VPLL 1912 Mantle, 0189 - L

 (this post will be a compilation of many posts on this project)
Next up on the VPLL 1912 project is the Spring Mantle.
It's a straight forward build with a lot of fussy work pleating the trim around the edges.  I chose it because I think it would make a cute casual jacket for everyday using modern fabric.  The challenge for me will be making the pattern fit my body while maintaining the proportions.  I did a quick set of measurements from the actual pattern and compared them to my measurements (which don't include wearing ease):

Bust    37.5          Me    47.5
Hip     39.5          Me     43
Back   16.5          Me    16
Upper arm  15      Me    15


So I'm a lot wider than the pattern (no surprise there!) except across the back.  I could only estimate the width from the edge of the gusset though and I will want some ease so I'll add there, but only a little.  Most of the add will be in the bust and hips.  I'll add the bust volume in front but have to spread the hip add around the bottom.  I need to do this without making the waist too baggy.  And I think the solution will be to add darts under the arm where they won't interfere with the kimono sleeve.  The only darts in the pattern are two small darts at bust height in the center front (under the trim).  I'll keep those too.

Sleeve length from neck is 23 inches.  That takes the sleeve to 4 inches above my wrist bone.  I want to add about an inch there but will wait until I have a muslin that fits my torso in case the FBA changes the sleeve length a bit (it shouldn't but, yeah...)
The angle where the sleeve meets the body of the jacket is different in front and back.  I'm curious how that will hang.  I will make sure and maintain the angles in the muslin.

The body of the jacket is nearly the same length as the sleeve and looks to hit my upper hip.  I would like it longer, but will wait until I've done the FBA and hip adjustments to figure out how much.  This pattern is just a single piece cut for right and left with a seam in center back and under the arms.  There is an underarm gusset for ease.  It will be a BIG challenge to modify without turning it into a big baggy mess.  I may have to add underbust darts too just to keep some shape.

For fabric, I picked a pewter linen hopsack fabric that promises to ravel like crazy.  The lining will be an ivory with embroidered black spots (textural).  The trim will be a soft black lightweight cotton.  I think it will look good with a slacks or a skirt and still be perfect with jeans.

Part Two - THE FBA and associated modifications

I've done full bust adjustments before, but never actually followed the really cool process that you can find on the internet.  And NEVER with a kimono sleeve before.  After reading Leila's fantastic post on the subject, I decided I would give it a try.  I took a lot of camera pictures to demonstrate my process.
Are you ready?

The original pattern piece.  Yes, I already cut it up, but I've shoved it back together neatly.

Per Leila, if the sleeve is removed, a routine FBA can be performed.  I held the pattern piece up to my body and determined that the center front was 3 inches from MY center front.  So I need to add that to the pattern.








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Here is the sleeve, cut off.  The red arrow is the width of my shoulder (a logical determination of where the sleeve should start).  I used the slash line for the gusset as an under arm indicator and just drew an approximate armscye on the paper.
In addition, I've marked my bust point on the pattern.

I cut straight up from the bottom of the pattern to my bust point.
The grainline marked on the pattern was a great guide.

Then I measured about 1/3 up from the underarm (per Leila) and cut from the bust point to that spot.  BUT not through.  I will need that to stay connected!
Then I separate the pattern by 3 inches at the bust point.  (Remember - I needed to add 3 inches!).  I know it looks crazy, but breasts have volume.  You need to add width and length.  This actually will take the bust point out, not the down that it appears.

If I had a dart, I would cut from the center of the dart into the bust point (BUT not through!).  In this case I don't.  As I mentioned above, with a larger chest I think I need to add one.  So I just picked a logical location and cut in to the bust point.  Again, it needs to stay attached!  The I pivot the lower side to be parallel to the center front.  I made a red line where I pivoted and then another to show where the pattern needs to be parallel.  You don't need to worry about the distance between the parallel lines, just that they are parallel.

 Now you may have noticed that the center front portion is shorter than the side front portion.  Simply cut straight across that center front leg of the pattern (perpendicular to the grainline) and bring the lower part down to match at the front hemline.  It's hard to see here because the front is curved.  There's a red line to show the location of my cut.

