Progress on "The Plan"

This weekend I finished with the second step in my plan that I set up for myself a couple of weeks ago.

If you remember, I wanted to use this red fabric to make the McCalls 5860, but there wasn't enough so I reverted to the orange jacket instead:


After a little thought, I decided to use the white linen blend for the McCall's jacket, rather than for either of the Vogue patterns that I had selected.


I felt like either of the Vogue patterns really needed a crisper fabric. I have to say, as nice as it looks on the bolt, I am not a fan of these linen blends. They are not "drapey" so much as they are "floppy." I don't know if that makes sense or not, but they don't press well, either. So I think I am pretty much done with them. I got three colors, I just used the last of it, and I won't be buying any more.

But, because I didn't have a fabric for the Donna Karan jacket, I ordered a citrus green color sateen from Fashion Fabrics Club, as well as a white sateen to make a coordinating pair of pants from my tape pattern.

Back to the McCalls jean jacket:



Since this is a Palmer-Pletsch pattern, there are pages and pages of instructions on fitting. Somehow, over the course of all the fitting, I managed to make a princess-seamed, nicely shaped jacket into something rather boxy. Also, a warning: the sleeves are super-long, and I took about 3 inches off the length of the jacket overall. Otherwise it was just so long it was overwhelming.

To finish the seams, I flat-felled most of them. There are a couple of places, like the inside of the pockets and under the pocket flap, that I zig-zagged the edges because I just couldn't envision how to hide it.

The fabric is somewhat see-through, but definitely not as bad as the eyelet I was working with a couple of weeks ago. Because it is lightweight, the jacket could be worn as a shirt, and the two "strategically placed" pockets and the front facing means you can get away without a cami.

In further sewing news....I probably won't get much done today because my niece is coming over to sew. Last week she finished another tunic, and this week she wants to make a skirt. We cut out the pieces last week and this week I did some "pre-sewing," mainly finishing some difficult parts for her and zig-zagging the edges of all her fabric.



She is doing well with her sewing but that ruffle on that shirt...omg, it was a disaster! She stayed over last weekend, and after looking at how she had sewn it on, I ended up taking out all her stitches and re-doing it while she was sleeping. I also re-set her sleeves. She's such a goof, she never noticed! She still thinks that she did all the sewing on the shirt!

Today we are going to work on this skirt from the April BWOF:
I have projects to work on as well, yesterday I cut out my fabric for Vogue 1107:


This pattern has 27 pieces. Let me repeat that.....TWENTY-SEVEN PIECES. Seriously!! The front and back are split into 4 pieces each, there are pleat underlays...but the side ones are a different size than the center ones!! I didn't even cut the pieces for the macrame belt or the knotted buttons. I just bought buttons. I used a brushed twill, and if this works out, I will probably get a nicer fabric for another version.

I'm trying my best to not let myself get derailed from my plans, but I just got an order from Fabric.com, and this charmeuse has been calling my name:


I think I need a couple of tunics! But logic will prevail, and I will continue to work on my plan....