A Chilly Day Outfit - Part 1

This is my first project for 2009 because on Monday mornings it is really cold in my office. It's because I sit in front of 2 very large windows and the cold air seems to just flow in...or maybe its because I work in a very tall building and the building across the street is just as tall so the two form those NYC canyons that seem to harbor cold and/or heat? Whatever the cause, its cold by my desk on Monday mornings.

The second reason this is my first project is because this is a quicker project than a normal Carolyn project...especially since I'm still easing my way back into my overly obsessed, planned to the ninth degree, all encompassing sewing.

So a few stats:

Pattern:

Vogue 2285 - OOP/TNT

(This is the same jacket pattern I used for the Jackie O. Retro suit and the Coldwater Creek jacket.)

Fabric:

Brushed herringbone fleece from Fabric Fixx in New Hampshire

Notions:

4 yards of beige foldover braid

5 - 1" buttons

a pair of 3/4" shoulder pads

2 yards of 2.25" grosgrain ribbon

Machine Settings

Size 90 Universal sewing machine needle

Stitch Length: 3

Some interesting construction details:

First the jacket back pattern piece was cut on the fold instead of with a center back seam which is how I normally construct the jacket.

The sleeves have a seam down the center but that wasn't my original intent. When I first planned the jacket, I was going to use the whole sleeve pattern and place it on the bias. I was hoping for some decorative interest and a little additional stretch in the body of the sleeve. However, due to a nasty cutting incident that I am still to traumatized to speak about...*sigh*...the sleeves had to be cut out in pieces and then sewn together before inserting into the jacket.

I also added two inches to the body of the jacket fronts and back because I wanted the warmth. What do I mean? Normally, this is a shorter jacket - see here - and since I plan on wearing this jacket over a pair of pants, I wanted it to cover my behind a little more - for warmth! *smile*

I also basted on grosgrain ribbon facings to the jacket front before sewing down the foldover braid trim. I went through several buttonhole applications in my mind but I didn't want to overly complicate the construction process. By adding the ribbon facings, I could make regular sewing machine buttonholes without having any issues with them sinking into the fleece.


The foldover braid was added to the flat sleeve hems before the sleeves were stitched into the jacket. I cut 1.5" off the hem area so that the sleeves wouldn't be too long. Also the sleeves were sewn in flat, not in the round, in the jacket. I was concerned about easing the fleece into a circle...I wasn't sure that it would ease well without puckering...so I used a flat construction. This worked very well. The final thing I did to the sleeve seams was to trim them from notch to notch on the underarm seam to relieve some of the excess bulk in that area.

After sewing up the side seams and pressing them flat, I pinned the foldover braid to the entire jacket...fronts, back and hemline area. After insuring that it was pinned on properly & securely, I slowly sewed the entire binding down using my sewing machine.

A few hints:

~Most books tell you NOT to press fleece because it burns. I have never been able to get seams to lay flat with finger pressing so I've developed a technique where I press seams lightly using a silk organza pressing cloth, with the iron on a silk setting. Very little pressure and quick presses followed by the clapper sitting on the seams works for me. This can be a little time consuming but I've never burned a piece of fleece since I started using this method.

~The foldover braid was applied flat on the sleeves with a 1/2" of overlap left. When I sewed up the sleeve the unfinished edge of the braid was left. I folded it under and added a few hand stitches and it neatened the braid up nicely.

~The buttons were sewn on using a brown embroidery floss to give a little interest to the buttons. Since it's thicker than regular thread I only had to make 2 passes through the holes and made a great thread shank on the buttons underside.

I'm off to work on the pants to go with the jacket. I have several vanilla colored turtlenecks (both sleeveless and long sleeved) that can be worn with this outfit so I won't be making a top to complete this outfit.

Part 2 tomorrow!