspect I would have had as many problems as with the 6, just in reverse.) I do think it would have been easier to cut - as it's the middle size so I would have been able to go straight down the middle with the scissors.
• I question whether this pattern is really designed to suit my particular dimensions. I actually took out my Claire Schaeffer suit jacket pattern and considered sewing it instead. But I couldn't bear the thought of starting from scratch with a whole different garment. Better the devil you know...
• I've veered dangerously into overfit territory - a desolate moor where one runs into the occasional, hollow-eyed, muslin wearing zombie. There's a time to know when to quit and it involves either a) putting the pattern away or b) getting on with it. I'm going with option b), God help me.
  

Now all of this will be water under the bridge when I get this thing sewn up gorgeously. Right?

Onto the muslin deets:

Muslin 4 (erroneously called muslin 3 until this post) began with one alteration: the targeted bust adjustment in the amount of 2.25 inches. It was a very successful alteration peeps, with one challenge to be resolved (shown belowin muslin 5). Note: My left side (i.e. the RIGHT side of the photo) is muslin 4. My right side (i.e. the LEFT side of the photo) is muslin 5.

See how muslin 4 drags and looks droopy? The irony is that it's because I made the bust line too high on that side. You can sort of see how, above my left breast, there's a little empty pocket surrounded with fabric.

Below, you can see (in the first photo) how the too-high bust line leaves a ridge of empty space above my actual breast:

However, on muslin 5 (the other side, shown below - and pinned together rather than stitched cuz I didn't have the will to stitch again), you can see how a slightly lowered bust line has made everything much better fitting.

I did not use a fitting book to resolve this challenge. At a certain point, it's easier to just figure out the solutions by feeling your fabric and by assessing the fit.

Believe it or not, muslin 5 still left me with two problems: fitting the sleeves into the armholes (unshown) and some weird drag lines along the back where it meets the side back:

Remember to ignore my left side!

Somehow I managed to resolve this by lowering the placement of the side back against the back piece (a pinned, and unshown, muslin 6?!?!). To be honest, I can't even figure out if it's better at this point, but numerous other photos (on Scott's cell phone) and his feedback lead me to believe that it is.

I did have to shave a tapered inch off the side front armhole curve. I tried every way I could think of to make the shape feasible for a) the shape of my body and b) the need to insert a sleeve, but this was all I was left with. At this point, I'm prepared to believe I've done something wrong which has led me down this path. But, if the armscye problem is with the pattern, that would seriously suck and piss me off NO END.

Having adjusted the curve of the armscye on the side front, it appears that it is now about an inch smaller than the sleeve which will be inserted into it. That's ok, because I'm going to ease the sleeve in (using a strip of bias fabric along the sleeve head before it's inserted into the armscye). I think that can work. 4 inches wasn't going to ease, but 1 inch should. And lowering the armscye on the side front means that the armhole fits my body better.

So, what's next?

I've got to make 4 alterations to every relevant pattern piece before I go any further:

• The lowered side front armscye adjustment.
• 1 inch-lengthened front and back pieces (to accomodate the lower placement of the side front and side back pieces, which ameliorated fit).
• The TBA on the front and side front pieces.
• Ensuring that every new matching mark (and I changed them all to suit my incredibly specific repositioning) is reflected on every piece.

I suspect that's going to take a while.

Have I mentioned that every part of my body seems to hurt right now?

The Tailored Suit: Muslin 3 and A Very Cool Book

This post is about two things that interrelate. For those of you who want to hear more about the latest muslin (and how I've stayed away from bridges today), see farther down this post.

I do want to say, right off, that all of your feedback has been incredibly helpful - the advice, the commiseration - it really makes a huge difference. So thank you all.

But let's start with some truly fabulous eye-candy:

This is my new book, Singer Fashion Tailoring, written in hipster-days of 1973 - when all of the coolest titles were written without capital letters.

Back-page advertising wasn't lost on them in the day!

And they knew you were sewing with fur - and leather (each of which has its own chapter).

I mean, there's a whole chapter on aligning your (brown) plaids:

And tons of great tailoring advice (that's almost starting to look familiar):

See this excellent section on fabrics - which includes all kinds of fabrics I've never actually heard of?!

