Simple, not Stupid: Linton Blue 1

Thank you so very much encouraging me to sew with your lovely comments on the kilt. I think you all secretly, or not so secretly, long for one and truly I would encourage you to make one for yourself: that swish at the back is hard to beat and actually changes how I walk. I do believe I have re-discovered the hip sway.

Moving on with sewing with Linton Tweed, I’m coming towards the end of my purchases and am now in the blue colour range. Pink here and here and green here and here.

This Internet sewing community we all share has provided so many opportunities and contacts for me and this coat is not an exception. I met Wendy a few years ago while she was visiting her sister who lives in Donegal. Now, Wendy lives in Colorado, so this was something special: she found me via this blog and we arranged a day out. I admired her clothes and especially her coat; she admired my clothes back. We had so much in common, it was like meeting ourselves: we ordered the same thing for lunch, same wine, and after eating we both pulled out the same lipstick! Uncanny.

We were supposed to meet again this year but sadly things just didn’t work out, however, Wendy very kindly gifted me the pattern for her coat, which by the way, she designed herself and has produced as a paper pattern [see below]. Wendy has been working in wardrobe consulting, custom design and teaching as well as producing ready-to-wear collections for years now, as well as sewing exquisite made to measure items for her clients.

The pattern is called ‘Simple Coat’ and technically, I suppose it is but do not be deceived – you can make this as easy or as complicated as you like – it’s that versatile – and gorgeous, I may add. Unlined, lined, any fabric you have, any closure you want, full length sleeves, 3/4 length sleeves, patch pockets, welt pockets, collar up or down – add, subtract, change at will to adapt to suit your sewing skills, allocated time, seasonal requirements, fabric restraints and personal taste. Who doesn’t love a pattern like that? Yeah, I went for the complicated in winter……

This coat has no seams! Well, a couple at the shoulders but that’s it. It has a vintage inspired shape, reminiscent of the 1920s and the 1960s. The first thing DH said when he saw me wearing this was ” That’s lovely.” I can assure you that he was not around in 1920 but he was in 1960 and he hardly ever comments on my attire.

Enough of the build up….. I give you The Simple Coat. The uneven hem edges are due to me sticking my hands into the patch pockets….the hem edges line up perfectly when I’m not wearing the coat

Mine is a lined version with added ‘special’ lined pockets [see below], co-ordinating facings, turned back sleeve cuffs and edge to edge closures. So let’s get to the details.

I used the blue/grey herringbone tweed for the coat to co-ordinate with the blue check fabric. The blue check has a stripe of burnt orange running through it and that’s what I focused on. I just thought that too much blue/grey would be dull. The lining I chose is a paisley orange/red/yellow blend which I am in all honesty in two minds about but it’s in now and will stay there. I added width to the facings with the blue check and faced the hem too. The sleeves I’ll cover next…

As you, hopefully can see, I have the sleeves turned back. I cut the full length sleeves but changed the lining thereof.

I replaced 8″ (20cms) of lining with the co-ordinating blue check wool. The cuff edge of this ‘lining’ was then sewn to the sleeve edge.

Turn the whole thing right side out and you have a proper sleeve, already lined, with the option of contrasting turned back cuffs, should you desire. And my reason for doing this is the trousers (and skirt, yet to be sewn): so now I have An Outfit.

On to the pockets then…. I opted for patch ones. Can you see them?

I have two full-hand pockets on either side with a little more secure inset pocket just on the left. This was a practice version of a lined patch pocket which I put to good use…

Next decision was how to close, or not, the coat. I opted for edge to edge closures with tabs and statement buttons. This sorta makes my coat a wee bit more like a 1960’s duffle coat rather than a high end couture version – but heck, it’s lovely and I’ll wear it for years with all the planned co-ordinating items as well as jeans, black and anything and everything else I can pair with it.

