Leather Jacket: The Bones

OK, this is possibly the post in which I shock and horrify the people who know more about working with leather than I do by talking about how I used my iron over the weekend.

Whenever I start a new project I always try scorching a scrap of the fabric. Does that sound crazy? Maybe it is, but I like to know how hot an iron my fabric can take before I try to press the actual project. So, I start on low and slowly nudge the heat ever higher. I usually use a silk organza pressing cloth and a seam roll and tailor's ham. No exceptions here. And - guess what - the leather didn't scorch even with a very hot iron. 

After establishing that I could safely press my leather, I began testing a few fusibles. This wasn't so far off the reservation since it had been suggested in my book on leather, and I'm very pro-interfacing in general. I use a lot more than called for in patterns, and I've never been unhappy that I interfaced a zipper or waist or armscye or any other stress point on a garment. Interfacing often makes it easier to sew on a zipper, and I find that it adds to a neater overall look in a finished garment.

I also learned to appreciate hair canvas when I sewed my Lady Grey Jacket last winter - it adds body and shape to the front of the jacket and the lapels and collar. So, I figured that my leather jacket deserved the same treatment.

I'm not sure you can see the black interfacing on this, but it's there.

In the end, I decided to use black Pro-Tricot Deluxe fusible interfacing for the zipper areas. I normally use this for knits, but it also is fine for leather according to the handy instructions that came with it. And I used fusible hair canvas that I bought at Steinlauf & Stoller for the front, side front and lapel pieces. I like that it adds some body to the leather and, I hope, will help the front shaping.

So, now that the bones are in place, so to speak, I'm ready for zipper insertion. If you recall, when I first tried doing this on muslin, I messed up three times. So, I will be slow and steady making sure I get it right the first time! 

Later in the week, we'll talk more about seams and sewing machines. Stay tuned.

Jewelry Making for Dummies: Oooohhh, Sparkley...

Update at noon: So Phin just told me that our on-again, off-again family visit is now off again. So, it looks like the Craft Lounge will be mine-all-mine all weekend! Yay!

I'm not sure how much sewing will get done over the weekend since visiting family is inhabiting the Craft Lounge. Sigh. This project seems like one delay after another.

But I've been trying to find things to do with myself at night as I sit on the couch while Phin watches baseball or hockey. At the moment, I don't have any hand sewing to do and I've been undecided on what I want to knit next. So, I picked up Jewelry Making for Dummies to try making a few simple pairs of earrings.

Three pretty pairs of earrings!

Quite frankly, I'm always irritated at just how much a cute little pair of earrings can cost. Obviously, something that takes time to create and uses good materials is worth paying for. But I've bought too many earrings that turned out to be poorly made and used shoddy parts.

Venetian Glass earrings

Dyed jade with glass beads

More dyed jade

This project required little time and less talent. I only had to learn one technique - making a wrapped loop on a headpin - to make these three earrings. So, a good investment of an evening or two on the couch.

Since there's a whole strip of bead stores right near M&J Trim, it was easy to buy a few basic tools, beads and findings near my office. I fear this is a habit in the making; I already have a few projects in mind.

Hope you all have a great weekend! 

Leather Jacket: Sewing Leather to Silk

At long last, I've actually made some progress on my jacket! I've been meticulously testing out sewing tools and techniques on scraps of leather over the past two weeks, whenever I could tolerate sitting at my sewing machine.

When I'd had my fill of scraps, it was time to move on to sewing my jacket. I started with the leather facings. Not only would this help me finish the lining, I reasoned, but if disaster struck, it would be on pieces that are on the inside of the jacket.

One of the things that I haven't seen discussed on line or in sewing books in any detail is what to do when sewing two types of fabric together - in this case the silk lining of my jacket to it's leather facings.

A tip I picked up from Sewing With Leather & Suede by Sandy Scrivano is that when sewing leather to another fabric, you should sew with the leather on the feed dogs and the other fabric on the foot for smooth feeding. However, I had also seen warnings that the feed dogs could mark the leather, but in my tests this hadn't been a problem. So, I sewed leather side down, using a size 80/12 leather needle. My leather is not particularly thick and the recommendation I've seen is to use the thinnest needle that will do the job (smaller needle = smaller holes).

Scraps: Silk and leather sewn together

My first test - sewing leather to silk - worked out just fine. So, then I tried sewing with piping sandwiched in between the leather and silk. I basted the piping to the silk first, using a fine microtex needle. Then, changing back to the leather needle, I sewed the three layers together.