"The muslin" does not get short shrift in this book:


And, finally: apparently, body-typing methodology is timeless...


This book has actually provided me with my next step in the seemingly endless muslin process for the Starlet Suit Jacket.

(Note: I do intend to document the following with photos or more instruction - but only if it works...)

I mashed up the princess seam FBA method from Singer Fashion Tailoring (above) with this one from A Perfect Fit (generously provided by Taran):


I've decided to call it the Targeted Bust Adjustment (TBA).

In short, I added 5/8" at each side front piece (at the apex of the bust tapering to nothing at about 5 inches down and up from that point). Note: You don't want to alter the waist or shoulder / armpit curves so taper before you get to either of those spots. The Singer book cautions against doing this for alterations of more than 2 inches. I lived on the edge and added an extra half an inch (ish). A Perfect Fit suggests that you alter the front piece length too. But something tells me, since I'm not adding a lot of extra width, I can ease the length in. If not, I can always fix it on the next draft.

The interesting thing about this is that I used the FBA-altered front and side front pieces from muslin 2 (I'm running out of practice fabric, people!) to cut out these new TBA pieces. Natch, the new, muslin 3 pieces fit within those from muslin 2 because they are smaller everywhere but in the full bust - where they are exactly the same size. Furthermore, I got a fabulous sense of EXACTLY how the FBA'ed pieces differ from the TBA'ed pieces in cutting muslin 3 out of muslin 2.

The side front pieces are fairly similar - there's a bit of difference in the armscye and in overall width. It's in the front pieces that things seemed to be going in two very different directions.

On the front piece, the TBA is much narrower all around (except at the apex of the full bust point). The shoulder top is a good inch narrower (like the original size 6).

Look, I have no idea of whether muslin 3 is going to work and, frankly, tonight I'm too afraid to put it all together to see.

What I can say is that, if this doesn't fly, my next plan of attack is to cut the 8 and see how that fits.

So, what do you think? Have you ever done this alteration? Do you own the Singer Fashion Tailoring book? Let's talk.

The Tailored Suit: The Successful FBA is an Urban Myth

OK peeps, I'm at the point that I'm willing to say this: FBAs don't work on me. True confession: Every FBA I've ever done has either yielded a wadder or I've had to rework it in some other way to make the garment fit.

Don't sigh with amusement and assume I'm doing them wrong. I follow EVERY FUCKING STEP TO THE FUCKING LETTER OF THE LAW and they always fail. That is to say, no matter how restrained I am in the amount (never more than 2.5 inches) the finished product is always a freakin' tent. I am not an incompetent alterer. Most things I try work well to very well because I follow all of the steps - just as I always do with an FBA.

Admittedly, this is the first time I've done a princess seam FBA (as opposed to a regular darted bodice one). I was tame. I added 2.5" overall. 20/8 inch spread over 2 sides. 5/8 inch over front (x 2) and 5/8 inch over side front (x 2).

But this time the end result was far worse than it's ever been:

• The bust was significantly lowered.
• The front shoulder seam got an inch wider than the back shoulder seam (even though I was very careful not to alter that line at all).
• The waist disappeared.
• The princess seam definition was obliterated.
  
• Have no idea of what's up with the armscyes - but I'm afraid to even try inserting the original sleeve at this point.

I'm not taking photos - it's too demoralizing. Think of a tent. Then think of what it would look like on me. That's where I'm at.

So here are my options:

• Throw myself off a bridge.

• Throw this pattern and all of the muslins off a bridge.

• Reprint the pattern and cut a size 8. I have a feeling that will give me the ease I need without too much size increase in all of the other places. (Gotta be better than the FBA version.)

• Do what an awesome 1973 tailoring book I just bought (stay tuned for post) recommends if you are trying to add 2 inches or less on a princess seam bodice: add to the full bust on the side front (tapering at the waist and shoulder) and likewise to the side seam of front piece.

• Add 5/8 inch to the side seams (where the side front and side back meet) - for a total increase of 20/8 inch. I mean, it's not like my sleeves are fitting in particularly well at this point. And I could even taper slightly under the arm so as not to add too much width to the armscye.
  

