The Pleat is On!
One of the things on my to-do list is to sew a white, ruffled front blouse.

Last spring, I found this picture of a famous suburban housewife that became an inspiration to make a ruffled front top, except I cannot make something in her size. Before she became a household name, I remember watching her in Young and the Restless (as Isabella, Paul William's ex-wife, if you are a fan).





As I was browsing the December 2008 issue, I found something that caught my attention, pattern #126







I thought this would be a nice opportunity to make something from the December 2008 issue, which paid tribute to the Bambi awards. I completed this shirt in time before the Golden Globes Awards aired. Heather insisted that I pose with her friend Bolt. Due to starring in a motion picture nominated for best animated film, Bolt then dashed to the Golden Globe Awards that late afternoon, leaving Heather and I at home. Oh well....


Pattern Description
"A bib with pleated ruffles, covered buttons, and turnback cuffs - all in white silk taffeta. This is the perfect blouse for a dinner suit/tuxedo! It's irresistibly sexy when worn casually - unbuttoned, with turned-back sleeves and loose bow tie that should be anchored to the collar stand with a few stitches."

Sizes
Burda sizes 36 - 44. I sewed a "40" at the shoulders, tapering to a "42" at the hips. I usually wear a RTW 12 and sew a "14" from the big 4.


Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
Probably yes, if I use turnback cuffs, turn up my collar, not fully button my shirt, and make that seductive pose.


Fabric Used
For my muslin, I used cheap, polyester pongee in my local Yardage Town. I found this in the linings section. It is slightly slippery and has a tendency to run with some tugging.


Favorite Features
* Overall fit
* Tuxedo look from the pleated front
* Collar with stand
* Versatility
* Not a difficult shirt to construct. It's just somewhat time consuming.



Not-so-favorite Features
*Making the pleats (seemed to take some time for me!)
*A little excess of ease at the sleeve caps
*Somewhat tricky fabric that was prone to runs and puckers. Even the upper sleeves of the model's shirt has some little puckers!


Directions
For my Burda WOF patterns, I find it convenient to scan/copy the technical drawing and directions from the magazine and tape them to a folded piece of construction paper (stapled at the edges) that also acts like a envelope for pattern storage.

The directions were organized and sufficient for those who have experience with making a button-down shirt with a collar and cuffs. Still I was somewhat baffled due to the wording in some steps.

Pleat It, Just Pleat It!
I made a 1/4" narrow hem at the outer edge of each pleat instead of zig-zagging as directed. The pleats go downward, where one line segment meets one just below it. With all these line segments, it is easy to lose track of which goes where. I have almost given up on what seemed like a very simple task: fold down, match symbols and pin, then fold down, match symbols and pin. Then I would start all over due to some confusion!


In transferring the markings from the pattern piece to the fabric, I lightly penciled a pair of X's and a pair of 0's along the edges to distinguish among the pairs of line segments, like this:
X




X





0




0





X




X
etc...

For instance, the top X folds down to meet the subsequent X. The O folds down to meet the subsequent O, continuing to the last pair of letters.

Most likely due to operator error, each of my pleated bands had an excess of 5" length beyond the length of the front edge of the shirt. In comparing with the photo in the magazine, each of my pleats seemed a tad longer than what was on th model. Maybe I skipped some pleats which contributed to the excess. I did not worry about the discrepancy and just snipped off the extra fabric.




Band on the Run
After sewing the front vertical darts, back center seam, shoulder seams, side seams, and the pleated band to the edge of the front, my confusion grew after reading the steps to make the front band and cuffs! So I abandoned Burda WOF's steps to create the front band and immediately referred to BusyMom's technique for a RTW look that she used for her gorgeous Butterick aubergine blouse. I also want to do away with sewing the front band to the front edge of the blouse, right sides together, folding the band in half, turning to the inside and slipstitching/handstitching the folded raw edge or seam allowance to the inside seam. Instead, I sewed the band's right side to the wrong side of the front edge and turned it to the outside, folded it in half so that the raw edge to be tucked under could be topstitched.


Modifications
*Used the method as described earlier to attach the front band
*Decreased the width of the vertical darts
*Omitted the sleeve vents and replaced the upturned cuffs with slightly flounced cuffs.


Would you sew this again?
Yes! Next time I plan to omit the pleated front, but include the sleeve vents and the upturned cuffs. I noticed that I need to tweak the sleeves to reduce the lines that bother me.


