It just takes something small to spark the imagination, chew on it a little while and keep taking small steps toward your vision. Sometimes it works out, sometimes you get lessons learned. The important thing is to not hold back and talk yourself out of trying something new.
Last April I found myself in downtown LA at Michael Levine's The Loft. The boxes had been picked through pretty good, but I found this mushroom colored cotton mesh. The light bulb went on and I thought that the pieces were just large enough to embellish some pockets on a pair of drawstring bottom weight linen shorts. So I grabbed the scraps while thinking "I need to find matching fabric!" Note to self: it is never that simple.
So how did I get from shorts to Butterick B5617?
I searched everywhere for the fabric that matched the exact color in my head. The match was something I needed to see in person, in good light so I didn't have confidence with online ordering for this one. I was going for texture on this project. Focusing only on the color requirement, I found it in the remnant room at Golden D'or Fabrics back in Dallas.
The caveat was... it was stretch crepe. Ugh! I walked away but came back a week later (it was the perfect color match). What can I say? Once I get something in my head it's hard for me not to make it work so I had to think on it for a while. I knew this fabric was not appropriate for the original vision. It is dry clean only, and oh that stretch... ugh! So what to do? I looked at the options and changed the vision. This pattern (B5617) has flat front pockets (aah ha!) that are inset in the front bodice. The back has a lower back panel that matches up to the front pocket. I wish I would have had enough of the mesh to face that lower back panel. It would have made an interesting wrap-around effect. It's a little hard to see in the picture, but you can see here where the lower back has a seam that meets at the pocket.
I had to make several adjustments on this pattern because I wasn't sure about the size. I'm learning to look at the measurement chart and started with the correct bust measurement (learning a lot about FBA and narrow shoulder adjustments). This turned out to be waaay too big. So there were lots of basting and fitting sessions. The stretch was also a problem. I interfaced the pocket front to support the heavy mesh and the entire front band (not just to the fold line) in anticipation of it hosting buttons. If I had to do this again with this fabric, because of the stretchy nature, I would interface the whole jacket to stabilize the fabric and line it. I will use this pattern again and probably experiment with color contrasts to highlight that wrap-around potential. Another idea is to do a peak-a-boo piping or small cotton lace along the top pocket seam line to try and make it a little more feminine.
For this version, I'm thinking about placing a button on the pockets to keep them from gaping. The interfacing and added bulk from the cotton mesh on the pocket front and the soft un-faced front piece sort of repel each other like opposite sides of a magnet. This was a good lessons learned project and I'm still thinking about mesh embellishments on other casual garments. I've noticed there are a lot of garments using faced eyelet lately, so maybe I'm on to something. Here are a few shots of the final result. Still have to pick some buttons to finish it off.
Lessons learned:
1. Stretch crepe is really hard to work with. This is a pretty straight line jacket that is loose fitting. I struggled with every seam. I don't want to use it for any of my projects again.
2. I need to practice with the Full Bust Adjustment (FBA). I can't cut size 22 (because that is my bust measurement), and successfully grade the rest of the garment to size 12.
