McCall's M5191 Jean Jacket in White Denim

The first time I tried to make this jacket, McCall's M5191, was almost exactly two years ago. After attending a few pattern alterations classes that year, I was eager to use all the information to make this jacket in tan corduroy. My first attempt wasn't too bad, but it was big in the shoulders and long in the arms, and I'd had some problems finishing the buttonholes. But it was wearable and I'd always wanted to make another version.

I finally got around to making it again, this time in white bottom-weight denim:

In the two years that have passed since completing that first jacket, I've learned how to make better pattern adjustments as well as how to use the sensor buttonhole foot properly. And I took the extra time to read the reviews of this pattern at PatternReview.com and found more than a few good tips.

One of the PR tips suggested assembling the various sections as units instead of following the sewing order of the instructions, so that all the topstitching could be done at the same time. This worked well for me; I assembled the pocket pieces, the front/side fronts, back/side backs and sleeves by sewing the seams as indicated, finishing the edges with an overlock stitch on the serger, then two rows of topstitching on each piece.

The collar, cuffs and pocket flaps were also done at the same time, following similar assembly-line construction. To topstitch very close to the edges of these pieces, I used a left edge topstitch foot, then a regular foot for the second row of topstitching.

I goofed in a couple of places -- pressed the seam and topstitched in the wrong direction a couple of times. I won't point these out, unless somebody notices.

Another great tip from one of the PR reviews was for finishing the edge of the facing pieces with seam binding. At first I tried serging the edge, but did not like the results on the inside corners. It was just too choppy, so I tried the binding method and it turned out well enough. I just happened to have a package of white single-fold seam binding in my stash. Next time, I would take more time to sew it more accurately and I would probably try to use an extra-wide binding, just to make it a little easier to work with and for a neater appearance. Since this is on the inside, I'm not too concerned with a few uneven stitches - this time.

The buttons were in my stash from some long abandoned and forgotten project. Since I used an eggshell/off-white thread for the topstitching (bright white was TOO white), the color of these buttons is just right.

I had a lot of problems making the buttonholes on the first jacket; I later discovered that I was using the sensor buttonhole foot incorrectly and I neglected to use any stabilizer underneath while sewing the buttonhole.

This time, I lined everything up properly *and* I used a scrap piece of medium weight tear-away stabilizer (saved from one of my machine embroidery projects) and each and every buttonhole stitched out perfectly.

Note: Tips on using the sensor buttonhole foot can be found at Janice Henning's Sew Much 4 Retirement website

Another tool that I've added to my collection since the first jacket is a buttonhole cutter. It works like a dream, as long as it's lined up properly to cut the fabric and NOT the stitched buttonholes. All I can say is thank goodness for Fray Check.

After all the buttonholes were finished and the buttons were attached, I decided to add one of my labels to the inside of the collar. Would you believe there's a utility stitch built into my sewing machine that does this perfectly? I think it's meant to be used for attaching belt loops.

This version of the jacket fits me better, but I may have shortened the arms just a bit too much. It is just right for wearing this spring/summer over a t-shirt.

Now that it is finished, I've got a few plans for embellishing it with some swirly machine embroidery on the front and back yokes. I've printed out a few templates on vellum to experiment with the placement, but I'm not sure about the thread colors yet:

Of course, I'll have to stitch a few samples before I make any decisions. It could be mid-summer before I get around the embroidery.

Pajama Party, again

In March I started working on a few pairs of pajamas. I didn't have a photo of the first flannel pajama pants (Simplicity 3928) until now -- here's the flannel fabric that reminded me of a tablecloth:

I don't know what I was thinking when I first bought this fabric -- it had to be at least 10 years ago. These are pretty basic elastic waisted pants, and this fabric was good enough for making a wearable practice garment.

After working with flannel, I decided to try some cotton knit fabrics and a different pattern, Simplicity 5877:

This pants pattern is different from the other in that instead of a front and back piece, there is a single pattern piece cut through two layers of fabric, one for each leg. The only seams are at the inner leg and the center. The assembly was actually quite easy; I sewed the pieces together using a stretch needle on my sewing machine, then finished each seam with an overlock stitch on the serger.

The waistband construction was also a little bit different this time. Before making the casing for the elastic and drawstring, fusible interfacing is applied to the inside of the pants at the markings near the center front; then two buttonholes are stitched on either side of the center front seam. The finished buttonholes are used to thread the drawstring through the casing.

I made these pants in a large size with a medium waist, but they are big, so next time I would probably cut a medium and reduce the waist even a little smaller. Also, the legs were really long -- I hemmed up at least 3 inches and they still touch the floor, so I adjusted the pattern piece to shorten the legs that much. By the time I make another version, it will probably be summer, so I'd want them a little shorter.

