A Jacket and Three Tops

I was on fire yesterday. I knocked out a jacket and three tops and have a fourth top cut out but not assembled. I love productive days like that. Let’s review:

This is the A Little Somethin’ Jacket from CNT Patterns:

The fabric is a rayon batik from Robert Kaufman, purchased in Missoula. This went together in two hours. I made the tunic-length jacket with long sleeves, but it’s still a couple of inches too short for me—when I have it on, I can tell that the proportions are wrong. I knew that was likely, but this is a class sample and I wanted it off my to-do list, so I didn’t take the time to lengthen it.

Other sewists who reviewed this pattern noted a few issues. It is drafted generously, so I went down a size and was glad I did. The sleeves are inserted flat, which I’m used to doing with knits but not wovens. One reviewer thought the sleeve caps needed to be redrafted. I agree with her. The sleeve cap is too shallow for the armscye. In a knit, that wouldn’t be as much of an issue, but this rayon batik did not stretch. Normally, I would have set in the sleeves on the serger, but I ended up sewing them on the machine with the sleeve side down so the feed dogs could ease in the extra material. That worked nicely. I finished the seam on the serger.

[And of course, after I finished this, I happened upon a serger technique video for adjusting the differential feed to ease and serge a sleeve into an armscye. I’ll put that in the arsenal of techniques to try next time, although it is one of those serger methods that you really only get one opportunity to get right.]

Again, this pattern was written for assembling on the sewing machine, so I had to think about what parts I wanted to do that way and what parts I wanted to do on the serger. The seams have to be finished in some manner because rayon batik will fray if you look at it sideways. I reinforced the corners of the neck with some squares of interfacing, which was a good decision as they would be a weak point otherwise after clipping into them. I also used stay tape on the shoulder seams. As a result, the inside does not look as couture as I would have liked, but at least I know this won’t fall apart in the wash.

The front has a self-facing. I finished the bottom edge on the serger before folding it up and hemming on the sewing machine. All the exposed seams are finished or sewn on the serger.

I think this will make a good class. If I have time, I might lengthen the pattern and make this up again in some cotton interlock.

Task #2 was to make a second Easton Cowl out of a rayon jersey from the stash. That one was another quick sew. I was done by noon:

I think this top will get a lot of wear. It could be worn either with jeans or dress pants—or those Renee ponte pants that I reach for over and over because they are so comfortable. This still has to be hemmed, but it’s the beginning of a stack of tops that I will hem later in the week in a marathon coverstitch session.

I took a break for lunch, then got out the Lark Tee pattern from Grainline Studio and cut two of those from the double-brushed poly prints I got at the quilt store last week. After wearing the one Lark Tee that I had made a few months ago, I decided that I like that pattern even more than the top I drafted for myself, so I am just going to use it for my basic T-shirts. I discovered, as I was serging the first one together, that I had cut the 3/4-length sleeves for both tops instead of the long sleeves. I was momentarily annoyed until I looked down and realized I was wearing one of my favorite Liz Claiborne tops with 3/4-length sleeves, which is why it is one of my favorite tops.

Some days I just need to get out of my own way.

Those two Lark Tees are finished and in the queue to be hemmed. I have a third one—with long sleeves—cut out and waiting to be assembled. I might try to get that one done this morning before running errands.

I haven’t quite decided what is next. Getting the jacket and the second Easton cowl made up were the most urgent clothing projects and now they’re done. I should get back to quilting and make a dent in that pile of projects. I also need to continue my deep house cleaning and make tomato sauce and salsa.