McCall's 8813 Suit: Finished

My suit is finally done. I was waiting for some good weather to take pictures outside but it doesn't look like that's going to happen any time soon (it's meant to snow tomorrow), so inside photos will have to do.

I've written a bit about the construction of the jacket in the previous posts, so I'll spare you any more about that. The skirt was pretty easy to sew. I tapered the bottom in a few inches because I don't like straight skirts.

I really should make some sort of effort to change my facial expression between photos

I lined the skirt in a black satin from my stash that someone had given me, because I didn't have enough of the fabric I used to line the jacket. In fact, almost everything I used for this suit was from my stash and/or second hand. 

I look surprised, probably because I managed to make a suit. 

Hat: Saltaire Vintage Fair
Hatpin: I made it
Suit: I made it
Vanity case: Sumner Street Fair
Shoes: Op shopped
Tights: Columbine (still made in NZ)
Gloves: From the dressing up box we had as kids. They probably belonged to my grandma.

I took this photo with the flash on. It gives a better idea of the actual colour. It's not as dark green as it looks in the pictures above.

My hair is always messy at the back...and at the front, but more so at the back. 

Here's one of the hatpins I made in action on the hat I was wearing.

McCall's 8813 Progress

I've almost finished the jacket part of the suit I'm making. It's taken me quite a while because of all the hand sewing. I hand sewed the whole lining in place. This is an experience I'm not that keen to repeat because it took forever.  

The lining is the leftovers from some fabric I used before to line a jacket. I love fancy printed linings. It's not actually lining fabric so it's really nice and soft. It originally cost me just over $1 a metre, but I'm going to call it free since it was leftover from another project.

The flaps look like they be pockets but they're just decorative. I stitched them down with a few hand stitches because they were flapping all over the place. 

Just ignore the fact that it doesn't fit the mannequin. It's smaller than me. I have a few little things left to do on the jacket, like pressing and stitching down the collar, and then I'm done.

After that, I have the skirt to do. I'm using Simplicity 3581, view 3. It should go together much quicker than the jacket.

What I'm Sewing

I don't generally post pictures of things that I'm in the middle of sewing. Mostly because, in my rush to finish something, I forget to take photos. The project I'm working on at the moment, a suit, is pretty labour intensive and slow. Since most of the detail is inside, I thought I'd take some pictures of the inner workings before they get covered up by the lining.

I'm using McCall's 8813 for the jacket. I bought the pattern without the envelope, so the only picture is the black and white one on the instruction sheet. I can't find any info about when the pattern dates from, but the next pattern number up (McCall's 8814) is from 1952, so it's probably from around then.

I don't love the straight skirt in the McCall's pattern. It seems like an unflattering shape and length, and I don't like the seam down the front. I'm thinking of using a pencil skirt pattern like the one above that I recently op shopped.

The white thread is just basting holding the buttonholes closed

This is the jacket so far. I'm using a dark green wool that I got from trademe. Because good wool fabric is almost impossible to buy here (in a country where there are more sheep than people), I ended up buying a secondhand roll that had 16 metres on it. This was way cheaper than buying one of the nasty wool blend (20% wool, 80% polyester, 100% likely to start pilling if you so much as look at it) fabrics that you can get new.

I couldn't find any in my huge stash that went with the wool, so I made some covered buttons using this old kit that I op shopped. They required lots of bashing with the hammer because the fabric is so thick. I have to say, bashing things with a hammer is quite therapeutic. 

  

The colour came out funny, but they are the same green as the jacket. 

This is the inside. The front and hip pieces are interfaced with hair canvas. Hair canvas feels gross, but it's traditional in tailoring, and the pattern says to use it. It helps things hold their shape. Cotton tape is used along the armholes and the front seams and bias tape along the waistline to strengthen them.

 I still have quite a bit to go on the jacket before I start on the skirt. It's a lot of work, but I'm actually enjoying all the handsewing.