Houndstooth Denim

It's so nice to be sewing again.  I took the month of August off to vacation in Alaska and help my children organize for another school year.  I will resume teaching garment construction at College of DuPage in two weeks, and until then I'm sewing, gardening, and lunching with my 84 year old mother.  I've decided to make a few casual blazers with Silhouette pattern #1913 GA's jacket.  It is my understanding that "GA" stands for Giorgio Armani, which means the pattern was inspired by a recent Giorgio Armani design.  The bust and waist are shaped with a bias grain inset panel.  I constructed the jacket with houndstooth patterned cotton denim from the Vogue Fabric store in Evanston.

What makes the jacket easy to sew is the design of the collar and lapels.  Rather than building lapel roll with traditional tailoring techniques, you seam the lapels to the neckline.  The lapels can only roll out attractively, and no hand sewing is required.

Above is the collar/lapel unit ready to be inserted onto the neckline.  There is an under collar, over collar, bias neck stands, and four lapels.  Each piece is interfaced with fusiknit.

 

In the above photo I have pinned the lapels together in a rolled position. The under collar white interfacing is peaking out.  I will trim this excess fabric away so the edges are even.  After trimming, the upper layers will be larger/wider than the lower layers.  The size difference will encourage the lapels to curve attractively over the chest.  The same technique was used on the upper and under collars. 

The jacket back shows good matching of the houndstooth horizontally and vertically.  

Next Saturday I will be attending a fit seminar given by Peggy Sagers of Silhouette Patterns in Schaumburg, IL.  The event will be fun because Peggy's customers are eager to share tips and experiences with each other, and many attendees wear outfits made with Peggy's patterns and/or fabrics.  Inspiring and informative.  I plan to wear the above jacket with the navy lace wrap dress I made last spring, which was Silhouette pattern #4019 Diane's dress.