Motorcycle jacket lining and copying ready to wear

My husband has asked me to line his motorcycle jacket with chinese brocade.  He doesn't need the sleeves lined, only the bodice.  I decided to use painters tape to make my pattern pieces.  I had to do it twice because the first time I tried to peel off the tape it fell apart. 

I used tailors chalk and marked the center back line. I used my painters tape and placed it along the outline of half the back piece. Then I covered the whole thing in painters tape.

Because it fell apart the first time I decided to reinforce the painters tape with duct tape.  The duct tape is crosswise to the painters tape. 

 I taped the side piece before removing the back piece.

   I checked the lower armhole to make sure the pattern pieces matched.  I used a sharpy to make small corrections.  And I made a few notch marks for lining up the pieces.

 The duct tape reinforcement really helped peel off the pieces. 

Ta Da!  They don't lie perfectly flat and the center back and center front lines are not exactly straight.  But it's a good start.  I will make small corrections when I trace and prepare them for seam allowances. 

Happy Victoria Day weekend!

 

Almost There

After many months of learning to fit pants I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Here is my latest muslin.  I'd like to post about all the changes and adjustments I've made but there are SOO many.  Once the pants are perfect I will attempt to outline what I've learned about pants fitting. 

Finally getting somewhere....

with these pants fittings!!!!  I made four jeans muslins in the last week.  Here is my best one.

 

 I just have to get rid of the slight wedgie in the back.  I can't wait!!! 

The Mermaid Skirt: Fitting garment

This is the first fitting garment.

There are a lot of wrinkles and the side seam isn’t falling straight but this is on the dressform. I will wait until my friend - we’ll call her MF for ease of writing - has tried it on to plan the necessary fitting adjustments. MF has a slightly scooped out lower back. I did a sway back adjustment by lowering the back waistline .5” and bowing the legs of the darts. The godet was so much fun to sew. I want to make sure it doesn’t get tangled up between her legs, inside the skirt, when she walks. The drape of my fashion fabric will ensure my godet falls properly. In my test garment, the godet has a tendency to lay flat :(.

The Mermaid Skirt

 Here is my next project; it is for a friend who recently visited. ~sigh~ If I was smart I would have asked her to send measurements and when she got here I could have the fitting garment waiting. Instead I took the measurements while she was here and now we will do the fitting long distance. I’m curious to see how it goes.

This skirt will have a high waist, with points at the front. It will be tapered and fall just below the knees. A single, large and center back godet will provide walking room. It will have a center back lapped zipper.


And this is what my pattern looks like, facings and all. 

Pushing our luck

My husband and I are big VOLBEAT fans. On Wednesday night, my husband discovered they were playing in Toronto on Friday night and he bought the tickets before even looking at our schedules. Of course the odds were stacked against us. Toronto is nearly 6 hrs away, so we both would have to get off work around noon, and find someone to care for Valentine. It just so happened that I got Friday off (found out on Thursday morning) and Chris got Friday afternoon off. And although Grandpa was unavailable, we managed to find some friends who would take Valentine overnight. Everything just fell into place.

Waiting for the bands to start.

The bands were all fantastic. Hourcast, served the first course. Next up was The Damned Things. And finally Volbeat.

Volbeat!

We didn’t want to take advantage of our friends babysitting service, so as soon as they stopped playing shortly after midnight, we went straight back home. And by the time we arrived home, we had been up for 24 hrs. 11 hrs of driving....and it was totally worth it.

The music was SOO loud. We were mostly deaf when we left and I had to yell the directions when we navigated our way outside of the city. It was pretty funny.



Snow Day!

Just a quick hello.  Daycare is keeping me very busy but I am enjoying it.  I sew a little on the weekends and whenever I get a chance.  We are having a snow day today and I plan on sewing and cutting my hair.  15 cm on it's way!  Check it out. 

I went to the flea market last weekend and was pleasantly surprised.  I found a vintage Ingraham starburst wall clock for $5!  I also found this awesome art deco(?) hutch.   They were asking $40.  I don't have anywhere to put it so I had to be content with taking a few pictures.