Jalie 2795 Warm up jacket

With my unintended 60cmx150cm and scraps of nylon backed merino knit, I was determined to make another garment. I am incapable of throwing away 60cm of fabric.
In an an earlier fabric buying excursion, I had purchased nylon backed merino in a fetching maroon shade, because 1. I had not sewn with nylon backed merino knit before and suffer from fabric curiosity, and 2. The fabric was a mere $8NZ per metre.  (Global Fabrics, Dunedin). When I gleefully reported my fabric score,  the more knowledgeable  (that would be Mary Nanna) cautioned me that nylon backed merino can be absolute rubbish (although she may not have used that term), with a lower price generally indicating the rubbish end of the spectrum. Just last post, she commented that her nylon backed merino had shredded after just a few washes. Aaaagh!
I tried really hard to find some other fabric to pad out my 60cm oversupply, but just do not have a sufficient stash to cater for this sort of problem (He,he) I will just have to buy more fabric.
I had to use the cheap, and probably rubbish, nylon backed merino. It is much more stretchy, thinner, and has less robust recovery than the brownish-grey expensive stuff from the Brisbane shop (The Fabric Store), so I used as little as possible, and cursed it every time it rippled in the seam, which was frequently. It will probably shred after a few washes and ruin the garment, but I prefer this option to having a useless 60cm length of  expensive fabric leer at me from the stash for the next 10 years.
This is what I came up with from my old favourite Jalie 2795.


Alterations to the pattern include a zip facing, having the merino side of the fabric against the neck on the collar, eliminating the sleeve cuffs, reducing the depth of the bottom band and using a contrast bias binding to cover the neckline seam.
 I have previously only made this jacket in Polartech 200, and as the nylon backed merino is far less bulky than the Polartech, the jacket is a little too big - particularly in the collar.
It will be just fine for a warm up jacket, but it reminded me strongly of this.

Vintage Men's 1970's tracksuit, photo credit here.
Being a child of the 70's, this amuses me, but I find it very ugly.
Maybe it is a good thing that this is likely to shred after a few washes.

Jalie Sweetheart t-shirt 2795, variations in white

It is very pleasing to me that my daughters now wear the same size in tops, with a few fitting tweaks. This makes it very easy to cut out two at once, but means I need to introduce variation.
The pattern is the tried and true Jalie Sweetheart top, and the fabric is cotton/lycra knit. Gee, how exciting, white t shirts!
Version 1.



No changes other than the addition of a little bow to the centre front neckline, and a slightly wider neckband to fill in the neck a little. (I also make the cap sleeves 1cm longer, make a square shoulder adjustment and raise the neckline 1.5cm) The bow idea is directly lifted from Mary Nanna, who posted about a top similar to this pattern, with the bow added, which I thought looked pretty. I had a lovely time searching through her Burda makings on her blog last night, but did not come across the post I thought I remembered, so maybe it is some other pattern company. - I did not look far enough, it is Burda 7760, and I must have been thinking about it since May 2010. Wow, I am slow. Now I have 50 or so more things of Mary Nanna's that I want to copy....



This version of the t shirt adds item #3 to the Spring 6piece capsule for my daughter, by providing another option to wear with the Burda 08-11-2011 adventurous shorts. (By the way, when I took my daughter to meet the bus for camp, all her girlfriends said "I love those shorts, where did you get them?" (4 in a row) except her best friend, who said "Did your Mum make them? I am so jealous"
I found this interlude disproportionately gratifying. Mothers of 14 year old girls need all the peer pleasing moments they can get. Of course we both ignored the next comment from another girl, which was " You had better not let Mr. X see those (the teacher known for his sartorial eccentricity), because he has a pair just like them". Some people!)

Version 2


I had thought, for about 20 seconds, that a trim using the shorts fabric might be suitable with the shorts. I then reminded myself that matchy-matchy is currently only OK on babies and toddlers (this was tricky for me, as it is my natural tendency) and decided that this idea could be applied to another person's t-shirt.

I think this has worked quite well. This was a little surprizing as the check fabric is a stretch woven, not a knit, but maybe this just shows the ridiculousness of the stretch factor.




The t shirt looks good with jeans, and there are also some black shorts in the wardrobe that might work.



