BERJAYA

The Coat Progress

Posted on December 6, 2023 by mrsmole

What started out as 3 yards of flowered wool, is now almost a finished coat…hooray!

Nancy came by to try it on and was delighted with the fit and new length as I added 6 inches to the original jacket pattern.

Here you can see all the pieces all hand basted in place and the sample collar made with the 4 new darts to make it hug her neck instead of flare away from her. The sample is 3 layers of cotton muslin and the final collar will be the light wool on the outside and the darker wool on the inside with some stiff interfacing inside to hold it up.

The green button will be replaced with maybe a grey one and the sleeve heads will be filled with bias cut wool strips. In the photo, the left shoulder is not settled on her properly and looks like it has a drag line. Shoulder pads are just pinned into place as is the right front section. The black thread tracing is the proper center front line which rests on the left front section under it.

The back neck darts lie flat and there is extra ease (swing) in the entire back. The lining has been basted to all sections.

Once all have been machine sewn, the final edge bindings will be attached on all raw edges, sleeve hems and coat hems and collar edges with the dark wool bias strips. Two side seam pockets will be added as well.

For those of you who have asked about the curve and length of the new collar compared to the original pattern…here is the difference. Those 4 tiny darts removed 1.75 inches and created a lovely curve compared to the original. So we went from 40.25 down to 38.50 inches…can you do this? Of course, the original darts and center back markings stay the same…you can be the designer!!!

With 19 days left before the big day, I hope you can all find some time to sit back and relax before all the chaos of presents and cooking and decorating the tree.

For my Jewish readers, I wish you peace and hope for the next 8 days of Hanukkah.https://www.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah/default_cdo/jewish/Hanukkah.htm

Posted in non-challenges | Tagged how to alter a collar curve | 6 Comments

Wool Flowers

Posted on November 26, 2023 by mrsmole

Here we have Nancy’s 3 yards of 60 inch wide bordered wool. Along one selvedge there is a pale blank area about 13 inches wide which will be used to cut out the top of the bodice front and back so the lightest color is near Nancy’s face.

I have used the muslin pieces as my template with the right front piece having the slash and spread alteration. The left will mimic it. As we have lots of fabric, I decided to add 6 inches to the length of the jacket that way the final appearance will be 1/3 blank on the top and 2/3 flowers on the bottom.

The back piece is cut on the fold, so I just pinned it down and traced around with pins for the eventual flip. You can see my “L” shaped metal ruler…it is so valuable when cutting crossgrain!

With one side cut, the pattern is flipped over and you can see it almost lines up with the pins marking the boundary. Time to cut and rememeber to add the 6 inches at the hem.

The gingham sleeve was very wide, so it has been reduced on the side seams and 3/4 inch addded to the cap. It has also had its lining cut under it as well.

You can see what we are left with…lots of dark flowers and a bit of the blank area for the collar. Even though I pinned darts into the muslin collar, I hestitate to cut the new shape just yet as I don’t have extra blank wool areas to make a second version. I think I will just make a stiff muslin collar and interface it and then try it on the jacket to make sure it leans into her neck without being droopy.

Cutting the lining for the left front:

Cutting the lining for the back on the fold and leaving a section to make a one inch pleat in center back for ease down to the waist.

Did I mention that the entire jacket is bound with bias binding using the darker floral wool? The pattern is not meant to be lined and all the seams inside are also bound…but let’s forget that. The lining will lay flat against the back side of the wool and bound together.

I may also add some interfacing across the back shoulder area and some for the asymetrical right front as it will get more use when wrapping and snapping across the center front.

Let’s pin some of the pieces on the mannequin and get excited for next time…

The neck darts were added as I slashed the back and needed to keep the center back on the fold.

So for now, it can hang a while as it was cut crossgrain and may “grow”.

Last week I finished the Jane Austin puzzle that Mr. Mole brought back from his UK trip this summer:

While our temps this week are in the range of 47F to 25F, it is nice to stay inside and sew and do puzzles.