That's it.  Done.  All that's left is to put some tissue or paper into the gaping open spaces.  Then you have a new pattern piece that should fit you.  I am so awesomely confident!  I haven't cut my muslin yet!

 Here it is with some striped tissue paper glued in.  Just for contrast.  I also messed around with altering the angle of the curve down the front.  My current plan is to cut the top of the curve 'as is' and leave extra fabric at the bottom of the curve.  That would let me alter the 'V' impression in the front and have less of a gap in the lower front.  Not a part of me I plan to emphasize.

Next up, re-attaching the sleeves.  Urg.  Sleeves are my nemesis.

Here is the main pattern piece.  I have moved the sleeve back into the general vicinity of where it came from.  Hmmm.  No match.  Please note the perplexed look on the sleeve's face.

By adding volume with a bust dart, I've curved the armscye too much for a kimono sleeve (IMHO).  Next plan (thanks Robin) is to shift the bust dart to a french dart.  That should help.  Also, instead of worrying about making the sleeve piece fit back in, I'm going to recreate the underarm angles I saw in the original pattern.  I can use the lower half of the sleeve piece to preserve the arm trim placement which is cute.  I need to make sure I make the sleeve length appropriate for me, and for the look of the pattern.


Out comes the scissors and tape, and its time for dart changes...AGAIN.

I slashed the pattern two inches lower than my first dart, taped closed that first dart, and added tissue for the new one.  The new dart starts about an inch above my waist even though it doesn't look like it.  I also added about an inch in the length in front (I held it up and determined the front was too short, relative to the back).

I taped in the sleeve and made a muslin.  Sleeves were too tight.  I cut the pattern from neck to wrist down the shoulder line, and added about an inch.  Then I cut another muslin.

Was I tired of it yet?  Oh, yes!  I always struggle at this point.  It's so easy to just saw 'good enough' and start cutting my fabric.  But there is no point in making something that doesn't fit, or fits so badly that I'll never wear it (recall that I want to do a modern take on this pattern).


Here is the final muslin, front and back:

 I'm pretty happy with this.  I'm wearing a tank top AND a light weight cardigan under the muslin to make sure that it will actually function as a jacket (worn over a blouse or other top).  For the record, it's very difficult to take a picture of your own back in a mirror with a phone camera.  I held it pointing over my shoulder and 'hoped'.  Its tough to see, but I also pinned out a bit of the flair at the lower back.  I just didn't like it.  Next I cut my fabric.  I'll post a picture of the final muslin that I'm using for a pattern as a comparison to the original pattern piece.

Here is the final pattern piece laid out to cut, with the original pattern picture next to it.
The red circles highlight the only structural changes I made.

The large circle shows the dart I added as part of my FBA and the small circle shows another tiny dart that took up some volume in the neck area (the muslin just wasn't laying flat).  Separately, I added a bit the the center front lower curve in case I want a little more belly coverage.  If I don't like it, I can trim it off before I add the trim. Here's what it looks like after I leave the room for a moment.  Looks my 4 legged helper had a slide...

The gussets...  I finally read the instructions AND other participants posts.  I get it.  I was confused because the gusset is CUT as a square.  But SEWN as a triangle.  I simply slashed the fabric and top-stitched two sides of the square over the slash.  Did that on each side of the arm and then sewed right up the middle of the gusset fabric.  Trim the extra fabric once you're done!  I really think some simple illustrations would help the pattern instructions.  Forgive my crooked stitch lines.  Those embroidered dots are thick and sometimes would knock me off course.  I'm happy this is the lining.  See!  The shell was more even!

I've decided to bag line the whole thing so I'm going to attach the top line of the trim to the shell, and then wrap the bottom of the trim into the seam as I sew on the lining.  First I have to make the trim.  About 10 yards of bias trim.  Tedious!  Then gather the long sides top and bottom.  More tedious!  You just can't gather more than about a yard at a time without risking knots and tangles and failure.  Once I'd made about half the trim I gathered it and attached some to the cuff.  Step by step next, but I wanted to show the result.  (I'm very happy with this). AND I'm having 1,001 problems adding to this post.  I'm going to start a new one taking up where this one left off.  Clearly the interwebs are telling me this post is too long.  See you again in a moment!