Which of these options would you choose? Note: If you think they're all going to fail, feel free to be blunt.

I suspect the safest option is to just start again with the size 8. (Tree killers of the world unite.)

Mind you, wouldn't it be interesting to try the tailoring book instructions? I sense that it's just what I need - a bit more room for the boobs but not a lot more room everywhere else.

At this point, I am so confused I'm really leaning towards bullet 1, with bullet 2 thrown in for good measure.

So, here are tonight's questions: Does anyone else out there have an FBA-resistant body? What do you do - in lieu of an FBA - to make your clothes fit beautifully? I suppose I should consider the fact that I may, actually, be messing up every FBA - but I really don't think so. If you are convinced that's my problem - can you explain how?

Oh please, fabulous sewing community, pull out the big guns with your advice. xo

Updated: The Tailored Suit: The Irritation Continues

Nothing new to report except that I now realize I'm going to have to FBA not only the front and side front pieces of the main jacket, but also the facing, interfacing and lining. Suddenly I want to outsource this part of the project.

Furthermore, a princess seam FBA increases the width of the waist as well as increasing the bust area, so I don't know whether I'll need to take fabric out of the waist once I do the FBA.

Add the whole sleeve dilemma to the equation and it's quite a production.

All this is to say, I'm unquestionably going to need to make another muslin before I cut the fashion fabric. Hmmm... Glad I started 2 weeks early or I'd be really behind schedule right now.

Update: OMG - what a PRODUCTION. I've spent 2 hours and just finished (what I think is a correct) FBA. You really need to check out Patty's genius tutorial on this method (for shoulder princess seams), just for a sense of what I've been through. I actually had my computer on my ironing board and I followed along word for freakin' word. Once I've got this sorted - oh, please Sewing Goddess - I will write a post outlining some other useful resources. Now off to cut another muslin.

Updated: The Tailored Suit: This Pattern Is Irritating the Crap Out of Me Right Now

I'm having a really rough go with this suit jacket muslin and sizing of most of the paper pattern pieces.

This afternoon I realized that, originally, I cut most of the pattern piece armholes incorrectly (an extension of what I discuss in the bottom portion of this post?). In a bizarrely consistent manner, on the armscye curves, I cut all of the wrong-size, mini-dotted lines (like lots of periods strung together). On the main pieces, in general, I cut the correct line for a size 6 (a similar - but different - 3 mini-dots and a dash). I don't know what on earth my brain was thinking but it was thinking in a purposeful, if crazy, way.

I'm still reviewing all of the pieces and trying to figure out which fucking tile goes with which spot on which piece so that I can print out new pieces, as necessary. At this point, I've probably cut the pattern twice in bits and pieces. This pdf pattern-idea, where you print, tape and cut 8.5 x 11 paper is extremely irritating. If only the pieces had page numbers on them, at least I would know which one to cut again. Working piecemeal, and using reference numbers that correlate with partial pattern pieces over multiple pieces of paper, is beyond horrible.

I suppose I should feel fortunate that the need to recut and tape parts of most of the pattern pieces isn't germane to the muslin (see below) cuz I fixed sizing of those pieces last week and put them together over the past few days. The finished product is WHACK as far as sleeve insertion goes. I do think that the easing method Gertie uses in her course (it involves a 1x12 inch piece of self fabric cut on the bias) will help with this. What will also help is either a) lowering the side front piece on each side slightly (.25") and / or b) reshaping the front armscye curve by cutting it down about .5". Option a) will mean that the marking lines no longer align and option b) seems weird - given that I've recut the relevant armscye curves so I know I'm working with the pattern-specified angles. I've decided to stop caring.

I don't seem to be able to fix this by getting the pattern to conform - and, trust me, I've worked constantly over hours and hours. I don't know why, despite following all the rules to a T, I've got a good inch of extra fabric between the top of the sleeve cap to the tip of the front piece. When I made this muslin I eased the sleeves using two rows of basting stitches. It wasn't optimal. I also - in willy nilly ways, did a mishmash of options a) and b) above. It taught me some things, but the muslin shoulder area is a bit of a wreck.