Wishing you all much rewarding sewing projects especially the ones that will be Christmas presents.

Posted in non-challenges | 4 Comments

Try A Zipper

Posted on November 17, 2023 by mrsmole

Have you ever disregarded the sewing pattern instructions and just done something different? How about NOT making front bands for buttons and buttonholes and gone rogue with a separating zipper?

That’s what I have done but first I had to make sure that the triangles would all line up.

This is the #2 pattern piece that is cut on bias and likes to stretch. I ran a chalk line to make it line up with the other front sections.

Left side:

Right side:

To further stabilize these stretchy seams, I will top stitch some of them down.

To keep the #2 panel flat I have stitched along the front edge with longer stitches.

Then on the back side, I have pulled up some of the bobbin threads to snug it up a little.

With the 24 inch long #3 jacket zipper basted on by hand, you can see the traingles match up and look nice enough without a front band. I ordered three different “green” zippers from Wawak and even though this looks kind of grey, it is really green and blending well with all the other motifs. Once it is sewn by machine, all that will show are the teeth.

The dark sleeves are hand basted and shoulder pads are pinned on.

I cut out the collar in the floral fabric to use as a template but the finished collar will be just the plain #1 green fabric. After trying on this blouse way more times than I wanted to do, I decided that I would forgo the shoulder pads as they were causing draglines from the shoulder/sleeve seam down towards the zipper. All this because of the diagonal angle of the #1 pattern piece, in fact this whole blouse has been a real headache using diagonal grain lines.

After opening up the shoulder seams to release them, it showed that they both needed to be narrowed down to 1/4 inch instead of 5/8 inch.

Here is the finished blouse (without the final hemming) after hours of ripping out and planning and more ripping out. What did I learn?

Well, it was a challenging pattern to start with being mostly on the diagonal and while there are photos of this pattern using stripes by other seamstresses, none of the ones I have seen fit the wearer very well and there are lots of draglines and unflattering bunching. Can this pattern be used in the most common way of straight grain layout…Yes, I would surely recommend that for the future.

Onto a lighter note…Only two butternut squash were grown and harvested but they both weigh a lot and are 9 inches long and have been made into my squash soup from the receipe on the main page of my blog.

Mr. Mole brought home a dozen roses to celebrate our 29th wedding anniversary.

He also bought a wooden puzzle that was a real challenge…why? Because lots of the pieces were in the shape of animals:

But the result was a lovely vibrant kitty almost like Nadine our rescue kitty.

Nancy is back in town and has dropped off more wool fabrics for jackets and coats so soon you will see some proper winter wear patterns and muslins.

Here is the muslin of her jacket pattern Vogue 9341:

Stay tuned for the layout and cut out of the floral bordered wool!

Wishing all my US readers a happy and healthy Thanksgiving next week!

Thank you all for following along!

Posted in non-challenges | Tagged butternut squash, Vogue 9341, zipper replacing front bands | 7 Comments

Let’s Finish This Thing

Posted on October 2, 2023 by mrsmole

Along the way, the upper back was cut from batik fabric and despite having added 1.5 inches in the yoke area and 1 inch at the waist, the batik cut on the bias did not want to play nice.

While it looks ok on the mannequin, when I tried it one, the center back seam refused to relax and settle down so the center back waist area is hiked up.

Even with opening the center back seam, the batik would not relax down.

You can see the drag lines in this photo with the batik:

A choice had to be made as to what fabric was to be used for the sleeves and the center front bands and collar. I have chosen the darker sleeve and floral bands to tie all the sections together.

You can see the gap and what is needed to allow the skirt to hang flat.

After thinking about the solution to the back problem, I have pinned the matching scrap fabric to the back waistline seam for now.

Here it is tucked under and pinned:

The new added piece continues the darts and I made a chalk line graduating to nothing at the side seams.

After sewing and pressing, it is hardly noticeable and the swirls continue in the pattern.

