Tippi Hedren Suit Done! - Butterick 2178

I finished the Tippi Hedren inspired suit Saturday night, just in time for our Italy trip reunion on Sunday - we got together and shared photos and memories.  I usually don't like to sew with a deadline, but I really wanted to finish my suit so our fellow travelers could see that I actually did something with the fabric that I forced them to admire as we left Rome.  Here it is:

Here I am doing my best Tippi Hedren impersonation:

OK, I'm not quite the tall, willowly blond Tippi Hedren was. 

But I am enormously pleased with this suit.  As you can see, my winged collar isn't exactly like Ms. Hedren's, but I think I captured the essence.  As you recall, I began with this pattern:

The Butterick pattern was published in 1963, and had fake pocket flaps, rather than patch pockets, and the jacket had no cuffs.  The film was released in 1963, which means it was probably filmed in 1962.  I recently trolled the internet for 1962 patterns and saw that the suits in 1962 did have the patch pockets and collars more like Ms. Hedren's.  

As you recall, I used McCalls 5972 (the blue dress version) for my dress under the jacket.  It is just a basic, sleeveless sheath dress.  I lined the bodice with some leftover quilting weight cotton I had in my scraps stash.  I did not line the skirt portion.  It was interesting that Edith Head's original conception of the costume was a skirt and blouse under the jacket, just like my pattern.  Somewhere along the way, she must have decided to do a dress instead.

When I lift my arms, the peach colored lining peeks out.  That's OK with me:

Here's the back:

Whoops, I probably needed a little more pressing back there.  The Carpenter didn't get a photo of the bottom of my dress - it's straight, with a back vent.  Because the jacket is boxy, you need a straight skirt.  A full skirt with a boxy jacket is not the most chic look.

This suit was a joy to sew, and my favorite thing I have ever made.  I have high hopes that it will equally be a joy to wear - I certainly enjoyed wearing it this afternoon.  While I usually don't like having self-imposed deadlines, I'm glad I did for this suit because it really is a cooler weather suit.  There's nothing more deflating than working on a garment and then putting it away for six months before you can properly wear it.

All my posts on this project are here.

I anticipate wearing this jacket a lot, with jeans, if nothing else.  I want to make another dress or a skirt to coordinate with the jacket.  I'm thinking of this checked fabric:

(I believe it is some sort of rayon/silk blend.)  I have until February 12th to wear my new suit to the Hollywood Exhibit at the VMFA and compare it to the original inspiration!

It's A Sewing Room Miracle! And the Tippi Hedren Suit Progress - Butterick 2178

On Saturday, Vicki came over and helped me figure out how to organize my sewing room.  She saw it over Christmas - in the same state as the day I moved in a year and a half ago - and she became deeply depressed.  The room was full of boxes and bags of crap, I mean, my stuff, and she felt a great disturbance in The Force - the Sewing Force, that is.  Something Had To Be Done.

My problem was that I was paralyzed by choice.  In the past, I sewed where ever I had a flat surface - give me no room and no choice and I can make it happen, but give me a blank canvas and I'm stuck.  A dedicated sewing room seriously messed with my head.

So Vicki loaded up all her organizing skills and unleashed them at my house.  And at my husband.  The Carpenter now has homework, and he knows it.  He's going to hang a peg board for me, elevate an old table, and create a shelf on top of two bookcases we bought on Saturday.  As soon as he does all that, I'll take photos and post them so you can behold the awesomeness that is my new sewing room.

On Sunday, I entered the sewing room and sewed for 12 hours.  I finally stopped about 11:00 pm but only because The Carpenter said, "Time for bed."  Basically, I finished the jacket of the Tippi Hedren suit!  On Sunday morning it was exactly where you saw it last with only the outer jacket constructed, and by 11:00 pm that night it was complete with only the lining hem to hand sew.  I credit Vicki and the new sewing room configuration.

So here it is:

You can see that I went with a peach colored silk charmeuse for the lining.  I dithered long and hard on this lining.  I considered using the lining I bought for the Gertie coat and the yellow skirt (God knows I have enough of it), but I was concerned it might be a little too warm.  I considered washed silk shantung, but I felt it would be too thin.  The charmeuse is lovely, and I had it in my stash, so I went with it.  

I re-did the pockets and I am much happier with them now:

This wool is very forgiving, and left no stitching marks behind, so it was easy to take them off, and re-orient the seam allowance inside the pocket.  It is much flatter now.