More scraps! This time with piping. 

And then it was on to the actual jacket lining:

The back lining piece with collar facing

Front facing with lining attached

Closer look at the facing with piping and lining

I think it all looks good so far. And I'm finding leather pretty easy to sew on. It's a really stable fabric. Still, I'm taking my time and going slow. With summer coming, there is no rush for a leather jacket, and mindful sewing will prevent mistakes (fingers crossed).

More to come! I've already started sewing seams and more.

Elements of Style: The Mullet

Since we had so much fun talking about the Peek-a-Boob dress, I thought we'd have some fun on this dreary Monday and talk about another style that tends to periodically rear it's (ugly?) head: the mullet.

What I mean by this is, of course, not the haircut, but the high-low hem that seems to have popped up on runways last fall, more recently on red carpets and into stores in the last few months. I remember this trend mostly as it played out in 80's prom dresses and haircuts. But my own prom was in the 90's and there was nary a mullet dress in sight - by my teen years, the look was O-U-T out!

But, since everything 80's is new again, there seems to be a resurgence in the mullet and it is playing out in sundresses and tops. And pattern companies have gotten in on the act, with both dresses and tops that have a high-low hem.

Vogue 8809 - Is it me or does this dress NOT FIT this girl well?

Butterick 5786 - the mullet top

Could it be that the mullet is the next evolution of the maxi-dress that's been popular for the last several summers? Express and loads of others seem to think so.

Burda - 03-2012-120 mullet dress with random vest

Wow, Burda really embraced the mullet top in April...

Burda 04-2012-117

Burda 04-2012-129 - a more refined mullet?

Proponents applaud the "business in the front, party in the back" versatility of the look. But I've been watching this trend with distinct distaste. Really, once was quite enough thank-you-very-much, and clothing styles should not be named after Billy Rae Cyrus' haircut, no matter how achy-breaky. And did I mention that I made fun of this style when I was in high school? It was simply not cool by then. So, you're probably wondering why I'm putting this look to a yea or nay vote, when it seems my opinion is set.

Well, let's just say that everyone is a hypocrite at times, even muses. On Friday afternoon, I wandered over to JC Penney on my lunch hour to pick up a few cheap basics ($8 seamless cami's - can't beat the price).  And somehow I ended up with this AWESOME top as an impulse buy.  

Nicole by Nicole Miller top from JC Penney

First off,the print is really eye-catching and the top has some great details for cheap RTW - like the double straps, the topstitching and the trim at the neckline.

 And for $20 it looks and feels incredibly lux, even if it is poly.


But wait! My top has a dirtly little secret. Despite it's pedigree and  lux details, it is a red neck at heart.

My top has a mullet!

And there it is. Faced with the reality of my shopping, I'm forced to ask myself whether there might be something to like about the mullet, after all.

So ladies and gentlemen, yea or nay on the mullet?  And does it matter whether it is a dress or top or an upscale or casual look? What do you say: are you all for business in the front and party in the back? or would you call the fashion police on me?

PS - There was sewing this weekend! Updates to come during the week! 

Technology Part III: Spam, Spam, Eggs and Spam

Since I've been unable to sew, I might as well use the time for a little housekeeping.

First up,  I've imported Disqus to help moderate comments and keep spam on the blog to a minimum. Honestly, my spam folder had reached Monty Python proportions.



Anyway, for those of you not already using Disqus, I hope it won't be too much of a hassle. I think it's easier than the wonky word verification thingy. Plus, it allows me to respond to individual comments and sorts most recent comments at the top. Both are features I like!  

Next, I finally have a Facebook presence for personal/sewing stuff that is separate from my work-related FB presence. I've managed to get my blog feed to upload automatically (okay, okay, Phin handled that part of things). Since I dislike the idea of adding any kind of FB widget to the blog, if you want to friend me, you can find me by searching for "Clio Phineas" on Facebook. 

Lastly, some of you have already found me on Pinterest. I'm definitely not an addictive user, but I am finding it fun to pin styles and sewing tutorials that I like. You can find me here:



I have managed a little sewing today, so updates soon!  And in the meantime, I look forward to seeing you here and around the interwebs.

We Interrupt Your Regularly Scheduled Programming...

