Sydney is having the coldest winter in forty years and my dear, daggy husband hasn't a warm coat that is fit for wearing in public. After a quick perusal of the store offerings, he asked me if I could make him one. Challenging, yes. But the positive side is that it may be my chance to change his rag bag ways. A coat here, a shirt there - victory by stealth is my plan.
Fitting and pattern preparation was not as easy as I'd planned. Burda Style 08/2009 133 was cut as a muslin and we couldn't fit the sleeves. Despite a number of adjustments they refused to hang correctly. So we opted for
Vogue 8719. Fitting was again an issue - partly due to husbie's delusion that he was a size smaller than his measurement's suggested. Tissue fitting showed that we needed the next size up and several centimetres more in the chest. Is the male equivalent of a full bust adjustment a BCA (big chest adjustment)? Fortunately my adjustment worked a treat and with a good fitting muslin, I cut into my khaki green pure wool, purchased from a deceased estate. I'm using a combination of traditional, custom tailoring and fusible interfacings, as shown in this illustration. This method is surprisingly quick and quite meditative. The hand stitching on under collar makes shaping the collar quite easy. The pattern isn't lined, so I've had to change the front facing piece and add a back facing. It also has no collar stand or back vents. Great for ease of sewing but not particularly tailored.
The red jacket is almost finished. I've used
Simplicity 2313 version D . This version has strange pintucks to hold the frill erect which I ignored. I'll probably add a few handstitches near the bust point to stop it from flopping down. I need to unpick and redo the button holes which were a bit of a disaster in terms of placement. MOJO SAPPER NO. 1.
My Chanel style jacket wasn't finished last winter and I fear it may never see the light. It needs one sleeve to be handsewn into place, the lining hand attached and the sleeves shorted with bands added. My heart isn't in this project - MOJO SAPPER NO 2.
Rachel came home from Melbourne last weekend for my B'day and asked me to make some t-shirts for laying under sweaters etc. I made one from Burda style 12/2009 121 using some cheap fabric in my stash which didn't behave under my needles. The finished tee is fine but it made me cross - MOJO SAPPER NO 3.
But a nice piece of khaki wool and a mission - MOJO RETUNRED!
Victoey by stealth...I love it. Can't wait to see the finished coat.
ReplyDeleteRuns of mojo sapping efforts are a bummer, aren't they. Let's hop you have a turn around with a run of winners.
So your hubby is dear but daggy - hmmm I can relate to that!! God love them! Mojo sappers aren't fun, but it looks like your well on the way, and your hubby's jacket will be wonderful!
ReplyDeleteYou must finish the Chanel, it is gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteHow cold is it??????
I would tell people here, that growing up in Sydney when it was 5 degrees celsius outside, it was that inside!!! They would never believe me that heaters were the only form of warmth...and that winters were never what we prepared for, but yes, it can get cold in Sydney, right Gail?
Joanne
It sounds like your mojo needs a cup of tea and a lie down. What a series of handbrakes!
ReplyDeleteI hope you turn some corners soon. You have some gorgeous garments nearly there. You are very noble sewing a man jacket.
If you allow me a question, I still can not quite know what a "mojo", however, the garments that you show here are beautiful and should be completed by its enjoyment, I will be awaiting the man's coat that is preparation, it's a very ambitious progress. Go ahead!
ReplyDeleteI hope you get your mojo back soon. Each of these projects are actually quite lovely on their own but I can appreciate how overwhelming and draining they can be as a group. I had one of those weeks last week and just had to plough through.
ReplyDeleteTake heart, I can see only a series of successes. Gail, you are a character, your posts are always a delight! Victory by stealth, husband deluded as to his "real" size.. so funny! I once knitted my husband a jumper that is totally GINORMOUS on him, because he absolutely insisted he was a large and not a medium (slight delusions of musculature bulk). Back before I didn't have enough courage in my own convictions.
ReplyDeleteVery gracious and generous of you to be sewing your husband a jacket, methinks...!
Wow, great job tackling that jacket. I started a coat for my husband er..um..two years ago? I have so far...pad stitched the collar. Perhaps you will inspire me to dig it back out and continue working on it!
ReplyDeleteWow, Victory by Stealth! This is fantastic. My husband would never ask me to make him anything. Like Carolyn, I once knitted him a jumper which was so big you could have fitted two of him in it due to incorrect measurements. (Hey, it was a long time ago and I was pretty new to knitting garments:) Needless to say I've never been asked again. Oh well, his loss.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure when your mojo returns there will be no stopping you. Everything here looks so good.
I hate Sewing Mojo Sapping! As I've been so busy this past month, I just finished my latest Sew Weekly dress and it's a little bit of a flop. I have mojo sapping from being AWAY from the sewing room! That can't be right!
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday! I think you're a saint, sewing for your husband AND a coat at that... Would you reconsider the Chanel jacket? It's lovely!
ReplyDeleteHappy belated birthday Gail! Mojo sappers are just so disappointing at the time aren't they, but I'm sure these will be only temporarily in that category. They look like they just need to sit there until you are in the mood to do the last tweaks and then they will be fabulous. I'm totally entranced by the coat. Can't wait to see the end results.
ReplyDeleteHello Gail,
ReplyDeleteJust a reply to your comment on aprons....I can see that an apron could be considered a "ball and chain". I have heard some quite animated discussions about aprons over the years.
For me...I love sewing silk dresses and blouses, and I think it's time to start wearing them every day. I still have to cook most days though, apron or not, and I am a little slapdash in the kitchen. So I see the apron as liberating my silk dresses from the wardrobe, rather than chaining me down. I think that family life has chained me down already...but that is a whole new argument, isn't it?
I guess the difference between now and the sixties is that I have chosen to cook..it is not necessarily an expectation placed on me by society.
Sewing can lead us to some interesting discussions, can't it? I guess there are others who would associate sewing itself with that "ball-and-chain" feeling.
Cheers, K
Dear Gail, I'm not offended at all. Bloodstones and a pink tutu sounds like an inspired combination!
ReplyDeleteI love it. I once thought imaginary sizes were the exclusive domain of women, but today I see that denial knows no gender bounds. ;) Ah, the mojo sappers. Great that you have something to put the mojo back in your day!
ReplyDeleteIt's summer here and I'm going to treat myself to a period of anti-sewing mojo, if that's where the spirit takes me...
ReplyDelete"Victory by stealth" -- I seriously need to remember that wise saying! Your pad-stitching looks great -- how fun to make your husband a coat. Mojo loss is tough, but it will soon pass!
ReplyDeleteEverything fantastic here and looks so good and your pad-stitching also looks great. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteagenzie hostess
Oh my, lady. You have made some really beautiful pieces. I want that chanel jacket. Tee Hee.
ReplyDelete