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<\/a><\/div>\nThe warp yarn is the same in both – Webs 14\/2 Alpaca\/Silk<\/a>. I started with the light grey (the light warp yarn in the left-hand fabric) and dyed in 12 colors to match Bonnie’s warping plan. For the original shawl, I put a stripe in between each major section of the plan using the dark grey and wove it off with the same. For the companion piece, I used the leftover dyed warp, threaded in some-what random stripes and filled in the gaps with the undyed light grey. I wove this off with some single, tweedy, navy blue wool. They both went into the washer but the shawl received a brushing to soften the fabric and raise the nap. Sett was 24epi for both, plain weave.<\/p>\n After having made one kimono, without any special sleeve treatment, I knew that I wanted something just a bit more fitted and without as much bulk in the sleeves. I’d also come armed with four yards of muslin so Jeanne had me draft a simple jacket starting with my basic so that we could try it on and see where we could make simple<\/i> modifications to give it a bit of fit and shape but still finish it before the weekend was over. I drafted the body, incorporating my shoulder slopes, and attached a simple rectangular sleeve. Neither of us liked that, so we went straight for a modified-T sleeve.<\/p>\n Again, a simple modification, so I attached that to the muslin on the other side, sewed the whole thing together and we looked again. The last modification before diving into drafting the final pattern was to taper the sleeve rather than having a simple rectangle. Overall length would be driven by how much fabric was there and that didn’t need to be done until the body was sewn. We pinned the muslin to get the sleeve shape in the ballpark and then used that to draft a paper pattern.<\/p>\n So, pattern pieces in hand and a test-fit out of muslin and it was time to go. We did some calculations for the button band and decided do a separate facing piece for the collar. Bottom hem would be addressed when we got there – either self-facing or with scraps from around the studio. Time to cut.<\/p>\n I don’t have pictures of the cutting\/assembling process as we were moving really, REALLY quickly. I was up against it in that Sunday was cut and sew and we were still doing a bit of winging on the pattern. Jeanne was ever at hand to help me think through both the cutting and the piecing. I learned how to do the button band properly (something that absolutely eluded me when making the first kimono), we prevented mistakes by talking things through, figured out why the muslin was behaving oddly in the sleeve corner in front (my front is 1\/2″ longer than my back due to shoulder curve) and just generally talking about how garments worked. While this was a “simple” pattern, it was nearly at the extreme of my ability. Given my pace, she offered up part of Tuesday morning to finish things up to where I’d be confident to complete it at home and that spurred me on enough to get the body sewn, button bands and collar facing attached, and the sleeves cut and attached before going to bed. That left closing the side seams\/sleeves and addressing cuff and hem facing in the morning.<\/p>\n Next morning, we started bright and early at 7:30a and, by 10a, I had a finished jacket. Button bands, cuffs, collar facing and hems needed to be hand stitched down, but the rest was done. Button holes could be done on my own time. I jumped in the car, had a long and heavily delayed drive home (accident on I-5). I unloaded, had dinner, turned on the Tivo and started hemming. By 11p it was done, ironed and placed on a hanger. Today, I woke to this:<\/p>\n Honestly, I love it. It still has the overall fullness and shape of the kimono, but the bulk under the arms and on the body are gone. The jewel neck gives it a wonderful finished look and doesn’t disturb the overall vertical feel of the jacket. The two fabrics are absolutely different, but work together in a subtle and pleasing way. I’ve one minor issue with a seam under the left arm, but I can address that at my leisure. It’s totally wearable as is and I expect I’ll be wearing it a lot.<\/p>\n Detail of the set-in sleeve:<\/p>\n There are a lot of seams coming together here, and once we incorporated the difference in front\/back length, it all worked out. Symmetry point of the sleeve is NOT where the shoulder seam hit – we had to bias it toward the back by 1\/2″ and then all was well. I also learned about releasing this seam so that the fabric could lie flat.<\/p>\n Button band\/hem facing:<\/p>\n The button band has interfacing to help stabilize as well. Sewn at the top and bottom, right sides together, before turning inside-out to give the sharp corner. Bottom hem facing was simply tucked inside the button band before tacking down. Facings all came from the companion fabric where possible, and are symmetric where possible.<\/p>\n Stripe sort-of matching:<\/p>\n When deciding how to cut the sleeves, I chose to mirror the overall colors of the horoscope shawl in an effort to disguise the set-in cuts as well as give a flow to the garment. I’m really happy how it worked out and looks deliberate – because it was! I also took pains to ensure that stripes matched at the shoulder seams as a misalignment would drive me absolutely batty. It wasn’t hard at all and I’m glad we did it.<\/p>\n So there you go. A busy weekend, lots of fun and learning, and I now have a pattern that I am confident I’ll use again and again. I need to raise that armhole opening by half an inch to better match the sleeve as I had a lot of easing to do, but I’ll do that when I make another one and then I’ll transfer to tag board. And, I’m already thinking of another one. And, AND! I feel confident enough that I could alter it a bit further to even take out more of that sleeve bulk. Yeah, this has been so worth it. Just fabulous.<\/p>\n And now I need to go dye some yarn. What did you guys do this weekend?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sorry, Lynn, this isn’t about tapestry, cut pile or card weaving. I did two of the three of those last week, and hoped to do the third, but this past weekend was really all about pattern drafting, pattern layout and … Continue reading <\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n