 

Princess Slip - Nightgown is done - L

Here's the lace detail on the finished challenge pattern that I reworked.  FOUR kinds of lace.  And when I say finished, I actually mean finished except for buttons and buttonholes.  I think my machine needs help.  Can't get buttonhole attachment to work.
This was primarily a mental exercise.  Once I figured out how to make this work for my body it was just a sort of a jigsaw puzzle with a lot of long seams.  I posted last week about all the measuring and mental gymnastics of changing a pattern for a short and slender woman into something for a tall and substantial woman to actually wear.  And it worked!  I added the sleeve caps as a visual way to balance my hips.

Here's the whole thing.  Pleating is a pain.  Pintucks are a pain.  I think I have it out of my system for a long while.  And really, only the center front insertion lace offers a possibility of embarrassing the offspring.  The part I ended up liking the best was deciding to use bias binding around the armhole.  I looks tidy and solved a multitude of small problems.  Here is a close up of the bias binding. I did it by hand since I felt I would suffer more trying to machine sew it in all the tight spots.  Actually, I did one of them riding in a car on the way to see my daughters new flat.

Now I'm starting the frock coat.  Actually I'm blogging in an effort to avoid the frock coat.  It's cut out and marked.  Now I have to do the welt pocket.    And YES!  I finished another pair of socks!!!

VPLL 1912 - progress on the Princess Slip

I finally got a couple of uninterrupted hours to start working on the slip.  Since I modified the top front beyond recognition, I had to spend some time figuring out how to put everything together.  And since I wasn't sure how it would fit (I'd held the grocery bag pattern up and hoped), I could sew shoulder or side seams without a fitting.  And it was difficult to decide where to put the front lace without shoulder or side seams.  And round and round.
Finally, I just started.  The beaded lace at the neck is just pinned on since I want to sew it around the neckline all at once.  I got the pintucks made on  one side and will finish tonight.  I think I'm only going to use gathers at the bottom.  Also, I'm starting to suspect that the bottom of the 'top' will not be level.  I'll need to shorten at the side seams and maybe a bit in the center to avoid bagging around the waist.
Next step is to figure out placement of shoulder seams and side seams.  I'm going to do it while wearing it.  Should be interesting.

My plan is to pin the shoulders and side seams and mark where I want the armscye.  If I use bias binding around the arm hole, I don't have to try to figure out 'fit + seam allowance' plus it will look and feel better. I have a clever plan to add a sort of flap at the shoulder and attach lace.  If it works, it will add the illusion of wider shoulders to balance the rest of me.  Pictures soon!  
This is my first ever try at pin tucks and insertion lace.  I also used french seams everywhere there isn't lace.  Haven't done that since the 60's when I was a fetus.

I still need some ribbon for the beading, and some small buttons for the back.  I need to cut the lower front.  And then I need to make about 9 yards of pleated flounce with a lace insertion.  And there goes my long weekend!

I've added a very blurry picture of the back.  Showing off my tiny french seams.  I only had a little 'leakage' in a couple spots.
I also finished the vest and will try and start the frock coat this weekend.  Also, maybe go outside and get some exercise.

VPLL Princess Slip - From 'It' to 'Me'

This is my very amateur drawing of the changes I've make to the slip pattern to make it a working nightgown that fits me,  Here's what I did, described as briefly as I'm able.  If you don't understand you can leave me a message in comments on this blog.

I loved the proportions in the picture which are NOT the proportions of the pattern.  The flounce is much shorter in proportion in the pattern.  In addition, I'm 5'10" with long legs, narrow shoulders, large bust and thick mid-section.  This forced me to not only up-size the pattern, but make some major alterations.  After printing the pattern, my scale was not correct.  I chose not to fiddle with it since I'm making so many changes already.  The pattern size I show may NOT be the pattern size YOU get when you print.  (For other VPLL participants)

Pattern:

Bust:  37.5

Waist: 28.75

Hip: 44

Est length (from shoulder) at flounce attach:   43

Est total length (from shoulder) to hem:  50

Me:

Bust: 46

Waist: 38

Hip: 45

Est length (from shoulder) to hem: 58

First, the flounce to total-length ratio in the picture is 25%.  I decided 20 to 25% is what I want.  The need for this much flexibility will be obvious later.  I will want my flounce to be between 12 and 14 inched finished.

