Friday, July 5, 2013

The best laid plans or where is my fabric?

Tuesday morning arrived, and I was ready to start right in on cutting that three piece suit that was added to my workload.
Well, you know how things go when you are under the gun, not much time left....of course the fabric that was shipped was not what was ordered.
Change of plans for Tuesday, so the fabric was reordered, and I changed focus to the period costumes that  needed my attention. Wednesday came and went. Thursday at 2 p.m. the correct fabric arrived! So off it went to be pressed and bolted and I started cutting. At the end of the day I had the trousers and jacket cut, today I cut the waistcoat and the little bits like pocketing and welts and the like, and by the end of day Monday, we will have the suit basted up and ready for a fitting. A bit of teamwork makes it all possible: someone makes up the sleeves and back, someone else the fronts, someone else is making the trousers and a fourth person is basting up the waistcoat. Once the fitting is over, one person will continue with the jacket, one the waistcoat and a third on the trousers. Then I will also be able to cut the second suit, and hope that after the first one, I should have minimal alterations.

In the meantime, I had a couple of fittings and we can now go ahead and finish many things, such as these trousers. They have the main components installed, but the waist, hems and CB seam are just basted for the fitting.

 There's a lot going on in these trousers.
They are double reverse pleated, with slanted or quarter top pockets, with a grown on waistband. They have two back pockets, and they finish with cuffed bottoms. They will  also get belt loops, set down from the top edge by a half an inch for a narrow belt.

It is interesting what the camera picks up, and I can see that the left pocket edge is smooth and the right side shows ripples. It wasn't apparent to me in the fitting, but I can guess that it is the effect of directional stitching. On one side the stitching was done from top to bottom and the other from bottom to top. In a twill fabric like this, it can be just enough to cause this effect. I will have to hang them vertically to see if it shows up then.

A quick peek on the inside reveals the back pocket bag finishing as well as the inside waistbanding.We finish the waistband and centre back of trousers differently than commercial trousers to make it easier to alter when pulled from stock. After all, once the show is down, they go into stock and may be used over and over on different people.

1 comment:

  1. Beautiful work,reminder to oneself that tacking is so worth while!

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