Completing the Jacket Fronts...Tailoring nerds rejoice!

I know that many of you enjoy seeing the tailoring process, so this post's for you! For some, this may look like torture, but I actually enjoy all this hand work. Maybe you do too. It may look complicated, but in reality it's pretty basic stuff. There's a real sense of constructing something as I work through these steps. Tailoring a jacket or building a boat, it's all the same in a way. One little step at a time.

 

 

With the canvas basted to the jacket fronts, I move on to pad stitching the lapels. Working parallel to the roll line, small diagonal stitches are worked up and down along the lapel. This job is made infinitely easier with silk thread, and I can't recommend it highly enough. Why? Because it's virtually tangle free in addition to being incredibly strong. I run the thread once through beeswax and stitch away. This is a labor intensive step, so if something as simple as silk thread can make it go easier and faster, I'm all for it.

The stitch should be very small, just catching the fashion fabric under the canvas. Roberto Cabrera says it should just be a "pinprick". That would take more skill than I have. My stitches are clearly larger than that. The underside of the lapel will be peppered with tiny stitches, none of which will be visible in the finished jacket, so I'm not going to agonize over the size of my stitches.

 

The next step is kind of hard to describe and harder to photograph. After pad stitching about 1 1/2" from the roll line, the work is turned around and the lapel is folded back into the position that it will ultimately take on the finished jacket. Holding the lapel back, the pad stitching continues in rows until the whole lapel is covered. This step puts a permanent curve on the lapel and will make it want to hug the chest when the jacket's worn.

 

 

Here you can see all the little stitches on what will be the backside of the lapel. (Bigger than pinpricks I'm afraid!) The shadow hopefully shows how the pad stitching has built a curve into the lapel.

Here the lapel is lifting up off my glass top work table. This always amazes me! The next step is taping the edges of the jacket and the roll line.

 

 

 

 

The seam allowance of the canvas is very carefully trimmed off prior to taping. The tape is a 3/8" cotton twill tape that has been soaked in cold water to preshrink it. Starting at the neckline the tape is basted along the lapel edges, down the jacket front and across the hem. Tape is also basted over the top 2/3rd's of the roll line.

 

 

The tape over the roll line is cross stitched into place. The stitches should be at the outer edges of the tape. Again, silk thread will make this much easier.

 

 

The rest of the tape is slip stitched to the canvas on one side, and to the fashion fabric on the other.

 

This completes the jacket fronts. Next I'll tackle the sleeves.

 

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Oh, Yeah... I'm supposed to be making a suit.

Wow, it's been ages since I've posted anything. Spring sort of happened, (although most people in the Northeast are still in doubt), and life got a little hectic. Still, I've managed to make some progress on my Martha's Vineyard wedding outfit. I guess one could say I've been productive but silent. Still, I have a ton of work to do if I ever want to be ready by Labor Day weekend.

After finishing my Jeds, I moved immediately to the "wedding shirt" because I knew I could bang it out using my TNT shirt pattern. So here it is.

 

Squeee. Another floral shirt! This cotton fabric from Elliott Berman was a dream to work with. A point collar with collar stays may have been more appropriate for a somewhat formal occasion, but I opted for a buttondown because I want to wear this shirt A LOT after the wedding. I can get much more use out of a buttondown, and it would be a shame to have a shirt this gorgeous just hanging in the closet. I wish you could feel this fabric. Heavenly.

 

 

I'm wearing it with a vintage raw silk Rooster tie that I've owned for ages. I'm scouring Etsy and EBay for other alternatives. I'm really liking the skinny look.

 

 

I wasted a huge amount of time trying to match this fabric, AND did a poor job of it! The front placket matched perfectly at the neck, but gradually ran off course down the front of the shirt. I'm sure you see it in this photo where my tie is askew. It makes me feel like I need to make an appointment with the ophthalmologist. Almost painful! Live and learn. I would never bother to match a busy fabric like this again. My daughter from CA assures me that no one will ever notice. On a brighter note, I did a great job matching the left front chest pocket. Trust me, there's a pocket there.