Now will people notice the added piece? Will they care? Will I care?

Is this couture? Nope, it is creative and as this blouse is just a pattern challenge not really meant to be worn out in public, I am happy the way it is coming together. Next time it will be finished and I can move onto new projects for Nancy.

She has been fabric shopping in Portland and reports back to me that she has purchased this lovely floral wool:

We are hoping that this pattern may work well with the fabric and lining: Vogue 9341

The garden continues to produce yummy veggies for us and the neighbors:

The stores here are crammed with Halloween costumes and treats just in case we don’t know what is coming on the 31st of the month. Some even have Christmas decorations out…PLEASE CAN WE WAIT UNTIL THANKSGIVING HAS ARRIVED IN NOVEMBER???

Posted in non-challenges | Tagged adding to the bodice length, late summer veggies, Vogue 9341 | 7 Comments

Cutting Out

Posted on September 10, 2023 by mrsmole

What do these 11 fabrics have in common?

Nothing other than coming from the same scrap drawer and they are all cotton but they may all have a roll in the pattern pieces.

Let’s start cutting out all the pieces…

First, I pinned the paper pattern together, notice #4 didn’t get any adjustments.

Then I used the muslin as my pinning base:

#8 is cut on bias but #9 is cut straight of grain on the fold:

Going through all my scraps, most of them are from 2003 or 2005 when I worked in a quilt shop, just proving aging fabrics 20 years in a drawer is a good thing.

Starting by pinning the colors in a sequence trying to keep the bust area with darker colors.

Introducing flowers:

#8 upper back cut on bias using a batik fabric:

Lower back panel #9 is cut on grain with center back fold. Both #8 and # 9 have waistline darts for shaping.

Just an idea of how the colors play together nicely if you can imagine all seamed together and pressed flat before the center bands are attached.

Yes, it looks sloppy now but there are sleeves to come and a mandarin collar to bring it all together. Could I have made this all in one color using a solid…sure, but the whole challenge of this pattern was to follow the grain lines and see what happens.

All the options of using nine pattern pieces in the body and adding sleeves, a front band and a collar just makes it more fun.

The garden continues to produce more than 2 moles can consume, so my neighbors and friends get to share in the bounty that doesn’t get frozen for the future.

Red onions and green beans and finally the peppers have ripened:

A full bucket of Swiss chard:

Wishing you all a super week of sewing as we race through September.

Thank you for following along!

Posted in non-challenges | Tagged mixing colors | 11 Comments

Almost Ready to Cut

Posted on August 31, 2023 by mrsmole

There is a mathematical symmetry to this pattern…what?

Isn’t it just a random collection of mis-matched triangles? Possibly but each vertical section measures around 7 inches and why is this important?

When and where the buttons are placed will make a difference. Color blocking will certainly make this more apparent. If each vertical section is 7 inches then the button/buttonhole spacing can be around 3.25 inches. Using a SimFlex guide also helps make the spacing perfect.

We haven’t talked about the sleeve…let’s measure the front seam and back seam and see what the numbers are. The front from top circle to the underarm measures 11 inches and the back from top circle to back armhole is 11.5 inches. So allowing for an inch of ease in the sleeve cap, this sleeve will fit into the armhole.

I’ll probably be cutting the sleeve to be a 3/4 length.

Before taking the sloper apart, I marked the new seam lines on section #1 and #2 and #3 since they all have to intersect and play nice.

Can you see that the paper pattern has a real shape/bulge now over the bust point? What started out as totally flat now has a real curve, the same sort of curve if the pattern had front princess seams. All the shaping is done with these side bust seams.

Now, once placed flat on the table, you can see the invisible darts that were formed when pinning the pieces over the bust. Each of the three pieces will get an invisible dart for the best fit over the bust.

Removing 1 inch:

Removing 1/2 inch:

Removing 1.5 inches:

Once pinned and the eventual basting, we have the original armhole curve for the front with no gaps.

