A Simply Luxe Sweatshirt with Simplicity 1317

This was a simple, scrap busting project. I had some sale table remnants -- a grey velour & a black quilted piece that I'd bought with another project in mind entirely. So I decided to combine them in a quick sweatshirt; not my usual style but I thought it might be fun. And Simplicity 1317 was staring at me from my pattern overflow basket on the top of my work shelves.

Because I was using bits, I didn't have quite enough black to cut full sleeves. So I cut them as long as possible - to just below the elbow - and added on wide cuffs. I like the length it gives. It's probably where I would have scrunched up the sleeves to anyhow.

This was supposed to be a quick & easy project, however, I gave myself more work than necessary by adding in too much ease around the hips. I thought it would be too form fitting so added in way too much extra, and by the way, that just looks worse than having something fit. I had to unpick the bottom band and resize the shirt, then stitch the band back on. I love the final result. If I'd just stuck with my plan to cut Med. at the neckline/bust and taper to Large -- no more! -- at hips it would have been fine.

However, as I hate fixing things, even immediately after I've sewn them and realized my mistake, the original oversize monstrosity sat on the back of a chair for 3 weeks before I spent the half hour required to fix it. Sigh. Mending is my Waterloo. Anyhow, without the mistake of adding in a way too generous amount of ease, this was a straightforward make. Clear instructions, and now that I know my basic fitting issue with raglan sleeves, I had no problem getting this to sit nicely. My right shoulder is shallower so I take out 1/2 inch at the raglan seam from the neck, tapering to nothing by the armpit area, only in the front. It works like a charm.

 

This was an unusual choice for me, and I enjoyed trying it out. It's influenced a new project, which I'm also making out of a quilted polyknit, though a much brighter one. Hope to have that done soon. And then on to some summer dresses!

I haven't been sewing or posting as much as usual, though, as I'm working on a new stitching project that I am hoping to share here in the next few weeks. I've been spending a lot of time on it, even dreaming about stitches and colours lately! It's been really satisfying, and I look forward to sharing it.

Text Talk: The Coat Route

The Coat Route: Craft, Luxury, & Obsession on the Trail of a $50,000 Coat  / Meg Lukens Noonan.
New York: Spiegel & Grau, c2013.
244 p.

I picked up this book on a sale table one day, recalling that I'd seen it mentioned by -- I think it was  DovegreyReader & that it had sounded interesting. So glad I did - it kept me busy for a few enjoyable evenings!

The idea for this book came to the author when she heard of an Australian tailor who had handcrafted what seemed to her an incredibly expensive overcoat for a private client.

She looked into it, and was intrigued by the whole process. So she followed the route it took from raw materials to finished coat, interviewing vicuna fur suppliers in Peru, investigating Italian silk merchants, visiting British button factories & Savile Row, and much more -- including of course, long talks with John Cutler, the master tailor. And a final visit to the coat's purchaser, a Vancouver based businessman, in which she finds the infamous overcoat casually slung across the back of a chair.

It feels like an entire collection of microhistories. It is perfect to read chapter by chapter, as each one is a complete story in its own right -- I feel like following up on one or two of my favourite bits, as they are just an introduction to a fascinating topic. I think that some of these chapters could be expanded into full books on their own! I really enjoyed dipping into this one, and after reading about the vicuna cloth, the silk lining, the gold engraved tags, the horn buttons and all the tailoring itself, the cost of this coat seems quite understandable. It is valued according to its actual value; and seems in line with couture and designer clothing prices, even while being utterly customized to the buyer.

So while something like this would never be found hanging in my closet, I found the steps toward its creation wonderfully interesting. I'd recommend reading this book bit by bit and allowing some time in between chapters, as it can feel a bit too much of a good thing when read all in one go, like I did. Her writing voice is very much "reportage", like the journalist that she is, without many stylistic frills to smooth out the narrative. It works, but for myself, a break in the matter-of-fact telling was needed. I wanted to imagine the story developing as it progressed, and taking a day or two before reading the next chapter was perfect.

Any reader who is also a sewist would find this one intriguing - so many different industries involved in making up this one item, and all of great interest to those who stitch. Recommended!



The author presents a lecture on this book at the Portland Art Museum in celebration of their 2015 exhibit: "Italian Style: Fashion Since 1945"