back to Home Ec!

I've been experimenting again!  Trying my hand at some garment sewing.  I had been looking in stores for a loose fitting jacket-type piece but not finding exactly what I wanted in the right color, size, style, fiber, etc.  So, I decided to try constructing a simple garment for a change.  I wanted it to be heavier than the typical quilting cotton fabric that I sew with.  I found a linen and rayon blend at Joanne's that was a good starting point, plus not breaking the bank since I didn't know if this would be anything I would like to wear once it got done!  I picked out a very basic pattern -- Simplicity/New Look 6378.  

I decided to add side seam pockets to the pattern, since I had done those once before on the last thing I sewed for myself, and I liked they way that worked.

I constructed a muslin prototype first, for a trial run at the sizing.  It's pretty loose fitting, so not a lot of tailoring required.  It did turn out to be overly loose, however, so my mom helped me make an adjustment so the back wasn't like a big balloon!  

After cutting out the pieces from the linen fabric, I had to make a decision about how to finish the seams on the inside.  I knew that they would be visible at times, just because of the style and the open front.  Luckily, I was able to consult with Linda at work, who is a former "Home Ec" teacher, and very knowledgeable about sewing clothing.  I could have just pinked the edges, but that would have been too prone to ravel.  (I just tried using the words ravelly, ravely, and ravelry but I don't think those are real words!  Except I know Ravelry is a great knitting website!) I could have serged the edges, but I didn't have thread to match.  She suggested doing the Hong Kong finish, which turned out to be just right!  She explained it to me, then I consulted my trusty old sewing reference book at home to make sure I understood. 

 It was a bunch of extra work, but very worth it in the long run.  That's pretty much what Linda told me when I questioned the value of putting in all that extra work on the seams!  She's so wise!  Here is a picture of the seam on the inside of the garment.  It's pressed open, then a bias strip is sewn in place and wrapped to the back of the seam allowance and secured with a "stitch in the ditch".  I ended up cutting and making my own bias tape from the linen fabric since the color wasn't going to match with anything I could buy.  It was a lot of extra work, and probably next time I would seriously think about buying a fabric that I knew I could serge with the right color of thread.

Basically, I spent a lot of time sewing to make the seam allowance look unnoticeable!

The outer edge of the jacket was also to be finished with a bias tape, so I ended up cutting more from my fabric in another width to use for that.  Lucky I had some to spare!  It was folded to the back and then topstitched, shown below.

I used the triple stitch on my Bernina to make the stitching a little more defined, even though it was a matching thread color.  Now it's all done, and I think I will try wearing it tomorrow!