Sunday, May 3, 2009

Couture Jacket Class -- 1

I learned a lot of things today in class. This was our first real class. Our job was to come to class with the stitching lines drawn in on our pattern sheets. I measured in at a size 10 so I drew a stitching line in 5/8" inside that line. In the following pictures, you can see it as the thin, red line.

The first thing we did was a tissue fitting. I've attempted this before but have never been successful. You really need another person to help you with this. We did the fitting with just the main body pieces; no arms or collar. I found out that I should be taking a 1/2" tuck out of the front between shoulder and bust (yes! it's what I have been doing!) and adding a 1/2" to the back (oops, I've been taking a tuck here too). It turns out I have a forward-thrusting neck and I need to add a bit more space to the upper back to make the collar come up where it is supposed to be. Can you think of a worse name for an alteration? So now, I've got to do a swayback adjustment and a forward thrusting neck adjustment. Both of these make me feel like singing The Old Gray Mare.

I also learned that truing your muslin is a job all by itself. I spent most of the class tearing my muslin, hand basting the edges together, and then ironing the snot out of it so it would go back on grain. Luckily, my muslin was nice quality and needed very little help to get on grain. Here you can see the hand basting, the tuck, and the drawn stitching lines.


Here you can see the additional tissue for the 1/2" addition to the back piece.


After attaching the pattern pieces to the muslin, we used tracing paper and a wheel to trace out all the markings, stitching lines, and seam allowances. We used 1" seam allowances on all the edges. I have a double wheel tracing wheel so this step went pretty fast. I will wait until May 17th to cut it off the muslin. There is no class on Mother's Day so I'm off the hook for two weeks. It's a good thing too. I need to get some stuff done for the SWAP. I did trace out the Patrones pattern and put it on muslin too. While I had everything out it seemed like the most efficient thing to do.


Hopefully I'll have the duppioni silk dress done in a day or two so you guys can see it. The Jalie jeans are already cut out and waiting to be made into pats. Then, it's on to the two jackets.

12 comments:

Beth Conky said...

What did you have to do to the sleeve to adjust for the changes on the back? Forward thrusting neck- that just sounds so funny. Maybe you could come up with a better name for it.

JoanneM said...

Dawn , I want to ask you a few things about your class.
Is it offered by your local indy fabric store? Who is teaching the class? I recall you saying that Claire Shaeffer would be attending at some point. Do they run these classes all year or is it a special one time only? I am trying to gauge whether I should investigate the possibility of such a class in my area.
Looking forward to your jacket and process.
Thank you!

Bunny said...

Thanks for the report on the first day of class.

gwensews said...

This is just the beginning of how much you will learn in the class. Tailoring is an art, refining your skills.

meredithp said...

I think this is going to be a great class. Thanks for giving us the play-by-play! I'm already impressed that you have lengthend the back and shortened the front. Almost everyone needs this alteration (because of our rounded shoulders) and a lot of instructors wouldn't have caught it. So far, so good.

Julia said...

What a lot of work, but worth it in the end, I suppose.

Unknown said...

Wow, looks like a lot of work! Thanks for the report.

Cindy said...

I look forward to your posts on this class. Too much work for me, but I would love to see how it is done.

elaine said...

Why did you make the seam allowances 1" on the traced pattern?

neighbourhood.gal said...

"...she ain't what she used to be!"

hahahaha! Love it!

Sewmarm said...

I wish you much success in your sewing! I first started because I wanted to be fashionable without spending tons of money, and I've never regretted it. For those who are sewing-abled, it is truly economical and ideal for achieving the look you want.

Paulette said...

OOoohhh...I'm SO envious I missed class!! BUT I got to try out the swimsuit I made. It stayed on in the water so that's a good thing.