Sew Chaotically! - A RED Morris Blazer

Yes, this is my 4th Morris Blazer!  Here are the previous renditions:

 This one is okay...though the material is a poor choice....for just about anything...actually!!!  It feels nice to the hand, but is a woven with NO give that snags on anything that comes near it!!!

This one has been a real favorite....from a nice weight stretch denim that Ruthie gave me.  It is a perfect fabric for the blazer!!!  I posted about making both of them here:   The Morris Blazer and other sewing, July 2015

This one, from a nice light weight suiting, washes up and wears well and made up very easily...despite my having to create a disaster through my ironing!!!  Posted here:  Sew Chaotically! - April Fool!

There was also the little vest I made up for Roo, using the Morris Blazer as well:  Morris Blazer 'vest' 
So maybe that means this is blazer number 5!!!?


Anyhow, when packing for an upcoming trip, I kept thinking I needed to run to Target in hopes of picking up a little red sweater to go with all the blue, black and white items I was taking!!  Suddenly, I realized....No, I didn't!!!  I just needed to make up a little RED Morris Blazer from a soft, red ponte I already had!!!  Sooooooo - I did!

Now, how cute and perfect is that?!!  I did have a bit of a struggle at first as Bernie wanted to skip stitches.  The machine manual insisted that skipped stitches were due to a dull or inappropriate needle.  And so it was....I changed to a Jersey needle in the "proper" size....and all was well.  Jeeze, Bernie!!!  Picky, picky!!!

Thanks for finding the MORRIS blazer for me, Ruthie!!!  For those who don't know, it is from Grainline Studios.  There is even a sew along....that I only discovered when making the last one.  Here's a link:  Sew Along for the Morris Blazer  It's really great and would have done me a world of good had I found it when I made the first one!  It is broken down in parts and starts with choosing fabrics!!  At the end of each section, you just click on the next step.  If you like the look of a blazer like this....I highly recommend it!!!  I luuuurve it!!  Sew Chaotically!!! - c

Spring/Summer Sewing! Lisette Passport and the Morris Blazer!!!

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

Sew Chaotically! - McCall's 7093 top, another Morris Blazer.....AND...April Fool's!!!!

You may remember the super fab, Bentie selected, fabric plan: 

 

I thought it would be cool to just zip out another cute little top, especially since B had gotten me matching material...all handy like!!!

But...it was not to be!  The freshly purchased, perfectly matching, mauve fabric from HANCOCK'S (now going Out-of-BIZness in my location!!! Shocking right????) was permanently stained...despite all sorts of treatments and 4-5 washings!  What to do? Well...I had a bit of grey, light weight suiting, from which I had already cut a Morris Blazer.  So....April Fool's!!!  NOPE!  Not me!  Foolishness foiled with facile fickle fabric function!

I actually like the more structured appearance of the "men's wear" material in the sleeves with the super light weight....I know not what fabric...that was gifted to me some time ago.

With that naughty April Fool's Day prank avoided....What could possibly go wrong???  Hmmm.... I present:  Morris Blazer No. 3 (Here's a link to prior Morris adventures:  Spring/summer sewing: Lissette passport and Morris Blazer

Beautiful, yes?  Well...it had been perfect.  And I mean PERFECT!!!!  Not a difficult thing to stitch up.  But, it was my third...and the most difficult part is making a strange, yet perfect corner for the collar.  And this one? A thing of beauty!  One go.  No puckers.  No questionable edges.  Perfection.  Until the April Fool ironed (read:  MELTED!!!!!!!!!!!!) it!

Now...as you may observe...  Currently that melted mess is on the INSIDE of the blazer.  When it happened...not so much!!!  Yep.  Scorched the sucker (Pic doesn't look so bad...but trust me...M-E-L-T-E-D!!!!!)...ON THE OUTSIDE...while pressing the seams.  Now, normally....despite my rapid fire, impetuous nature...I am cautious in ironing material new to me.  BUT IT WASN'T NEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Do you see the top up there????  I had just made it...and pressed it...with NO PROBLEMS!!!!  Oh, well.  Press on the inside first folks!  Lesson learned.  Soooo....  How did the outside problem become swept under the inside (Yeah, I know...NO UGLY INSIDES!!!  What evah!) rug???  I took the whole bloody Mutha Fahkha (Well, at that point it was only the shoulder and side seams and the ABSOLUTELY PERFECT COLLAR....already SERGED by CRACKY!!!!!) apart.  Luckily, the fabric was completely reversible.  And, no....  The collar is not as perfectly perfect now.  Jeeze!  I was dealing with a quarter inch seam at this point people!!!  But, my new edging foot is AWESOME!!!!  And, I am well pleased with it.

