Brown blue cashmere suit: stashbusting really works!

As hard as it may be to believe it, this three piece outfit, completed at last, marks the end of a four year saga.  It began in New York in Jan of 2010, when I got tempted by a dark brown, shot with blue and golden brown threads, cashmere wool woven.

The pic above gives the best sense of the fabric: very soft, very dark brown and yet not only brown; the bright blue and golden highlights are very clear in close-up. In the pic, the jacket is paired with the brown silk jaquard top I just made. Unquestionably this cashmere is the most expensive piece of fabric I ever sprang for. Lightweight, soft as down, springy, yum!  I think it came from Beckenstein's - I recall my sister in law took me for a long day's trawl through the fashion district and this was one of our last stops, a fabric store dominated by menswear cloths of the highest quality.  Sound familiar?  I believe it should.

I got the fabric with only a jacket in mind, but the cut was so wonderfully generous (2.2 meters) that after the collarless V7975 jacket was cut, the remainder yielded a sleeveless two piece dress made up of a princess-seamed top (Go 4001) and simple pegged skirt (Burda 9-2008-120). I finished the top fairly promptly, then continued apace with the jacket.  All of a sudden, with everything cut and mostly sewed together, the project got stalled by this, that and t'other.  Mostly two snags:  I resisted the idea of cutting buttonholes into this scrumptious fabric but wasn't sure how to proceed; and I was't entirely at all thrilled with the shape of the skirt.

Still, we all  know the UFO refrain:  unfinished is unstarted, and merely cut out is money thrown out.  I finally tackled the bull cashmere billy goat by the horns and, tadaaa! at last can call the top, jacket and skirt, and therefore the entire three piece outfit, completed at last.  At very long last, indeed!

So, without further ado: all on the dress form, because, well, Baby, It's Cold Outside.

Jacket:  Vogue 7975, size 10 straight up, lined with chocolate brown silk jacquard (the Marfy 1913 chocolate brown top I made last week was eked out of the last little remnant of the very same silk).  It's a closer, better fit than the red boucle jacket, which was a size 12.

Instead of buttonholes, I sewed on three snaps and covered the right side ones with deep blue "tweedy" buttons.

I stabilized the fabric - all 2.2 meters of it - with lightweight fusible knit.  I can hardly believe I had the patience to do that, but yes, to my amazement.... The jacket is further padded with a chest and upper back shield, sleeve heads, and shoulder pads.  I was going to forego the pads, but realized late in the finishing that lack of them would give the jacket unsightly drag lines between armscye and waist, so in they went.

The top is based on the bodice to hip line Go 4001 sleeveless dress. I love its strong side princess line, it's perfect for anyone with nice sized assets on top. I made the dress back in 2009; for those of you not party to Sewing Review, the pictorial set starts here.

 This top is also lined with the same brown silk jacquard. Easy peasy. Nothing more to add.

The Awful Skirt:  Burda 9-2008-120 simple pegged aka "tulip shape" skirt. IMO this skirt has a very strange shape, with a really strong pooch line at the hip, I suspect mainly due to the tulip shape, though some of that may be the fault of my drawing the pattern to match the dimensions of my generous derriere/small waist figure.  I tried to slim it down but it seemed to me I was only making matters worse, worser, and worsest, so finally gave up on alterations, returned to the pattern's original truly weird line, and decided to finish it with much more ease in the hips than I would ordinarily. Lined with a heavy 80% bemberg/20% polyester blend lining in very dark navy, it works, but is far from ideal. Embarrassed, much?  Oh yeah, very. C'mon, how hard can it be to get a simple no waistband skirt to look decent, for pity's sake?  It hangs off my hips just fine, but then goes all "I wanna be a jodhpur" a few inches further down.

What's really funny is that a gal showed up in just such trousers to this week's group photocall of 2014 Oscar nominees:

Dressed to impress: Gravity's Sandra Bullock and American Hustle's Amy Adams posed with director/writer Alfonso Cuarón, singer Karen O and actor Leonardo DiCaprio among others in the line-up (Daily Mail credit: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2556576/OSCARS-2014-NOMINEES-Full-line-pose-group-shot-pre-awards-luncheon.html#ixzz2t45RHkzs )

Though it's now finished, I still aim to sneak up on it with a bit of needle and thread to oh so gently, millimeter by millimeter, tamp down some of this skirt's dressage ambitions. Sheesh. The bottom line (pun intended!) is that my hip line would do better with a different pattern.  I'll most emphatically never, not ever but ever, use this pattern again.  Basta!

