Grainline Morris - Breaking Ground

Woo Hoo!  It's Spring!
Time for layers and figure-revealing jackets! (Or, let's be real, I'm in Canada: I'm just raising my shirt-tails to  bum-revealing)


I will fully admit that I have avoided Grainline Studio patterns so far:  no slight intended (and I doubt, taken), but the aesthetic isn't me - I am all about soft and curvy and flowy, upward movement, and face/waist framing and Grainline is: not.  I feel like it is less romantic and more business casual, and I have seen the waxing poetic about the Scout Tee, the Farrow, and the Morris for ever - and just kept right on looking.

Farrow, Scout, Morris from Grainline Studio

That said, when The Breaking Ground Blog Tour came up and I was thinking through what pattern company I might want to look into, I came across several versions of the Morris that were my style, and I thought: self, perhaps you should give this a whirl.

So - I bought my pattern from PatternReview.com - (I get a tidy discount because I am a member, and I was featured recently and had a little coupon gift to use).  I took my file down to the local Staples Copy Centre and (after a wee struggle and realization that the A0 version worked best on their printers) had a pattern on my table to trace.

Now - I started to do all my normal adjustments - but then I changed my mind, and decided to make the pattern as printed - to do a proper review I think that's only fair.  So here is my review considering the pattern as written, no adjustments, to my size specs, following directions step by step.




So - there are a few caveats we should address for this pattern - it is a straight forward pattern: Sleeve, Front, Back and Facings. There is magic in a pattern like this - the fit has to work without princess seams and darts - and this pattern is a little piece of that magical land - it actually works pretty well.

I LOVE the facing application and construction process for this jacket - you end up with a nice and tidy unlined, stretch woven or stable knit jacket.  My choice of a stretch twill/denim worked very well, and I have a nice casual jacket to throw on over jeans when I run to pick up a kid on a work from home in my jeans sort of day.  I think if you are experienced with fitting for your body it is a great little pattern, or if you are a slim, somewhat broad shouldered gal, you should be able to make this out of the package.

That said - I think you should be prepared to measure and pattern fit.  The chest/bust measurement vs garment for a size 14 was bang-on.  The sleeve is a slim sleeve - so definitely measure and ensure you have some ease.  In addition, I found that the shoulders were wider than my own and I am pretty typical lately (after a significant weight loss) - so plan to measure and adjust the shoulders.

Too broad in the shoulder, and too tight in the bicep.
Gainline Morris

I perused the Internet and found one example after another of a wrinkle at the back of the jacket between the armpit and the shoulder - go check it out online - it won't take you long if you google the images for the grainline morris blazer.  I'm not sure if it's because the sleeve is too narrow, combined with the shoulder so wide - but I like the construction elements of this jacket so much that i am going to tackle this again, with a bicep adjustment (I like Sewaholic's instruction-set) and a shoulder adjustment (Colette's Albion Sewalong has a nice graphical step by step guide to a narrow shoulder adjustment).

In the end I have a jacket that is wearable with bare arms underneath.  It's a great item to throw over my general uniform and to dash out looking a little like I tried  :)

This post is part of the Breaking Ground Tour - pushing each contributor to try a new pattern company.  I purchased all materials with my own cash - so opinions are entirely my own!  more blogs links below.

Here are the rest of the Breaking Ground Blogs (direct links to Breaking Ground posts) Anne-Mari Sews, Sprouting Jube Jube, Sewing A La Carte, Tales of a Tester

Lane Raglan - Rainbow LOVE

Hey June Lane Raglan

Ack.... I started to write a post about my new shirt and how lovely the source shop is.  It's not a shop in my own town, so I don't subscribe or follow on Facebook - but it was a lovely shop in a grand century home,  There was a lovely fibre arts room in the back of the shop - and a sweet little section for apparel sewing.  Back in September I traveled with a gf to Guelph Ontario so that she could complete her move back to our city.  I stopped into a sweet textile shop called .... Well, HECK!  I just went to grab the name of the store and found out that it CLOSED this weekend!  -  it was the Greenwood Quiltery.  Damn - it was a nice shop.

Well on that arm flopping announcement - I bought this dreamy knit fabric there.  It is an Art Gallery Fabrics Knit - and like all the AG that I have sewn with it is the dreamy 54" wide 4-way stretch with awesome depth of dye and no background showing through when it is stretched.  AG knits are my favorite of all the knits I have purchased.  I have sewn with several AG knits now, and you get incredible band for your buck.

