This is the story of the Lisette Passport dress and jacket, beautiful material that Ruthie gave me for my 50th birthday, and the Morris Blazer!!!!!
This T-shirt dress, blogged about before, is made from the same birthday stash. The beautiful panel print gave me heart palpitations to cut into...but I lived and am very proud of the dress for it's matched sides, print placement, etc!!! The matching jacket was somewhat of a coincidence, apart from my love of those particular colors! It was to be a "muslin" of a jacket I would later make from additional amazing fabric Ruthie gave me. It is the jacket from the PassPort pattern above. On researching the pattern, folks said the pattern ran small. In retail world, I wear a 4-6 depending on brand. In pattern world, I am generally a 10. Given the internet sewists' advice I made a straight 12. It fit perfectly!
This dress is from the PassPort pattern as well. I looked the pattern over and made another straight 12. The pleats (that don't show up very well in this photo) are really awesome. However, the side seams were tricky. A quarter inch seam would have been perfect and easy enough, except for having to incorporate a side zip!! YIKES!!! But, dealt with. Not terribly noticeable here, but the flowers on top have a little green center that matches the jacket perfectly!
Next rendition: Got a bit wiser and cut an ever so slightly wider side seam so that normal 5/8th's stitching and the side zip could be accommodated easily. Perfect!
But, got to thinking. The jacket above, which I will certainly make again (came together perfectly, fits great) has two pieces on each front side and three in the back. Not an easy plan for a busy Ikat print (example jacket on the pattern sleeve not withstanding!!!)! Then, Ruthie, to the rescue. Just as my feeble brain was coming to grips with this reality...she emailed me a blip about the Morris Blazer!!! How simple! My esthetic!! Fewer pieces! The NAME!!! PERFECTION! And.....it is. I made this one as a muslin. Despite matching my new purple dress and having a lovely hand...the fabric proved persnickety...prone to raveling and pulls. The pattern went together very easily, as advertised by various sewists. However, as someone with zero spatial relations skills, I had to go on faith that the pieces would actually form a blazer! BUT!!! They did! And...I didn't have any trouble with step #15, placing the hem facing, etc. Possibly because of warnings from sewist world or...because I'm awesome! Hee hee! At any rate, Morris Blazer = good. Though the jacket called for 2 pieces for the back, I cut one piece on the fold here as a test case for my upcoming print. It worked perfectly and I see no reason to look back!
Ta-dah!!! The MORRIS Blazer in my special, celebrating 50 big ones, Ikat print!!! Awesome, no? Cutting the print made me nervous. But, the results made me proud! FYI: Just to keep things super confusing...I made a straight size 8 in this pattern after peering nervously at pattern pieces on my mannequin and since that matched my measurements. It worked!
And because I had more fabric than I realized. A cute swingy top (McCall's 6960) that went together very well and had a neat way of approaching the inner facings that worked perfectly.
Happy sewing...or whatever you enjoy!! Purple wardrobe, anyone??? - c
Those all look great! It all comes together as a nice mix and match wardrobe! The Ikat Morris blazer though... That is a work of art! The pattern placement is perfect! :)
ReplyDeleteI learned from the master sewist!
ReplyDeleteThat Morris blazer is perfect and I've been coming back to this post for months to look at it! Do you think a beginner could make this? I would love this blazer for work and have such a hard time fitting into the ones in the stores.
ReplyDeleteHey Karen,
DeleteYour comment made my day! I mean I get lots of comments on other topics...but on my sewing!!!! Awesome! Yes, I do think a beginner could make this blazer. I don't consider myself much more than that!!! The Grainline Studio was easy to order the pattern from online. I just matched my measurements to the ones on the pattern to pick my size. My only change was to cut the back piece on the fold rather than using the two pieces the pattern called for. (Be sure to figure in your seam allowance if you do that). Speaking of seam allowance....as I recall, the pattern called for only a 1/2 inch seam allowance, rather than the 5/8th's most patterns utilize...which I thought was weird. Just double check that to be aware of it at the start. Make it out of a solid material and it is super easy!! Just follow the well written directions....and...it works. Prints work too, but just give me heart palpitations! So...go for it. Let me know how it turns out!!!
Ok, I'm going to try it! Thanks so much! I absolutely love the Ikat print you used but I have to make solid black for work. I'll let you know how it turns out.
ReplyDeleteAw shucks. The pattern is sold out. I'll keep checking back at grainline.
ReplyDeleteOh, no!!! It is very popular. I'm sure they will restock! I am excited for you! Keep me posted!
ReplyDelete