All of this is a preamble to some photos.

Here you can see the first muslin, with weird sleeves - but I haven't trimmed the armhole seam allowances and the pattern, per usual, is too long for my torso:



See the puffball of fabric above the waist in the shots above?

So I pinned out an inch of fabric above the waist, but below the armholes, on all of the pieces. Note: The photo below shows this done in an ad hoc manner. After I looked at these pics, I went back and repinned to ensure that the shortening was even from the bottom of the jacket. The pinning on the front of the jacket moved down so that is in line with the pin height at the back.




Now I'm trying to figure out whether or not I need to do an FBA. The front pieces close at least 2 inches over one another, but there is slightly less room as the jacket moves towards the lapels (right where the boobs are). Of course, this fabric has less than no give. My fashion fabric does have a tiny bit of width stretch. Tomorrow, I intend to release the princess seams at the bust to see what happens. If, when the seams are cut, the jacket seems to hang better, I will consider the FBA necessary and will make the alteration in the required size.

One other thing: This has no shoulder pads and I don't think I'm going to use them. I may use sleeve heads, if the bias strip and seam allowances at the shoulder don't give the garment enough shoulder structure, but I'm not looking for height in the shoulders - just definition. When I put the shoulder pads into the shoulder area, this jacket starts to look clown like on my frame, which natch, is not appealing.

Of course, I'm looking for all of your feedback. Thoughts or feelings about the fit here? Try not to focus too much on the sleeve insertion. It's a dog's breakfast. Of course, if you have some theories about why the front sleeve is too long for the armholes, I'm glad to hear about it.

Update at a ridiculously late hour: I couldn't leave it be so I've made the following adjustments (or partial adjustments) since writing this:

• Lengthened the bottoms of each piece by 5/8" except the front pieces which I lengthened by an inch (tapering to nothing at the centre front sides so as not to impinge on the width of the final pieces. I did this cuz, once I turn up the hems, I'm concerned the jacket will be too short - having removed an inch of length above the waist. Pretty funny alteration, no? Taking out length in one spot only to add it back in another. This way, though, I'm removing the bulk where I'm short.

• Opened the princess seams at the full bust - I need an FBA of 2.5 inches (1.25" on each side). Now I've gotta figure out how to do the princess seam FBA. Fortunately there are some great tutorials out there - and I've got Fit For Real People and I've got the Palmer Pletch DVD on fitting for a full bust. I think I should be able to get it done.

• Removed the sleeves and now I see how well the bodice fits without them. Fortunately Sunni has provided this great link on the subject of altering a sleeve cap to fit the armhole from Casey's blog. I do remember reading this and, somewhere in my mind, I have remembered it. I intend to review the sleeve cap against the bodice pieces at the armhole to ensure the length and shape align.
  

Today's Really Freakin' Good News...

Today, my friends, the world is looking very glass-half-full.

For starters, remember this?

Well, it arrived and I think it's terrific!

Smug Krissie

Happy Krissie

Thoughtful Krissie

Cute-bum Krissie

(I would like you to know that we took these pics after 5 pm, and I'm wilted from the day. My daughter would like you to know that she took these photos of me and the only problem she had was that my face kept looking prettier - said she - than the dress. Note: When you're tween is being lovey, a VERY occasional activity, you have to really be grateful...)

In truth, this bodice is longer than mine, but it's a great dress people, with beautiful workmanship. Run, don't walk, and get yourself a Lady Danburry original.

OK, awesome news part 2? Well, vis a vis muslin 1 of the tailored suit jacket, I do think I cut the wrong size. To wit:

See all the lines on the (left-side) curve of the LEFT side piece above? See how many more of them there are than on the curve of the right-side piece? I think that's cuz I mistakenly chopped 3 sizes off the front side and back side pieces of this pattern when cutting for muslin 1.

The back side pieces are below - in this case the right one is "correct" (I think), left side is the one I used to make muslin 1.

Keep in mind that I've badly hacked into the armsyce curves of the muslin 1 pieces. They do not resemble the original (presumed-too small) pattern pieces - so please don't get confused by that. Also, note (intriguingly) that my hack job vaguely mimics, at least in length, the unaltered second versions (the "correct" size)...

