Monday, November 3, 2014

Vogue 8930

I sewed a coat. It is a simple single layer coat. The pattern was Vogue 8930. I made it reversible too.

For almost a month, what I wrote in my blog hop has kept me thinking about malaise kind of conflict between my standpoint on sewing written in the post and the rest of my self. I've been particularly trapped in one subject (it is so silly to be trapped in what oneself wrote, I wouldn't be able to stop laughing cynically if I am cheerful enough now...) it is about the thought on my sewing skill. I had noticed that I had some inconsistency within myself on this issue for several years. After all, writing blog hop post broke my balloon of concealed problems and I couldn't restore as it was before.

This coat was born after my introspection on the issue. This following long muttering is completely personal and contains nothing useful as a sewing reference. Please scroll down to the second three stars(***) if you simply like to check the link to the pattern and some other small info about the coat. That would help you!



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In the blog hop post, I wrote "If my stitches are straighter than ZARA's, I pass the test", and it was not a lie. By the sentence, it must have seemed to the readers that I didn't care about immaculate sewing at all, but I have to say it was not the case either. Actually I always do care to sew 'well' a lot. Not completely, but I have been a bit dishonest about it in public for years. I wrote it in that way presumably because I wanted to avoid making the readers think that I was one of those who would believe in the predominance of neatest stitches when evaluating garments. I didn't make further explanations in the post though. I had a mixed emotion on having neat seams in my garments, as you will hopefully know below.

There are some people who are fascinated by the garments with neatest stitches, most complicated constructions and most sophisticated techniques. I completely agree with them that beautiful executions give garments a class and the best garments will never be accomplished without them. But unfortunately I've regularly witnessed that there are people who believe in neat stitch supremacy and they tend to look down on other garments because of wonky stitches, boring constructions and other unsatisfactory sewing elements to their standard, too. There I feel unnecessary assumptions of superiority of something, and it makes me uncomfortable. My opinion is that making own garments is not a competition. Everything can be successful including imperfect projects as long as talking about hobby sewing. Better technique is nice but trying to master neat stitches doesn't include shaming others' stitches. I think comparing excellence of executions is too easy, or too simple, to appreciate/depreciate any garment. I don't know how much high level we have to reach before feeling 100% proud of our techniques and who drew the standard line between bad and good, anyway.

Feeling weirdly sensitive to this issue for so long, I became pretending to have no problem with zero improvement in my sewing as if I wished to prove that garments that were made by a less skilled person could be reasonably fine and she could live in them without embarrassed too much. As if I wished to prove there could be many more factors to make garments lovely other than swing techniques. It is difficult for me to explain this silly logic even in my mother tongue, and I'm sorry if you get confused, it's all my fault to have buttons buttoned up incorrectly. I'd say I kinda wished to stay amateur to defend imperfectly stitched self-made beloved garments from being ridiculed by imaginary someone, by setting my personal example, if I was possible. Ah, and finally, the blog hop gave me a chance to understand my logic was way too silly and I had to reconsider. I have unconsciously wished neatness in my sewing but couldn't admit it. I guess it was a little period of rebelliousness in my sewing life. It was childish to feel too uncomfortable with other's opinion. It was silly to be dishonest about motivation to learn.

So I grew a bit, and regretted my laziness and sins about being pretentious on this matter. I reconsidered many things, became a new human, and decided to make a fresh start with sincerer attitude to my hobby. I will try hard to improve my sewing skill openly, like everybody else does. I will try to choose projects that would be particularly good for mastering skills too. I won't laugh at others' stitches but I will do at mine when they're wonky and also when they look brilliant. In the end (or maybe in the first place), skills and experiences are very important factors to make a lovely garment, that's for sure. I still don't believe in supremacy of stitches too much, but I think it's OK as much as everybody else thinks differently.



***
So I made Vogue 8930 in a double-faced plain wool fabric. For the first step as a reborn hobby sewist, I deliberately chose it to learn how to sew double-faced fabrics that was one of completely new techniques to me. I have to say it was so hard to get cleaner seams! I confirmed that I needed many more experiences and practices to be better at sewing, and I felt that it was exciting. And I felt I was honest about it, finally.

