The Suit!

So… I think I understand why suits are so expensive.

This has been by far the most challenging thing I’ve ever made, and also the most time-consuming. It’s not perfect, but I think it’s pretty damn good for a first-timer:

This was taken at the actual wedding, hence the champagne and the flower-thing. It was such a beautiful day and a truly awesome wedding.

And these were taken after the event. As you maybe able to tell, the fabric wasn’t the best choice, since it already has some creases on it. The price one pays for not going for the best!

Also the lapels! Oh god the lapels! I probably should’ve gotten a firmer interfacing fabric, since these bugged me so much. The left lapel especially is incredibly misbehaved, in that it doesn’t stay smooth, but insists on popping up a bit every once in a while.

The shoulders were another pain in the shall-I-say-where, like they were with the blazer, but I feel that they turned out better this time, with less bumpiness and such.

The amount of hand sewing on the jacket was mind-boggling, which was why I was so glad when I got to making the trousers, since in them only the buttons/buttonholes had to be done by hand.

Here are the few photos I took during construction (I was supposed to take more but forgot, since I was just too preoccupied with actually finishing the suit):

 

If you ever plan on making a suit:

– Don’t have a deadline / make sure you have enough time.

• This is a project you don’t want to hurry. Making it in a hurry might break your mind like it almost did mine. Take your time, and be patient.

 

– Be prepared to baste your heart out.

• As you can see from the construction photos, there will be basting. in addition to the reinforcement basting seen in the pics, you’ll have to baste the thing together and take it apart at least two times for the fittings.

 

– Have a good/entertaining/long TV-show to marathon.

• At least if you’re like me, who likes to hand sew while listening to fictional people babble (towards the end there will be lots and lots and lots of hand sewing, as I said before). I think I watched at least six seasons of X-files while making this suit, but I could be wrong.

 

– Get a good guidebook.

• The one I had, Tailoring: A Complete Course on Making a Professional Suit, was ok, but I feel that some things were done way harder than necessary in it. The lack of photos was also annoying (the steps of construction were illustrated by drawings).

 

Overall I’m very proud of myself, and feel that I’ve learned a ton in doing this project. Boyfriend was also pleased and the suit got a lot of compliments at the wedding, which makes me squee a little inside.

An interesting detail is that I don’t feel like taking a break from sewing after finishing this. I just want to make simpler things for a while. I guess that’s a good sign :D

 

– Sadie

 

The Denim Blazer

It’s finished! Or has been a while now, I’ve just been too busy to post anything.
The actual real suit is well on the way too, so all is good so far.

 

The biggest problem with this was that the fabric is way too bulky. The sleeves also came out a bit less than perfect, which I have to take into consideration while making the actual suit jacket. But other than that, I’m really quite proud of this! Yay! I used a slightly modified version of Burda’s Ehren as the pattern.

 

I have to admit that there have been times when I regret ever volunteering to do this suit-project, but overall I think it’ll be worth it, especially as a learning experience.

Next week I’ll get some well deserved rest though, as we’re going to Paris!

– Sadie

A Word (or a few) About Materials

So, as I said last time, I’m currently making Boyfriend a blazer, as practice for a suit(!).

The thing that has so far bothered me a bit is the question of materials. The book I’m using as a guide, Tailoring: A complete Course on Making a Professional Suit, seems to be very specific when it comes to this issue.

“Only natural fibres,” it says, “and buy the best materials available.”

These ideas put fourth by the book would of course be good advice, but there are a few problems:

1) I’m not very rich, so the best materials are out of my finacial reach.

2) I live in Finland. While I do dearly love this country, the fact that there is only one reasonably priced fabric store (chain) that I know of IN THE WHOLE FREAKING COUNTRY really annoyes me sometimes. And their range of fabrics is nothing to brag about either.

3) The book doesn’t have photos of the materials, so figuring out what to use as a substitute for something is difficult. The internet provides some help with this, but not always enough.

For the current blazer project I bought some fusible interfacing instead of the wool interfacing the book insisted on. The people at the fabric store assured me that this fusible stuff was very good quality, but I’m having some doubts. If it doesn’t work out in this blazer, I probably have to go hunting for the perfect wool fabric for interfacing for the actual suit.

 

OK, rant over :D

– Sadie

Sadie The Chainmail Machine Vol. II

 

Hi!

I made this simple chainmail bracelet for my awesome sister:

She really liked it, so yay!

PS. The reason I’ve been a bit quiet lately is because I’ve embarked on an epic project — making a suit for Boyfriend! So far I’ve made a toile, and next up is a blazer/sports jacket of some kind, so I can practise my tailoring and be sure the fit is right. The final product, a classic black suit, has to be done by the middle of July, when Boyfriend’s brother is getting married, but I’d rather finish it well in advance than have to rush.

I’m so excited, but also very worried, since it’s a project that requires a lot of patience and attention to detail. I’ll keep you posted on the progress, and will definitely be making other stuff as well :)

– Sadie