I don't know that I can blame Craftsy - though, trust me, I'd like to. I think I just got totally confused, though I'm going to review both pieces carefully again in the next few days to ensure it's not a problem with the pieces. If it is, I don't want this frustration to befall anyone else.

This would explain why:

• The sleeve head wouldn't fit into the original bodice pieces - 2 of the 4 were 3 sizes to small?!
• The armsyce was too small.
• The princess seams were exceedingly justified to either side of my breasts (rather than lying close to the apex.
• I couldn't raise my arms forward without the seams pulling.

In fact, if this is the problem, with the new pieces, I will add quite a bit of width to this pattern. Probably enough to make it the right size. Theoretically enough to obviate the need for an FBA.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Yes?

Instead, let's enjoy the moment.

Updated: Shout Out to the Experts: Tight Armscye and Upper Back

I want to give you a quick update on round one of the Suit Jacket muslin, which wends its way quickly into: "How do I fix these fucking problems I've never encountered before??" Note that I will post photos tomorrow (no time today), but I'd like to outline the situation and get the shout out going - in the interests of solving all my problems that much sooner :-)

The Facts:

• I cut the 6 and made it up today without any alterations.
  

• Note that there are no instructions, as such, for completing the muslin. It's not like a regular pattern with written instructions (except for the skirt, which isn't discussed in the course). There's an argument to be made that, if you can't figure out how to put it together without written directions, you probably shouldn't be undertaking a tailored suit jacket.

• Having said that, I had a lot of trouble attaching the front side to the front piece - related to the top part of the front side, where it meets the side of the armscye. I attached these two pieces a number of times to better or worse effect.

• Others have had a seemingly similar problem with the piece and a pattern error was identified on the Craftsy course. I think it was fixed before I ever cut out my pieces, and yet I too have had a problem. Either I have come up with my own issue, or perhaps the pattern wasn't fixed. I've emailed Craftsy to confirm that it was.
  

• The impact of the weirdness on the side front armhole is that I couldn't get the sleeve to fit when I tried to insert it. The sleeve piece fit from its centre marker (top of the shoulder) along the back seam. However it was much too long from the centre marker along the front shoulder.
  

• After trying a zillion things, I eventually just (strategically) cut part of the side front away (at the armhole). The impact is that it increased the length of the side front, so it made the sleeve fit. I know - it was probably solving one problem to create another, but I did the only thing I could figure out.
  

Having said all of this, the first muslin yielded interesting - if totally unwearable results.

The Good:

• The shoulders fit perfectly.
• The sleeves fit well.
• The length is almost perfect. I'll need to pinch out about 0.5" from the back above the waist, but not bad at all.
• The garment scale is a very good match for my proportions. It doesn't look clownish (which was something I feared). It looks sexy.
  

The Less Good:

• I'm going to need to do a sizable FBA. I haven't got to that point yet (I need to fix other fit problems first), but I imagine it will be in the range of 4". I've made my peace with this adjustment, but of course it adds a layer of modifications to the process. Although this is necessary, I do not think it will fix the fundamental problem I'm experiencing (see below).
  

The Bad:

• The arm holes and upper back are way to fucking tight. WAY. The impact of this is that I can't bring my arms forward without the sleeve seams pulling ridiculously.

• The arms fit so high and so snugly there is no way I could wear this thing, much less line it. Muslin has no give, of course, but my fashion fabric won't have too much either.

The Questions:

• I don't know if I created this armscye problem when I tinkered with the side front piece or whether the fit would have been even worse if I hadn't made the adjustments that I did. Do you know?

• Is this tight back a factor of the armsyce issue or is it a sign that the size 6 is categorically too small?

• How do I fix each of these issues arm hole and tight back?

• I REALLY do not want to start again, having to tile all the pieces together, cut them up and then recut the 8. Even if this size is "flat out too small", do you know if there is there a way I can adjust the muslin I currently have (by marking the muslin and then transferring the alterations back onto the paper)? Or if you have a size that's fundamentally too small (presuming this might be my challenge) do you simply have to start again?
  