Conclusion
If you like the style, go for it! The white tuxedo-styled shirt goes great with a long, flowing black skirt for a nice evening out. Without the pleated front, it is really a nice basic shirt with a lot of possibilities.

Milly Vogue-illy


I like this top! It's lively, classic, retro yet simple and stylish!

The collar and pleated neckline together add some panache to a simple top. I would not pay nearly $200 for it, though.




Pattern Description
MISSES’/MISSES’ PETITE TOP: Pullover top has front pleats. A: short sleeves. B: pleated lower sleeve, casing and elastic sleeve finish. C: cut edge upper, middle and lower sleeve flounce.
NOTIONS: Top A, B, C: Hooks and Eyes. Also for B, C: 1/2" Single Fold Bias Tape. For B: 1 yd. of 3/4" Elastic.
FABRICS: Top A, B, C: Batiste, Broadcloth and Gauze. Unsuitable for obvious diagonals, plaids or stripes. Use nap yardages/layouts for pile, shaded or one-way design fabrics. *with nap. **without nap.


Size
6-8-10-12. I sewed a "12".

Favorite Features
*Sleeve variations as described
*Pleated front
*Nice contoured shaping on the sides
*Very easy to sew
*View A has four pattern pieces: front, back, collar (curved piece), and sleeve. You cannot get simpler than this for a short sleeved collar top!

Not-so-favorite Features
*The collar tended to drape a little more outward than the Milly top. The non-interfaced piece seemed to stretch after some handling (due to outer portion's curvature landing on the bias?), causing some drape, which does not appear that bad. My top looked more like the technical drawing on the directions page, which contradicted the seemingly flat collar on the pattern illustration.



*I don't like the open upper back center seam which puffs out due to having a slightly rounded upper back


Directions
They were fine for making the simplest view. You could actually rely on the illustrations to get the main idea.

Here is an outline of the steps I used for View A:

*I made certain I accurately marked the pleat lines and dots. For each pleat I folded the left to the right pleat line, so that each pair of dots (top and bottom)coincide and stitched on the line.

*I stitched the front and back sections, right sides together at the shoulders and the sides.

*I interfaced one collar piece (and added the extra step of stitching a narrow hem to finish its notched edge), and stitched it to the non-interfaced piece at the unnotched sides. This was clear from the illustration.

*I sewed the non-interfaced collar piece to the neckline, right sides together. Then I turned the interfaced collar piece to the inside and carefully slipstitched it to the neckline.

*I stitched a 5/8" from the lower edge of the blouse after I turned in the raw edge.

*I set-in the sleeves using the pin, hand-baste and machine stitch method.


Modifications
* Used two buttons/buttonholes instead hooks and eyes.

Second version
* I closed the open upper back, continuing the center seam from the lower back (but taking in an additional 1/4" ) and kept the collar open in the back. I was still able to get the top over my head.
* For my second version I used a sloping shoulder adjustment similar to Dawn Cloake's tutorial. As a result, the shoulders narrowed and I obtained a tad more snug fit on my upper chest and upper back. This adjustment would be ideal for me when making a sleeveless version of this top. For the short sleeved version, I should have increased the width of the shoulders to compensate for my adjustment of taking 1/2" from the edge, tapering to 0" at the neckline.

I find that I usually do not need to adjust for Burda patterns, where the front is sloped more than the back, bypassing forward shoulder adjustments. Maybe the forward shoulder adjustment is what I need for certain patterns. I need more experimenting with this issue.


Conclusion
I highly recommend this pattern for its versatility, simplicity, and stylish details. It's also an ideal pattern for beginners and working on fitting issues.

The total sewing time without interruptions would be for me two and half hours. Speedy and accurate sewists would probably take much less!


Will post pics of my versions soon....

Baby, You Can't Drive Our Cars
Heather had fun again this year at the Car Show. Again, she enjoys being in the "driver's seat" and having her pictures taken. We did not see any motorcycles, unless we just missed them.



Under-aged driver!



Be safe!