SCIATICA

Sciatica refers to pain that radiates along the path of the sciatic nerve and its branches — from your back down your buttock and leg... The pain can vary widely, from a mild ache to a sharp, burning sensation or excruciating discomfort. Sometimes it may feel like a jolt or electric shock. It may be worse when you cough or sneeze, and prolonged sitting can aggravate symptoms.  - Mayo Clinic

It seems I've got the burning, excruciating pain variety of sciatica happening at the moment. And sitting at my sewing machine has just not been a possibility. But thanks to the miracle of narcotics, tonight I'm actually sitting without feeling like my left side is on fire for the first time in days. But still, I'm thinking that I should probably not try sewing my leather jacket while on an opioid, even though the pieces are all cut. I think there was some kind of warning on the prescription about operating machinery or writing blog posts while under the influence or something... maybe I'll just go pet my leather some more.

In the interim, here's a groovy sewing tip for you. Someone at PR Weekend was asking how others get patterns back in the envelope neatly after they've been opened and pressed and cut. I don't know about anyone else, but here's my boot-leg method. First, I completely ignore the factory folds and just fold the pieces to envelope size.

Then, the next time I press anything, when I unplug the iron, I just plop it on top of the pattern pieces in one stack and I leave it for, oh, maybe 30 seconds or so. Or I do it when the iron is warming up. As long as the house doesn't catch on fire, it's all good as far as I'm concerned.

   

That smooshes the stack flat so it goes right back in the envelope with no problem. Is that what you do, too?

Anyway, we'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming just as soon as my sciatic nerve has learned to chill.

PR Weekend and Mood: Talk about Fabric Shopping

So, I had two experiences in the last week that made me think about my fabric shopping habits. First, fabric shopping with all the sewists in town for Pattern Review weekend. (Oh and here's a few pictures from the PR Weekend flickr group. I was photographed in purple locks, so I'm hoping those pop up spoon).

Me and Deepika (credit: click to go to flickr)

Me, NancyC, Karen and Andrea (credit: click to flickr)

And the second, last night Mood held a focus group about their on-line store which they are planning to give a major overhaul. I attended, along with some other NY area sewists, bloggers and craftsy people like Carolyn, Nancy K, Elizabeth and Marina,to provide some feedback.

Anyway, shopping with and hearing about other sewists' habits and experiences really got me thinking about my own fabric buying habits both on line and in person. And I'm curious about yours.

First, are you a stasher or do you buy fabric as needed? I don't have all that large a stash, but I'm also not the type that is restrictive about my buying. I don't do fabric diets, but my general mantra is there will always be more fabric. So, if it's a fabric that there will not be more of - that special something that I really love or catches my eye or is orange (my true weakness) - then I buy with glee. I also do a lot of my buying for a specific project that I'm working on. So, what's left in my stash is generally fabrics that I think are spectacular but just haven't gotten to sewing quite yet. I do pro-actively stash interfacings, lining and an assortment of miscellaneous notions. Nothing is worse than realizing you didn't buy something you need for a project.

Do you buy fabric on-line or only in person or a blend? Even though my office is near the Garment District and I prefer to support brick-and-mortar stores, I'm actually pretty omnivorous. Like most of the other participants I prefer to feel the fabric before I buy. However, I'm definitely susceptible to the lure of free shipping, special fabrics and on-line sales. So, ultimately what I've sewn and what I've stashed is a blend of on-line and in person buying.What about you? Why do or don't you buy on line or in person?

What do you buy on line? Just fabric? Fabric and notions? Do you buy basics to keep in your stash or just what grabs you? I tend to only buy fabrics on line. Most notions I can find in the Garment District and I actually really like shopping for them. Is that odd? I do, however, usually buy interfacing on line since I have a preferred brand. 

Where do you shop on-line? And what motivates you to shop there? I have to confess that most of my on-line buying has happened at FabricMart. They are very good about emailing sales, special fabrics, discounts and fabric-of-the-day type picks. I never mean to buy fabric; I just sort of end up with something in my cart that I can't pass up. 

What is your worst fabric buying disaster and what do you do with your mistakes? I recently documented my worst fabric ever: the faux leather that I attempted to use as muslin for my leather jacket, which you may recall ended up in the garbage:

You know it's bad when a muslin ends up as a wadder!

What are your best fabric shopping tips and what are your do's and don't's? I hate polyester. I know. That's not a tip; it's a hostile statement. But I'm almost always disappointed with polyester, particularly the varieties that seem to inhabit the internet. So, I just don't buy the stuff on line. And since I came up with that guideline for myself, my fabric purchases on line have been much more successful.

Anyway, tell me about your shopping!