Game Sew Network

Some inspiration from Cache.com for $187




Next Item Up For Stitches
"Misses' lined jackets: Semi-fitted, lined jackets have princess seams and above wrist length sleeves with cuffs full length sleeves: jacket A has purchased jewel stones, beads and medallions or perforated discs to creatively embellish as desired and jacket B has contrast ruffle with decorative buttons or beads." I sewed jacket A with the sleeve cuffs, but sans the embelllishments. The pretty McCall's model on the left has that "Vanna" or game show model pose and look going on.


Size
6-8-10-12-14. I sewed a 12 at the shoulders, tapering to a 14 at the hips.




Just one look at my new jacket, and playing cards come to my mind due to the colors: red, black, and white. Then I started thinking of the fun game shows I used to watch as a child: Card Sharks, Password, Match Game, Tic Tac Dough, The $25,000 Pyramid, and The Dating Game. The Wheel of Fortune, The Price is Right and Family Feud are still going strong. Classic episodes can now be seen on the Game Show Network.


Fabric
Stretch cotton from GorgeousFabrics.com


Tick-Tack-Sew
From steps 1 through 39 for view A, the directions were straightforward with clear illustrations alongside them. I did not have problems deciphering them.

I started with interfacing the the two front facings and the sleeve cuffs. Then I stitched the long diagonal darts below the lapels on the fronts and front facings. There's the familiar staystitching of the front and back edges before sewing the princess seams. The entire fronts and backs come together nicely. I took note that the side fronts surpass the front by nearly an inch to accommodate the bottom hem with the lining.

After forming the back pleat and stitching between the marked circles (for movement ease), stitching the lining is done the same way as stitching the outer part of the jacket. Something to note is to stop at the marked triangles just before the neckline edge while stitching the lining's shoulder seams. This seemed to prevent the "bunching" at the junction at the top of the lapels.

With the exception of getting to ease lining pieces with stretch cotton while stitching the princess seams, and minor issues with addng the lining, I found the overall construction process pleasant.


Showcase Sew-down
Favorite Features
* Front and back princess seams



* Cuffed sleeves

* Collar less lapels, reminiscent of Vogue 8491 which has raglan sleeves and no princess seams in the back.

* Pattern was easy to work and contains wonderful directions, a nice reprieve from Burda WOF's. For view A, I used pieces #1-6: front (cut 4 which includes the front facings), side front. back, side back, sleeve, sleeve cuff and #8, the back lining. The side front and side back pieces are also used for the lining, but cut at a shorter length.

Other Features
* The cutting lines of the piece and back piece (without the side fronts and backs) contains a group of sizes (6-8-10, 12-14). To be on the safe side, I added approximately 1/8" to the edge (1" added wearing ease).

* I am uncertain about the slightly dropped shoulders and roomy shoulders to accommodate 1/2" (height?) shoulder pads , reminiscent of the early 90's.

Modifications
*Made my usual 1" petite adjustment

*Omitted shoulder pads.



What's My Line-ing?



*Instead of hand hemming the jacket shell and hand sewing the lining to the shell per the instructions, I "bagged" the lining. I referred to Thread's bagging method described in detail in "Prepare to Bag". Instead of basting the hem, I iron pressed it to avoid dealing with extra stitches. I did not serge the lining and jacket shell edges as instructed. I left a 3" opening between the front facing and the side front lining to turn the jacket inside out. Threads mentioned to account for the difference in widths of the shell and the lining before stitching them together. It suggested taking in or letting out the seams of the lining. While pinning the lining and the shell together at the lower edges, I noticed that their widths did not align, with the shell being wider. I took in approximately 1/8" at the side and princess seams. I sewed the lining 3/8" from the edge of the bottom edge of the jacket (could have been 1/4" but due to the lining's edge fraying in sections, I increased the seam allowance), right sides together


Press Your Luck
I got a lot of use out of Mr. Procter Silex, pressing the lapels, cuffs, neckline, and the lower hem to stay in place. I tried on the jacket several times to determine if the jacket will not "flap out", especially from the back side, and expose the lining. The jacket had a tendency to reveal its "natural" hem (which was lower than what I had estimated) and I pressed accordingly.

Truth or Consew-quences
I found the jacket to be a size larger at the waist and hips. I was so eager to get started on the jacket that I did not pre-wash the fabric. To determine if the fabric would shrink to fit, I hand soaked the jacket briefly in water and a tad of baby shampoo (there was some residue of the fabric's dye in the water) and machine dried it in the gentle cycle. As I hoped for, the jacket fits much better.

It's a jacket that seemed straightforward to sew, although it took me nearly 10 hours of sewing time. I still recommend this jacket especially to those who are familiar with basic shirt construction and are new to lining jackets.