Sporting Ford couture near a Mazda



Ford gave away those funky blue t-shirts. If any of the Ford workers spot randomly a person that is wearing those shirts in a "competitor's" area, then he/she wins a $20 gas card. Heather wore the shirt over her HK dress for a good amount of time, then removed it, and sometime later, changed her mind to wear it again (after removing again her denim jacket). She kept insisting to me that she be seen wearing the Ford t-shirt so that she can win the prize. I told her repeatedly that she might win or she might not. Then lo and behold, three young ladies spotted Heather inside a car and awarded us the prize! Persistence pays, and in this case a $20 gas card.


Heather on a backlit BMW display. I wished the flash worked on this photo. I like the perspective on this one.


More posing


Not an ideal car for a student driver!






Energy Efficient!





Father and Daughter. I prefer Jorgen in his "longer" hairdo with his naturally wavy hair. I really don't like crewcuts. But his hair grows quickly.







Oh what a feeling to drive a Toyota. I forgot what car we were in here. From the other car's insignia, I think it's a Toyota!





We spent nearly 5 hours browsing and somewhere in between we had a little pizza at one of the "cafe expresses". The only cars that stood out were those with vibrant colors. Undoubtedly, the convertibles attracted a lot of attention, especially for photo opportunities and looky loos. Jorgen had fun looking at the gadgets and navigational devices in the larger cars. Heather, of course, enjoyed posing near or in the driver's seat. She is at this curious stage where she wants to press the pedals and fiddle with the driver's gagetry. Just like many inquisitive young minds, she felt like she had enough and whined, "I want to go home." We persisted in staying just a little longer to complete the entire stretch of car manufacturers. Heather hopefully learned the art of courtesy and patience. She still whined occasionally, but managed to keep her boredom in check by taking more pictures on her own digital camera, spinning the Mazda color balls, tapping the big buttons and reading what she can from the informational displays, and "pretend test driving" each car by more poses and photos. I agree that there's not much intellectual stimulation in just "ooh-ing and ah-ing" material things.










MORE Pics later...........................

Disco in Ditto Jeans Pink

"It's all an illusion, there's too much confusion", from Madonna's "Can We Get Together?" Hot Patterns provided more illusion than reality. The illustrations on their pattern envelopes are illusions to entice you to purchase their patterns!

Based on my experience with three garments, the illustrations on Hot Patterns envelopes do not match the actual results from sewing with the given pattern pieces. It is usually common to adjust patterns to fit our unique figures. It would make sense to draft my own patterns by hand, use drafting software, or purchase a pattern that closely resembles the look that I want. Therefore, I plan not to purchase more patterns from HP.

I purchased this pattern from the recent 2 for 1 sale from HP. The patterns arrived two weeks after I placed my order. Although I anticipate that that the blouse straight from the envelope (thanks to the very helpful reviewers of this pattern) will not look like the concept illustrations (actually the reviewers' blouses looked better!), I wanted to sew this myself and take it from there.





Pattern Description
HP 1064: "Put on your Tango heels and dance up a storm in these pretty Blouses just right for heavy crepe de chine, drapey rayon or soft jaquard. Relaxed fit blouses have 1-piece collar, front button closure and optional front and back darts. Elbow-length sleeved version has gathered sleeves with 3 tiers of fluted ruffles at the hem. 3/4 sleeved version has slim sleeves with deep frill at the hem...".

It should read more like "Put on your platforms and Ditto's Jeans and do the hustle....."

For those not familiar with Hot Patterns, the patterns are printed on heavy paper.


Size
Multi-sized 6-26. I used my upper bust measurement to select the size 12. There's quite a bit of ease nearly everywhere in this blouse, so I was glad to decide on the 12 instead of the 14. Here is the side view so that you can see the drag lines. Please! I appreciate any help and suggestions on this issue.

Fabric
For my first version, I used cotton shirting from FashionFabricsClub.com



Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
Absolutely not! As noted in previous reviews, there are discrepancies between the illustrations on the envelope and the sewn garment from the actual pattern. I feel like Laurie Partridge ready to sing "Come On, Let's Get the Maracas!"


Features
* Generally easy to put together the way it is drafted
* Definitely not as fitted as illustrated.
* Optional front and back vertical darts help add shape, reducing the boxy or relaxed fit. After finishing my first version, I can see that rotated bust darts would improve the look and fit.
* The collar flares out, 70's retro-style, instead of the collar points being closer together as illustrated
* Sleeve caps have a bit of excess ease
* Sleeves are not fitted as illustrated
* 3/4 sleeve version have actual elbow-length sleeves with 5" frilly cuffs (more like balloon cuffs!!)
* Blouse contains front facings and a back facing
* Just like motorposus, I discovered when sewing the front and the back along the side seams, the front was about 3/4" longer than the back.

