Ive been working on my module for The great module seawalong for a while. The Kabuki tee from Paper Theory Patterns turned out great, the Burda skinny jeans from BurdaStyle 8/19 not so much. The fabric was too stiff and soft at the same time, very strange. I was ok with it, slightly worried that my module was too basic, dull and of course dark but fine anyway. As research for a blog post about it I looked into styling methods and came across Carol Tuttle and her Dressing Your Truth concept. Made the free analysis and must say, it totally derailed the whole project and my wardrobe with it. At first I wasn’t too happy about the result. It felt lame and containing everything I usually try to avoid, but why did I feel like that? Then I thought it would be a fun experiment to examine my preferences a bit.
Came across an old envelope with inspirational pictures I’ve gathered for another capsule project. The images in the envelope was what got discarded in the process.
Patterns from Jenny Hellström, DP Studio, Greenstyle Creations, Burda and Trend Patterns. Images from Vogue Runway.
There it was, the muted colors and curved lines I was supposed to wear! Everything doesn’t work but put together it looks fun and interesting. My finished capsule didn’t. Then I decided to have a look into a favorite resource of mine, a scrap book of fashion pictures made in the 80s and 90s.
There it was again, over and over!
Im writing this in the process of building another module for the sewalong, with some new patterns and new fabrics from my stash. Also making a new print for fabric to accompany the new colors and lines. Its early to say how this will turn out and how it will proceed, but I will continue this research and get back later.
I printed pictures of all the Showstudio Design Downloads and let my husband choose the designs he liked best. One of them was the infamously difficult Alexander McQueen Jacket. So that one became the next make. I already had this pattern in my computer and dreaded a bit printing it out.
Lee Alexander McQueen was a British fashion designer known for theatrical, provocative fashion shows and his masterful tailoring. He started the journey at Savile Row as a tailors apprentice, studied fashion design at Central Saint Martin and later worked as head designer for Givenchy. The Alexander Mqueen brand was started in 1992 and the designer himself was awarded for his work several times. He died by suicide in 2010.
This jacket is from the 2003 fall ”Scanners” collection and is a complex tailored jacket with elements from both Victorian womenswear and Japanese kimonos. There is a fantastic, in-depth introduction to this pattern at Pattern Vault, a source of information on designer patterns I highly recommend.
Pattern Info: Drawn. Has a 1 cm seam allowence and a lot of markings. Size 40.
Fabric: About 2,5 m polyester suiting and a bit less acetate lining.
Notions: Chiffong bias binding, scraps of satin + thread and more thread.
No, it isn’t an animal.
Theres one difficulty with this pattern, the back pleats and darts. When you managed that problem the rest is pretty easy. The first dart made me think of late 19th century cutting, then I quickly got lost. After failing the first time with getting the folds in the right position I started over. The second attempt I traced everything exactly and then thread marked every line and marking making it visible from both sides. it magically worked and I was able to press all folds flat. I secured them on the backside at a few points and then moved on. One try at getting all folds in place took a weekend and just following the instruction won’t cut it, you have to think too. It probably was more difficult since I decided to line the jacket but as it turned out so nice, it was worth it.
Old tracings and new…
Then the fitting. My shoulders are straight so I adjusted for that and added a stretch satin panel in the side since the jacket was really tight.
The setting of the sleeves comes with a simple instruction and I chose to cover the seam and opening with bias binding as one big loop. The rest of the sewing is pretty basic.
Conclusion: Im glad I lined it but should have chosen a fabric that pressed more easily. This polyester creases like crazy when one steams it, total nightmare getting loads of pleats in place. Next time, I’ll chose a high quality suiting or brocade and quality lining. Stripes looks fantastic with this. Yes, there will be next time. I want one that’s perfect.
There are two time consuming parts in this, the pleating and the finishing. I would suggest to finish by hand and cover all inside seams with chiffong bias binding or similar to get a nice clean look.
Pros: This jacket has great movability built into it and looks amazing! It’s the ultimate couture comfort garment. This will sound odd but it also has sort of its own presence… has to be experienced.
Cons: If you don’t like a challenge or is a beginner, this isn’t suitable. It doesn’t matter how enthusiastic you are, can’t compete an ordinary jacket, don’t try.
Say Hello to Tant Monokroms first ever sewing resource, a drafting instruction with printable (primitive) hand drawn pieces for classic Karate Gi trousers.
In my early twenties I copied the trousers from my Karate Gi for the first time. I wanted something fun to wear for yoga and had seen a similar pattern in a book. I made loads of these pants the years to come for myself, friends and family. Making them over and over made me realized that the pattern could easily be sized up or down just by adjusting length and circumference of the leg tube. Nowadays I have my geometrical crotch pieces in cardboard ready and can draft these from memory at any time.
The Karate Gi is the sturdy uniform worn when practicing Karate and other martial arts. The original is made in tightly woven cotton canvas with reinforced seams to hold for intense training. The fabrics thickness and the loose fit makes it stand out from the body and prevents it from clinging and restricting the movements when sweating heavily. The origin of the uniform is fishermens working clothes from Japan, first used by Judo practitioners and later adopted by Karate. Must say that I never made a pair for wearing in the Dojo. For martial arts practice a real suit is long lasting, reliable and worth the investment.
With that said I hope you try this pattern with its unusual construction, perfect for movability training and can also be shortened to make cool fighter shorts. The pattern fits sewist of all skill levels and can be sewn as a minimal fabric waist garment.