I don't think they look toooooo similar next to each other (meaning the t shirts, althought I see that the girls look equally pleased to be posing for photographs to keep their mother happy) but I suppose my daughters will decide if they want to wear these t shirts at the same time as each other.

In parting, I would like to show you one of the birthday dresses on a birthday girl, as my sister in law has sent me some photos, and permission to put them up here (I told you she was lovely). I think the pocket was a hit.

Adventurous Burda Style 08-2011-130 shorts, Jalie top, sewing for camp

My younger daughter is firmly of the belief that she requires completely new clothes for any special occasion or trip away, so I should not have been terribly surprized when she announced on the weekend that she had no clothes to wear to school camp.
She fancied these "heavy jersey" trousers in our current Burda Style magazine, and whilst declaring that the corduroy shorts version were ugly, felt that "heavy jersey" shorts would look terrific.

I was a bit sceptical. I am unfamiliar with the "genoa corduroy" Burda advises for the shorts, but it seems to me that a pattern for a knit fabric should be different from the pattern for what I assume is a woven fabric, and the Burda patterns for the two different versions vary only in length. I also thought that the fastening of the knit with snaps over the hip would be prone to bagging.
I offered my daughter a red denim with about 3%lycra, or a mysterious probably poly, heavy and extremely stretchy black and white check that was given to me a few years ago. I was pretty sure she would choose the denim, but know from experience that it is best to offer this particular daughter a choice of fabrics.
I was quite wrong about her choice, she picked the mystery super stretchy woven. As this fabric had been selected from the dress-up pile, I had nothing to lose.



I made no pre-cutting alterations to the pattern (Burda size 36), but cut out the shorts in a single layer to allow matching of the checks - the fabric was a bit scanty for perfect matching at the waistbands, but I did my best.


I added woven selvage to the crotch seam to reduce bagging during wear, and applied clear elastic to the upper and lower waistband seam, stretched very slightly, to prevent excess stretch during wear without recovery.

I made the back darts a little wider during fitting, but the shorts needed no other changes, aside from a tiny extra overlap of the waistband at the fastening that was managed with button placement. This truly makes me appreciate the genetic advantages I have given my offspring by marrying a slim man with long legs ;).




I used the clean facing method I first saw at the Slapdash Sewist's blog for the side opening button plackets. The interfacing is one designed for knits, as I was not sure that the fabric would tolerate much heat from the iron, and the knit interfacing fused at the lower temperature.



I was anxious about the buttonholes, this fabric is really stretchy. I backed the placket with heavy calico (muslin if you are North American) to make the buttonholes more firm, then pinked most of it away.



Next I made a black Jalie sweetheart top. Apparently these shorts look awful when worn with the t-shirt tucked in, and I am under strict instructions to describe the previous photographs as purely for sewing only exhibition of the trousers and to show you how the outfit will be worn properly.



My daughter is very pleased with her outfit.

It even stands up nicely to vigorous activity.

Jalie 2795 Jacket. Very Useful Patterns

The older member of the teenage fashion panel has an excellent garment acquisition technique. When someone points out to her that a particular item of clothing is outgrown, or shabby, and that she should buy or sew herself a new one, (DD1 has a part time job, and therefore financial responsiblities), she wears it constantly. I suspect this is to annoy her mother.

If her outgrown 2009 Jalie jacket has not been on her back every day for the past 6 weeks when not in the laundry, I would be very surprized. I may be maligning her. It is possible that the reason for this overuse is the unusually chilly weather. Regardless, I could not stand the sight of it any longer with her wrists sticking out and made another one.



It turned out quite nicely, as it should, seeing that I have made this pattern 4 times previously.



I deviate from the pattern a little. The pattern has a lot of piecing that is not necessary for shaping - particularly in the sleeves. I stick all of the sleeve pattern pieces together to make a normal one piece pattern.
I also cut the lower band as one piece.
For fitting, my daughter's jacket is a size R, in diameter, with 7cm lengthening to the body, 5cm lengthening to the sleeves and 5cm lengthening to the hood for a more relaxed look.(The pattern hood is very close fitting, presumably so that it can be worn under a rainjacket hood).
I add an internal zipped pocket, which is simply a panel with a zip inside it, sewn to the wrong side of the inner section of the front pocket lining before applying this to the front.