I am very proud of the cuffs, especially since I had to figure them out myself - my pattern had no cuffs:

 Here's how I did it:  I measured the width of my sleeve pattern at the bottom edge (14 1/4 inches).  That measurement became the width of my cuff pattern piece.  I knew I wanted my cuffs to be an inch and half wide, so I doubled that number (to three inches) and then I added my seam allowances (2 half inch seam allowances equals 1 inch), for a total of 4 inches.  So my cuff pattern was 14 1/4 inches by 4 inches.  I cut my cuffs from the pattern on the bias.

 I sewed the short 4 inch sides right side together and then turned the cuff right side out.  I folded the cuff in half length-wise, and sewed the two raw edges of the cuff to the inside of the sleeve.  Then I pressed the cuff to the outside of the sleeve.  By doing it this way, the seam joining the cuff to the sleeve is outside the jacket, rather than inside, but it will be covered by the cuff:

 The inside of the sleeve cuff looks clean and neat:

To keep the cuff turned up, I hand tacked it at the back seam of the sleeve and cuff.  (Doing it this way also automatically hems your sleeve lining as well!)

One thing I love about the sleeves on this jacket is the dart at the elbow, something you don't see in a lot of modern patterns:

  
So the lining.  I drafted my own lining pattern.  I don't know if I did it "right".  I did what made sense to me.  Here we go:

For the sleeves, I just used the sleeve pattern pieces with no change.  For the back lining, I used the back pattern piece, but instead of cutting the pattern piece on the fold, I positioned the pattern piece a half inch from the fold of the fabric: 

The extra half inch became my one inch pleat that gave me extra ease in my lining:

The original pattern fold line became my stitching line.  For the first two inches (from the top neckline), I used my regular sewing stitch.  After the first two inches, I went to a basting stitch until I reach 2 inches from the bottom edge, whereupon I went back to my regular stitch length.  After inserting the lining, I took out the basting stitches, thus releasing my pleat.

The front lining pattern piece was the most challenging.  I took the collar/jacket facing pattern piece,

and laid it over the front jacket pattern piece.  Then I traced whatever the collar/jacket facing pattern piece did not cover, but added an half inch where the facing and lining piece will meet when I stitch them together with a quarter inch seam allowance.  This is what I ended up with:

I know, not very exciting.  But it worked.  I didn't sew the darts in my lining pieces (with the exception of the sleeve dart), but I brought the legs together as tucks.  By not sewing the complete darts, I gave my lining extra ease.  

My one "duh" moment came when I prepared to hem the jacket, fully intending to put in a machine hem, when I realized that I would be hemming right through my pockets.  Doh!  A hand stitched hem was a must.  I have to admit that the interlining, again, helped tremendously, and allowed the hem to be truly invisible since I only stitched to the interlining, rather than all the way to the outer wool layer.  

I still have to hand sew the lining hem to the jacket hem.  Getting the lining lined up correctly is a challenge.  Too loose and it sags; too tight and it makes your garment hang funny.  And what looks right on the hanger doesn't necessarily look right on you.  So it is a lot of pinning and trying on.  I think I have it about right now:

I am enormously pleased with how this jacket has turned out.  With the incredibly soft wool/cashmere outer jacket and silk lining, this is an incredibly luxurious garment.  I have never worked with such gorgeous fabric.

Today I started on the dress that will go under the jacket.  As I have mentioned, I'm using McCalls 5972, and I cut it out today.  It won't be underlined, but I lined the bodice with cotton.  Again, this wool is so fantastic, I sort of don't want the sewing to end.  I might be able to make a vest from the scraps I have left, and don't think I won't try.  : )

I did finish the bodice today; here it is hanging from the back of my chair:

You can see one of the purchases Vicki and I made in the background!

Tippi Hedren Suit - Outer Jacket Complete! Butterick 2178

I finished the outer jacket today and here it is:

The pockets are going to be a lot shallower than depicted in the photo because I haven't hemmed the jacket yet (the hem is a deep 1 3/4 inches).  To make the pockets, I started by looking at the front jacket pattern piece which shows the placement of the pocket flaps:

I measured, and the distances between the two dots above was 5 inches, so I added a half inch for two quarter inch seam allowances.  I then measured to the bottom edge of the pattern piece and that was 5 3/8 inches.  Then I added another two inches because I wanted a fold-over so that the lining of the pocket wouldn't show from the top of the pocket.  So my "pattern piece" for the pocket was 5 1/2 inches by 7 3/8 inches.  I didn't worry about being exact, since I could just trim the bottom of the pocket to be even with the bottom of the jacket.

