24 July 2013

Silk Twill Suit

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Last week I ventured over to Grey's Fabric for the first time, and met the lovely Sarah who showed me where she was on her Victoria Blazer from By Hand London.  And after I saw it, I had to take the pattern home and give it a go myself.
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I had already made a skirt and a pair of pants with this silk twill fabric, and I still had a little bit left - just enough for the cropped version.  
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I've been wanting a cropped jacket for a while, and this one went together quite quickly - in 3 hours in fact (well, 3:15 if you include the time needed to handsew the lining closed)!

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I lined it in a teal quilting cotton with sewing scissors decorating it.

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The skirt is self-drafted, based on the No. 2 pencil skirt from J Crew.  I love it so much, I have already made four of them.  I make another one whenever I have some nice fabric leftover.

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The blouse is also self-drafted, based on my raglan sleeve blouse pattern that I have shown here before.  This version is made from a silk batiste.

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The jacket calls for the sleeves to be left unlined, which I did.  But instead of finishing the armhole and lining separately as suggested in the pattern, I basted the armhole and lining together and finished them as one with bias tape.  I think it looks much nicer this way.

While we are discussing the armhole, I loved that there were lots of notches on the pattern to make sure the armhole was lined up properly!  I think everyone should include more notches on their patterns!

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Here is a closeup of the lining print and the armhole.

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And here is the collar and lapel.  It is super easy to get nice sharp corners on these pieces since they were drafted along the fold.

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The sleeve cuff is finished with a french seam, the first I have seen quite like this.  It was easy and effective.  Bravo By Hand!


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Here is the blazer with a pair of matching pants - I made these as a wearable muslin of Vogue 7881 - a Claire Shaeffer pattern.

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The fit is pretty good, and the instructions are impeccable.  This was my first time easing in the front and back pieces into the waistband instead of putting in darts.  I have already adjusted the pattern for next time, to remove a bit of ease in the front crotch area and to lower the waistline an inch.  But I have a feeling that these pants will get quite a bit of wear in the meantime (though maybe not with the blazer).

All in all,  I ended up non-intentionally creating an entire suit in this fabric - and I really love all the pieces!  I might try to make a few adjustments to the Victoria blazer pattern for the future - mostly to try and get the collar to lay flat.  But I do recommend it to anyone who is intimidated to try making jackets or blazers - this one is a breeze!

Anyone else making suits, or intentionally or otherwise?  I have been making a lot of work clothes lately - "cake" I believe is the proper term...
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6 comments

  1. I like how you've made and finished this blazer. It's a great colour and the lining is really cool.

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  2. Great looking jacket!!!!Cool lining

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  3. Very elegant and the Victoria lining is so cool

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  4. First off, your clothes are amazing! Super talented, you are!
    I quilt but your blog is so inspiring, would love to attempt a shirt or a maxi skirt.
    My question is...what is a princess seam?
    Oh another question...do you use a serger? Or do you make all your clothes on the 201?

    Thank you!

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  5. Your suit looks amazing!! What kind of pockets did you add to the pants?

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  6. Nice Silk Twirl suit! You should give a try to the indian ethnic clothing including unstitched suits online.

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