Planning for the next week

Over the weekend we are to prepare the hem of the jacket and attach the side and shoulder seams, which is very exciting – I really enjoy seeing a garment properly come together.  With tailoring, for the ease of working on small areas on great detail, much of the work is done with each of the pieces of a garment separate from the rest, only putting them together when everything that can be done to that piece has been done.  This makes it easier to work on the more fiddly bits, keeping the pieces flatter for longer, and means that once you have done all the preparation work, it doesn’t take too long to put the whole thing together into a recognisable assembly.  The jacket in particular has been a good deal of working on the separate areas before adding them to whole.

For next week, I need to finish my blog entries, write an evaluation of the whole project and make sure my trousers and waistcoat are completely finished.  The jacket, as agreed in the learning agreement, will not have to be finished.  After hand in, we will carry on work on it so that we can ship them off to ArtsEd.

Reflection on the week

This week has been challenging: sleeves, checks, lack of time in university...

I have always wanted to conquer checks, and this is certainly going to be a victory if I complete this to any satisfaction.  I have learnt that how you put your tacking in has a big effect on how well your fabric stays put, or not, depending on whether you are sewing with two pieces on a straight grain, with one straight and one bias, or with both on the bias.  With the wool, it is a very malleable fabric with a good amount of natural stretch and can stay put in one place and not ¼ “ down the line. 

As far s the sleeves go, this was an interesting one.  I have drafted and made sleeves before but never to fit into such a precisely structured garment.  I struggled with the ‘easing in’ as I mentioned in my blog.  I think this is something I need to discuss with G at a later date.

What with G being an international contact in the university as well as our (only) tailoring tutor, we knew from the beginning that some days would be completely impossible to have as teaching days.  However, we hadn’t factored in a late Easter weekend, a Royal Wedding, and the May Day bank holiday all converging on us at once.  This has been a source of slight unease, but life sometimes throws these things at you and you just have to get on with what you have.

Halfway through the week G told us that we should use (and probably prefer) Silesia to do our pockets, so that is being done.  I like working with Silesia – as a pure cotton fabric it doesn’t have any nasty habits beyond fraying.