Burda Jacket 02-2011-109 – UFO!

Last year, I began participating in Sherry’s RTW Tailoring Sewalong, making this fitted jacket in denim as a first go. The line drawing (I didn’t add the ribbon edging on my version):

Just to recap, here is jacket muslin #1:

 

It was way too tight! For a jacket, that is. So, muslin #2 (poor back shot, but best I could manage):

   

This felt better, I could live with this. So, fabric cut and got as far as inserting the lining, and doing sleeve vent buttonholes.

 

I stopped when I couldn’t decide how to finish the hem! Bagged hem? This would be great, simple, if the hem didn’t have the back slits…I think. Or, can I bag a hem with back slits? I can’t get my head around it, so it just occurred to me (only 7 months later!) that I should just suck it up and hand sew the hem! Any ideas? I’d LOVE to hear some other ideas!

Anyway, the plan was to make a black version in a light weight suiting fabric from my stash, fibres unknown, and a matching skirt - the first pieces in my core wardrobe, à la Fashion for Dummies. But now I’m not sure I want to tackle this pattern again. Once might be just enough!

I’m determined to finish this damn jacket for spring though…only a year late!

Burda Skirt 12-2010-124

Update (Jan 27): added some detailed pics of the second skirt.

This is a great skirt! It’s quick to sew up. I did make a muslin, and I’m glad I did, as there were several fitting issues: hip line, front horizontal darts, sway back, etc.

Here are the line drawings for the long and short versions from the magazine (I find these are still at the German site under “Archiv” – archives.)

 

The long version was designed for a felted fabric, and the front darts are on the outside; I sewed them on the inside as in the short skirt version.

The first skirt I made was more or less a wearable muslin (after the initial real muslin). On a quick side note, I just read about making wearable muslins in the preview of Sarah Veblen’s book, The Complete Photo Guide to Perfect Fitting, which is high on my priority list now. She recommends doing this for everyday clothes, just to see how they actually feel while moving around. So, for this skirt I used a very stretchy, lightweight grey denim from my stash – another Fabricland remnant. And even after sewing it up I had to take in the waist/side seams a lot; not sure why, perhaps it’s the stretchy fabric?

 

Unfortunately I didn’t line it, but I’ll probably add one soon. It’s not a bad skirt, just not the best fabric.

The second skirt was modified by rotating the front darts to the top, and slitting the front through the new darts to create three separate panels. I also topstitched the two front seams mainly to keep it flat, and flared the bottom by about 5 cm or so on all seams. Here’s the modified line drawing:

and here’s the skirt, made from a nice medium weight rayon/nylon/spandex knit. It’s got great drape. (OK, ignore my lovely socks! My Oma actually knit them and I’m very fond of ‘em!)

 

This time I lined the skirt with a knit lining, I think the bolt end said “Interknit Lining”, that I found at Fabricland for $10/m. It’s like a medium weight slippery knit, and it feels great!

I didn’t follow the Burda directions exactly, instead I followed the directions from an article in the November 2011 issue of Threads (No. 157), Easy-To-Alter Waistline, page 62, in case I need to adjust the waist/hips later on (I keep hoping to lose the baby gain, but I guess it’s an uphill battle.) I also followed Sherry’s tutorials on inserting an invisible zip and then facing it; it’s the 2nd time I used them and they’re so easy to follow. Since I also lined the skirt, I just sewed the lining to the zip almost all the way down; it looks nicely finished off.

 

The flared hem had to be hand sewn, and I used a lock-stitch that I found in How to Use, Adapt, and Design Sewing Patterns.

 

This was also the first time that I really altered a pattern for a very different look, and now I’ve done it I feel I could make this into a TNT skirt pattern. I’ve been wanting to do this ever since I started reading Carolyn’s blog, she uses her TNT patterns a lot and makes fabulous outfits. I am in awe, truly. Thank you Carolyn, for your inspiration.

More posts coming up, I’m hoping to catch up on about 7 months of sewing!