I'm finally getting around to my Simplicity 2443 jacket.
I washed my navy blue corduroy as usual on scalding hot heat and super nuclear dry. I don't want my clothes to shrink after I make them right?
So the first time it happened, I thought that is weird, but it is just a facing. No big deal...
Notice how the fabric is not wide enough to match the pattern?
Then came the sleeve. OK the sleeve is kind of a big deal on a jacket right?
It hangs over on both edges! A lot! So as I worked around it because I didn't have enough fabric to make to separate sleeves and silently cursing Cynthia Rowley for her poor pattern execution it occurred to me: wait, surely this can't be Cynthia's fault? I'm a big fan, and I have heard so much good stuff about this pattern.
I measure my 44" wide material and saw it had shrunk to 40" wide! What the heck? Sure it is Joann's stuff, but a full 4 inches? Then I thought to myself, thank goodness I had prewashed it or I might have had a "Fat Guy in a Little Coat" kind of moment.
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| Chris Farley doing Fat Guy In A Little Coat |
Anyway, it is all cut out now. I think if the sleeve really doesn't work out I can rip it out and buy new material, but I think I can make it work.
In other good news.... I got a coupon in the mail!
My assistant took one look at it and passed out! High Fashion Fabrics is a place I have always wanted to visit. From what I understand it is Houston's closest thing to a fashion district. There is one store for high fashion fabrics and one for home decor. I hear it is incredibly addictive and expensive. I try to stay away from things with that particular reputation, but now that I have a coupon, I may just have to swing in.
On the quilting front I have some fat quarters that I may make the Turning Twenty...Again quilt with. It looks easy, but more skilled than the crazy quilt.
I do have some different news too though, I have been working on my diagnostician certification at Sam Houston State University. I only have one class this semester, but it is a booger. I will be learning how to give a test which measures IQ. That does not sound very hard, but with that I will also be able to label children and adults as intellectually disabled (or mentally retarded, if you are a few days behind). That is a big deal, because that is a label you can never really shake if it is given erroneously. Because of the intensity of the course I am afraid my blogging may suffer until the weekend of December 10.
My usual goal is to get two posts in a week about whatever projects or sewing news I have, but I may need to cut it down to one per week. Bear with me though, I've got the jacket, quilt and another Birdie Sling in the works!
I always wash things like this in cold water, both before I cut the fabric, and after it's sewn into a garment. I've always wondered about shrinking it as much as possible, but I always wash on cold cycle anyways (unless it's only whites), so there's no reason to do it.
ReplyDeleteStill, 4 inches? That a lot of fabric to lose. :( Glad you got it cut out, despite the problems. I'm wondering if we're working with similar fabrics, since my corduroy jacket is also a navy colour. (Do you find that your camera doesn't capture the colour well?)
When it was just me, everything was washed on its proper temperature. Now with the Mister in the house everything is washed all willy nilly. I think it is better if I shrink it than he does. My camera doesn't capture the color well at all. Sometimes it looks black and sometimes it looks very blue. It is just plain old navy!
ReplyDeleteI think that the closest my camera has gotten to capturing the colour right was in my button post, with no flash and relatively low light.
ReplyDeletehttp://sewingonpins.blogspot.com/2011/09/corduroy-jacket-buttons.html
Wow! That is shrinkage! I am paranoid and wash everything on cold. And luckily, my dad who used to shrink things on me and have a subsequent freaked out daughter, figured out the cold button for when I visit. Besides, he's dutch and I explained that it's cheaper to wash on cold :) LOL Problem solved!
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