Directions
If you are acclimated to Burda WOF directions, then you would find directions for this pattern to be more than sufficient, redundant, and possibly convoluted. It would have been convenient to have illustrations that accompany the 2 printed pages worth of verbage, especially for us visual learners. However, if you are familiar with sewing shirts, then you could get by with little or no guidance. I decided to be bold and abandon HP's directions.

The front and back markings for the sleeve pattern pieces and the correspondings ones on the armscyes of the front and back are easy to overlook because they are very faint.


Modifications
*Added a slightly curved center back seam using the back piece from my favorite Butterick shirt/jacket. This added a flattering back contour from the side and back views. I really did not need to add a seam allowance for the center back seam. After trying on the fronts basted to the back, I took in an additional 3/8" to reduce the bagginess in the back. If I sew another version, I plan to take out a tad of horizontal excess above the waist.

* Set-in the sleeves instead of sewing them flat per the directions. Took in the sleeve seams by another 1/4". However, I chose not to reduce the sleeve caps for that slightly "puffed" look at the ends of the shoulders.

* Used the next larger collar size, 14.

* Shortened length by 1 1/2"

* Used 7 cm spacing between buttons instead of the 10 cm from the "button template"

Would you sew this again? Would you recommend this to others?
If I ever sew this again, I would have to make more adjustments! The blouse is not difficult to sew. It really is a nice, basic shirt pattern that has a lot of possibilties. I could have sewn this in one entire evening if I did not fuss with design and fitting issues.


If you like the style as is, I would recommend this pattern. If you want the style as illustrated on the envelope, you would have to redraft almost the entire pattern as reviewed by LMH.


Conclusion
HP either should (1) change their envelope illustrations to make it match with the actual drafting of this pattern or (2) re-draft the entire pattern to match the illustration.

A more befitting name would be "Disco Vibe, Tango at Studio 54 Blouse!"



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May All Your Christmases Be Very Merry and Bright


Heather in her kinder school picture from this past August and her aunt Jenny (my sister) in third grade circa 1980, 1981? Her picture slightly discolored over the years. I'll look though more of my parents' photo albums. Jenny's first grade picture looks even more like Heather's photo!





Christmas was fun this year! My favorite activity was decorating our tree this year. I asked my mom if we could have more ornaments (beyond the Dora the Explorer, Sesame Street, and Blues' Clues ones). I selected a Virgin Mary ornament and a transparent fish ornament.




I made a present for my mom and dad at school, a "Peace on Earth 2008" frame with puzzle pieces glued to it (get it, peace, piece?) and in the middle a picture of me next to a globe taken by Mrs Brown. My mom gave me a big, big hug and proudly displayed it on the fridge, along with my other artwork (there was a magnet piece on the back).

I like things that captivate the vivacity and spirit of this holiday season such as...


the wild colors and design of my new coat that my mom made me. It is now one of my favorites. Wearing bold colors cheers me up and hopefully cheers others. In some cases, maybe shock others, especially when many people choose to wear dark and drab colors.




Hello Kitty's guitar in this t-shirt that lights up by detecting motion.


The twinkly colored lights on my grandparents' tree representing all of the beautiful colors shining from all branches of the world united in one tree, the guiding light of the universe.





Festive red, a popular holiday color!


The bold Barbie pink dress that my Godmother/Aunt Jennifer gave me with my favorite stylish cat, Hello Kitty.


It was really fabulous (as Ashley Tisdale or Sharpay from HSM would point out) to receive lots of cool gifts. My mom asked me what the best present that I received is and always will be every day of the year, not just one, but MANY big hugs! Of course it is cool to give a big hug just as to receive one!

Love,
Heather

Bolt of Colors!!



I wanted to make something for Heather that I have not made yet, a lined coat or jacket. She selected this pattern about a month ago for me to purchase when we were at JoAnn's.

I could tell Heather wanted to have an outfit in the same fabric of my dress that I made just recently. She did not have to tell me directly.










