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Friday, February 8, 2008

Pretty thing

Ooooh, I'm very close to 100 posts and I've noticed that other crafty types tend to have a giveaway with their first 100. What, oh what, shall I do?

So, the jacket I'm using couture sewing techniques on. It's not as far along as I'd hoped because there is a little person in my house who appears to despise sleeping. It's how I imagine living with Margret Thatcher would be - you know, she of four hours sleep a night - but possibly a little more fun.

I'm using a black velvet (I think it may even be crushed velvet - let's call it trashy chic), with a border print as the outer and a pink patterned silk as the inner.


Both fabrics are a blerdy nightmare to sew because they're both slippery little beggars, so hand sewing them is probably faster and easier than doing it at the machine. That, and my machine would chew them up and spit them out - anything that's not a medium weight cotton gets badly treated by my machine.

Also, the pink silk is fraying like crazy. I'm not sure yet how to deal with that. Might have to consider zigzagging it with the machine...


I've surprised myself by bothering with basting before I sew. When I'm using the machine I almost never baste. As it turns out, it's a very handy thing to do. You'd never guess but it actually helps keep the material in exactly the right place for when the permanent stitching starts! I know. Shocking.


I've done something a little silly though. I forgot to plan the closing. And it's going to be difficult because there's all that lovely pattern on the front that I don't want interrupted by buttons or buttonholes. Really should have thought this through.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's looking good, beautiful fabric!
Jannelle / Heart Felt / www.teatodtoad.typepad.com

Hyena In Petticoats said...

The jacket is looking great!

I'm all about recommending the hand stitching - some fabrics just won't behave in the machine.

And basting such difficult fabric is ESSENTIAL. You'll save yourself lots of heartache and seam ripping with it, I promise!

Looking forward to seeing it finished!

Leah xx

ps: have you thought about a roulade closing for it? They can be good on such a detailed garment, and you just sew them to the front. Easy.

spices for violet said...

Thanks for the comment on my blog.
I know what you mean about not thinking things through properly and logically! But we learn from mistakes, and have a laugh along the way! Good luck with the jacket, it looks great!
Steph

bettyninja said...

Wow that looks like a lot of work went into it! I am always not planning my way through projects too.

Anonymous said...

I'm not a sewing person, but these ideas spring to mind:

ribbon?

those strips of hooks and eyes all the way down? so when it's closed, you barely see the join?

can't wait to see how you resolve it

also just wanted to say, the word verification string on this comment is "pizhas". For some reason this pleased me very much

Nikki Elisabeth said...

Ooooer getting even fancier these days aren't ya? Very cool.

xo

P.S. Sorry to hear the Remy kid ain't conforming to the preferred mould. I maintain that he will be a fab sleeper as a toddler. It seems to be one or the other.