If you would like your own pattern for this very versatile, any season and easy to sew coat, you can email Wendy for your own wendykarnish@comcast.net pattern. I strongly recommend it, even if you only keep it in your pattern stash for that single moment when you think – I need an easy coat pattern.… We’ve all been there…..

Trousers and skirt to follow….

Thank you so much Wendy – a true classic pattern that will be in constant rotation season by season, year by year and never out of date.

Until next time……….are you sewing for Christmas or for yourself?

When I go Internet shopping I tend to put one thing in the basket for them and one for me…….

Kilty

Have you read Outlander? Have you watched the TV series? Are you?

Get a cup of tea, or in keeping with the theme, a glass of golden, smooth whiskey…..to be savoured and slowly, very slowly enjoyed: sipped and tasted recalling ages past and past lives.  Irish is of course much better but I am a wee bit biased although I will totally allow you to enjoy the Scottish equivalent while you read this. Don’t ever go for blended – single malt cannot ever be beaten. Take my word on this.

I’m hooked on Scotland and I blame my wayward and totally original, unique friend ReAnn who makes me do all sorts of things and pushed me to reading this series. To say I’m becoming obsessed with Scotland and all things Scottish may be a slight understatement: books, Amazon Prime viewing, whiskey (apart from the blended) and now clothes……..I’ve always had a hankering for the northern hemisphere, believing myself to be descended from Viking stock whether I am or not and Scotland meets my beliefs half-way. I holidayed in the very far north of Scotland last summer and had the most wonderful time. If you have nothing else to read – go to Scotland.

As a consequence of Outlander and all that tartan (plaid) I was compelled to make a kilt. A kilt is a man’s garment – an extremely long length in the region of 5 – 8 yards of clan tartan, loosely pleated by hand around the back, held in place by means of a belt and the excess draped over the back to be easily hauled up over shoulders as an impromptu cape and sleeping quilt. The quintessential clothing item – provides for all eventualities.

You really must watch this….

 

and this… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R71wNqcRn7k

A kilt skirt is the female version. Now the real problem between a kilt and kilt skirt is the ratio between waist and hips. Conveniently, I happen to have 10″ between the two: 30″ waist and 40″ hips. I did not consider this as I was pleating but more on this later.

With 3m of Linton Tweed wool in a non-traditional check, in other words, not a clan tartan that I had to divide into useable length. My married name is Forrester and my maternal family name is Stewart so there are recognised and recorded tartans for both. I know it’s unbelievable to most of us but there is an organisation who regulates tartans – brilliant!

I took the 140cms width of Linton wool and bravely sliced up the centre, resulting in 3m of length and 70cms (27″) of drop. This was to be the basis and total width of the kilt skirt also determining the length. Nothing like working to restraints to focus the mind. Bear in mind that a man’s kilt can use up to 8 yards of fabric……

With the total width laid out flat I set aside 70cms – 80cms or so on each end for the flat front overlaps and then proceeded to pleat the backside. This had to fit 40″hips. I marked the side “seams” which are not seams at all because this is one single length of fabric but it helped with construction.

There are two types of kilts nowadays: the first being the traditional hand pleated version and the second being the military style which is pleated aforehand and secured with straps. This is the version I followed.

There was simple maths involved: this width between the non existent side seams had to be reduced by pleating to comfortably fit 40″ hips. Easy. For example, if the fabric measured 80″ then each pleat would be 2″.

However, not as easy as that….

I pleated this way

and then that way

and maybe another – to follow the sett, ie. the lines of the check.

I spent a whole week, every day pleating this way and that. To pleat to the sett/ the check / the plaid (pattern) or to go random. To go knife pleats or double pleats or box??

