Fueled by vast quantities of Kauai coffee, I started on a new jacket for Williamsburg. Yeah, I went there. Made from this purple-shot-with-red dupioni silk in The Stash. First, I dug out the J.P. Ryan jacket pattern I’d fitted last fall in planning for the Lumieres gambling party (but abandoned in favor of the stripey anglaise).
I tried the muslin on and didn’t like the fit. So I padded out my dressform (ehem), corseted it, and pinned away. Adjusted the back some and took a big old dart in the front (that I patterned out). Didn’t want to waste time on another muslin, so I risked it by cutting the next version out of the black linen intended to be the lining. Ta-da! Fit great.
Had lunch and got the idea (perhaps inspired by Ru-Paul’s Drag Race, which just tells me to make everything more FABULOUS) to make the jacket pin over a stomacher, specifically a stomacher made of this lavender silk-like scrap of fabric trimmed w/a diamond pattern of ribbon, a gift from Loren. It’s already covered in goodness, so automatically ups the interest factor.
Tried on the lining over corset and re-marked the front edge, with occasional reference to the laced-front / stomacher-front jackets in Janet Arnold for necklines. Re-cut and marked muslin pattern. Cut and sewed silk. Watched more Ru-Paul while my back un-kinked. Made a cocktail, clipped and pressed seams. Then bag-lined, baby. Turned and pressed the bejezzus out of that sucker.
It’s now sitting on the dressform, whilst I make shrimp korma (bottled sauce) for dinner.
The stomacher should be easy-peasy. Then it’s time to trim, trim, trim. This *could* be done in time — wish me luck, bitches!