Monday, November 23, 2009

I figured it out!!!



One aspect of sewing that I love is the challenge design or construction goals sometimes present. (If it were easy - it wouldn't be as much fun.) A vest I am making for David's Aunt Neno has presented some challenges.
You may remember the beginnings of this vest in my post about slopers. (vor langer zeit!). I got a little side-tracked for a while, but I am back.
This past weekend, I set about cutting out the vest in earnest. I had all ready ascertained that I didn't have enough fabric to construct the vest in toto of the tapestry Aunt Neno wanted, but we had worked that out. She selected a camel-coloured suede for the back. That should have worked, but, alas, the fabric was only 20 in long, whereas the sloper pieces were 26 inches long. I considered piecing the fronts near the shoulder, but the fabric is so thick, I knew a seam would be bulky, and that is a bad place for bulk.
So, I attempted to turn it sideways. The pattern is obviously intended to go along with the straight grain, and I really didn't care for the way it looked sideways. To me, it looked obviously askew. Of course, I had been looking at it straight-wise, so mayhaps my eyes were biased.
I played with the sloper pieces, considered many creative design ideas, and eventually decided that, since the pattern is quite large (it is actually upholstery fabric), it might look okay sideways if I carefully matched the pattern across the chest.
Remember my mentioning that I didn't have enough fabric in the first place? * * s i g h * *
It took some carful consideration, and not a little colourful language, but I eventually realized that the pattern was left/right (actually: top/bottom) symmetrical. Viola!! All I had to do is turn one sloper piece in the opposite direction from the other, and I had enough fabric to match the pattern across the front. Yippee! [See the picture on the left.]
Sewing the shoulder and sides seams shows the proof. [Pic at top]. You can't tell from the pictures, but the lining is constructed, and attached, WS together. All that remains is to attach the front plackets for buttons -- I don't care to do buttonholes in so heavy a fabric, so I am leaving openings in the seam that attaches the placket to serve that purpose -- and bind the edges all around, sew in my label, and I am done. I say that as if it will appear momentarily, but in fact, with a holiday trip to spend Thanksgiving with family in the next few days, don't hold your breath!!

5 comments:

  1. That looks awesome, Mom. Nice work!

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  2. Thanks!
    A new problem has presented itself, however.
    I don't like the way the plackets or buttons interrupt the flow of the pattern. I don't have enoughfabric to make a perfect match for both plackets and buttons.
    I'm going to talk to Aunt Neno and see if she really intends to wear this closed. If not, I am leaving as is. If so, I don't know how I'll figure this out.

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  3. What about hook and eye closures instead of buttons? If she wants to close it, that is. That way they'd just bring the fronts together and all you'd see is the perfectly matched pattern.

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  4. That's brilliant! I can sew them invisibly to the binding.
    yay!
    Of course, I don't have the right size hooks on hand so, (sigh) we'll just have to visit your Hancock's along with the trip to H-E-B.

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  5. I have given you a blog award. Come by my blog (http://katiekadiddlehopper.blogspot.com/2009/11/honest-scrap.html) to see it!

    ReplyDelete