Interestingly, the pleat depth and style changed the colour of the tartan – see pleated and non-pleated on the right – and almost created a brand new fabric. Then the penny dropped with me – straight pleating of fabric just simply makes a large rectangle of fabric a smaller rectangle of fabric. There is no shaping……

To fit a female’s body, the pleats have to be tapered. Each pleat had to be slightly angled from the 40″ hip width to fit the 30″ waist. Look, I couldn’t be bothered to do proper maths and just re-pinned each pleat so that I had the required waist width, combined with the necessary hip width. Use your tape measure. Waist = 32″, hip is 8″ below this and measures 42″.  You have now included ease and wearability as well as a personalised kilt. Use your own measurements in accordance.

Each pleat was tacked in place and pressed to within a thread’s breadth of its life. I scorched the wool in this process [see the brownish tinge above] and the whole house stank. Thankfully, it was on  the inside. So take caution at this stage. I know you want sharp pleats but burnt wool does not make a pleasant smell, nor a perfect garment. Take the time and pleasure in tacking those knife pleats in place, pressing and then take as much care and diligence in ripping out the tacking ….

To keeping those exquisitely pressed pleats in place forever involves a little bit more behind the scenes work. There’s a lot of fabric bulk in pleats: if you have a very slim hip girth in this area might be beneficial but for those of us with more girth, this needs to be trimmed – as scary as this may be.

Machine sew down the length inside of the pleats ending with a strong double-double  stitch to prevent unravelling. This is where I strongly recommend you take some of that strong whiskey to fortify you for the next job in hand, however you do need a steady hand so use with caution.

Trim the pleats. I used pinking shears and cut very, very carefully. – do NOT imbibe too much whiskey at this stage. All the cut offs were held in reserve.

Those cutoffs were then sewn together and formed a belt which combined with other bits and pieces then became a sporran. I absolutely really and know that this is not a traditional female accoutrement to a kilt but it is nevertheless very useful. Where else do you store bits of string, smooth beach stones that your child found 20 years ago, front door keys and other stuff that have no specific category but nevertheless are essential.

Then all of a sudden the kilt skirt began to take shape. But the job was not done yet. Waist finishing, closings, hem and front wrap opening all had to be completed.

Luckily and with a wee bit of foresight, I had intended the hem to be the straight selvedge edge, so at least that was sorted. I cannot imagine having to hem and then knife pleat double wool fabric.

The over front lap was stitched with a very small machine stitch (1mm) to prevent excessive fraying and hand frayed to this mark. Which, hopefully matches the hem fraying.

Now on to the waist. With no darts for shaping to fit the female shape the front of the kilt is angled or rather dropped to accommodate a smaller waist to hip ratio. Personally, I find this quite attractive, even though the checks don’t line up. I’m not bothered and put this into the ‘design feature’ category.

The top waist is interfaced with horsehair, folded over to the inside and edge stitched to hold it in place. Then pressed to within an inch of its life but this time without scorching……

The kilt pin is from Tapit Hen if you’re interested…they have a tonne of stuff and were most courteous. Mine is a celtic twisted blade.

Back to the kilt – There is a half skirt lining inside to accommodate comfort, protecting the pleats and the practicality of not sticking to your 21st century opaque tights.

Underneath that is fusible interfacing that holds those precious pleats in place. But only you and I know that. And only you and I know how scrappy this is…

I managed to source kilt belts and buckles from a local shop which in Belfast is really quite extraordinary. Hooray for HabFab. You want kilt buckles? What colour, what size? This is really what I want from a real life shop – they can provide you instantly with what you need instead of having to wait for Internet delivery.

Those little cutoffs from the pleats were then pressed flat and sewn together to form a button belt. From the reasonably sized leftovers I made the aforementioned sporran.

Because the kilt skirt has no pockets, this provides an alternative. Wear this or not to the other side of the kilt straps to ensure balance. I added an elaborate clasp with drop jewels and beads just for decoration.

I just love wearing this – honest and truly I feel at home when wearing this – the back swing, the flat fitted front which is reminiscent of pure A-line. Have I come home?

It’s been quite cold here this week and wearing this kilt skirt has provided extra warmth, comfort and extreme pleasure – no wonder it was so popular in the Highlands.