This is officially the first lined jacket I sewed for Heather. I originally intended to give this to her all wrapped up for Christmas. Instead this became the "early" present. She enjoys partipating as much as she can in the sewing process (cutting, pinning, pedalling, etc). I wanted to have her try it on (is it done yet, mom?) to determine how it fits her.


Pattern Description
From the Project Runway series: "Child's and Girls' coat jacket and hat". My description for this pattern: Girls' coat jackets with front and back yoke, double breasted feature and length and sleeve variations.

The pattern includes the croquis or sketch feature that allows you to select which design element such as the length of sleeves (long or three-quarters) along with the type of sleeve finishing (vertical tab and button, ruffled, band with button at end). I prefer the traditional way of patterns showing several views (A, B, C, etc) each with their unique design features already incorporated, while still having the flexibility to morph design features from two or more views. I found it a somewhat inconvenient to have cutting layouts separate for each design element instead of typically showing all the pattern pieces for a particular style.

Size
Girls' 3-4-5-6. I sewed a size 6 for my 5 y.o. daughter.


Fabric
Printed cotton twill with some stretch from the Fashion Fabrics Club.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
Yes, for the most part, except for the vibrant fabric I used.

Favorite Features
* Pea coat style
* Pleated front and back
* Front and back yokes
* Sleeve variations: I sewed the three-quarter length sleeved version with a ruffled band or cuff on the bottom. In fact the cuff was really not ruffled. It really consists of 4 pleats made opposite the seam of the band.


Other Issues
* Directions for the lining are sparse. Some day soon I plan to study and use methods suggested by our fellow PRs instead of the simple version of "bagging the lining".

* I become apprehensive when attaching the upper collar to the lower collar (in the process of lining the jacket), at the large dots that transition to the neck seam and the front facing. I had to pay closer attention while pivoting at the large dots where the collar joins the neck seam. Yes, I confess, I am all to familiar with the bunching or puffiness of the collar at the neck seam!


Directions
*Overall they were sufficient and the illustrations were easy to decipher (except for the section on attaching the lining). It helps to read through the directions, noting the boldface titles of the design elements of interest (i.e. "...for coat", ".... for jacket,","long sleeves and sleeve tab", "three-quarter length sleeves") and following those steps. Otherwise, the steps apply to all of the given styles (i.e. "continue as follows for any coat or jacket").

*A note of CAUTION on making the pleats: make them from the correct or right side of the fabric. Oops! I did the front and back sections from the wrong side of the fabric (where I marked the pleats. But overall, such goof did not affect the overall style of the jacket. In fact, I like the way the back looks where the there is a center fold, flanked by a pleat. Otherwise, there would be an inverted-looking pleat at the center.

*The lining is constructed the same way as the outside of the jacket in terms of the back and yoke back except that the front consists of the front facings each to be attached to front lining piece. I had to take out two pleats so that the back yoke lining (cut on the bias) would not extend much beyond the span of the upper edge of the lower back.

* The directions for attaching the lining to the coat/jacket were sparse. The illustrations for adding the lining were unclear and insufficient.

* There seemed to be an error in the illustration showing the edge of the front facing being stitched horizontally, 1 1/2" from the lowest edge of the jacket. It was supposed to show the front facing, interfaced side up, right sides together with the front edge

*After the first fitting, my daughter felt constricted at the neck area (She does not like feeling constricted. Pullover sweaters are not her cups of tea. She's been like this since she born. I recall so vividly when she constantly freed herself from her blanket, arms and hands pop out, after being bundled for warmth and security). The space between the two ends of the collar, the front segment of the neckline, seemed to be a tad narrower in relation to the corresponding portions of the jackets on the pattern envelope. I could have used a smaller seam allowance when attaching the front facings, but details like this and more would be discovered after sewing the first version of this pattern. To lessen the constriction around my daughter's neck, I marked the points for the hidden snaps about a centimeter towards the center, thus making the yoke at the closure area a little off-center.


Modifications
*Used hidden snaps. I might revert to buttonholes. Heather had some difficulty aligning and securing the snaps.
*Used wild fabric



Conclusion
I recommend this pattern for a stylish coat or jacket for the little ladies you know. Since I am not a "speedy" sewist and tend to "overthink" things, I spent well over 10 hours on Heather's jacket. All the time and work are worth it to get a big hug and lots of smiles!