That leaves me 44 inches for the top of the slip (58 - 14) from the shoulder.  This is very close to the actual pattern.  However my larger bust will require me to add some inches in the front to keep the hem level.  Also, my bust point is notably lower than the picture.  This means I don't want to add width at the widest part of the pattern.  I want to add it where I am widest.  Also, my shoulders are narrow, so I can't just add nine inches.  In fact, I really don't need to add more than an inch or so at the shoulders (across my back is only about 14.5 inches).  I don't want the shoulders falling off.  First step, I held the side front up to myself and made a mark on the pattern at the point that is roughly my bust point.  At the same time, I eyeballed the shoulder height and location of armscye.  I did the same with the center front.  Then I traced the pattern piece from shoulder to natural waist and started to make changes.

Then I ran into trouble.  I have decided to use 2 1/4 inch insertion lace.  With wider lace, it's normal to cut the fabric, hem the edges, and sew on the lace to each side (rather then sewing it down, cutting it and rolling back the hem).  I suspected that the wider lace would give me a little additional length and width.  It would also complicate my calculations.  I started to modify the pattern and realized that no matter what I did, the lace was 'inconveniently' placed.  Very romantic.  Not practical for an over-50, over-weight mom.  So goodbye to the lower bust band of insertion lace.  I moved it to the natural waist,  And if the vertical bands are stopping at the natural waist, why bother with the princess seams up to the bust?  That would require a great deal of fussy modifications when I could that with two panels that go from side seam to center bust insertion band, and from top lace insertion to natural waist lace insertion.  The biggest advantage to this change is that I could measure the distance from the top of my bust (where the lace insertion ends) to the top of my natural waist (second insertion band starts).  And I could measure it over my bust.  That solves the problem of adding 'volume' over the bust.  In addition, the top insertion sort of runs into the bottom of the armscye.  This means I can make it as wide as I want when I put in the lace.  I will need to trim to adjust the armhole but that's what my pal Robin is great for.  I stand still and she marks where the opening should be.  When I drew the pattern (on cut up grocery bags) is marked where the lace would be so I could have an idea of how big the pieces would be with lace attached.  There is no lace in the back, so I merely added a couple inches near the bottom of the arm hole where I am the fullest.  Here's some bad pictures of my grocery bag pattern:

Notes:

The arm-scythe is cut around towards the back, so the side seams are NOT directly under the bottom of the armhole.  Also, by the time the pattern reaches 'hip' length, the front to back proportions are evenly balanced.  Basically, this means I can just add to the pattern evenly from the natural waist down.  

Things I will do 'on the fly':

Cut an extra inch at the top of the shoulders.  I can take a bigger seam if needed.

Cut the armscye as printed.  I can cut away more, but once I cut, it's gone forever.

Cut the front 'bust pieces as rectangles.  I can put gathers under the bust points as needed and take in the side seams too.

Add little 'flaps' on the shoulders to extend them.  This will allow me to 'cheat' the proportions.  These are about 6 inch long curved pieces, 1 1/2 inch at the top of the shoulder, tapering to nothing.

Add a couple inches of length even though I don't think I will need them.

Wait to cut the flounce until the body of the slip is made.  This way I'm sure it's the right length.   After all, I have made dramatic changes, I'm not a pro, and who KNOWS what will actually happen.

Catching up on Projects - L

The 1912 Project has consumed a huge amount of mental bandwidth, if only because of the outpouring of information in the FB group.  But I still have projects in some degree of 'made' that need tending.  Not to mention that I've taken on the 'Challenge Pattern' from 1912 Project.

First - clothes for a man.  I'm making a vest and frock coat.  The vest is nearly done.  Robin is going to do buttonholes for me and then I just need to add buttons and sew the lining shut.  And since the wearer is deathly allergic to cats, the cat is sitting on it.  I do love how it matches her eyes....
I'm also going to make a frock coat.  A black frock coat.  Sort of dreading it even though I'm using a different pattern than Robin (she felt hers was just too fussy).  I got the fabric and lining in the mail and they are HEAVY.  I may have got too heavy of lining.  Gonna have to think about this.
And, after resisting our silly costuming, he now wants a steampunk gun and holster.  When they fall, they fall hard!

