ATENAS JEANS JACKET
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| The buttons ARE functional! |
So, I finally finished this naughty jacket. As reported previously, it has given me a bit of grief, the final grief being the buttonholes. The bulk was just too much for either of my buttonhole options. In the end I had to figure out a way to do them 'manually' (as opposed to with the machine, and this does not mean hand-sewn!), by using the zig-zag stitch and the 'satin stitch' foot. The challenge was lining up the zig zag rows so that there was sufficient space in between to slash it.
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| Blending into the fall leaves! |
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| Back view |
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| pretty good buttonholes |
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| Space age case! |
Which led me to start a rant on the PR discussion forum, which in turn led me to consider a 'buttonholer attachment.' I had read about these without paying attention in the past. It is a foot attachment (very large), which moves the fabric around - back and forth, instead of using a zig-zag stitch. This means that the fabric does not have to move under the foot, so that once it is in place it is not going to block anything.
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| large clunky device |
I chatted about this with my friend JG who said 'I HAVE one of those', and leant it to me. I firs tried it on the Vintage White. The pedal started to smoke so that was out! Then I tried on the Juki, but the clamping plate (which goes underneath the block the feed dogs) could not screw on. Then I tried it on the Elna, where it fit reasonbly well, and, in fact, did some nice buttonholes. Until I tried the bulkier fabric. I then went back to the Juki, (which has the extra lift for the presser foot), and tried it with the feed dogs dropped, and no plate... and I am cautiously optimistic that I have found the solution to my future buttonhole woes! Yeah for older technology!
And then I ran out of buttons! (They went on nicely, but I need to dig up four more - two for the cuffs, and two for the extra at the tab. (More photos of the jacket below)
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| Jalie 2805 |
In other sewing, I took a bit of time to use up remnants from the Italian wool knit and make a t-shirt Jalie 2805). There was only enough for the body, but I found some identically coloured knit of some kind in my pile of scraps, and was able to make the sleeves from it. And the colour is so close you really have to be looking to see the difference! |
| look closely to see the difference! |
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| Side view |
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| with mismatched skirt |
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| The chest pockets look okay too |
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| Lovely welt pockets! |
Serious project. This is engineering as well as tailoring. The jacket looks great, and this is the weather to wear it. DB
ReplyDeleteIn the meantime, I have discovered my error with the collar.... I put it on upside down. Which of course had a domino effect!
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