Tuesday 1 November 2011

Vogue 8701 nearly done, but ...

Ok this time it wasn't all my fault.  It's the Vogue jacket.  It doesn't like my fabric.  Too many seams perhaps? But also a few faults of mine.  I'll walk you through it ..


Here's the lined and semi-pressed still unfinished jacket.  It looks OK I hear you say ...

 
Well, something has gone drastically wrong with the collar notches .. not really sure what as I followed all the instructions and both were OK until I trimmed them to get sharp points.  Then (top pic) a large scoop became apparent on the left, while the right has a smaller scoop but a scoop all the same.  I reckon it can be fixed with a little patience so no huge disaster...

The lining went in very smoothly and I was very very pleased with the stitching - I really don't like working with slippy synthetics, but this lining was OK and didn't fray too much.  There were alot of pieces just like the jacket so it was quite time consuming.  The whole thing is stitched together via the outside edge, and turned through the middle where the back peplum is then constructed.  This is the bit that remains unfinished.


BIG mistake number one - remember I shortened the back?  That's fine.  What I shouldn't have done was shorten the front.  I'm not sure why I did this as it had previously taken a considerable amount of experimentaiton and brain wracking to learn that petite stature/big bust means shorter back length but longer front to accommodate "bust rise" .. why why didn't I remember this hard gained wisdom when I decided that the jacket was too long for me???  You can see the effect here clearly - the waist line slopes upwards from the back.  While the untrained eye probably wouldn't notice, it's not a good look overall and doesn't improve the comfort factor of any garment!

Overall, I like this jacket but can summarise my experience quite succinctly as follows:
  • Fabric for this design is far too thick - it's car upholstery remember?  There are too many seams in the design which cause too much bulk with my car upholstery.  Bulky fabric means these seams - however expertly they are trimmed, remain lumpy.  
  • The light tailoring I did on the collar and lapels was probably not necessary because of the seams joining the jacket and collar - a tailored jacket is cut in one piece and therefore needs the tailors tape stays and the pad stitching to make it all bend and fold the way it is supposed to.  This has seams to serve that purpose.  I learned this while making this jacket!
  • The sleeves of the jacket were far too wide for the fitted design.  I narrowed the sleeves without narrowing the armhole by mistake.  It wasn't a problem (infact the sleeve setting went like a dream), but in a different garment, this may have made things very difficult!
Although, I have to say, that mistakes are my reference library - it doesn't bother me that they happen because I learn so much from them,  I don't mind telling you that I am a little dissapointed.  I liked everything about this (proposed) jacket. The fabric, the design, the buttons (!).  It will probably finish up quite nicely but I have decided not to spend any more time on it for the time being.  Lots of reasons for this, but those are for another post, another day.   I very rarely see other bloggers sharing their bad work .. is it just me who has "OMG I can't believe how much I can't sew!" moments? 











10 comments:

Ginny said...

You're not alone! Give me a corset patent with umpteen panels gores and other annoying fiddly bits and I can make it up to fit perfectly. Give me a jacket with lapels and I'm throwing it out the window in a huff!

I hope you can fix it up to a point where you're happier with it. Walk away and make something else, then come back to it with fresh eyes, it usually helps me when i despair of a project.

Anonymous said...

Ah, we all have those moments. We're just not brave enough to share them - that's the only difference!

Isisjem said...

Well done for sharing when things don't go to plan. I am definitely from that school of thought. It can be intimidating to only ever see perfection. Whilst we aspire to doing the best we can sometimes it's nice to read (and I don't mean this in a horrible way) that other makes we admire do silly things, forget the obvious or just have random bad sewing days! It's a great tool for learning and improving.

Twiggy said...

Well I'm a sewing dunce and I'm very impressed with your skills missus. Good for you sharing with blogland though, I think sometimes it's good to know that not everything goes 100% My housekeeping skills are a disgrace so whenever I see beautiful corners of my home type posts I wonder if I should publish messy corners of my home posts :)
Twiggy x

Indigo Blue said...

I had a simialr result when I was asked to make a tailored jacket for my BTEC fashion course. It was a double whammy whith a skirt which did actually turn out right. The jacket had just about everything wrong with it. But I have to say it was the last time I made what I call a diaster. I do have to say that I don't like vogue patterns at all. My students sometimes bring them in to use. They do not make sense, ask for too much fabric, bits do not seem to fit, unnesseccary things are done to seams etc and so on.
Could you lengthen the panels by adding a contrast edging panel or go up higher and make a box style jacket which just touches the top of your natural waistline and make it straight all the way round.
Just remember Julia that you are game to try things and I do not think that anything is really a mistake just an stage in learning.
x

SEWN said...

I always share my bad projects. I hope it makes someone feel better. ;)

snippa said...

My last blog post was a sewing disaster! Perfection is so false.

Anonymous said...

Wow, wow and wow!
I have just discovered your blog and find it very refreshing and thought that i'd let you know :O)

Totally agree with you that not enough people share failiures - me being one of them but I think that I'm going to change that after reading this so TY for the suggestion :OD

JuliaB said...

Thanks for your kind comments everyone! I'm glad that showcasing my disasters is helpful :)

Polished Image Consulting said...

Great Jacket!