Seamwork Chip knit jacket
2024-May-22, Wednesday 11:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chebeSeamwork's Chip is a motorcycle-style jacket. Except it's actually a knit cardigan, just a funky looking one with an overlapping front section and zip closure. You might be noticing a trend in layering and outerwear pieces of late. And you would be right on the money. I'm going camping at the end of the month, and am over-thinking the whole thing. I was saddened to discover that the natural fibres I'd been favouring are the exact worst possible thing to wear while camping in this wet and often chilly climate. The best natural 'fabrics' are wool, and down (duck or goose). Otherwise polyester is what I need. *sigh*
This is the first time I'm making this pattern, it's a relaxed fit with good amount of ease, and a knit too. I'm going straight to fashion fabric, in a size 16 (this is, again, an earlier pattern, so there's no separate Curvy range).
'[G]o bold in a bright boucle' they say. Okay I said, but first I have to find one. Which wasn't until I was introduced to a new-to-me German shop. I used this fine knit jersey Boucle, bluish purple, 100% polyester, 270gsm. Which I've never used before.
I'm using mostly black thread, but have some Gütermann colour 158, which is a bit pinker than the fabric, but blends well, for any hand sewing. I'm using a chunky black plastic zipper, and have some gunmetal spring snaps at hand.
The first step is to apply fusible interfacing to two of 'A - Front center', one of 'E - Collar', and 'F - Back facing'. And this is where things start to go wrong. The heat of the iron required to apply the interfacing shrank the boucle. But only in the direction of the grain. As in, the 'A - Front center' pieces ended up shorter than their counterparts. I dallied about how to fix it. In the end I recut one of 'E - Collar', and I added extension pieces onto the two 'A - Front center's, because these pieces are meant for the inner facings and shouldn't be visible.
With that crisis resolved I continued on with sewing up the top, using a walking foot. Weirdly, when I was sewing the 'A - Front center's together the interfaced pieces stretched so that half the length I'd added on needed to be cut off again. This fabric is non-Newtonian and I don't enjoy working with it.
Otherwise things seemed to be going well until I realised that I'd sewn half the zip in wrong, and created a centre closure instead of an overlapping one. I'd already begun top-stitching at this point, and could not conceive of unpicking this loopy fabric all the way back to nearly the first step. Instead I kept the zipper as it was, consoling myself that it meant I'd be able to layer it over many, many underlayers. (Even if the neckline 'bubbles' and sits weird.) (And I didn't complete all the top-stitching, it just didn't seem to make sense any more.) I also added four snap closures to close it the way it was supposed to from the beginning. Which actually gives me a variety of ways to close/wear this top, so I'm not mad. But, I'd ordered the snaps from far overseas, and they arrived without a setting kit. The first setting tools I tried didn't fit and I destroyed some components. The second were close enough, but not perfect. I'm hoping they stand up to usage.
The other main problem I had was with the collar. When sewing you're supposed to catch the other side and have it all neatly closed up. But that almost never happens, and I end up having to hand-sew the pieces together. Now this usually happens to me with Seamwork two piece collars, so either I'm missing something really obvious, or I need to find a better method. (If the undercollar piece was an extra seam-allowance taller it would work, but they're always identical.)
The fit is roomy, and cropped. The fabric is soft and cosy. Overall this is very light, and easy to throw on over anything. I will be able to confirm success after the camping trip.
Preparation
This is the first time I'm making this pattern, it's a relaxed fit with good amount of ease, and a knit too. I'm going straight to fashion fabric, in a size 16 (this is, again, an earlier pattern, so there's no separate Curvy range).
'[G]o bold in a bright boucle' they say. Okay I said, but first I have to find one. Which wasn't until I was introduced to a new-to-me German shop. I used this fine knit jersey Boucle, bluish purple, 100% polyester, 270gsm. Which I've never used before.
I'm using mostly black thread, but have some Gütermann colour 158, which is a bit pinker than the fabric, but blends well, for any hand sewing. I'm using a chunky black plastic zipper, and have some gunmetal spring snaps at hand.
Construction
The first step is to apply fusible interfacing to two of 'A - Front center', one of 'E - Collar', and 'F - Back facing'. And this is where things start to go wrong. The heat of the iron required to apply the interfacing shrank the boucle. But only in the direction of the grain. As in, the 'A - Front center' pieces ended up shorter than their counterparts. I dallied about how to fix it. In the end I recut one of 'E - Collar', and I added extension pieces onto the two 'A - Front center's, because these pieces are meant for the inner facings and shouldn't be visible.
With that crisis resolved I continued on with sewing up the top, using a walking foot. Weirdly, when I was sewing the 'A - Front center's together the interfaced pieces stretched so that half the length I'd added on needed to be cut off again. This fabric is non-Newtonian and I don't enjoy working with it.
Otherwise things seemed to be going well until I realised that I'd sewn half the zip in wrong, and created a centre closure instead of an overlapping one. I'd already begun top-stitching at this point, and could not conceive of unpicking this loopy fabric all the way back to nearly the first step. Instead I kept the zipper as it was, consoling myself that it meant I'd be able to layer it over many, many underlayers. (Even if the neckline 'bubbles' and sits weird.) (And I didn't complete all the top-stitching, it just didn't seem to make sense any more.) I also added four snap closures to close it the way it was supposed to from the beginning. Which actually gives me a variety of ways to close/wear this top, so I'm not mad. But, I'd ordered the snaps from far overseas, and they arrived without a setting kit. The first setting tools I tried didn't fit and I destroyed some components. The second were close enough, but not perfect. I'm hoping they stand up to usage.
The other main problem I had was with the collar. When sewing you're supposed to catch the other side and have it all neatly closed up. But that almost never happens, and I end up having to hand-sew the pieces together. Now this usually happens to me with Seamwork two piece collars, so either I'm missing something really obvious, or I need to find a better method. (If the undercollar piece was an extra seam-allowance taller it would work, but they're always identical.)
Result
The fit is roomy, and cropped. The fabric is soft and cosy. Overall this is very light, and easy to throw on over anything. I will be able to confirm success after the camping trip.
Seamwork Chip, finished, back view
Photo by chebe
Seamwork Chip, finished, front view, zipped closed
Photo by chebe
Seamwork Chip, finished, front view, buttoned closed
Photo by chebe
Seamwork Chip, finished, front view, buttoned opened
Photo by chebe