 

I referred some tutorials for executing seams and edges in this coat. You can see better explanations here and here, for instances. Please have visits at those links to get an idea for what I did, and you will know that it needs much effort and neat hand sewing to get a single garment done. It took very long for me, and it was great to have such a meditative session after the rebelliousness period.

Apart from special executions for double-faced fabric, I followed the instructions except the pockets. Since the fabric was double-faced, I wanted to check how it would look on me from both sides and check if I could use it as a reversible garment. I wanted to have pockets in it, definitely, but was yet to know which kind of pockets would be good until the garment was done. I once completed the coat without pockets, and applied them on the whole coat. It wasn't a great idea after all (of course not), because this garment was particularly huge and heavy to move under the sewing machine. But it was a laughable experience and I somehow made it done. It has four patch pockets altogether, two in each side in a completely reversible manner with least top stitches in both sides.

The coat is very warm because of the huge collar. It is also great since this can be worn over bulky sweaters and dolman sleeves without any jam-packing of sleeves. My color choice may have been a bit unusual, but I take it funky.

I reconsidered many other things as well. I wish that they will influence on my future projects and on my blog(s) in a good way, eventually.

can be worn with smaller collar.
this way it is particularly useful to hide away. pretty much invisible.


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pattern: vogue 8930
reversible garment. alterations in pockets.
I sewed view B in size S (I am 166cm/5'5")

fabric: double faced wool fabric, plain, warm, slightly heavy.
148cm wide x 2.6m long
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Wishing you happy moments!

Love,
yoshimi








hey, it's reversible!



40 comments:

  1. Yoshimi, you are so funny... I love the photo when you are invisible! I LOVE your coat... the colour,the style and the way it makes you invisible. Beautiful. And so your colour.

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    1. Thank you for your kind words! I love that silly photo too :)

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  2. It is so interesting to read about the reflection about your logic. They give me lots of things to think about as I often feel quite insecure -not just about sewing! I have to learn to ignore the imaginary judging voice in my head.

    As for the coat, it is beautiful as usual! I've never heard about double-faced wool before so I'm quiet intrigued by it. I never thought much about the pattern when I saw it on Vogue site, your version is far more beautiful! Thank you for the links to how to do the seams, very interesting!

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    1. Yes, being preoccupied by the imaginary judging voice is not very helpful to live a full life but it is often so difficult to get away. I hope I'll be fine from now on! Thank you for your compliment, Novita!

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  3. Such a beautiful coat in a gorgeous color! Your garments always seem so impeccable I don't think there was any doubt in anyone's mind that making things well matters to you, though I agree with you that sewing should fun, first and foremost.

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    1. Thank you, Sara! I really love seeing people creating own clothes and enjoying the results, but I was too nosy, I have to say. I should stop thinking silly things too much, and start enjoying more about sewing :)

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  4. It's so beautiful - I think the colours are perfect for such a special coat. Sewing this double sided wool sounds very challenging, but I'm not surprised to see you mastered it :). No need to hide your skills, I for one am interested in seeing perfectly executed tricky details in some sewing projects!

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    1. Thank you, Gabrielle! I love those colors on this coat too! I hope my skill will be improving, and I'm glad that I can say it here. I say that now I am fond of working with double sided wool too.

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  5. This is a truly sensational coat and I want an identical one! I love the fact that it completely matches the sky and you could be invisible. Your internal conversation was very entertaining, thank you for sharing.

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    1. Thank you, Sue! I was lucky to have such a fine day, but didn't expect my coat would match to the sky this much! Thank you for reading my mutter too, I'm glad to hear that it wasn't too disturbing.

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  6. Introspection helps you focus on taking your sewing skills to the next level. Every sew-er I know suffers from malaise occasionally and emerges the better for it.
    This color looks amazing on you.
    Gorgeous coat.

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    1. I'm glad to hear what you say! I should be happy if it take me to the next level :) Thank you for your comment, kathy.

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  7. Wow Yoshimi....you wear this coat well! The style and colour are so flattering and I agree with verypurpleperson, your version is much more eye-catching!

