Saturday, June 21, 2008

Liana: Pattern & Fabric Decisions

Well, after all my pattern ideas, I have settled on one that I didn't even mention or show in my last post on Sew Intriguing. I should have realized right away that since this gorgeous Cashmere Print has such a lot of pattern, it needs a very staid, classic style to balance it. When this year's Marfy catalog came out, there was a coat pattern in it that is a style I'd been looking for, and although I had no plans to make another coat anytime soon, I bought it. I knew that if I didn't, with my luck when I wanted the style I wouldn't be able to get it or find another. This is Marfy #1746.


Photo Link

I actually looked at this pattern originally when I was going through coat patterns I have, but I was so fixated on a swing-type coat that I just dismissed it, and as I said, a swing coat style with this fabric just never came together in my mind, no matter how hard I tried to make it do so. For some reason, I came back around to this pattern and looked at it again, and suddenly I could see it in this fabric, and it seemed to be just perfect.

The pattern has a Front and Side piece that are cut in one with a vertical dart from the pocket level to the armscye in lieu of a princess seam, and also a short horizontal dart off of the vertical dart. There is no side seam. The Side piece joins the Back as an armscye princess seam, so there's a lot of unbroken area for a patterned fabric. There is a CB seam. It has a 2-piece sleeve of course, and the under- and upper-collar and front facing are drafted to include the turn-of-cloth. I've found all Marfy patterns to include this, and it's awfully nice. There are no lining pieces, but that's easily remedied.

I've ordered a swatch and also asked for a swatch of a plain cashmere or similar fabric in the darker color if they have it. I think it would be fun to do the facings, under collar, and bottom side of the pocket flaps in the plain color. They said they'd look, and if I can't get it, doing everything in one fabric will work very nicely too.

I checked the hem circumference of this pattern against several other patterns I have, and also against several coats I have, and although at 60" it's narrower than the other patterns I checked (the Patrones is 74") it's the same as 3 coats I have that I like very much, and which are perfectly comfortable in width. So, I'm not worried about that.

Marji suggested that I do Roberta Carr's off-grain addition to the CF on this coat since it is fairly narrow, and I'm glad she brought it up as I'm not sure I would have thought of it. It's an easy change to make, and I'm now ready to cut out the muslin and stitch it up to try on. I'm glad to do this muslin for reasons other than the obvious fitting, because I'm figuring my own yardage needs, and I came up with 3 yards by measuring the pattern pieces. The catalog recommends 2.8 meters for a smaller size than mine, so I'm hoping to be pretty close. I cut my muslin piece at 3 yards, so I'll see if it will work. If not, I've got more muslin and either way I'll know how much to order. I may order a little extra anyway, just in case, and for print placement.

My sister had a wonderful idea about using any scraps. She suggested glove cuffs, and wouldn't that be pretty luxurious? I've decided that any gloves I make should themselves be a knit or at least non-ravel fabric that's somewhat stretchy. Even leather has some stretch. Anyway, that's all pie in the sky until the coat is done.

I know I'll need underlining for this, and I'm anxious to get the swatch and see what I think might work, and I need to find a really nice lining. I'm thinking silk, and I'll see if I have something I like or if I need to order something.

As Marji noted, The Vogue Sewing Book says:

"Don't skimp on the inner fabrics: interfacings, underlinings, and lining fabrics should match your fashion fabric's quality."
I want to do this well, and if I'm going to use a wonderful fabric, I want to at least try to end up with a wonderful coat. I'm certainly going to have all the help I could ask for to get it right.
One thing I've realized while planning and thinking about this is that although I've always said Yes when asked if I have more than one project going at once, I actually don't do it very often, or at least if I do, it's not more than one "major" project, so this will be an interesting experience from that angle as well. I'm not sure I'm really comfortable putting down the jacket I'm working on, for example, and beginning pattern work on this coat. I think I need a list with steps to do on it more than ever before.

5 comments:

Nancy K said...

That fabric is pretty incredible Liana. I think that it will work beautifully with that pattern.

Heidi said...

I love this coat and the fabric! I can't wait to see how it turns out. With your skills, it'll be stunning.

Marji said...

Liana, this is going to be an incredible coat.
When you get to laying it out, I'd love to see a pic of the Marfy pattern pieces. The drafting sounds intriguing.

Liana said...

I just hope I can do justice to the project! I'll try to get a photo of the pieces. I'm marking my muslin right now, so I'll take the camera with me. White pieces on white muslin isn't going to show too well though, so I may put them on something else to take the photo.

Liana said...

Marji, Is the undercollar of a coat always cut on the bias? I've looked and looked in references and no one outright says it, and one place said "cut the interfacing on the same grain as the undercollar, whatever that is" which leads me to believe it may not always be the bias. My pattern does not say anything about bias, just says on the grain. Marfy has always noted it when they want bias on any other of their patterns I've used. I went ahead and cut it out of the muslin on the straight grain, figuring I could always cut another one if this is not good.