Finished Anise

It is the end of November and I have finished my first six Colette sewing patterns, finishing with the tailored jacket Anise. So without further ado, here it  is, my Anise complete with bound buttonholes, welt pockets, sleeveheads and shoulder pads!

 I must admit, I was incredibly intimidated by this one at first, I was worried I wouldn't get the fit right or some of the details would be difficult to construct, I was very nervous. There also was a lot of prep work involved, A LOT of pattern cutting, but once I got down to the sewing - it was a breeze! This pattern is amazing and I love the professional results. Details like the bound buttonholes, which seemed difficult, were surprisingly straightforward, they just require a few extra steps. The part I found to be the trickiest was attaching the armhole lining to the jacket lining, took many pins and a bit of cursing but I got there and with a little practice I'll be a pro. I definitely give this pattern an A+!

So that does it for November, only five more months to go. I am going to be away for a couple days celebrating the holidays with my family early this year, but I will be back on the fourth ready to fill you in on all my plans for December's sewing projects. Have a great weekend everyone!

Anise Progress

Man was I on fire yesterday. I managed to get everything done on my checklist AND:

• Make the collar
• Attach the facing to the jacket
• Make the welt pockets
• Make and set in one sleeve

 This makes my life today much easier, for all I have left to do is:

• Make and set in the other sleeve
• Put in the shoulder pads
• Hem the Jacket
• Attach the lining
• Attach the buttons

I'm hoping I have a little of that fire left today so I may just be able to finish it up and have photos posted earlier than expected. 

Anise Jacket Day Two

I have cut all my pieces and applied all my interfacing. I have formed my under collar around the neck of my dress formed, steamed it and left it over night. I've got to have a big breakfast today, because I have a lot of work ahead of me.

I am going to follow along with the Anise Companion's schedule, adding a couple steps to each day to fit it all into these next four days. Here is my checklist for today:

• Attach the underlining pieces
• Create bound buttonholes
• Stitch the darts
• Sew the back pieces together
• Sew the front and back together at the shoulders
• Create the facing

Better get started!

Project Six - Anise

I've been leading up to Anise for a week now and there's only 5 days left in November to get it done. I ended up making two muslins, one in a smaller size than I normally sew (which turned out to be to small) and one in the usual size and no pattern adjustments, that one worked out ok so I'm sticking with that for the project.

Originally, I was going to be boring, or classic depending on how you look at it, and buy black wool for the jacket. I want something that will go with everything. Then I got out my winter hats and neither of them go with black, so then I thought navy.

 I went to the fabric store and all I could find was this $35 a yard navy cashmere that was beautiful but way out of my price range. Tut. Just as I was leaving, I saw this choppy hounds tooth wool in navy and white for only $12 a yard, I thought it was perfect. I hadn't left the store for more than two minutes when I realised "what was I thinking?", this is going to go with nothing, nothing except my hats. Oh well, it's a great fabric and I think it will look great in an Anise, I'll find stuff to wear with it.

I am a bit further back than I'd like to be at this point, but we all know what the weeks surrounding the holidays can be like. I have my pattern rearing to go and my plan of attack for today is to prep my fabric and cut my pieces. If I finish at a reasonable time, I may also sew the darts and shoulder seams on the outer shell.  An easy enough day. Tomorrow is the hard one, but more on that then.

Getting The Right Fit

I have had a lot of emails and comments from readers with great advice on getting my garments to fit better. I  have sewn five patterns so far and with each one I am getting closer and closer to finding the perfect fit, and the proper alterations to get there. None however, have been the exact right fit.

Where the garments seem to fit oddly is in the torso; the shoulders are too narrow, the armholes are too big and the darts sit to high which throws the bust off. I decided, with the help of some fellow sewists, to start with one size down, and work from there. Then I got thinking, the Meringue skirt fit perfectly no pattern at all  so I can't go down completely one size, I may have to grade from the smaller size at the bodice to the larger size at the skirt. This would make me pear shaped, especially considering another fit issue I haven't gotten to yet - my legs. I have always had bigger thighs than my pant size would allow. Things like skinny jeans are lost on me for it's either, thighs that fit and a waist that's too big, or vice versa. So I may have to grade even further to a larger size at the thighs when it comes to making patterns like Juniper and Clover, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

I found a couple hours here and there this weekend and traced up a new, smaller pattern for Violet - my first project. I started with my master pattern and traced one size down from my previous Violet. I still narrowed the shoulders and shortened the armhole by 1 cm, and the fit is a lot better but it's not perfect. It still feels big in some places and now the bust is too small.

I am about to start my most difficult project to date, the tailored jacket Anise, and a level of frustration has hit me for the first time in this challenge. I NEED to get the fit right before I can continue to spend time and money on these projects.

I have ten days to complete Anise which is plenty of time if I can figure this all out. I am spending this entire week just on making muslins and getting fit down before I even buy my fabric. Today my plan is to trace my pattern and cut my first muslin. I have decided to start out by trying the smaller size with no adjustments and see how that works. Wish me luck!