Monday, October 20, 2008

Days 4, 5, 6 and Beyond!






We were now ready to sew the main seams of the jacket by stitching on the basting threads. These large rectangular chunks of fabric looked nothing like a jacket and I could not imagine how a good fit could ever be established with 4 inches of excess fabric in every seam. But leave it to Susan and it was done. After the fitting we began the very tedious job of trimming the excess seam allowances and folding and pressing the lining seam allowances. All the lining seams are done by hand with a fell stitch And then came the sleeves. Oh my gosh, the sleeves. Set by hand and beautiful but definitely labor intensive.

At this point the class was over but the jacket not yet finished. Once at home I decided my sleeves were too tight so I took them out and remade them --twice. As soon as my trim comes I will apply them, yes them, I am using three different trims. (And yes of course they are applied by hand.) Then all I have to do is make 4pockets, sew on 10 buttons and sew in the chain at the hem and I'm done! Yes done,
D O N E! I now have 100 hours of time invested in this project. Should this jacket be the death of me I will wear it finished or not as I lie in my casket.

3 comments:

Kate said...

Wow!!! Now we know why the couture clothing is so costly. Hopefully, you will have many wearings before the casket! Did you get your sleeves comfortable enough to suit? Looking forward to seeing you model the finished jacket.
Brava!! Kate Q:-)

Julius Family said...

That is incredible.. no wonder most of my clothes are not a great fit.. look at the work that goes into making clothes that fit well. I really want to see the finished project.. how's it coming?

Julius Family said...

POST TO YOUR BLOG!