 

 

I experimented with several different thread colors for the topstitching and buttonholes, and settled on a muted gold color. It almost disappears, as do the buttons, which are the color Latte from Fashion Sewing Supply. I strongly suggest that anyone interested in making shirts pick up the entire range of shirt buttons that Pam offers. They're a great value, and you'll always have just the right button.

Shirt done, pressed and in the closet until August. On to the suit....

 

In case you forgot, my suit fabric is a olive green cotton / silk blend from Elliott Berman. It had a somewhat stiff "crunchy" hand so I decided to prewashed it in cold water and run it through the dryer. Ooops! I ended up with a wrinkled mess that I just couldn't iron. In a slight panic I dropped all 6 yards off at the dry cleaners and asked them to steam press it. Their result was only slightly better than mine, so I'm going to have to embrace the rumpled nature of this fabric.

So here's where I stand.

 

 

The pockets are done and the jacket fronts are basted to the canvas.

 

 

I'm using a lightweight premade canvas from B. Black and Sons. It's very inexpensive and saves a great deal of time, which is of the essence right now.

 

 

 

The pockets are made according to the directions in Roberto Cabrera's book on men's tailoring. I'm really pleased with how they came out, especially the flap welt pocket which I've never attempted before. What I love about Carbrera's instructions is that you can toss out all the fussy little pattern pieces. The pockets are composed of simple rectangles that get marked, folded and stitched. "Sewing origami" is my name for it. Somehow, it all comes together, and I love when that happens. I plan to add a pick stitch detail to the pocket flaps and lapels of this jacket.

 

The next step is to pad stitch the lapels and add the twill taping to the front edges. Lots of handstitching in this man's future!

 

Oh, and I've finally started planking the boat!

 

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Wearing my Jedediah pants!

I've been waiting for a decent day to model my new Jeds. The threat of a major snowstorm has passed, so finally, here they are. Undoubtably, the best pair of pants I own! Beautiful inside and out. Thank you, Thread Theory, for this great pattern. I can't wait to make more, especially the shorts version for the upcoming summer.

 

I made my Jeds with a brushed cotton twill from A & K fabrics in NYC. The color is a dark teal. It works perfectly with almost every shirt I've made. Here they are with a patchwork madras shirt. A total knock out! The season for wearing this shirt is very short, basically from now until the hot weather arrives. I plan on wearing this combination a lot.

 

Here I'm wearing them with one of my controversial ombré dyed shirts. I love this color combination! No one else has this look, so it make me feel like a million bucks.

 

 

 

I added a little whimsical "Levi's" type tag to the back pocket. Just a piece of my bias trim fabric sewn in. I omitted the decorative topstitching on the patch pockets. Just a personal preference.

 

 

This was my "Christmas" shirt, which I riffed off a vintage McCall's pattern from 1983. One of the male residents at my mom's nursing home really liked it! I like it too (even if the stripes on the pockets don't line up perfectly).

 

 

Love them with last year's spring buttondown! Like they were made for each other.

 

So when are YOU jumping on the Jeds bandwagon???

 

 

 

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Making my Jeds

There's a complete sew-a-long for these pants on the Thread Theory website. The instructions are very easy to follow, and things go together flawlessly.

Other than shaving some off the hips and back seam, I only made one significant change to the pattern. I increased the width of the cut-on fly to 2.5 inches, as suggested by David Coffin in his book Making Trousers. This allows the topstitching on the outside of the fly to be wider. I increased it from 1", as called for in the instructions, to 1 3/8". Just a personal preference.

I just tape on a scrap of tracing paper and redraw. Easy.

I experimented with topstitching the patch pockets on some scraps. My fabric is a brushed cotton twill that I picked up on MPB day this past summer. It looks grey in my photos but it's actually a dark teal. Very substantial, and best of all... No stretch!

I prefer the pocket in the foreground that's edgestitched and then stitched again 1/4" away. It creates less shadow and that "stuck on" look.