I have also decided to try the 1912 Challenge pattern which is a slip.  It really appeals to me as a nightgown, although you'd have to be 10 kinds of crazy to pleat the flounce on a cotton nightgown.  I think I may pleat it for the project and set the pleats with vinegar but let them wash out over time.  The challenge of this pattern is all the lace insertion and pleating.  A separate challenge for me is sizing up the pattern from tiny 1912 to giant modern tall person who isn't skinny.  In addition, as soon as I looked at the pattern, it was clear that the flounce was not in the same proportion to the body of the slip as it was in the picture.  Aspirational marketing!  I really like the proportions so I'm going to change the pattern to reflect them.  I'm also getting wider insertion lace for the same reason. This is the first time I've actually printed out and put together an e-pattern.  I couldn't get all the marking to show up and I had to shrink it a bit but since I'm going to have to make changes anyway, I'm not concerned. I'm including a picture of the taped together pattern at the end of the post, even though the lines are faint and almost unreadable.  Tonight I will cut it apart and start fidgeting with measurements.  Anything to avoid starting the frock coat.

And here are examples on my insertion lace (2 1/4 inch) and eyelet lace (1
inch) for the neck

The shiny spot is light reflecting off tape

1912 Blouse for Dummies - VPLL 1912 Project

Our first pattern - Blouse EO191.  We made this to the pattern size since neither of us thought we would wear it as it wouldn't be flattering.  We made it up in white muslin, with the trim pieces in beige dotted cotton that we had laying about.  We wanted to make it fully lined and with most of the finishing (everything but back buttons).  We were not able to do any fittings during construction.  Apparently we are giants, and our smallest dress form was perfect except its neck which is HUGE.  The lack of arms was a problem too...
We are re-learning sewing after modest experience in our youth.  We opted to try to follow the instructions as written and write about how it worked for us.  Some of the instructions confused us, but we expected that.  Some of the choices we just didn't like and would do differently if we were making it for us.

Trim
Sleeve trim - sewing the bottom of the trim to the sleeve with a small turned-under hem would not be our choice although it may be the easiest choice with the curved hem.  We thought self-facing would look a lot nicer.  There are no instructions for attaching the top of the trim piece so we top stitched it to the sleeve.  Depending on the fabric used, there are doubtless better ways to do that too.

Neck trim - We chose to double the fabric because our fabric was very thin.  We needed the extra body, especially with the beads.  It didn't meet in the back, even though we took slightly larger pleats in the front of both the blouse and the lining.  This may be because of placement.  We aren't really sure.  Others didn't seem to have this problem.  It didn't lay flat on the shoulders once we put it on the blouse.  The blouse itself lay smooth on the dress form and the lining matched well.  Again, it could be placement, and solved by moving the trim higher up the neck.  We couldn't test that due to the dress form limitations (linebacker neck) and my unwillingness to make my 10 year old son cross-dress for this project.   And then the binding, the binding that  kicked out butts.  This is very obvious at the point in the front.  It's not symmetrical top and bottom.  We know what we did wrong.  We chose not to fix it and call it an awesome learning experience.  Here it is without the blouse.

Sleeves
They seem to stand out from the body and cant forward.  We assume this is period styling.  They went in easily using the pattern markings, although we had no ease (even though the pattern suggested we would).  When we sewing in the lining, we sewed it right under the binding added at the shoulder.

Blouse body and lining

We re-folded the pleats out of personal preference.  We took about an inch of additional volume out of the top.  We sewed the binding strips to the shoulders before we we sewed the side seams which was easier but not nearly as tidy looking after we sewed the side seams.

The lining had us stumped at first.  We started by lining it up at the neck and it just didn't fit.  It was far too small.  We un-pinned it and started over at the arm scythe and everything matched right up.  Thing is, we ended up having to trim quite a bit of fabric from the lining at the neck opening which made it too big.  We added a couple of pleats on the inside and it looks nice.