Here are the six pieces that make up the front. All have been altered and traced except #4. The lower panel #6 had the hem shortened by one inch since we added so much more to the upper bodice. Now the side seams match and can be sewn together.

On the back pieces #8 and #9 I have removed 1/2 inch from the center back seam mid-back to the hem but I didn’t take a photo. Oops!

Here is the stack of trial sloper pieces and original paper pattern pieces:

Now the real challenge is…what fabric(s) to choose? Stripes in all directions (oh my eyes!) or muted floral tones (yawn) or a solid to show off all the seams?

The garden is still producing and we are harvesting and giving away lots of Swiss chard in addition to these beauties:

Wishing you a Happy Labor Day weekend to my US readers and fingers crossed…cooler less turbulent weather for September!

Thanks again for following along!

Posted in non-challenges | 2 Comments

Paper to Paper Front and Back

Posted on August 27, 2023 by mrsmole

This post has more tweaks as we have the run up to the final cutting out session…yeah!

Neck tuck overlapped and right shoulder seam marked with added 2 inches on the lower edge:

Cutting out new #1 pieces in solid fabrics:

Both fronts have extra fabric added for armhole adjusting. The two lower lines of the seam allowance will be tested to see if more length is needed.

Fronts pinned in place without center band attached:

The #2 sections pinned to the new top seam line:

#2 sections pinned to lower seam lines:

The goal here with the red fabric is to see if this section can be shaped over the top of the bust and not lay stiff and stick out as it did in the beginning. The #2 section will control the shaping and angle depending on where the new horizontal seam will be.

The gingham patch will be raised in anticipation of the sleeve being attached. I will measure the front and back of the original sleeve and adjust the armhole. On the right side as I removed one inch at the shoulder, that will be removed on the right sleeve as well.

The dashed green line shows a possible new seamline.

The #3 section will also control the shaping as it attaches to the #2 section. Right now it looks like it is a long way from armhole!

The left side echoes the right with green dashes.

Even when all this was to be sewn together, there was always going to be a bust gap with no fitting darts.

Original paper pattern pieces were overlayed to see gaps.

Not sure if this pattern was even made for a “B” cup at this point but it says a size 24 has a bust circumference of 49 inches and a waist of 52 inches finished.

Let’s finish up with the back section:

I traced off the size 22 and drew a line where the slash will be and also redrew the top center back neckline seam.

Sliding a new paper under the slash before pinning:

After taping the new patch into place and drawing the sew right shoulder seam line:

You can see how using a center back seam, we can make a nice curve that conforms to my body. If this piece was cut on the fold, then we would have to make neck darts.

The back neck top edge will probably be trimmed lower as there is a neck band to be attached.

Taking another look at the back after the front adjustments and it may look better with 1/2 inch removed from center back seam and the lower panel fold.

Next time all should be resolved and a final perfect paper pattern drawn and cut out and ready for the fashion fabric to be cut out…fingers crossed!

Why would anyone try all this maneuvering?

Well, the longer I have this on my duct tape dummy, the more I like it and think about possible color blocking and with a little more tweaking, it will fit me well and be comfortable compared to the first basting below!

Our everbearing strawberry variety is still producing every week while the blueberries are almost done for the summer.

Soon all the little chillins will be back in school and some moms will have more sewing time and if the fabric stores have any influence…it will be Halloween costume making time…oh no!

Posted in non-challenges | Tagged adjusting to the front sections and back section | 3 Comments

Altering Triangles

Posted on August 22, 2023 by mrsmole

Last time we saw so many issues with the pattern right out of the envelope with none of my prior personal adjustments done to the paper pattern.

Why not?

Well, as each of the pieces have been cut on bias and there is lots of stretching and growing, I think it was wiser to just cut one size and then pin out or add to whatever was needed.

So let’s start at the top and start pinning out what we don’t like…my slooping right shoulder is always one inch lower than the left so I pin out that amount.

