McCall's 5984 Complete!

I must say I really enjoyed making this jacket.  I just love the fit and feel of it.  LOL.  In a nutshell, here are the changes I made to the pattern.

• 1.25" FBA
• Added 2 inches in length
• Removed the huge back pleat
• Added a 1inch pleat in the back lining
• Added a sleeve head
• Fabric used was wool flannel and poly charmeuse from Hancock Fabrics

I highly recommend the pattern and I may make it again without embroidery and in a longer version.

Here are some details of the insides. 

I know its a little hard to see but this is the hand embroidery to hold the lining pleat in place.  I did this at the neck and waist. 

This is the embroidery on the inside.  Notice I didn't make it the same as the outside.  I started out the same at the neckline (where it would show) and then reduced the number of flowers to lessen the weight of the embroidery.  I was getting concerned that it might get too heavy.  I also digitized a label and I've started including a date.  LOL.  I can't remember how long ago I made some of my garments so now I get help.

I thought you might like to see the humongous snaps I applied.  They're called for by the pattern and I really love the look.  But, I'll warn you, since they can show if you leave slightly unsnapped, you need to make sure they look nice when you sew them on.  I didn't have any trouble with placement because I just chalked a line around the snap itself before sewing.  Also, another thing to be aware of is don't sew you snap to the pocket linings!  LOL.  I thought I was all done and realized that I'd sewn a pocket practically shut with one of the bottom snaps.  All I can say is that it was late at night.  I shouldn't sew after 10pm.  Grin.

Winter Robe Progress...

Done!!!!  This will be such a cozy, warm robe.  I finally finished it up late last night.  I wanted it off my plate.  LOL.  I love the feel of it on me.  Why haven't I made any clothing out of flannel before?  I'm contemplating a shirt/jacket or two out it now, especially since there are so many beautiful flannels out at the quilting stores.  Here's a picture of the completed robe.  If you click on the picture, you can see the little bits of embellishment I did to perk it up somewhat.  There are a few scattered baby buttons in coordinating colors and just a few tiny sequins.  I also did tons of serging to finish all the seams.  Although I didn't have any trouble with raveling while I was sewing, I knew that would change with wear.  And I top and edge-stitched all the seams.  I really think it looks like the pattern envelope picture!  

Parting shot...

I made this little mini meatloaf for Alan last night.  Another Food channel demon.  LOL.  It's some of my fresh breakfast sausage mixed 50/50 with hamburger, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, Worcestershire & beaten egg.  While I had my usual Greek salad, Alan munched down on this little number.  I did get one bite and I must say it was reallllly good! 

More later!

A Good Idea...

Good ideas don't happen around here terribly often so I thought I would share this one.  LOL.  With all of the garment sewing going on, lots of edge & top stitching happens.  Even when I quilt, there can be lots of stitch-in-the-ditch going on to anchor areas down.    Getting really straight, even stitching either requires lots practice (many years in my case) or the use of a guide of some sort to make life easier.  These days, I am all about making life easier.

I make use of 2 extra feet purchased, beside the ones that came with my Babylock machines, the edge-join foot and the quarter-inch foot with guide. 

Using the edge-join foot to perform any edge stitching works wonders on straightening out a jiggly straight line.  Then using the quarter-inch foot to sew to top stitch is easy peasy!  These are the most used feet in my collection.

Here's a picture of the beautiful top-stitching you can achieve by using these feet. Sorry its not any brighter; I took the picture last night.

Now I had the bright idea of removing some of the flanges on each foot that allows you to make such a pretty straight stitch so I could navigate convex and concave curves that happens on occasion with garment making.  I have a very handy husband who loves to use his Dremel tool with the itty bitty saw.  LOL.  He removed the portion of the flange on each foot and made the cut edge smooth so there would be no burrs to catch the fabric as it went by.

So when parts of the flange were removed, this is what they should look like when you're done.

The top foot is the edge-join foot with the extension of the flange removed.  The bottom is the original foot.  If you look closely, you'll see how much has been removed.  As always, you can click on the picture for a larger view.  Now for the quarter-inch foot.

Its much easier to see the change in this foot.  The original, unaltered foot is pictured at the top and the foot with the flange removed is at the bottom.  Not much of a difference but it certainly helps make those convex curves easier to navigate and create beautiful stitching.  Purchase an extra of each foot; they are relatively inexpensive now that Babylock/Brother have lowered the price to $14.99.  I got mine when my dealer had a 40% off foot sale.

Here's an example of a curve using the altered edge-join foot.

Later...