I line the hood, and add a front facing to cover the inner zipper tapes. I use woven selvage under the zipper to stabilize the front edge.

For this garment, I played with the fancy stitches on my machine again. The welt bands have a layer of thicker fleece inside (the same Polartech 200 as the main garment fabric), and I lay thin non fusible interfacing at the underside of the folded welt before adding the flower stitch, trimming this away after stitching.




At the back I used a diamond stitch pattern to machine stitch a flower. It amuses me that it can only be seen with the hood up, very secretive.



The sleeves are a teensy bit long. This is deliberate. I don't want to see those wrists again if she hits 5 foot 10.

Kermit the jacket. Jalie 2795

I like to wear neutrals. They co-ordinate, no one remembers them, and they tend to elegance rather than stridency (although are always at risk of dowdiness). Despite this, I have a weakness for bright colours - mostly buying them rather than sewing them! Here is an outbreak from my ancient stash in my least flattering garment category - exercise sports wear, and in thick polar fleece. Might as well be hung for a sheep while I am displaying my backyard clothes ;).



Jalie 2795, hoodless, shortened at sleeve and hem band and taken in at the waist. Next time I will make a square shoulder adjustment. I have added a contrast facing at the front opening, as the exposed inner zip looks messy to me on the previous garment when worn open.

For a polar fleece jacket, this has a reasonable shape, and looks quite okay in all zipper stages.






I added a machine embroidery detail to distract from the nightmarish topstitching.

I do not like it as much as my son's robot alien. Perhaps machine embroidery on polar fleece looks better if you are 8 years old. Seeing as I am often acting like an 8 year old in the back yard I guess this does not matter very much.

I have also added a zip fastened inner pocket so I can carry a key if I wear this out of the back yard.

My other alterations were to use a double ended zip - due solely to having to order in lots of 3 zips, and to use the constrast lining fabric (cotton lycra knit from a RTW garment I chopped up) for the weltish pockets. As this fabric is a lot more thin than the polar fleece, I wrapped it around a single thickness of the polar fleece before attaching the welts to the jacket front panels.
Unfortunately for my chiffon plans, these photos have revealed to me that I am in desperate need of new jeans. More backyard clothes coming up.

Cold weather ahead, Jalie 2795 jacket

I have delved into the bulky polar fleece under the bed again. It is a great relief to me whenever I manage to sew something from this pile, as I am guilty of considerable overpurchasing from Seattle Fabrics.



This version of Jalie 2795 is for my younger daughter. (I have made it twice previously, review here). She did not want the hood, having a flamboyant hat with ear flaps that she likes to wear in cooler weather.

I have used a nasty cheap polar fleece scrap from Spotlight for the contrast inner collar lining and the "welt"pocket. The outer Polartech200 is so thick that the skimpiness of the Spotlight version where the fabric is doubled actually becomes a good thing.



This jacket is nicely drafted and has very good instructions. My best trick in the construction is to stabilize the front edge with woven selvage before applying the zip. I also rather like the addition of a zipper pull. Jalie has these on their photo, but not in the instructions. I used a print scrap, for prettiness. I also tried some machine embroidery on the pockets, but this has been completely lost in the bulk of the fabric. I briefly considered applique of ribbon over this error of judgment, but managed to overcome the urge (it was only a weak urge) when I could not find anything that matched in my scrap bag.



I am afraid that this sort of sewing falls into the not-very-interesting-but-quite-useful category. There has been a lot of this sort of sewing here lately. I am about to break out and sew something extremely frivolous - after I clothe everyone at my house for a cold weather camping trip. Sigh.

Jalie 2795

More prosaic sewing. I was hoping my next post would be about the fabulous shirt I sewed for my husband, but he is curiously reluctant to be photographed, and I really don't want him to develop a dislike of the shirt, so have (almost) stopped mentioning my quest for a model shot.


This polar fleece top (Polartech 200) is my second version of Jalie 2795. I made the first version in June for my daughter, and was very pleased with her jacket. Unfortunately for me, the same pattern does not do me any favours.
I did not make a toile, as I do not find this useful in stretch fabrics unless I am not sure how the pattern will fit together, so I guess this jacket is really a toile- just as well!

The fit is poor on me. I cut out size V, one size larger than my measurements indicate. The jacket I made for my daughter was close fitting and I prefer a little more ease.