Too Large

Too Small

From the inside

We didn't like the blouse bottom finish in the front.  We thought a narrow binding strip over the gathers would look a lot better.

Finally, we really liked the little basque in the back.  We thought it would look a bit silly, but really ended up liking it.

Not Surprising -
The drawing of the blouse is much longer and leaner than the actual garment.




This took us 7 hours from cutting to final press and pictures.
One adult beverage (each)
About a '4' on the profanity scale (primarily due to the $*#&$ binding).
We planned to finish this in a day but we were pleasantly surprised when we actually succeeded.

and we're off! First VPLL 1912 project pattern!

Robin must be psychic!  She recently asked me why so many of the project volunteers were buying fabric since we didn't know what kind of pattern we would get.  What if we got a blouse?  Well, Robin, the answer is......wait for it......we got a blouse!  A really pretty blouse.

We will be double blogging at VPLL 1912 Project  as LisaandRobin

Bum rush - L

Farthingale is nearly done.  I have to add the very bottom hoop which requires I actually anticipate the hem.  And I'm being lazy about it.  I have to add the waistband.  My post christmas belly is asking me to wait a couple weeks for the bloat to go down.  I made the bumroll.  The Margo Anderson patterns are easy to follow.  Also, it turns out that the inside of a farthingale is a great cat playground.  You can't see it in the picture, but my farthingale has a tail.

Tonight I'm going to cut out the chemise.  I can't sew it yet because Robin is going to machine embroider blackwork on the neckline and sleeves.  I'm actually just drawing those pieces on muslin .

That means she's going to have to fire up the embroidery and make it work.  She claims she needed this kick in her bumroll to get her started.

We have signed up for the 1912 project.  I hope we're up to it.  For the most part we will just be making muslins and we are confident we can do this in a day, if we work hard (sorry, this makes me giggle - there are very limited instructions - we're in way over our heads, but we're still excited)

I've settled on the basic pattern for the bodice to go with my black skirt. It's a modern semi-fitted equestrian style jacket so there will be a lot of modification involved.

This is from the pattern back.  I plan to change the collar, make it very fitted (requiring mods for the girls) and add a pleat at center back for my bustle.  I'm leaning toward the handkerchief hem.  The bustle is black lace with layer of some sort of sheer black gold stuff I got on sale.  This outfit has taken on the title of 'Steampunk Malificent'.  I might have to make a large brass flying inset for a hat.  With horns.  Anyhow, I may start the muslin this weekend.  We're hauling out the Dickens gear to go to a 12th Night Dance on Saturday.  So I may not have as much time as I think.

I was blog-surfing this morning and saw this, which really inspired me.  (Alexander McQueen)

Oh, I want to DO this!

I took this right off their page and this sounds like something Lisa and I have been batting around for a while as we discussed Edwardian Tea Dresses and traded pics of them.  Can't wait to see what additional patterns they put out. Maybe we can find a little time in between the Elizabethan projects to make some Edwardian as this is a special year for it. 

"Historical costumers and those who just love sewing vintage and antique patterns may be interested to learn about the Vintage Pattern Lending Library’s (VPLL) The 1912 Project.
The 1912 Project will reproduce approximately 150 patterns from the 1912 issues of the French fashion journal La Mode Illustrée by the end of 2012. The patterns that will be transcribed include not only women’s fashion, corsets, and lingerie, but also garments for men, children, and babies. And the VPLL needs sewers to help test the transcribed patterns and share their experiences working with and sewing them. Test sewers will receive the patterns at no cost as they are transcribed from the magazines.
The project is just one of many programs and events organized among costuming and vintage sewing groups to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the sinking of Titanic on April 14-15, 1912.
Participants in The 1912 Project will track their own progress in sewing the patterns they receive by posting monthly updates and photos on their own blogs or by sending the VPLL photos and comments on their progress, which will be posted to the VPLL’s blog, Vintage Fashionista. The patterns will also be available for purchase on the VPLL’s website. To get involved, visit The 1912 Project or email the VPLL at vpll.librarian@gmail.com."
http://vpll.wordpress.com/2011/11/24/the-1912-project/#comment-93