I'm making my own bias binding with quilting cotton from JoAnn's bargain bin. This gizmo is the best thing since the Play Doh fun factory! I love it.

Inside the patch pockets. No one will ever see it, but I love knowing it's there.

The brushed twill that I'm using is quite heavy. I lined the fly shield with the quilting cotton to reduce the bulk. I skipped the interfacing.

I finished all the seams with my homemade bias binding. It was surprisingly easy to do, and SO worth the little bit of extra time it took. These pants are prettier inside than out! The "luxury" label is a gift from my daughter and it's the icing on the cake.
Tout fini! Time to try them on.

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The Jeds Muslin -- Oh, my saggy butt!

Yesterday I launched into the Jedediah pants muslin. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I cut the size 36 thinking that the 34's would never fit. Wrong! They ended up way too big. Frightening. All I could think of was Betty Draper in her jodhpurs! They looked great on her, on me?... Not so much. Lesson learned.....go ahead and cut your usual size for these pants.

What follows is pretty scary!

 

OMG, where to start! Basically I have two issues here. First, I've cut the wrong size. Secondly, I have no hips and a flat buttock.

 

 

Even if I HAD cut out the right size, I just don't have the body to fill these pants out. But hey, we have to work with what we've got, or NOT GOT in my case.

 

My plan is pretty straight forward. I'll take in each side seam 3/4" and draw a new side seam that tapers down to just below the pockets. The pant width will stay the same at the bottom (they're already much slimmer than what I'm used to.) I'm also going to take a 1/2" out of the back seam in hopes of reducing the fullness there.

 

So here's my after shot. It may not be perfect, but it's much better. I've basted the pockets on and will go with the higher placement on the right. My flat butt always makes jeans pockets look like they're just hanging off me. I think this just looks better. Plus it physically feels better.

From the side. A very different silhouette for me.

My first ever zipper!

I know this doesn't look like much, but the pockets on this pattern are amazing. So much fun to make, and the end result blows me away. I probably put more effort into this muslin than necessary, but I always like to have an idea of where the difficulties are going to be. I'm slowly grasping the zipper and fly, I've got the pocket down, and I've practiced flat felled seams. I'd say my muslin has served its purpose, and it's pretty well trashed.

Time to move on to the real thing.

 

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Jeds

Pants -- A new frontier in sewing for me! For my first pair I'm making the Jedediah Pants from Thread Theory Designs. Let me just start by saying that these "kids", Morgan and Mattt, are doing some pretty amazing things out there in Vancouver. They've launched their own pattern company devoted exclusively to MENSWEAR. A very gutsy move, and I wish them all the success that they deserve. God knows there's a need. Please visit their website (which is gorgeous BTW) and see how innovative and stylish menswear can be.

You will find an entire sew-a-long on the Thread Theory website devoted to these pants, so I won't be going into a lot of construction detail. I'm sure this will eventually become the "trials and tribulations" of a first time pants maker, so I'm just going to jump in. Will they be perfect? Probably not, but I'm OK with that.

My goals are twofold. First, I just need to demystify the whole pants making process for myself. I can read and look at pictures all day, but I can't really grasp it until I physically DO it. It's just how I'm wired. Secondly, I'm hoping to "fine tune" this pattern over time, so I'll have a "go to" pattern when I need a pair of pants. It may take many pairs before I get there, but that's how it goes.

 

 

So here are the Jedediah pants. I think this design is brilliant. It's essentially a mash-up of jeans and khakis. There are slant pockets on the front (think Dockers), and patch pockets and a yoke on the back (think Levi's). The leg is quite slim and slouchy at the bottom. It's a young look and I'm not sure if I can pull it off, but I'm gonna try.

 

This is my first ever PDF pattern. I know lots of people hate them, but I thought it was actually kind of fun to put together. Everything seemed to line up very well. I roughly cut out the various pieces and then traced the size 36 using my Swedish tracing paper. I usually wear a 34, but after wrapping the waistband pattern piece around my middle, I convinced myself that I would never squeeze into it. You'll see the results of that decision next time. Yup, I'm making a muslin!