Not sure I'll ever wear them together...but...  April fool?  Well, a bit.  But, I survived!!  And you thought...Sew CHAOTICALLY was me just being cute???? - c

Sew Chaotically! ~ Cake AND frosting!!! #sewfrosting entry #2! Grainline's Morris Blazer

When sewing for Roo, everyday wear can seem like 'frosting' given her love of color and pattern.  Remember these recent additions???  She likes classic pieces zhuzhed up a notch or two!  When she needed a little everyday jacket, the perfection that is the Morris Blazer, by Grainline Studio, came to mind.  I have made SEW many!!!  They are comfiest when made in a fabric with a bit of stretch, like this FROSTING quality print she chose from JoAnn's.  It is somewhere between a ponte and a woven with just a tad of stretch in one direction.  Though not a ball gown, the explosion of color surely qualifies as the perfect frosting for her basic (if vivid pink and yellow are basic!!!) cake!!!

Brilliantly professional, while colorfully true to Roo!!  Morris Blazer Frosting styled with yellow knit B5354, Lands' End pencil skirt that I tailored for her to improve the fit, and purple suede pumps.

More Morris Blazer Frosting!!!  This time with a vivid pink M6282 knit top, the tailored pencil, and black booties!

This has been a really fun challenge!!  I got to sew AND play with my Roo!  I've had a lot of fun with her recent wardrobe refurbishment I've been working on with her since the spring.  We have a few bits to go, but I think we succeeded in creating pieces she really likes in regard to fit, style, and her current job/life.  Piece of cake, when you sew, right???  Then, we added the colors and prints that make her happy...and STILL made them WORK!!!  Now, THAT's frosting!!!!

Thanks for the inspiration ~ Roo, Heather (@closetcase.patterns) and Kelli (@truebias)!
Live and Sew - Chaotically!!! - love, les

Sew Chaotically! ~ Yep, another Morris Blazer...

... cause they're awesome!!!  I made this bright and beautiful Morris Blazer, from Grainline Studio, for Roo a couple of months ago.  But, now, there's this one!!!  It is made from a super soft, reversible, sweater-like knit from JoAnn's.  I decided to make the most of both sides of the fabric, using the striped side for the inner aspect of the collar and adding a contrasting cuff to the sleeves.  Given the nature of this fabric, I did face the collar and hem band with knit interfacing.  I made the size 8 with no other adjustments.  The grey/green olive color it looks so pretty with Roo's skin and eyes!

Such a cutie!!!

Love my girl!  (And a Morris Blazer!) Sew chaotically!! ~ les

Sew Chaotically! - Grainline Studio Alder Shirtdress - with bum ruffle!!!

The same ladies who brought us the Morris blazer, designed this cute little dress (with or without the bum ruffle).  It is awesome!!!  I picked my same size 8 that I used in the blazer per my measurements.  Perfect!  You do have to remember to use 1/2 inch (rather than the more typical 5/8ths) seam allowance.  It goes together easy as pie.  Yes, you really do cut out the two front pieces, then whack a bit more off one of the pieces to allow for the button band.  She did a nifty little trick on either side of the collar that didn't really work for me....though others have been happy with it.  After some un-picking, I just sewed the last step of my inner collar the old fashioned way.  There is a sew-along that you can use and I found helpful.  It is divided into steps, but they are like blog posts with photos, so you may work through them as quickly or slowly as you like.  Here is a link to the first one:  Alder sew-along: Day 1 - fabric and supplies

Now for the fabulous fabric!!  Remember when I mentioned shopping for fabric at Maiwa in Vancouver at the Granville Market?  Here's the post:  Travel Chaotically! - Sky Scrapers  They do some pretty cool stuff!  Here's a link to their site:  Maiwa.com   As I mentioned in the post, the shop is more geared to printing and dyeing fabric than being a fabric shop per se.  But, a small selection of fabrics were already complete. Here's what I got:

  
The blue piece was dyed using actual indigo and then (as best as I can tell) block printed with the dots...which causes the bit of variation in size, shape, line-up that you can see (as well as color within the piece) and of which I am quite fond!

I just LOVE this dress!!!  It is probably more ME than anything I have made!!! As ever, chaotically precise....I always fall for classic designs....with a twist!

I made no alterations.  I cut the size 8 in all pieces, except I cut the hem using the longest length printed.  I may have broken some dastardly rule by doing this and I'm sure with some shapes and patterns it would be better to add length at the line noted "withIN" the pattern pieces, but with this shape and knowing that the bum ruffle was hitting where I wanted it...I figured it would work out....and I think it did!!!

Yes, I am ridiculously proud of that collar and button band!!!

You do a technique similar to the Morris Blazer collar application when you add the bum ruffle!  But it works out really well.

I flat felled the side seams and finished the ruffle on my serger.  NO UGLY INSIDES!!!

Cause BLUE....is a thing!!!

Seriously!!!

 

Sew and sing and twirl....chaotically!!!   I'm Blue Da Ba Dee Daba da   c