This is: Looming Love Pastel from the Etno Collection
It's a perfect Type 1 (Dress Your Truth <--- affiliate link, there) fabric and all the cute and action makes me feel HAPPY!

I am striving to sew most of my own wardrobe, and a key piece in my grid is the long-sleeved T.  I work from home and I wear casual clothes most days.

The Lane Raglan from Hey June is my new favorite T.  I love the shape of the neckline and the scoop  front coupled with the raglan sleeve.  I graded between sizes and have cut the bust a little on the small size as I am still dropping weight (I have lost 55lbs now, and I am aiming on several more before the Spring).
The pattern is affordable to print at a copy shop, comes with a view with a hood and a bottom band, and there are nice Tutorials for the included Thumbhole Cuffs.  Last Fall I made a hoodie and thumbhole version that is in rotation in my wardrobe:

  I bought my Hey June pattern from IndieSew - the password restrictions on the Hey June site were too demanding.  That's not an affiliate link, it just lands you in the IndieSew land on a page that has my name on it.

   

I used my lightning stitch to hem and secure the neck band - and I used a lovely variegated mercerized cotton from Sulky

I added knit stabilizer tape to the neckline on the front, sleeves, and back, to the raglan seam on the sleeves, to the sleeve hem and shirttail.  I find this keeps the shape of the raglan, which I have had stretch out in wovens, and in knits I just love the crispness that the interfacing brings to the hems.  I usually lay the interfacing edge along the foldline on the hem (facing) so that I have a fold guide as well as support for my top-stitching.

I graded up to a larger size in the hips, and the length and sleeve length is great on me - I'm 5'4" / 162.5 cmI may to a slight swayback adjustment if I ever decide to use this pattern for something dressy - but as is, it stands as my newest TNT.

I am so thrilled with this make.  Here are a few more views:

Oh and my bragging: check out my stripe matching:

I think I might make some yellow jeans, next.

Washi Dress - this muslin exceeded its intent!

What a cute, comfy dress for the Autumn events that pop-up!

The Made By Rae Washi

Which can also be purchased at IndieSew

I finally decided to make this dress when I realized that I needed a couple easy dresses for the winter indoor concerts we have planned - something easy to wear with boots and tights, and to layer with a cardigan.  This iteration was supposed to be my muslin, but the fit was so bang-on (I didn't need to narrow the shoulder or adjust the bust!) it was a go ahead.  - I managed to squeeze all of this out of 2m of a wide chambray.

The wrinkles abound because I have worn this twice since it came off the dress form. - Suck it up, buttercup - I am here to share, not be judged.

I was new to shirring on my machine - and this was ridiculously easy.  

The pocket was AWESOME - I am on the dress pocket bandwagon.

I made my own partial lining for the bodice using the pattern pieces as the template, and ended the lining as free floating ABOVE the rows of shirring.

At the sleeves I burrito'ed the whole bit to encase the underarm in the lining.

The front was similarly lined and freefloating.  I *might* look at attaching it at the waistline next time....  I'll see.  So far it has been easy to wear.

So for those of you who question "why" I would Hong Kong this fabric - check out the fraying from it's first wash - this is under the facing.

The Guts (Note my judicious  use of leftover bias tape - and the cute bursts of colour :)

The armscye looks like this when you burrito it instead of binding it - I did the front and the back in separate stitching and folding opeations, and understitched the lining to the notches front and back (well into the part covered by the cap).

So,  so super cute!  I made a little matchy Lisbon cardigan/topper as well... and felt really youthful and comfortable in this outfit

Look what I did to my Florence!

The Mumu/Maxi/Sundress theme in Sewing Land has taken a definite hold this summer, and I debated jumping onboard - until my SIL's announcement that her annual Heat of July BBQ was themed "Hippie".  In previous years I have worn Hawaiian, Hillbilly and White Trash outfits, so I succumbed to the pressure and started thinking about how to manage a sundress.

Remember the cute little dresses we wore as kids in the 70s?  The Smocked and Shirred dresses with the little ties that we pulled up WAY high in the front so our 7 year old boobies wouldn't peek out? - Well, I popped into Fabricland and found their rolls of Shirred fabric and bought enough to make a lazy, simple summer dress.