Weird Sidebar: I just had a total deja vu. Is it possible that I've had this experience before and I don't even remember it??

Thanks so much for any feedback. I will show the pics soon, but really, the problem is no more or less complex than what I've described.

Update: I don't want to get too excited, but I might have cut the pieces incorrectly - i.e. the pattern hadn't been corrected when first I printed it. I suppose it's possible that I just cut it incorrectly, though I doubt it. I'm pretty anal about those sorts of things. I won't know till I have a chance to compare my original side front and side back pieces against new ones I have printed. But I seem to recall my original pieces had only 3 size lines within my cut line on the curved sides. On my recut pieces, there are 6 lines - making these sides of each piece 3 sizes larger than my originals. You can see how that would make a huge difference to the armscye problems, tight back - and the even the amount required for an FBA (I've never needed more than an inch and a half). And would explain why lining up my side pieces with the front and back was really difficult. Oh, I hope this is the case...

Of course, if it is, I wasted a whole whack of time.

The Tailored Suit: Accessories

It's never too soon to start accessorizing a suit that doesn't exist. (Is this analogous to buying adorable baby clothes while pregnant?)

I couldn't stop myself from buying this brooch on Etsy:

It may not work at all, but it called to me - and it was not expensive.

Oh, and I'm so on the fence with the plastic buttons. Though they look great, they're plastic!? Y'all have made me aware of the folly of spending zillions of hours on a project, only to cap it with plastic buttons. So...

I've called Pat of Pat's Custom Buttons and Belts (no website, but see this awesome Gertie post on the topic, which Gail so generously reminded me about) and requested a catalog. I fully intend to send her my fabric fashion scraps (at least 2" x 2" for 1" buttons) for gorgeous fabric-covered buttons. Stay tuned. (And give feedback!)

The Tailored Suit: Muslin Sizing Update - Subject to Change

OK, I did some more pattern measuring. This time the areas were:

• Shoulder seams
• Upper chest (again, approximated on the basis of where I presume the full bust on the pattern falls - I measured up 4 inches from there...)

I won't bore you with the numerous factors I considered this time. Point is, I really don't know if I'm measuring these things the right way and, sewing goddess help me, if I don't factor in the right number of seam allowances (it's surprisingly easy to forget a few) or measure from the right spot.

I even compared the measurements I recorded in this exercise against similar measurements on a blazer that fits me perfectly (although weirdly, it seems to have princess seams in the back only, and darts in the front). The feedback is totally not aligning. I mean, even if I cut the 8 in the suit jacket, the measurement comparisons don't come close.

Gertie responded to my Craftsy comment query about upper bust sizing for a size 6 and a size 8 (remember that I wasn't even considering a 4 at that point) with this response: "What about using a smaller size with a full bust adjustment".

Interesting side note: I've had the pleasure of meeting Gertie so she knows what my real life body looks like (not that she would remember it or answer my question with that in mind, but still, I like to think she was endorsing the 6 :-)) Equally interesting, I know what her real life body looks like. Given that she's designed this pattern to fit herself perfectly, as she says, and given that she's a size 8, I'm really betting I'm a 6 with a full bust adjustment. She has broader shoulders and a slightly larger frame than me, but also smaller bust.

So here's what I'm going to do - unless I change my mind:

• Cut the paper pattern in a size 6.
• Muslin it without making any adjustments.
• Pay attention to the likelihood that I'll need to revise the pattern to add (given that I'm going to keep the seam allowances at 5/8", ok, Taran? :-)), a 2" - 2.5" FBA. Making the unaltered size 6 will allow me to know how much I actually have to FBA. In the past I've always overdone it - and I've never done a larger FBA than 1.5". In truth, I may have neglected to consider that the increase has to be averaged over a certain number of seams which impact both sides of the body. I might have made my 1.5" FBA a 3" FBA by mistake. Hmmm. Food for thought.
  
• If the shoulders are too large, I can always cut the size 6 paper pattern down to a 4, before I do the anticipated FBA.
• Note that it will be very strange if I don't have to remove at least an inch of length in the waist because my waist is short.
• I guess there's a chance in hell it will fit me right off the bat. I mean, it happened to Erika.