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    1. Thank you very much, Rianna! I didn't have a large choice of fabrics, but I found it and thought it would make nice V8930. I was lucky!

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  8. I love this coat! I have this pattern and very nearly used it a while back. Now I wish I did. Beautiful work.

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    1. Thank you, Debbie! It was actually very easy to sew (as it says on the envelope). Hope you will feel to try it in the future :) I warn you, the collar is huge (but it is pretty).

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  9. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts about sewing. It's also given me a bit to think about!! I am quite a perfectionist and I am always looking for "perfect sewing" when making my own garments, so I think I sometimes need to go with "close enough is good enough"!

    Your coat is gorgeous and thanks for sharing the links to sewing double faced fabrics. I never thought to do this, so I will definitely look at trying it.

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    1. Thank you for your comment, Belinda. "close enough is good enough" sounds just right to me and this coat. BTW it was fun to use the double faced fabric. I'd recommend you to try it if you're interested in it :)

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  10. I agree, sewing should be fun and not too much self scrutiny. I know what you mean about pursuing the perfect stitches. A friend of mine says "you can't see the spots on a galloping horse" meaning no one is going to get so close to our hand made garments and see any imperfections that we might perceive. Your coat is BEAUTIFUL! I love the color and it looks great on you. cheerful, chic and cozy all at the same time.

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    1. Thank you, Beth, for your kind response on what I wrote. You and your friends are totally right! I think I was insecure and tried to avoid to be so in an odd way. Thank you for the words on my coat too, I think it turned out great :)

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  11. I love your coat, Yoshimi. Those blues look wonderful on you.

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    1. Thank you, patsijean! The coat is very blue and I love it ;)

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  12. Sometimes beautifully sewn garments are boring, or made in the wrong fabric, or lacking in that certain wow! factor. There are many skills required to make beautiful clothing, and neat sewing makes up only some of that skill set. Acknowledging this allows you to both admire neatly sewn clothes, as well as less neatly sewn clothes by others, by appreciating their design, or fabric choice, or combinations or fit or just their courage in tackling such a project. In the same way, you can admire the painting of a small child, as well as a professional artist...participating in the journey is what counts.

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    1. Thank you for your comment, katherine. That is exactly what you say! I shouldn't have been too insecure about what people would think on amateur sewn garments, because everybody admires things in own way and it is a great fact.

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  13. What a beautiful Coat and I love the color . You should be so proud of this great work. You should not worry about anyone else's opinion. We are so lucky to be able to create such beautiful clothes and a few stray stitches here and there is not worth worring over.

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    1. Thank you so much, Mary. It was like that I forgot what I was sewing for. We're lucky, you're so right.

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  14. Mein Englisch ist fürchterlich, daher lieber auf Deutsch.... super schöner Mantel. Tolle Farben. Ich geh mir dann gleich mal den Schnitt genauer anschauen. Danke fürs Zeigen.
    Liebe Grüße Jacky

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    1. Danke! Dieses Muster sieht vielleicht sehr einfach aus, aber es ergibt ein großes Ergebnis. Ich bin du wie es froh.
      Am I understandable? I hope so!!!

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  15. Yoshimi, this is just beautiful! Would you mind if we shared a photo on our social media? Please email me at Facebook@voguepatterns.com. Thanks! —Meg

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    1. I've sent a mail, thank you for your kind words!

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  16. A truly lovely coat, and some good thoughts.

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  17. Truly amazing and glorious coat, beautiful detailed work.

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  18. this is stunning! beautiful work. it's making me dream of making one for myself.

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    1. Thank you, Kaci! Though it took me sometime to finish, the coat itself wasn't difficult to sew. I'd recommend you to have a go when you find a nice fabric :)

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  19. I am glad you've got your sewing joy back. It really should be fun for you and you do it REALLY well. My idea of a successful garment is if it gets worn, not how it was made. I'm sure you're coat will get worn since it's freaking gorgeous! I love that blue you chose and can only imagine how hard it was to sew that double faced wool! You're a brave girl!

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    1. I love what you wrote, "a successful garment is if it gets worn, not how it was made." That is so true.

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Thank you for your comments!!