Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Red wool 1960s outfit

Did anyone catch Season 4 of The Great British Sewing Bee? I downloaded it and watched in on my iPad and fell in love with Jade's little cropped jacket in the 60s Week pattern challenge. I discovered this was the pattern she used:



I couldn't find the pattern for sale anywhere, so searched eBay for something similar. I had no luck at all! However, I did find this little number, in my size, and thought it was a good enough substitute. I could have kept searching, but there were only 3 weeks of winter left and I wanted to get it done in time before the weather gets hot.




I found some red wool mix at Spotlight for only $4.95/m and grabbed four metres of it. Turns out I didn't need that much as it is super wide, but it will all get used!

I started with the jacket. I transferred all my markings using carbon and a tracing wheel. I'm so glad I took the time to do this, because attaching the little yoke insert thing at the front would have been impossible without clear markings. As it was, it's a little dodgy when you look closely. In hindsight, I should have seen the lining first to practise the fiddly bits.




It is fully lined to the edges, and therefore is completely reversible. The arms are pulling up a bit due to the lining but the rest of it sits really well. It's very simple and smart. It doesn't have any fastenings- the pattern says to put buttons on the yoke thing but I left them out since they are purely aesthetic.
Not bad for my first jacket!




The dress was pretty quick to sew up. It's unlined- I thought about lining it due to itch factor, but decided I could just wear a slip underneath if I needed to. Turns out it's not itchy at all so that's good.




I had to unpick the side seams and reduce the seam allowance as much as I could around the hip area. I also need to extend the back darts up by a couple of inches. The fit on the back is not great but I'll hopefully fix that on the next one I make. I also chopped 3 inches off the length.




I've worn the outfit twice this week, but with the jacket inside out as I don't like to be matchy-matchy, and I might get mistaken for a flight attendant if I wear them together. 




If only I could put my hair up into a beehive!!