To those of you who think I'm an over-analytical, wheel-spinning nut-case: I concur.

The Tailored Suit: My Work Plan

I've given myself 6 weeks to make this suit. Of course, there's no prize at the end of it - except a finished suit - and one which I'd like to get some use out of before the weather gets too warm.

On the topic of warm, I'm sure this can't last, but it's like mid-June here and it's freaking the plants out. No rain - not that I'm complaining - 22C days (like 72F) i.e. nature's perfect temperature. All the idiots have started blaring music and turning the bass up. I have to clean up my back-garden and (first-season NEW!) front-garden. I'm honestly not ready for this. But I have no idea what's going to surface in the front. Yes, I chose the plants, but I have no memory of any of them, apparently. For example, I have yellow crocuses. I can't remember picking these. Maybe I didn't?! Anyway, I LOVE crocuses. For your viewing pleasure:

(Elizabeth, this is for you!)

OK, back to the schedule. Giving myself an end date also helps me to stay focused. In truth, I'm motivated by nature (no pun intended), I do not procrastinate (unless it's on spring cleaning my garden) and I love an end result.

In general, I will sew on weekends only though I will spend a LOT of time thinking about sewing / researching midweek, as per usual. Midweek sewing will occur a) when I'm so intrigued by the next step that I can't stop myself and b) when hand tailoring i.e. pad stitching up the yin yang. When I tailored my coat, the pad stitching process was quite labour-intensive. I'd hand stitch in the evenings, in front of the TV. It's totally a fun thing to do, btw.

For purposes of this work-back, let's assume that every weekend has 2 sewing days (approximately 6-8 hours per). Assume a start date of April 1.

Head start prep: I've bought all of my materials and printed/taped/cut out the pattern so I don't need to factor this into the 6 weeks. If I did still have to do this, I'd do it midweek, so it wouldn't interfere with the 6 week time line. I have also watched the Craftsy course once. I will watch it again before beginning. That takes a few hours.

Week 1: Cut the muslin fabric. Prep all materials (fashion fabric, lining etc.) and set aside. Assemble the muslin. Begin muslin fitting.

Week 2: Finish muslin fitting. Make any necessary adjustments on the paper pattern. Cut the fashion fabric and lining and interfacing etc.

Now I will be ready to begin the project proper. Note that I'm not reinventing the wheel. The Craftsy course outlines every step in making the jacket (though it doesn't walk you through making the matching skirt, also provided). In truth, the skirt seems to be a bit of an afterthought - if a nice one. It's not the kind of style I wear, though. So I'll make a pencil skirt - which has the benefit of being quite professional and should counterbalance any whimsy intimated by the jacket. It will likely my TNT. I will manage this part of The Tailored Suit project without the assistance of the Craftsy course.

One other thing - the work-back below shows the regular ordering of tailoring, which you will find presented similarly in this terrific tailoring book. Needless to say, my little outline doesn't tell you anything meaningful about how to do all of these things, which is what Gertie's course and excellent texts on the matter will be able to do.

Week 3: Create front bound buttonholes. Tailor the jacket front. Decide whether to do welt pockets. If yes, tailor the welt pockets.

Week 4: Tailor the back jacket. Make the sleeves. Make the collar. Attach collar and facing.

Week 5: Finish bound buttonholes on facing. Hem. Insert shoulder pads and lining. Complete all finishing i.e. finishing the lining, attaching buttons.

Week 6: Make the skirt. (At this point I will have decided whether I want to line it, finish it in some vintage pretty - or in a even "professional but practical" - fashion.)

Wow, that looks ambitious.

At this point in my outline, it is time to talk myself of the ledge.

Seriously though, I will aim to move through this project in the most streamlined fashion. Who knows, I may gain some time in the muslining phase (ha!). Or maybe one element of tailoring, given that I've done it before, may be finished more quickly than some others.

But what are your thoughts? If you've made this, or any other, jacket, how long did it take you? Does the timeline seam feasible if I'm working on the jacket (realistically) 20 hrs per week?