Hello all!
I know, I'm horrid at updating things. Truly, very horrid. BUT in my defence, I have been sort of good about updating my Instagram for this blog, so if you like to look at pictures of finished things, hie yourself thence.
For quite a while now (let's say... er... ten years?) I've been wanting to make this, and this year I have finally gotten around to doing it. This year is turning out to be the year that I bust the Real Stash to get through my Mental Stash, which is rather nice, not only because it involves improving a part of myself that I abhor (that is, going through with projects to the very end) but also because when an item has been a part of one's imaginary closet for so long, it is rather a relief to have the garment to call upon when you actually need it.
So! This garment was originally inspired by, as many of you may recognize, Lily Bart's suit that she wears at Bellomont in House of Mirth (2000) :
And it's funny, because I spent ages in love with the way the back is pleated on hers, like so. There is also a bolero worn by Victoria St. John in Episode 6 of Berkeley Square, seen at bottom:
But then I saw this fashion plate, and fell in love with the green bolero. It's just more... bolero-y, and I love the drape of it.
So I decided to combine the two. I had already made a trumpet skirt (in ILO19 "Meadow" linen from Fabrics-store.com- I just adore this color) about five years ago out of the same linen, and I had quite a bit left over. I'm still planning on making something else to match up with it from the same era, but we'll see what it is- I have a few ideas. Maybe this 1907 jumper for over a nice new shirtwaist?
In any case! I actually (for maybe the second time in my entire life) took progress pictures of this, so I can show you how I made it. I've drafted my own patterns for most of my sewing career (mostly because I'm lazy and cheap, and paper patterns go against those two deeply ingrained values in my heart haha), but recently I've been actually drawing them out before I draw them on the fabric, on a 1/8th scale. Usually this ends up being changed a great deal, but it does give me some idea of where to start and how I'm going to fit everything on the fabric.
So, I ended up with seven total pieces (two bodice fronts, one back, two sleeves, and two pieces of neck binding). I didn't get a picture of the back piece before I pleated it, but you can see how the front of the bodice is cut one with the faux "robings" on the front:
Before:
Before and after:
Both turned back:
I topstitched the robings down and under at the bottom. Before I did so, however, I made a small horizontal cut in the fabric where the robings met the bodice so that I could have room to both turn under the bottom of the robing and hem the bottom of the bodice (the piece is shown sideways here).
I pinned all the box pleats into place and eventually topstitched them down from the bottom of the armscye up (they're only pinned about half way here). There is one pleat in the middle and one each where the shoulder seam becomes the back of the neck. You can see that the bottom is on the selvedge- that did get hemmed up.
Box pleats!
I wore it to a show the same day I finished it (which was only a day after I had drafted it, which almost never works as often as I think it will haha), and I didn't have any time to take nice pictures (or starch my collar, or put in collar stays) so please forgive these ones, but they do show the construction well enough:
You can see how the back kicks out in a cute little bolero-y way.
That far right pleat had been sat on during the car ride home. It was re-starched into place shortly after this was taken haha.
I love how the front falls down into a point. I added the tassels- it just seemed like a natural choice, and I love how they look.
The shape looks funky here, but it's just because I was holding my arm so you could see how the bodice cuts up.
I have to say, I've been planning this for so long that I expected it to already be old news and underwhelming by the time I'd finished it, but I really did fall in love with it when I put it on. It's such a fun little jacket, and it really brings the outfit together and makes it into something distinct. It's very hard to get good pictures of because there are so many dimensions to it, but it really is quite lovely in person! I'll have to go on a more picturesque outing to get some nice photographs of it.
Until next time!
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