I cut two pieces from the wool and two pieces from some silk scraps from some silk my in-laws brought me from Singapore.  I sewed them together at the top using a 1/4 inch seam allowance.  Then I stitched them together at the sides, right sides together, with the wool folded about an 1 1/4 inch down.  Then I turned the pockets right side out.  Here is a photo of the back/inside of the pockets:

And here's a close up of the front pocket before it was sewn on:

To attach the pocket, I used the placement dots on the pattern piece to orient me where I wanted the pockets.  I ended up putting them a half inch closer to the front and a half inch higher than the original pocket flap marks.

Then there was nothing left to do but topstitch down the side of each pocket.  I sweated this step though, because topstitching is forever.  (Not really, but it feels like it!)  I've been using the dark pine green thread I used on my Gertie coat for this project, but I felt that it was too dark for this heathered green wool.  I ended up using dark grey thread instead, which I believe blended better with the wool.

Also, I didn't topstitch the pockets all the way to the bottom edge of the jacket because I don't want the pocket edge to interfere with my hemming. So I left the bottom inch unstitched so I can trim the pockets before I hem.  The bottom of the pockets will be covered by the lining.

Of course, as I type, I realize that I should have pressed the wool/silk top seam towards the silk instead of towards the wool; it would lay flatter.  Thus, I'm not completely happy with the pockets, but I'm not certain I'm so unhappy that I would re-do them.  I'll ruminate on it for awhile.

Today I also made a pattern piece for the cuffs, and created a pattern piece for the jacket front lining.  Still don't know if it will work, but I'll make it work.  I laid out all the still uncut pattern pieces, along with the dress pattern pieces just to make sure I'll have enough fabric.  I'll have enough with about 1/4 yard to spare!

Tippi Hedren Suit - A Major Shortcut!

So.  Cutting out.  Never anyone's favorite step in creating your dream garment.  I gave this step a lot of thought for two reasons:  1) I'm working with wool, which from my experience with the Gertie coat, I learned is difficult to mark because chalk is useless; and 2) this wool/cashmere blend is so soft it could slip through the proverbial ring.  The obvious solution was unpalatable: underline the jacket.  Underlining would provide body and structure to the wool, along with a great surface to make all my markings for darts, collar match points, etc.  BUT underlining traditionally involves hand sewing the underlining to your wool and then treating the two as one.  Ugh.

And then I got this idea.  This wonderful, awful idea.  Steam-A-Seam.  No, really.  I figured there would be three pieces that would need to be underlined:  the two fronts and the back.  (I won't underline the sleeves, and the facing/overcollar will be interfaced instead.)  I cut the fronts and back out of muslin and made all the markings I wanted.  Then I laid them down on the wrong side of my wool fabric:

 I pinned the muslin pieces to the wool about an inch and half from the muslin edges.  To apply the Steam-A-Seam, I lifted up the muslin cut edge and put a piece of Steam-A-Seam between the muslin and the wool, just at the edges of the muslin.  

The Steam-A-Seam, even unpressed, is slightly sticky and it kept the muslin and wool together sufficiently that I could go ahead and cut around the muslin pieces.  Then I picked up each piece (carefully), and place it on my ironing board, removed the pins, and pressed all the edges so the Steam-A-Seam adhered the muslin and wool together within the seam allowances.  

And voila!  My pattern pieces were underlined!  I realize that all over the world great past master tailors are rolling in their graves, but I don't care.  It was utterly awesome.  

I can't tell you how this simple idea has opened up my sewing possibilities - without having to handstitch underlining, I'll want to underline everything.  I already use Steam-A-Seam for putting in centered zippers (and I have secretly started using it for invisible zippers too, but I haven't perfected my technique yet), and now I'm wondering:  where else can I use this incredible stuff?

Once the garment pieces had cooled, I machine stitched down the center of my larger darts to keep the layers from shifting while sewing the darts.  Then I just proceeded to sew the jacket as usual.

 This wool is such a joy to work with.  It sews well, it presses beautifully.  I am getting spoiled by working with such a high quality fabric.  No wonder sewers become hooked on tailoring.  Here's a shot of the outside of the front of the jacket.  You can see the french dart:

I continued to look for a way to mark wool, though, and searched high and low for clay tailor's chalk, which will adhere better to wool than just regular chalk.  I finally found this from Wawak, 36 pieces for $ 8.45 in assorted colors.  