Rhythm Notion



It must be the color, style, combined with the silver shiny buttons that made me have flashbacks of Janet Jackson dancing in her "Rhythm Nation" video. Wow, performers actually sung about songs with a meaningful message and danced to great choreography back then. Fast forward 19 years and I'm seeing various versions of Janet's military style jacket popping up in the current fashion scene.


Britney, Cristina, Beyonce.... what have you SEWN for us lately?

Pattern Description
A "2 hour fashion express" pattern: Unlined, semi-fitted above wait jacket has dolman sleeves with length variations and with or without collar. View A has snap closure at neck. View B has double-breasted, buttom and buttonhole closures. View C has front tabs with buckle without prong, front hook and eye closures.

Size
Misses' 8-10-12-14. I sewed a "14".

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
Somewhat, except mine screamed 80's/early 90's. There's not much talent, fun, and innovation in the pop current scene, Composer/musician/singer Alicia Keys is a notable exception. Nostalgia has been setting in as I get older.
While sewing this jacket, I might have been hearing in the corners of my mind a much younger and cuter Simon Le Bon singing "Please, please sew me now, is there something I should SEW?" and wearing that oh-so-80's white jacket.


Favorite Features
*Cropped style although I would have preferred it an inch longer.
*3/4 length sleeves
*Few pattern pieces to work with (front, back, collar, front facing, back facing)
*Contoured back seam, which flatters the back and sides. I'll keep this feature in mind to morph this with my other favorite short jacket patterns.
*Boxy upper look that tapers to the waistline, if you ignore the sleeves.


Other Features
*Needs more than the one snap closure that is attached below the wearer's left side. To keep the fronts from flapping out and sliding (or a jacket malfunction), there should be one below the wearer's right neck, and one on the wearer's lower left.

*The sleeves are a bit baggy and unstructured for my taste. Maybe it stems from the nature of dolman sleeves that flare out at the ends. I recall dolman sleeves typical of 80's fashions. I discovered a helpful and interesting SEW NEWS glossary of types of sleeves

*"2-hour" finishing time is a bit misleading, especially for those who are not "speedy" and prefer to finish the seams. I slipstitched the bottom hem after pressing 1 1/4" hem with a scant 1/8" machine-stitched hem. Maybe my eyes deceived me, but I did not find the directions on how to finish the sleeve hems. I turned in a 1/4" machine-stitched hem and slipstitched a 2" hem.

*Positioning the asymmetric collar to look as close to the picture on the envelope took some time.


Fabric
Denim colored cotton poplin, great for muslins.


Directions
That's the way this pattern SEWS...
They are easy to follow and brief with more than decent illustrations. The neckline and that of the facing (each front facing is connected to each end of the back facing) are staystitched. I made sure that I transferred the notches and markings (dots, squares, and triangles) to the collar pieces and the neckline.

Missed it much, I missed it by SEW much
I had to temporarily detach myself from my habit of "centering the collar" at the neckline. I spent the longest time getting the collar to be asymmetric as featured on the envelope and in the illustrations while aligning the corresponding markings to the neckline! After comparing collar to the original pattern piece in terms of the markings and the length taking into account the seams, I did not find serious discrepancies. I eased the neckline a little by using loose and long machine stitches. I basted the collar to the neckline so that the marked triangles align at the shoulder seams and the notches align (one was closer to the wearer's right front edge and the other was further in distance from the wearer's left front edge).

I did not experience difficulty while attaching the front facings to the front edges of the jacket. I iron pressed the back facing to the inside and tacked it to the inside to prevent it from flopping about. The tricky part was where to sew the snap on the wearer's left side so that it does not interfere with the left collar just above it. I spent an inordinate amount of time situating the snap so that the the left collar does not get bunched above the corner where the snap would be. Due to the nature of the fabric coupled with fusible interfacing, my collar is rigid, which made things more bearable. However, I foresee the collar being floppy or bulky with other types of fabric.

Modifications
They're all part of the Rhythm Notions
*Added three hexagonal buttons
*Need to add a snap at the bottom to prevent some sort of jacket "malfunction".
*Shortened the sleeves by 2".


Conclusion
Let's SEW Awhile
I did not have a "2 hour express" experience with this pattern. It was actually more like a "5 hour escapade!" I do highly recommend this pattern for its simplicity and stylishness. I don't plan to sew this asymmetrically collared style in the near future. However, I plan to sew the version with the stand up collar for my sister.