Yeah that’s right, you have entered BLAZER COUNTRY. Who knows how many damn blazers I’ve sewn. All I know is, after I made this one (since Nels had grown out of Nolan, although it was still going strong!) I decided to trace one of my most-used blazer patterns in every size (that’s seventeen pieces by eight sizes, so one hundred thirty six pieces) and then color-code and cut and punch and reinforce and hang them all. And then I decided once I finished this rather ambitious project, I would reward myself by sewing a blazer. So now I’m almost done with a new blazer different than this one.
SOMEONE SEND HELP
OK so here’s a cool detail – elbow patches in a wool/silk blend. I hand-embroidered the concentric ovals, then cut the patches, fused them to the sleeve, black-zig-zagged them firmly to the coat, and then hand-embroidered the very outer oval. Adorable and I think they will look even cooler as they wear!
Blustery day! … and, a few more details:
Bound buttonholes. Here you can barely see the chalk marking the center-front of the blazer – the buttonhole extends 1/8″ in from that mark. You can also at top-left see the pink basting stitch I used to affix the underlining fabric to the wool.
More elbow patches – and along the bottom of the picture you can see the purple triple-stitched topstitching line I used for most of this coat’s edges.
The bone buttons, nine in all (I bought two extra of each size) cost more than the rest of the garment (in part due to how good I am at finding good fabrics on sale). I bought the buttons from M & J Trimming and they shipped quickly! You are also seeing the back side of the bound buttons here. I used a black silk organza for my facing’s buttonhole “windows”.
My preferred pocket method – a fully-lined pocket, interfaced at the top, and then applied by fell-stitch. Here you are seeing the pocket before I turn it right-side out, then stitch the opening at lining and facing closed.
Here’s that hand-stitch I just referred to – inside the pocket. When it comes to a simple coat my kids are going to wear the hell out of, and I am not looking for a print or texture, I use slipper satin from Fabric.com for coat linings. It is a nice weight for a medium or heavy coat, it wears well, and feels very nice.
Echo-stitching on the collar. Basically free-handed. Echo stitching here emulates the elbow patch detail – but it also gives a stiffer hand to whatever you are echo-stitching (in this case, the collar), and gives a great, rugged look and wear.
So there’s Nels’ newest jacket.
Now listen. I’m not going to go into why a blazer really is a killer garment. I’m not going to elaborate on how long and how well my versions hold up. Or even how awesome it is you can pull one off in so many fabrics – lightweight linen, classic raw silk, homey corduroy, handsome waxed canvas, bad-ass melton wool – GAH!! Basically you, blog readers, are in for a blazer-fest this summer and you just need to settle in and DEAL. Will I be sewing other things? Why yes, of course.
Probably.
Oh – and here is the end result of my pattern-tracing efforts for blazers – all marked, color-coded, cut, punched, reinforced, and organized. At left is the pattern, yardage, and sizing information in a clear cover sleeve.
But now I *SOLEMNLY SWEAR* not to sew with wool until the fall. I promise. No, really.
So who’s got some fabulous linens they can point me to?
Gah! Your sewing mastery kills me! I want to have the funds to have you sew All The Clothes for my family and also then want you to want to do that, which I cannot remember if you want to do at present. (My brain things that sometimes you sew things for people for money, and sometimes you have wanted to focus your time and sewing on your family.)
This is just to say: Yes! to your badass sewing! Thank you for sharing it with me/the world. That buttonhole is, how do you say, off the hook.
You slay me with your amazing jackets. You have such an incredible sense of style. The jacket retrospective was fun to see. I noticed the one you so generously passed on to my R. among the pics. He hasn’t started wearing it yet, as it’s still a bit big, but he HAS named it. He calls it his BloodBane Coat — for the brilliant red floral, I assume. Can’t wait to see what else is in the works this summer.
s*
Thank you, lady! I sew for money but I have this weird caveat. It has to be something I *want* to sew. This means what someone wants has to dovetail with what I find exciting. It happens. It happened a LOT last Halloween! I had to turn down some business because I had more requests than I could fulfill. But my skills have only occasionally been commissioned since then. That is okay as I’ve been working on my own stuff.
I am still figuring my favorite bound buttonhole method. There are a surprising number of them!
@Medrie
I can’t remember why I didn’t pack Nolan off to you. Either I cut all the buttons out or something. But, I think there are a few more heading your way over the next year. Please never feel shy if you don’t want them. You can either donate them to the Goodwill (or whatever) up there, or you can tell me to STOP sending them. Hee. Most of Nels’ other garments get worn out too much – like pants, etc. But I think even there, I have a pair of slim wool trousers, and a really fine cotton shirt that you will be seeing soon.
Thank you for your compliments!
not a weird caveat in the least!