I knew I would need this for marking the sleeves, and for marking the dress pattern pieces which I will not be underlining. The pieces came packed in what looked like sawdust:

I used the yellow marker today on the sleeves which have a dart at the elbow, and it worked like a charm!  I can't recommend this product highly enough - I ordered it on Monday and it arrived on Tuesday!  So basically, I'm set for life on clay tailor's chalk.

Tomorrow I hope to finish getting those sleeves set in, cut out and sew the pockets, and figure out how to draft the front lining piece.  But it is coming along nicely.  : )

Back From Italy - And The Tippi Hedren Suit Obsession Continues

The Carpenter and I returned from our pilgrimage to Italy after ten days and what a glorious trip it was!  Above is the first photo I took in Italy - our view from our hotel room in Assisi when we awoke.  I would go back to Assisi in a heartbeat - wonderful views, small town, excellent food.  

There was Florence as well, but the majority of our time was spent in Rome:

The trip was a guided tour with members of our parish and our priest attending.  Mass was said everyday in amazing venues - St. Peters (!), the Catacombs, Santa Croce just to name a few.  

Of course, not all of my time was spent looking at amazing art and learning history - we ate gelato too. Lots and lots of gelato.  I mean A LOT of gelato:  

I guess I'm lucky I only gained one pound on the trip and the tour included 5 to 7 hours of walking every day.  : )

But my obsession with the suit Tippi Hedren wore in the "The Birds" was uninterrupted.  Before I left on the trip, I trolled Etsy for vintage patterns that could work for the jacket portion of her outfit.  I order this Butterick pattern from 1962 or 1963, which could form the basis for the jacket:

The film came out in 1963, so the above pattern really does represent the style of the suit and the times.  The shape, the collar, and the three quarter sleeves are exactly like the costume, although Tippi Hedren's version had cuffs on the sleeves, patch pockets that went all the way to the bottom hem of the jacket, and the collar wasn't in a contrast fabric - all changes I could make.  And of course, she wore it with a dress rather than a skirt and "overblouse" (as it is described in the pattern instructions).

When I got home the pattern was waiting for me, along with some fabric I ordered from Fabric Mart that was on sale that I thought might work:

The fabric on the right is a wool tweed blend, in a greenish color, and the fabric on the left is a rayon checked suiting fabric that could work for the contrast collar or blouse if I choose to go that route. 

But green tweed wool was still on my mind as I traveled the Land of Gelato and Beautiful Art.  Once I reached Rome, our tour guide gave me the name and location of the fabric store her mother frequents and I was instructed to mention Signora Gotti's name for the discount.  I entered Fratelli Bassetti Tessuit on Corso Vittorio Emanuele street and I can only describe it as the catacombs of fabric.  Bolts and bolts of fabric were stacked upon each other, from room to room to room.  (Click on the link above and you can see from the photos what I am talking about.)  

It is a place where I can become easily overwhelmed; I had to concentrate in order to avoid losing my mind.  The silks, the Liberty lawns, the wools; they were all calling to me like the Sirens of Greek myth.  I quickly saw a beautiful bolt of heathered green tweed wool.  I petted it a bit, and below it I saw another bolt of blue wool tweed.  I couldn't decide, but then someone who didn't speak English wanted to help me, so I pointed to the green on impulse.  

It was expensive, even with the Signora Gotti discount.  It turned out to be 80% wool and 20% cashmere, and I had to have it, so I got three meters:

 The top photo shows more of the true color; the bottom photo shows the beautiful sheen.  Unfortunately, the photo cannot demonstrate the incredibly soft hand of this stuff - you'll just have to take my word for it that it is fabulous.

So now I am in a quandary as to what to do with it.  On the one hand, it would be beautiful for the Tippi Hedren suit project - I like this wool more than the Fabric Mart tweed, and I could use the Fabric Mart tweed as my muslin jacket - but on the other hand, it seems this fabric needs a more fabulous design, like a jacket with interesting details that I could wear with jeans or as a suit. Like Hot Patterns Mandalay jacket.  I've never sewn a Hot Patterns design; anyone have any opinion on the fit and quality of drafting??????

So now I'm happily surfing the interwebs for the perfect jacket pattern.  Who knows what I will ultimately decide; searching is half the fun!

The weather wasn't cold enough to wear my new Butterick Coat before I left for Italy but it sure was today.  It had its inaugural wearing today when I went to Mass in the morning and for a walk in the afternoon.  It was warm as toast, and making the pockets in the camelhair wool, rather than the lining fabric, was definitely the right call.  My hands stayed nice and toasty without gloves during our afternoon walk.

I wore it with my new cameo pin I got in Rome.  Here it is on my lapel:

Happy sewing, y'all!