Vogue 1132 - Vintage Plaid

It's Back!

Interesting feedback from the "basics" question. Everyone seems to have their own type of basics, based on their lifestyle and color preferences. Basics for everyday wear for me include black and white t-shirts, black and white turtlenecks, jeans and red sweaters.

I finally have some time to work on Vogue 1132 again. This time I'll be using this vintage wool plaid, which has been in my collection for a long time. Here's the original tag that was on the fabric:

Today I was able to get the whole thing cut out. Since I'm working with a limited amount of fabric and with a plaid, it is best to lay the whole thing out single layer and cut it out that way. Not the fastest way to cut, but the most accurate.

I'll be starting this suit with the skirt, which I didn't make the last time I made the jacket. As pictured on the envelope, the skirt is long and flared. Of course, I'm not the height that these patterns are drafted for, so the skirt must be shortened, as you can see from the photo below.

I have two options for shortening the skirt. One is to cut the pattern off at the bottom. This would not only shorten the skirt, but also remove some of the width at the hem. Coincidentally, this is what the pattern instruction you to do. The second option is to fold out the amount I need to remove somewhere around mid-leg and then true the seams. This accomplishes the goal of a shorter skirt, but does not sacrifice the hem width of the skirt.

Since I'll be folding out about 7 1/2", instead of folding it out in one big fold, I've opted to fold out two sections. It is much easier to true the seam lines this way. You can see the difference in the two photos below:

By tomorrow the skirt should be ready for a try on. I'm suspecting that since it doesn't have darts or any other waist shaping that it might need some.

Parting Shot: Have Machine, Will Travel. Last night, my machine and I went to the church to work on a missions project for a much smaller church to our north. They have been remodeling their place of worship and as the men have helped with the a lot of the construction work, the women are working on recovering their pew cushions. It wasn't a big sacrifice of time, the sewing was easy, and it was certainly entertaining putting the covers on cushions that were about 16 inches wide by 12 feet long.