Tailoring, day 3

Just look at this! Three posts in quick succession of each other! I feel like such a blogger...

Hour 13 - 18

Today was not a full day of tailoring, and I will get to that part of the story later, as it comes at the end of the day. It was a good day though. My usual two supervisors weren't around, so I was very self guided today. I had a third supervisor on hand, though it was more difficult to get the answers I needed, but luckily I didn't need to ask too many questions.

I started off by machine sewing my lining to my outer down the CF, and pinning and tacking two rows of trim down my CF. The layering and direction of the trims needed to be consistent with the other jackets being made, and extra length needed to be added to the top - so it can follow through the collar piece to a CB join, allowing for future alterations. Rather than machine sew the whole length of braid on, I needed to sew 20cm or so from the hem line to just the front layer of fabric, whereas the rest of the braid could be sewn through both outer and lining fabrics. I took a lot of care in making sure I didn't pull either trim too tight, and making sure the trim was exactly along the CF. Currently, the top of the trim is still dangling loose and has more than enough to do the collar, though that will come later I'm sure. This took me roughly 4 hours!!

Next was the side seam. The trick with this part is that I still haven't gotten it right! The seam of both the lining and the outer were sewn vertically, and then the horizontal waist/skirt seam could be sewn a little more than half of the length. I needed to unpick it and try again as my seams are not quite the same length at present! The difficult part of it is that, being an Opera costume, we're not clipping any of the seams, and both pieces fit together with roughly a right-angle. Sounds simple, but sewing it is actually not that easy! If you imagine two L shaped pieces of fabric fitting together, the 'down stroke' of the L is the side seam, and the 'across stroke' is the waist/skirt seam. This 'across' needs to be sewn towards the corner, not away from it, and stops half way, with the remainder to be hand sewn - because it is not physically possible to fit a sewing machine in there and stitch along the right lines! It would be a breeze if the seams could be clipped, but that would entirely defeat the purpose of making things so they can be altered, and that's why it's tricky! This took me 2 hours, and it's still not right!

The next step will be to attach my pocked flap over the 'across srtoke' part of the L, and that is where I got up to today. My original tailoring time got cut short when I was needed to do some other menswear alterations, as most of the menswear department weren't at work today! When that work was done, it was time to leave work early anyway, as I was going and seeing a show at the Opera House. Lakme was beautiful, very pleasing on the eye and ear, with the most gorgeous duets and trios harmonizing perfectly.

It looks like after this jacket is finished, I will be doing a second one! The time-frame for Don Giovanni is getting quite close, and there are still lots of principal-costumes to make! I don't mind doing it at all, and it will help me learn properly - cementing this knowledge, rather than doing it once and forgetting.But for now, it is sleep time...