The jacket was too long in the arms for both my daughter and I, which I fixed, but on me, the jacket is also too small in the bust, too large in the waist, and has a finishing length emphasizing my largest girth.

I find this garment very unflattering. However, I made it to wear camping, and found it very warm and practical two weekends in a row, so I am not entirely unhappy with my work.
I added an internal pocket, with an inset zip, which worked well, and covered the inside of the front zipper tape with bias binding made from a cotton print.

I will probably make this garment for myself again next winter, and now I can refer back to this post and attempt to make a more flattering shaped garment to wear out in the bush. I will make one more of these jackets this year. My daughter has already out grown the jacket I made in June, and will need a new warm jacket to wear in the evenings in Sydney during her October visit to her grandparents.


- Sharon, I buy polartech and Gortex from Seattle Fabrics, as I have not been able to source these fabrics in Australia. Their website postage calculator does not work for Australia, giving an astronomical total at check out, but in my 8 year or so purchase history, they have always charged me the postage on the packet, + around $5-8 handling fee, and I am happy with their service.

On a less prosaic note, I have returned to the mojo killing project that stopped my sewing back in July. It was so bad, that I did not even write a post about it, but things seem to be recovering nicely, fingers crossed! Here is a sneak peek.

Jalie 2795 Hoodie

Sewing just lately has been a bit mixed up, with several projects waiting in mid stream due to missing parts. This hoodie Jalie 2795, was waiting on a 60cm open ended chunky zip. I had a difficult time sourcing the zip.

 

As far as I can determine from speaking to Birch, Leutenegger and Sullivans, this size is not available in Australia. Instead I ordered 3x 56cm zips in purple, (as in 56 cm many colours are available), and 3 x 61cm zips in grey, there being far fewer colours available in 61cm. 3 was the minimum order I could make, but I am sure to use the extras for something, one day. This is why I have a large notions stash!
I ended up using the 56cm zip. It is a little too short at the neck end, but my daughter much preferred the colour, and it is not so cold here that 5cm of missing zip will make her neck freeze.
The fabric is Polartech300 with a sherpa face and a smooth face. I bought it from Seattle Fabrics last winter, and it has been lurking under the bed in my son's room for the last 12 or so months. I did buy some zips from Seattle Fabrics when I bought the fabric but seem to have used them up on something else! There is still a lot of polar fleece under the bed. I am really hoping to use most of it over the next 2 or 3 months, as I am sure I could fit a lot more yardage of other fabrics in the same space!
Uta commented on my jester hat post that
she was suprized that it is cold enough for polar fleece where I live. Where I live in Australia is officially the subtropics, so it does seem a bit strange to need polar fleece, but we are about 80km inland, so in Winter, we have some very cold nights, evenings and early mornings. It may not seem very cold to someone in Germany, but if it hits 0 degrees, we really layer up. Of course by 10 am we can wear shorts and a t shirt, but that is just boasting :. I will be making more polar fleece jackets soon, as my children are visiting their grandparents in Sydney in a few weeks, and will also be visiting the Blue Mountains, where we even have snow occasionally. My daughter has requested mittens to match her jacket.

 

I am happy with the pattern for this hoodie. It is a properly technical cut garment with a high neck and close fitting hood that can be worn under a waterproof shell. My daughter will be able to use this for hiking, not just as a casual jacket. (I made a Gortex jacket last year, so I am off the hook for the outer layer)

 

The sizing is true to the measurements. I made my daughter size R (European 34) which approximates her bust, waist and hip measurements and the only fitting adjustment was to the length of the sleeves. These were a little too long. My daughter is 168 cm tall, which is pretty average, and I do not usually need to shorten sleeves for her.

 

The only design change I made was to line the hood. I think this looks nicer when the hood is worn open, and it adds another layer of fabric for warmth. Due to the bulk of the fabric, I should have allowed a little extra room in the outer hood for the space taken up by the lining, but I don't think the hood has suffered too much from my omission.
Jalie has added their own label as a zipper pull tag. I liked this idea, but don't have a label, so cut a scrap of cotton print on the bias, sewed a tube, then hand sewed it through the zipper pull. This will make it easy to use the zip, even whilst wearing gloves.