Lady Grey Sew Along

Don't think me being stuck on my Nina Garcia project means I haven't been sewing.

I am SUPER excited to be joining Gertie's Lady Grey Sew Along.  I've always wanted to participate in a sew along but never caught one right at the beginning. 

Plus, I desperately need a nice looking spring and/or fall weight jacket.  The only ones I have are very casual sports jackets or jean jackets.  Nothing I can wear with fancy clothes. 

The first step was to choose your fabric and get ready for the muslin.  I've always hated muslins because I feel like I'm sewing the same thing twice but I only get to wear one of the two things I made.  It feels like a waste of time - and fabric!  But I've read so many good blogs out there, like Gertie's, that show how much better the quality of your item becomes when you use a muslin.  Plus there are all the projects I've had to scrap because I mistakenly thought I could sew things right off the pattern without making adjustments first.  Muslins prevent wasted fabric.  And if I'm gonna waste fabric, I'd rather waste muslin than fancy fashion fabric.

And yet...all that work on a muslin and you can't even wear it!  That's why I'm in the camp of sewists who use "real" fabric - cheap fabric or old sheets and the like - as a muslin.  That way, if it's screwed up immensely, it's affordable enough to rip apart or toss.  But if the muslin works out, you can finish it appropriately and have an item you can wear. 

So, for the sew along, I bought two fabrics from the same group - cotton twills.  This green one will be my final product, made after I work the kinks out on my muslin.

Gertie recommends having fun with the lining since the jacket is wide in the hips and the inside will be visible when it's opened up. 

The print is the lining I chose.  It's an ugly fabric I've passed by on the "value" table many times.  Too ugly to use as a blouse or dress, but a fun lining,  indeed.  I'm hoping I'll have this green jacket done in time to wear this fall, yet.

This pink one will be my muslin and hopefully I'll land up with a nice spring jacket. 

Isn't the lining fabric insane?  It's a bunch of fashionable girls in turquoise, lime, and pink against a black background.  By itself, it's even uglier than the other one.  It's been on the store shelves for EVER and they have the gall to charge $3.95 a yard for it!  It hasn't moved in months.  Until today.  I thought it would be super fun to use as the  lining. Something very unexpected.  Added bonus, it was on sale for 60% off!  Plus the store clerks gave each other that "oh my God I can't believe someone's actually buying this" look. 

I'll show them! 

With my fabric prepped, I started to cut.  Because the pattern is a swing style in the hip and falls over the shoulders, I'm taking a leap and assuming I don't need to adjust for two of my problem fitting areas - the bust and belly. 

But I thought I'd paper piece the sleeves and try them on over a medium weight sweater since my arms are another problem area to fit.

It looks like I'll have extra room which is good - I'm not so hot at adjusting arms

I cut out the muslin pieces:

Easy peasy.

Then I basted most of the shell.  I didn't do the arms today because I was starting to get tired.  And I tend to make dumb mistakes when I'm tired.  So far, this is what I have:

This fabric is amazing to work with.  I'm hoping to do the sleeves and sides in the next few days and then I'll have my first fitting.