Since finishing this I have worn it a hundred times and more. And every time, someone always comments on how they admire it. Do they also have my ancient heritage…  ?

Are they delving unknown into their past heritage?

Isn’t life really interesting?

Whatever your inspiration or motivation….. make whatever feels right

 

 

 

 

Linton Green 1

Here we are at the next set of Linton tweeds: green this time and I’ve got my head back.

I am truly happy with my Linton Pinks but I have a few more Linton’s to sew and hopefully transfer their meticulous weaving  into wearable garments.

I have wanted a herringbone wool jacket for ages and ages that I could wear with jeans and skirts and really and truly just be a good wardrobe staple that will see the years and fashion trends into oblivion.

This is a really great little jacket pattern V8887 that I’m sorry to say is OOPS and probably for many years now but is a little gem that allows you to sew as is (as I have) or you can have the option of adding tailoring, couture variations at will. I choose to tailor the collar and sleeve heads but otherwise I left it alone. It’s a perfect jacket pattern for those entering the tailoring journey : you can select what to spend time and effort on and what not. Previously I’ve made this twice before – flowery cotton and blue fleece.

Makes for a more relaxed jacket that will soften with wear and with the leftovers, I managed to sew up a skirt. So now I have a suit that was not planned. Nice. The skirt is a simple straight A line but I added welt pockets – just because.

Then I had the green check to coordinate/match with the brown olive greenish herringbone. I think went for the most complicated – a kilt skirt without a pattern.

Truly, this this probably the most simplistest of garment ever if we followed the traditional version – a long length of woollen fabric wrapped around the waist and held up with a belt, but a kilt is a male’s garment, a kilt skirt is a female’s, and we all know that there is a distinct difference between waist and hip ratio in the genders.

I watched a lot of online videos on how to make a kilt: I read books and researched it in depth; in the end I just did what felt right….I think I’ll leave this for another post entirely because I’ve a lot to show and tell.

Going back to what I actually made though …. I had enough fabric to make a dress too

McCalls 2401-  always a good staple with so many variations all in one envelope. Reach for the pattern and all will be well. I have used this pattern many, many times and it has become my go to dress for Christmas and beyond when you only have a metre or so to use.

As I was using whatever fabric I had left over from the kilt thing, I didn’t really care at this point if the checks matched…….I’ve seen worse in RTW.   And so have you.

This is not my usual standard I’ll have ye know but fabric dictates the limitations…

It didn’t help that I inadvertently reversed the pieces because the inside and outside of this fabric looks the same. I did get patch pockets though and used the selvedge as trim around the armholes, frayed the hem and pockets too.

Anyway, I sewed the jacket I’ve always wanted and got a skirt to match. Then I sewed a kilt and got a dress out of the bargain too… so by my reckoning, two free items. Two metres of herringbone got me a jacket and a skirt: 3 metres of green check got me a voluptuous kilt and a dress.

 

 

 

 

 

Linton Pink – 2

This was not a good day for taking photographs – I’ve apparently lost my head!

However, I do have a matching skirt for my Linton checked tweed coat from Vogue’s 1527 Paco Peralta’s suit. I’ve bought the silk for the blouse, so that’s on the to do list if I can muster the courage to cut into it.

The skirt was underlined in cotton at the back only and fully lined.

The front split is indeed a split!

Worn together the length of both are exactly the same.

With the little scraps of leftovers, I patched together a scarf….

…..and a wonky scrap boy ….

He’s a scrap boy because he’s filled with strips and strips of leftover fabrics.

Just to prove that I do actually have a head, here’s a little preview of my next Linton project – Green.

Linton Pink – Complete 1

This is a bittersweet moment. I have really enjoyed the slow sewing and the self-imposed tailoring construction processes of Paco’s Vogue 1527. This coat has given me joy, a little heartache too along the way but I am unashamedly declaring, it is a thing of beauty. I am just a little bit sad that it is finished.

