Monday, January 7, 2008

It's in the bag

The jacket is finished! And despite having done this "slowly," not cutting any corners and going what I would normally consider "above and beyond," I think this was record time for me for a lined jacket. I started fusing the fabric on January 2, and I finished pressing last night somewhere around 11:00 p.m. And promptly cut out the next project.

FYI, if you're looking for a pattern with good instructions for bagging a lining, this is the one. I've gotten the bagging part down before, but not that well, and I've never figured out how (despite instructions in books or in patterns) how to go about machine sewing the sleeve linings to the sleeves. Sandra Betzina explained it very clearly, and this is definitely the best lining I've ever done.

That said, there is a lining issue, but it's not in how it was sewn. It lies in the fact that, once again, I put rotary cutter to fabric after 10:00 p.m. It took a little while to convince myself to sacrifice the Kashi silk for this jacket, but isn't that just another variation on the "too good to use" theory? When is the project ever going to be good enough? Just cut into the damn fabric already. So I did.

The problem being, when I went to sew the darts the next morning (8 in the jacket, 8 in the lining – can I tell you I'm tired of sewing darts?), was that I had cut two left backs. And there wasn't quite enough silk left to cut a right back that exactly matched the left. I almost chucked the whole thing and used a plain lining, but (a) I didn't have enough plain lining for a whole jacket, only sleeves, and (b) I decided that it was just the sewing gods being malicious because I hesitated to use good fabric, and I wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of pitching it. It's not that far off and the pleat in the back covers some of the mismatch, so I can live with it. How well the lining went in was my reward for not giving up on the silk.

I pressed everything one last time and was trying it on when the boy got here last night. Sometimes his cluelessness is cute; sometimes not. This was one of those not times. He has this idea that the clothing we make should cost less than the crap you buy in the stores. He said, "What did this cost, about $10?" Yes, per yard for the fabric, so that's $25, and then $12 for the silk lining, a little more for the acetate sleeve lining, and 2 yards of flannel for the underlining, and a separating zipper, and about 10 hours of my time. But that's not why I do it. He doesn't understand why I would go to all that effort unless I'm getting it for pennies on the dollar.

It's not even really about the clothes, it's about the process. Clothes are just the visible reward I get for doing something I love.

Next up: BWOF 2/2007 #113 - a skirt to be worn with the jacket, fabric stash-swapped with Trena. I think that's going to be the theory for sewing this year (unless I'm interrupted by something like a gift or a special occasion outfit) - each project has to be able to be worn with the previous project. This will ensure that everything I make will work together. I'm pretty good about my colors now (as opposed to in the past, which explains some random purple stretch velvet deep in stash), but this will definitely keep me from those occasional "but it was so pretty" color choices that make me look like death sucking a lemon.

8 comments:

Rose said...

Very Very beautiful! Great job!

LauraLo said...

Beautiful jacket!

Berry said...

Well done! Good you used that silk as lining, the inside looks really nice.

Linda L said...

Lovely jacket, saw your review at PR. I did a tutorial on sleeve linings when bagging a lining. You can see it here, may help as it is tricky to do and once you do it a few times it gets better.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8674330366462916106&hl=en

Cathy said...

Karen it's beautiful. The lining looks so sumptuous and will feel so wonderful, you'll not regret using the silk.

Connie B said...

Perty Perty Karen!

Kitty Couture said...

Stunning jacket, Karen!
Thank you so much for posting on my blog. I'm so glad I could discover yours this way! :) Your sewing is quite lovely!

Linda T said...

I have this pattern and have been "afraid" to tackle it. I love how yours turned out and the good info about bagging the lining may have just given me what I need to cut that baby out!