Tucks And Wrinkles - Part 1

This morning when I woke up everything was normal - as in no snow - like on the previous two mornings. Saturday morning the street light was full of flurries and you couldn't even see the valley.  October does seem a bit early for snow.

We've had snow and then rain and then sunshine and then hail and then snow. I'm not sure what else could have been thrown into that mix and it didn't really matter since Barb and I have spent most of the time in the studio playing with brief forays to Fabricland.

After reviewing my patterns again, I decided to work with Diane Ericson's #105 Skylines - the view bottom left. I tried this garment on at the retreat and it was very flattering although the fabric she used had less bulk and more drape than the direction mine is going in. Mine may be more of a jacket than a shirt.

At the retreat, I stitched tucks into eight panels of fabric and stitched the panels together intending to randomly shape the resulting tube into a skirt. That didn't work so I took the panels apart and used a pattern to cut them into a trumpet skirt, sewed it together, and that didn't work either. The tucks were not random enough and were running downhill across my behind. NOT flattering. For this project, I started by taking that skirt apart and then used two panels each for the two side fronts and the two side backs of Skylines reconfiguring the tucks into yardage approximately the right size for each piece.

For center front and center back, I used some of the remnants of the t-shirt muslins - same fabric - and wrinkled and fused it to interfacing. Even though it's a very thin knit, the resulting fabric is somewhat bulky which is how this project started heading toward a jacket. The interfacing also adds weight.

Because the center panels were fused and the knit was thin, I underlined the rest of the pieces with interfacing as well. For most of the garment, I used Fusi-Knit but ran out on the side back pieces. Since it was after closing at Fabricland, I rummaged through my interfacing box to see if there was anything else in black and came up with Pati Palmer's Perfect Fuse Light. The package I bought is 3 yards, 60" wide, for $23.50. It is GORGEOUS.

Most likely I bought this at the pant workshop in Portland about four or five years ago and it's sat in the interfacing box ever since. Now, I'm wishing I had tried it a whole lot sooner and that my wholesaler carried it by the bolt. This could easily become my absolute favourite interfacing. If you haven't used this product, order some and see. It's soft and light with beautiful drape and alters the hand of the fabric minimally - far less than Fusi-Knit does and Fusi-Knit has been my favourite up until now. I can't say enough good things. I'm feeling darn near gushy and you know I'm not exactly gushy.

The project has been a comedy of errors - not unexpected considering how life is going lately although it's making Barb laugh. It may end up wearable. If not, it's been an interesting experience. More later.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - stored supplies and surprising new discoveries