I also pinned out the left shoulder just temporarily. Since both shoulder seams are bias, they want to “grow”.

The left side shows lots of things that have to be adjusted. Drag lines point to where the slash should be. The angled up waistline seam also indicates the problem is higher up across the upper back. The lowest back panel shows how the fabric is flaring away from the body as well…maybe one slash and spread will fix all this?

The center back seam at the neck is also bias cut and “growing” so I pinned out 1/4 inch for 1/2 inch in total. Adding 1/4 inch gingham allows me to know the exact inches to add to the paper pattern at the center back seam by counting the little squares.

Adding this patch has allowed the waistline seam to drop and become horizontal and the back lower panel to not flare away from the back/butt.

Using the front drag lines, I slash above the bust and add more gingham…the same amount as the back.

Right side view shows how the gingham fills in the gaps. The armhole will be reshaped by laying the original pattern over the altered pieces so the sleeves will fit. Then the neckline will need a 1/4 inch tuck on both sides to lay flat.

Side seam is vertical after adding the front and back patches.

The left shoulder seam was unpinned to relax and lay flat.

The waistline darts should match up but the paper pattern was off by 1/4 inch for each.

Next, I will unpin all the top pieces and add to the paper pattern sections after tracing the seam allowances. Who would think that all this has to be done just to get a blouse pattern to fit and hang correctly?

Do you get the feeling that this started its life as a flat bodice and someone just drew diagonal lines, cut on the lines and added seam allowances and called it done??? I sure do with no fitting features like…darts?

Next time I will show all the additions to the paper pattern and another preview if this can be salvaged and the armhole bust gap eliminated.

With the whole northwest of the US and Canada overwhelmed with forest fires, the air we breathe here is deemed unhealthy and the storms and heavy rains are too far south to help out.

If only we could wake up our lawmakers/politicians/old white men who make laws and set policy to the fact that this is a real emergency year after year no matter where you live.

One bright spot this week was Walmart self check out…with so many folks complaining that our local stores have eliminated ALL cashiers and everyone must check all their own purchases…guess what? The company has realized that thievery is accounting for some pretty great losses and they are going to bring back cashiers…money talks louder than their customers!

Posted in non-challenges | Tagged forest fires, slashing and spreading | 10 Comments

Layout for Triangles

Posted on August 17, 2023 by mrsmole

In preparation for cutting out the pattern pieces for my sample/muslin I decided to lay them down and see what was what since almost all of them are cut on the bias/diagonal.

Normally, this would eat up a lot of fabric and have wasted fabric but you can see the pieces play nicely with each other. If you buy unbleached muslin by the roll like I do, when you unroll it you have lots of wrinkles so it must be ironed very flat and with some steam.

View B calls for 2 3/4 yards of 45 wide fabric with the 3/4 length sleeves so no matter whether I choose View A with the mandarin collar or open collar, I pretty much need that length. Now if you wanted to use different fabrics (as in large scraps) for different areas, then your yardage would vary.

Let’s check out the possible layout:

There will be a center front band cut either crosswise on the fold or lengthwise depending on the fabric motif (as in stripes or directional).

Once the pieces are cut, I will draw lines on the grain so when assembled, we can see the directions. The bias cut will aid in the shaping since there are no darts for fitting. I will be cutting the size 22 after measuring myself. This blouse is long like a tunic and it needs to be wide enough to sit down and not bunch up over the hips or pull at the center band buttons and gap…I hate that!

All the pieces except the sleeve are assembled and ready for the side seams to be sewn. Now, I know lots of sewing sites tell us to do directional sewing like all side seams sewn from armhole down to the hem and the shoulders sewn from armhole to neck…BUT if you have ever worked in a factory or had to design patterns for speed of labor time, you will be familiar with sewing in the round starting at the one side seam hem and running all the way in one direction, across the shoulders down to the opposite side seam hem. My pins have been placed points to the left and pulled out as I reach them.