On the other hand, a finished garment is always an achievement. Luckily, I have a tonne more Linton tweeds to sew through and if they all go as well as this one I shall be one very happy sewer. Jinx!

I left you the last time showing the insides and as a work in progress because that’s where the lion’s share of the work is and I also wanted at least someone else to see and acknowledge it. Which you did – thank you!

Since then, the hand made shoulder pads and sleeve heads have been inserted and the remaining lining slip stitched/fell stitched and otherwise hand sewn to complete the body. The sleeve underlining is wrinkling because the coat is inside out and bunching up.

DO NOT follow the pattern instructions at this point: insert the sleeves, THEN insert the shoulder pads (Step 27). DO NOT sew shoulder pads in when your coat is inside out. They will not fit when you turn everything right way round. Just tackle the fabric from the right side and get on with it.

The shoulder pads were made with six layers of thin cotton wadding – the same type as used in quilts. Each layer is gradually smaller than the top-most semi-circle, which is covered with a patch of canvas. The whole lot was then pad stitched to form the curve to fit the shoulder. The sleeve head is the same cotton wadding; rolled and hand sewn to the inside of the sleeve seam allowances.

DO NOT trim the arm hole seam allowances – you need these for shoulder pad and sleeve head positioning. DO NOT press this seam; gently steam from the outside only. Yes, it looks really messy on the inside but only you will ever see this but everyone else will only see the outside – choose your battles.

I do love to see a hand stitched sleeve lining with all its genuine wrinkles and slightly uneven gathers – it definitely demonstrates a passion for honest hand sewing and provides true flexibility in the sleeve/arm-hole that is wholly lacking in RTW.

Buttonholes and vintage buttons have been sewn on the sleeve vents and centre front. And I have yet another gripe about the instructions.

So…… you take the time to cut and construct a sleeve vent – doing your very best to make the two symmetrical, make a buttonhole and sew on a button and then the instructions (Step 42) tell you to sew the sleeve lining over the whole lot so that the vent won’t open. There may be times in the wearing of this coat that I want the button open and to fold back the cuffs – by this stage I just ignored the instructions and went with what felt right and what would work for me.

If you buy an original Paco Peralta pattern, it is always beautifully drafted but it comes without instructions.

They are expensive, I’ll grant you that but they are all hand drawn, not printed, and of course designer. No instructions provides a certain amount of freedom and opportunity for individual ingenuity but may not be suitable for the faint hearted or inexperienced sewer, nor those who like a step by step construction process.

To compensate, there are loads of online tutorials and reviews to support you along the way. Personally, I relish the jigsaw puzzle aspect of sewing a pattern without pre-set instructions and often find a new method of construction during the process.

This coat is part 1 of a set of three;  I find it is remarkable on its own and I just want to wear it with jeans, frocks and even jammies – I love it that much! It is a mighty weight on its own, what with all the underlining and canvas and what have you but the tailoring makes the coat fit like a glove: it literally drops over my shoulders and remains in place, perfectly draping my irregular frame and making me stand taller.

I make no apologies for my personal pleasure in just looking at the set in sleeves. This was a slow sewing process and it certainly paid off – exact tailor tacking, basting, fitting and then, only then, sewing. Added to which there was a considerable amount of pressing. When you press wool to tame it into shape, and I mean press not ironing,  leave it to cool and dry in shape. That means you might have to walk away from the ironing board for a wee while. Get a cup of tea and surf the net for inspiration for your next sewing project…..

I read books to help me along the way……..

And watched Craftsy classes…….

Front and back – can you tell which one is which?

Here’s the coat, admirably modelled by Doris – front, back, left and right. Sometimes I hate that mannequin, my clothes always look better on her than me!

There are faults in my coat which I’ll document at a later date, for now, I just want to smile every time I see it and turn a blind eye to the picky problems.

The skirt is cut and ready for sewing. It’s going to be made with the coordinating herringbone that is on the coat collar. Stay tuned.