But wait, perhaps NOT Basta!  With a little research under my belt today, I discovered that there really is a trick to making a good looking pencil skirt.  Take a look at the detailed skirt sloper workup, nicely demo'd for the rest of us by the Overflowing Stash. This is almost tempting me to rip the skirt apart again, and re-sew it a third time.  Maybe. It'd be a pity to let an otherwise nice outfit, and such a luxurious one at that,  languish unloved in the closet.  Especially as I'd been a busy little bee making, and continuing to make, go-with tops:

Both the cashmere top and the brown silk jacquard top coordinate beautifully with these two scarves:

The green python blouse also works with the brown; its deep blues and oranges play well with the blue and golden threads of the jacket: 

And I have three more potential playmates in the pipeline:  two nice polys and a silk crinkle chiffon.  Just draped onto the form, and feeling hopeful about them:

Poly satin

Lightweight poly crepe

Crinkle silk chiffon

As a concluding remark, I'm happy to say that the stashbusting challenge prompted me to finally buckle down and finish this set, already.  I'm thrilled to bits - the jacket is scrumptious, and a good excuse for some fun and easy blouse-making time.  But, how do I count this set for stashbusting?  The sleeveless top was completed some time ago, but without its partners, it would never have been worn. In fact, though already finished, it was still languishing in the sewing pile along with the rest of its set, an abandoned orphan if ever I saw one. So, 2.2 meters of fabric, 1.8 meters of silk?  Done!

Stashbusting summary: 2014 and 2015

So as to keep my stashbusting progress all in one place, I'm just going to update this post, originally created in February 2014, with my 2015 fabric usage.  If you scroll down you'll find my intro to the subject followed by a detailed blow by blow of my 2014 usage. 

Total in 2014:  32.2 m used, 3.2 m bought.

2015 running total: 7.7 m used, 3.8 m bought.

January:  
Used:  2.25 m wool matelasse,  2.7 m silk charmeuse, 0.75 m rayon lining, for black skirt suit with silk lining and matching blouse.  
Bought:  2 m lightweight poly knit.

February:
Used:  2 m lightweight poly knit 
Bought: 0.9 m each yarn dyed poly knit and metallic lace knit. 


******************************
In the latter part of January 2014, I joined the Stashbusting Sewalong.  My "stashbusting lite" commitment pledge says:  I commit to sewing from my stash first, and if fabric purchase is unavoidable in order to complete a project, to using at least two lengths of fabric from stash for every length I purchase.   Linings, underlinings, notions etcetera are of course not included: elastics and interfacings are necessities not guilty pleasures. I wouldn't buy them if I didn't have to. They don't count.

Note that I didn't actually commit not to buy any fashion fabric - just to sew twice as fast as I buy, so that by year's end I really ought to have less fabric than right now. 

Why am I doing this?  Because my stash is ridiculous.  Utterly head-shaking ridiculous.  In every other way I'm not a shopaholic, but buying fabric is just too easy.  For a start, there are two fabric stores right at my doorstep. Then, who hasn't impulse-clicked on that BUY button on a late Sunday night! Yep, big guilty face here. Too many internet stores!  It's all their fault!!! Enough, already.  I'm putting a stop to all that.  I view the Stashbusting Sewalong as my very own version of shopaholics anonymous.

What's even more ridiculous is that some of these very nice fabrics I've had for years are languishing because I haven't sufficient any experience in sewing them (for example, silk chiffon) and thus haven't dared cut into them.  A self-perpetuating condition if ever I met one!  So in confronting my stash I'll also be forced to confront my technical limitations, and, one hopes, expand my abilities?  Fearless sewing, here I come!  What's the worst that can happen? 1. a wadder; 2. a wearable but less than perfect garment that might not pass the X foot rule ("if a sewing flaw is not noticeable to the observer at X feet distance, it doesn't exist").  I'll be the first to admit that many of my garments are imperfect, but all that I've completed have been wearable.  So it's time to face the wadder possibility head on, right? 

Another reason is that, yes, I love making jackets and I'd love to make nothing BUT jackets, but one can't show up at work in nothing but a jacket ;)    I must discipline myself to create tops and bottoms to coordinate with said jackets.  I don't make enough of the go-with garments, and not nearly enough skirts or dresses.  Jackets with slacks, with an invisible, usually black, top under the jacket and a scarf to camouflage it, sum up my lazy fallback position. This is my year to try and get some of those dress weight fabrics, knits and wovens, out of their boxes and onto me, as dresses and tops that might want to be seen.  

That's about the extent of it.  Could this be my new year's resolution?  Why not.  For 2014, I resolve.... to love the fabrics I loved enough to buy, and to now love them enough to use.  To create a comprehensive wardrobe, all you need is love....

I'm aiming to keep this page updated with my progress since I took the above pledge, to keep me honest reflect how I'm doing. More for my own edification than anyone else's - I'm simply curious how it'll play out in the course of the year.  I'm also hoping that by keeping track of amounts used I'll gain a better sense of how much I need to make x, y, zed (yes up here in the Great White North we say zed not zee :))) if and when I ever fall off the wagon and (gasp!) buy some fashion fabric again, in the very, very distant future, that is. 