In typical Heather-fashion I started overthinking the dress (I was thinking I would make a built-in bra using the Fairy Bra Mother's Craftsy course) and had a stroke of brilliance! 

What if I used the Seamwork Florence?

use the Seamwork link above, signup for the 1 month trial and choose the Florence and one other pattern for $3 - that's an affiliate link; you (as one of my 6 followers) may eventually be a partial contributor to paying for 1 month of my ongoing subscription.

So I hacked (it hardly justifies the term) the Florence Bra!

Interior shot showing the direction of shirring on the inner cups, the secondary bridge lining and the unshirred fabric on the outer cups.  I serged the lining to the side seam.

1. I eliminated the back seam and added side seams (I wanted to have side slits for walking comfort, and knew that the easiest way was to hem back the side seams below the knee).  To do this I cut the back off where the side seam should lay, and added seam allowance to the side seam, then edited the center seam and cut the back on the fold.
2. Using the new front piece of the bra bridge, I cut a knit lining fabric for bridge support (I have done this to my previous Florence Bras and recently did this in my Closet Case Swimsuit).
3. I cut the front and back with the upper edge on the shirred edge (cutting the cups out of the shirring.  I checked to make sure that the shirring elastic was secured before I snipped.
4. I cut the inner cup on the shirred edge of the fabric.
5. I cut 4 of the outer cup in regular fabric (for support - I would have had too much bounce with shirred fabric on both halves of the cup).
6. I hemmed the fabric and hemmed back the side slits.
7. I finished the neckline edge of the cups with some picot elastic from my scraps.
8. I added a little bow for humor.

Gratutious shot of the picot edged elastic; sewn using the lingerie method of zigzagging wrong side down to the right side of the cup and folding back and 3-step zigzagging on the right side to cover the elastic edge.

Voila!  I have a sexy, summery,supportive sundress to wear without an underbra (and the multiple straps) - and it worked really well on my curviness!

V8620 The Stars Aligned Wool Jacket (and a partial Stash Buster)

Have you ever completed a project and wanted to shout from the rooftops?
I am so happy with my jacket!

Look at my grin!

This jacket - V8620 - a Marcy Tilton design - is Out of Print, but I was very lucky to stumble upon a stash of patterns in the back corner of a home dec store a few weeks ago, and bought a mass of Betzina and Tilton patterns for my own stash.  (That's STAR #1 - Let's keep track!)

Here's the line drawing:

Note the Empire Line and the dropped back.  This is a dreamy shape for my figure!

STAR #2 is my recent and desperate need for a new Winter jacket - something I can throw on and feel stylish in.  I have a few nice leather jackets, but they aren't warm enough for Winter's approach and the ski jackets in my stash are not sexy.  My good, down Winter coat needs a new zipper (and I hate working on repairing down coats).

STAR #3 / 4 / 5?

FABRIC

Last Winter I uncovered a gem in the Value Village Thrift Store - a bizarre, but wonderful felted stripe that was perfect for my BFF's colouring and a cardigan project.  I hoarded the chucks and scraps for someday - I loved the fabric so much.  I believe I paid $8 and change for the yardage.

Then, this Fall I won a yard and a half of a wool coating from Elliott Berman Textiles

And then just a few weeks ago, I was back in my local Value Village and found a sweet chunk of  quilted lining:

Finally, STAR #5!  Pattern Review's Colour Blocking Contest came up in the calendar!

I'm not sure these are stars, but lets call it the universe - there are a few sew-a-longs on the go for coats - the McCall's PeaCoatAlong has just finished, and I followed the posts for that, and there's another on-going for the Clare Coat.  I also followed Beth's coat study on SunnyGalStudio Blog.

I took a Craftsy course: Terry McClintock's Essential Guide to Working With Wool, and read Brooks Anne Camper's Seamwork Post: A Guide to Underlining,

I debated and finally chose to add the step of hand basting the lining to each piece, as I decided to treat it as an underlining for the too soft hand of the coating compared to the unusual felted fabric.  Other than that I followed Marcy Tilton's great directions for the pattern  (but I hand stitched instead of using the stitch in the ditch method proposed and ended up with a wonderful gem!

The final on my model

Front from the inside

Back from the inside

Here's a closeup of the guts.

Can you see the pocket here?

Look at the beautiful cuff!

And - DH,  my honey,  helped by snapping a shot of the jacket in action at the grocery store:

Love Love Love the Jacket!