The top went together easily enough, too. I cut the pieces for a medium size and followed the instructions for finishing the neck with a facing. The only step I did out of order was to sew the sleeves in flat, then stitched the arm and side seam as one step. I finished the sleeves and bottom hems with a coverstitch on my serger. It fits well, but is a little big in the shoulders (as most patterns fit on me). I adjusted the pattern to move the shoulder in about 1/2 inch narrower. I also adjusted the sleeve pattern to remove some of the ease in the cap because it was just a little bit too full.

Here's my second version of this pajama top, incorporating the adjustments:

The shoulders fit much better. I finished the neck edge with the facing again, but instead of topstitching near the seam, I topstitched near the facing edge so it doesn't flop around inside. Next time, I'll try to make it so that the facing folds to the outside for a contrasting finish.

For the sleeve and bottom hem, I experimented with a "lettuce edge" on a fabric scrap, using a 3-thread rolled edge on the serger. It was a little too rippled for me, so I decided to use a narrow and short 3-thread overlock stitch and stretched the knit fabric as it fed through the serger. It's just wavy enough for me, but would probably look better with a thicker thread. I couldn't find the right color of woolly nylon, so this is regular serger/cone thread.

To go with the second top, I tried my original pants pattern again, Simplicity 3928, using an aqua thermal knit:

I changed the waistband construction so that it was just like Simplicity 5877, with a drawstring. I should have cut these out much smaller, too, because they are HUGE! This pattern is definitely NOT sized for knits. So I have learned that lesson, too. I can wear them for now, but eventually the bagginess will drive me crazy and I'll have to recycle them into something else. And now I know better.

Before making these pajamas, I had never tried to make anything wearable from knits before, only re-worked some too big Mets t-shirts, so this was a total experiment. It was fun, I learned a lot, got to use my serger and some of the accessory feet for my sewing machine, and I have some new pajamas to wear for a while. And next time I'll do better.

Finished! Mod Sampler Quilt: Stars & Stripes Forever

It's been almost three weeks since my last post. I didn't really plan to take such a long break, and now I have a lot of catching up to do.

Last time, I was just about finished with my Stars & Stripes Forever version of Oh Fransson!'s Mod Sampler Quilt-along.

Remember, I've always said that I am *not* a quilter, just a sewing enthusiast who likes to try all sorts of sewing projects . . . but I do have more than few quilting patterns I'd like make sometime soon, so this quilt-along seemed like a good opportunity to practice all the steps in the process of making a quilt before diving into something more complicated.

I've done piecing before and was very pleased with the way most of my blocks turned out. I used a special 1/4" clear piecing foot with a guide to get uniform 1/4" seams throughout the project and most of my blocks ended up being exactly the right size without much squaring up.

This is the largest quilted item I've every attempted; the others were small wall hangings or bags, so making the quilt "sandwich" was never a challenge until now. I really like the method suggested by this quilt-along. I used the floor in the entryway to lay out my backing and batting and used curved safety pins to keep it all together for the quilting. The batting in this quilt is an 80/20 cotton/poly blend; I followed the package instructions for pre-washing it before making the quilt sandwich.

Last year I bought a Fab-U-Motion with Stitch Regulator and have used it only a handful of times, so I decided to use it on this project to experiment with free motion stippling. I've never really done free motion quilting successfully before owning this gadget. There is definitely a learning curve to using the Fabric Mover, and by the time I finished this quilt, I was dreaming of squiggly shapes in my sleep. Some of the spots are not the prettiest free motion quilting you'll ever see, but there are some spots that I think are quite good. After about 3 hours, I finished about 1/3 of the quilt:

Here is how I set up my work area - used clothes pins to keep the quilt from shifting around on the fabric mover:

My squiggles are kind of on the large size, but since this is the first time I've used this technique on a large scale, I was more interested in learning the process rather than refining the pattern. Just as I was finishing up the last section of this quilt, I felt that I was finally able to feel how to make a random pattern. I'm confident that the next time will be even better.

Putting on the binding was very similar to other smaller projects I've made, it just took a lot longer to piece and attach it. I used binding clips (instead of pins) to keep it in place while sewing and they really do make a difference. The binding was sewn entirely by machine -- I'm not really interested in doing much hand sewing anymore. I used a blanket stitch from the quilting menu on my sewing machine and stitched from the front.

Here is the front of the finished quilt:

Penny and Keli inspected the back; I think they approve:

Here we are napping with our new quilt:

You can see all the photos for this project in our Mod Sampler Quiltalong Set