So here goes:

2014 total:  used = 32.2 m               bought = 3.2 m

February: used = 11.5 m                         bought = 0
Royal blue velour lounge suit for DD (2.3 m, 1.5 m wide)
Brown multi stretch silk georgette long sleeved blouse (Burda 10-2011-128) 1.8 meters (1.3 m wide)
Sapphire blue silk jacquard long sleeved blouse (Burda 10-2011-128) 1.5 meters (1.14 m wide)
Navy-white silk habotai sleeveless blouse         1.0 meters (1.14 m wide)
Brown cashmere three-piece suit (top, skirt, jacket) 2.2 meters (1.73 m / 68" wide) 
Brown silk jacquard lining for above top and jacket  1.8 meters (1 m wide)
Chocolate brown silk jacquard sleeveless blouse 1.3 m (1 m wide)
Green-blue python print silk crepe long sleeved blouse and matching scarf 1.9 m (1.14 m wide)

January: used = 6.7 m                           bought = 0
Yummy Pyjammy:  navy lightweight fleece trousers   1.5 m
                               and long sleeved top  1.3 m
Olive thick fleece warmup trousers   1.5 m
Black poly techno-knit at-home trousers  1.5 m
Scarf to top sleeveless blouse  (1 square yard)  0.9 m 

August:  used = 3.6 m                             bought = 0
Green and tan silk paisley cocktail (mother of the bride) dress and matching head scarf.

November:  used = 5.2 m                         bought = 1 m
Grey wool boucle jacket, skirt, and colour-blocked top, plus matching silk blouse:  2.6 m of the wool boucle and 2.6 m of silk twill for jacket lining, trim, and blouse. 
I bought 1 m of black ponte for the colour-blocked top. 

December:  used = 5.2 m                          bought = 2.2 m
Lace overlay jacket with silk jacquard lining and matching skirt with rayon bemberg lining. 2.7 m of the lace overlay, 2.5 m of the silk. 
I bought 2.2 m of a wool blend matelasse for a project currently underway.  

Joined! 2014 Ready-To-Wear Fast and Stashbusting Sewalong

Like Groucho Marx, who is famous for his line I don't want to belong to any club that would have me as a member, I tend to be a non-joiner.  But I do recognize the pleasure of companionship of the like-minded, and have on occasion deviated from my anti-social individualism.  For example, though I've since removed the badge from this page, I participated in Go Chanel or Go Home.

That particular sewalong began in July 2009. It was terrific.  We learned the classic design details and steps of construction of a Chanel jacket, and watched each other's progress in making the real thing.  Though I'm yet to make one using all of the classic techniques, I made two jackets during that sew-along.  The vented three-piece sleeve and the patience needed for all the extensive trim application were my biggest takeaways. And slowly-slowly, I'm edging towards the no holds barred, full blown couture techniques real deal. Soon.

Last year, Thewallina hosted a Little French Jacket Sewalong.

I didn't spot that one until it was fairly far along, so didn't have the option to join, but I still love how she had organized the main page with links to each step, as that allows me to review the techniques even now.

I also participated in the 2008 Great Coat Sew-Along, which didn't come with a badge, but sure got fantastic results from everyone there.  I made a lightweight wool tartan wearable muslin that still serves me well as a throw in my ever-frigid Canadian office, an easy Burda cocoon short coat, and, my piece de resistance, a siege-of-Stalingrad-worthy greatcoat. Apart from these results, which still form the backbone of my winter wear, the most valuable takeaway of the project was the creation of a true muslin and the sew-along members' helpful comments in correcting fit. The lessons on underlining, interlining, and various approaches to lining were also terrific.

But, of course, there are many, many more sewing related community activities that I have yet to join. Just to mention one, and it's a recurring theme, is the "Sewing with a Plan", or SWAP, which makes its appearance every year and is tremendously popular.  For 2014, it's an "Algebra SWAP". Why haven't I joined?  Lack of time to plan a story board, and a niggling feeling that I'd be too impatient to actually complete the requisite 11 or so garments without getting distracted and in the allotted time.

So this year, I joined two groups in which one commits NOT to do things!

Sarah of GoodbyeValentino.com is hosting a Ready-to-Wear Fast:  the group's members commit not to buy ready to wear clothing for the year.  How easy is that?! Over the past few years I've managed to accrue quite a comprehensive sewn-by-me wardrobe, and right now can't even imagine buying anything off the rack for myself.  And the fast doesn't include one's menfolk.  Yea! I won't have to sew men's shirts or jeans or anything! Waaaay too easy.

Secondly, Tumbleweeds in the Wind has announced a Stashbusting Sewalong.  Definitely in!  My "stashbusting lite" commitment pledge says: I commit to sewing from my stash first, and if fabric purchase is unavoidable in order to complete a project, to using at least two lengths of fabric from stash for every length I purchase. Notions and linings not included, as I don't stash any of those.  Sneaky, eh? I didn't actually commit not to buy any fabric - just to sew twice as fast as I buy, so by year's end I'll have less fabric than right now.  Whereas the RTWF commitment is easy, not buying fabric will be hard. Very, very hard. I know there's always more fabric, but the fabrics out there are so wonderful, they're nigh impossible to resist.

So, to bust the stash I must sew: and I better get at it!