 

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Velvet jacket update, and moving forward

Thanks SO much for all the positive feedback on the velvet jacket. I just want to let you all know that it was a HUGE hit at the engagement party. I'm so glad that I both made it AND wore it. I have to admit that I almost chickened out at the last minute, knowing full well that I would be the only man not wearing a suit and tie... which I was. But no other guy got touched as much! The grandmother of the bride-to-be, a very stylish woman, was particularly taken with it, and threatened to rip it off me on several occasions. I lost track of how many martinis she'd had! It was an amazing party and great fun.

 
I know I wasn't feeling all that positive about the jacket, which was foolish in hindsight. I think we all have a tendency to judge our work quite severely. I know I do. As home sewists it's easy to get all caught up in every little detail, and fail to see the bigger picture. I don't think anyone was scrutinizing my seams or buttonholes. What they saw was ME, wearing a fabulous jacket, and that's quite enough. Now I'm actually looking forward to an event where I can wear it again! And isn't that one of the best things about making our own clothes? The joy of wearing things that we truly love.


Engagement party over, now it's on to the wedding which will take place on tony Martha's Vinyard in late August. Hmmm what does the eccentric uncle wear to this shindig? On my mental "Pinterest board" I'm pinning random ideas... wedding, New England enclave of the rich and famous, nothing too formal, fun vs stuffy, casual but classy, lighter vs darker, strong "prep" vibe, colorful, outside reception in tents overlooking the ocean, potentially very hot (or raining). The image forming in my head.... A suit (yes, the real deal, jacket and trousers), cotton, poplin, maybe seersucker or pincord, with a floral shirt and a vintage Rooster skinny knit tie. Are you still with me? Now to make it happen!

I had the chance to be in NYC for just a day, and I took full advantage of it. I was a man on a mission, so I made a beeline to Elliott Berman on W 35th. I just can't say enough about this place. A treasure trove. Just be warned that they're not open on weekends. As I'd hoped, I was able to "knock it out of the park" in just one store. As always, thanks to Eugenia of EBT for encouraging me to "go bold, or go home"!

So here's the result.

A French floral cotton shirting in tones of peach, orange, gold and mulberry on a black background. An Italian olive poplin (actually a micro twill) which is 80% cotton, 20% silk with NO stretch.

This shirting was love at first sight! It was the boldest of three prints I considered, all gorgeous in their own right. It's a full 54" wide, so I can easily get a shirt out of 2 yards. End result....a very Liberty looking shirt for $24. Score! I'm wanting to make this up right away and start wearing it. It's no secret, I'm completely enamored with floral shirts these days.

The olive poplin has a wonderful weight and crispness to it, and best of all....NO stretch. I've really come to dislike stretch fabrics for tailored garments. They just don't "act right". Olive is a great color for me and I always feel confident wearing it. So this fabric has all the makings of great classic summer suit.

Not wasting any time, I scurried around the garment district getting the other supplies I'll need. The linings are from A&K fabrics. I picked up both polyester and a spool of olive silk thread at SIL for all that hand sewing I'll be doing. The buttons I'm not 100% sold on. They looked great in the store, but not so hot now that I have them home. That's easy to fix, and there's plenty of time to swap them out. I'll be using a set of premade lightweight hair canvas jacket fronts from B Black and Sons. I'd rather put my efforts into other more technically challenging parts of the project.

I'm going to be using this vintage Bill Blass pattern which is all over eBay and Etsy. It's a two button jacket with moderate lapels and double back vents. The trousers are basic flat front. This is a classic pattern that looks as relevant today as it did when it was originally issued IMO. Some of you may recall that I riffed off this pattern last year to make my lapel-less silk patchwork jacket. I've gotten into the habit of saving my muslins, so a big chunk of the fitting has already been done. I'll just need to redo the fronts, add the collar and possibly adjust the back. It will be nice not "reinventing the wheel" this time.

As much as I'd like to dive into that floral shirting, I have another project in the pipeline.... My first pair of pants! Wish me luck.

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