To maximize speed of sewing, each new edge is fed into the machine before and after a locking stitch. Then there will be an operator that cuts the thread between the pieces for the next step.

I’m sorry this is so blurry but you can see the drag lines and open gap at the side bust area. Also you can see that the right side seam is flaring forward. I didn’t do any paper pattern adjustments before cutting out to demonstrate why we should map our own measurements before cutting out or you may get a garment with this type of issue.

Here we have the front with all the bias lines drawn in and more drag lines. You can see that not one section is cut on grain except the lowest panel.

The left side seam swings forward as well and check out what happens to the back waistline seam. Still a bust armhole gap again to deal with.

This back will get a slash and spread for sure and the darts which are supposed to match up top to bottom are 1/4 inch off on the paper pattern. The drawn line is the waist line.

Next time I will adjust all the pieces to get rid of the drag lines and make the side seams hang vertically. If you are sewing this pattern, you may want to visit and see possible adjustments for your own size.

The past two weeks, Mr. Mole has been away in the UK visiting all of his family…all 16 of them. He visited many historial buildings and stately homes and tram museums and brought back these little treasures for me.

A puzzle:

Beautiful smelling soap and a leather bookmark:

Hoping your summer weather has not been too horribly hot like here in the Northwest. The garden has been suffering with 100+ temps but the tomatoes have been rpoducing way too many for just me even with grilling and freezing loads so the neighbors have been given some of the bounty.

Until next time, I’m wishing you all the best of luck with your sewing projects!

Posted in non-challenges | Tagged bias cut pieces, Butterick 6667, grilled tomatoes | 4 Comments

Skirt and Shirt

Posted on July 26, 2023 by mrsmole

My friend is getting to the skirt layout part of her project. This pattern is not so simple as you can see the skirt pieces are half circles and cut bias. Makes me wonder if any sort of matching is even possible and then there is the huge pocket.

The fabric is Liberty which has defined vertical and horizontal lines in the design. It is tricky making sure she has enough fabric for all those odd pieces and grain lines.

Here is #10 piece placed over the skirt section #7.

Here is #9 pocket facing placed over the pocket stack.

As we added an inch to her front side seam, we have to add the same amount to the top of the skirt with the pocket.

Two ways to do that…just adding to the side seam which will make the actual curve of the pocket wider and thus will probably catch on every drawer knob OR slashing and spreading the #7 and adding a triangluar piece to the paper pattern to keep the curve as the original.

Moving on to another challenge…how about a shirt with many triangles?

It’s hard to tell from these two photos where all the junctions are:

But the back of the envelope shows that they are both the same except for one has a mandarin collar and the other just a regular one. Both backs are the same with some darts for shaping but the fronts have no shaping.

The pattern has just been cut from a flat front blouse and triangles drawn and seam allowances added. Call me crazy but I would like some area to use for adjustment like a FBA.

What if I wanted to use a striped fabric? See below the grainlines on each piece and imagine all those pieces in stripes…no don’t!

Next step will be to cut this out in muslin fabric and draw in the grain lines and see how it fits my life-like duct tape mannequin. All of the diagonal grain lines are for View A. The other vertical grain lines are for View B. The #6 lower piece is used for both views and is cut on grain.

Have you ever sewn so many bias seams together? It reminds me of when I was shown how to sew half square triangles for a quilting project…that’s when I knew I would never be a proper quilter!!! These bias seams will surely try to stretch and bubble!

The back pieces will be altered for a rounded back as usual.

One other confusing thing…both upper backs are cut differently. View A is on bias with a center back seam and View B is cut on grain with a center back fold…bizarre and why?

Harvesting continues in the garden:

While the bush beans have ended their production cycle, everything else is doing well so with our 90+ degree temps, soon I will be freezing fruit and veggies.

Keep cool my friends and happy sewing!!!

Posted in non-challenges | Tagged Butterick 6667, layout for circle skirt, sewing bias triangles | 7 Comments

fit for a queen