Happy Monday, everyone! What a fantastic weekend. You guys really like the Renfrew Top! I was thrilled to see such a positive reaction to this new pattern. It’s the perfect thing for layering on cold days like today!
Three things to mention today:
1. The Renfrew Presale is on! The pattern is posted in the Pattern Store, but only mailing list members have the secret code to get free shipping. Sign up today for the secret code! (We’re doing it differently this round, using a code to apply the free shipping discount. So far it works very well! If you have any problems placing an order, just let me know.)
I’ve seen a few questions come up regarding this top pattern, so I’ll put together a Q&A post shortly to respond!
2. I wanted to check in with the Minoru Sew Along crew. How’s it going? How are you feeling so far? We’ve covered a lot of information, but the actual sewing time isn’t as long as it seems. It’s more the decision-making that takes up time – how will we topstitch the seams? do we want to add piping? how will we mark our cut fabric pieces? Once we decide, it’s easy to plow through the sewing steps.
Are you all caught up, more or less? Ready for more sew-along steps tomorrow? (I’m guessing yes, so it’s time for me to madly sew and photograph!)
Need to catch up? Here are links to previous Sew-Along posts:
- Join the Minoru Sew-Along: January 16th, 2012! (Find the Sew-Along badge here, too!)
- Why is the Minoru Jacket Pattern Not Suitable for Plaid Fabric?
- Guest Post: Caroline on Sewing Waterproof Outerwear
- Minoru Jacket Q & A
- Fabric Recommendations for the Minoru Jacket
- A Full Bust Adjustment on the Minoru Jacket, Courtesy of Alana
- Sew-Along Speed: How Fast Do You Want to Go?
- My Minoru Jacket Fabric Choices
- Five Ways to Tell if Your Fabric Is Water-Resistant
- Minoru Inspiration: Dots!
- Update: Minoru Sew-Along Starts on Monday!
- The Very First Minoru Muslin
- Minoru Sew-Along #1: Let’s Get Started!
- Minoru Sew-Along #2: Sewing Sleeves and Topstitching Tips
- What is Triple Stitch?
- How to Make Your Own Piping
- Minoru Sew-Along #3: Gathering!
- Minoru Sew-Along #4: Sewing the Hood
3. I switched up the lining for my Sew-Along jacket. Instead of the solid, matching peach rayon lining, I’m going to use this polyester striped lining. A little more interesting for when my jacket swings open in the wind or when I reach for my keys in the inside pocket.
As you can see, I haven’t cut my lining yet, so I’m off to do that. If you haven’t cut your lining yet, and you’re making View A with the hood, we’ll need our lining tomorrow for sewing the collar. Pressed for time? Just cut one Collar piece from your lining and you’ll be ready for tomorrow’s sewing steps.
Back tomorrow with more Sew-Along steps!
Love the new top Tasia. The subscription feature isn’t working. When you try and go to it, it gives you a message saying “bad gateway”.
Hi Heather! Try this link:
http://sewaholic.us1.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=ff503ea1e656d886223acea5a&id=7e3deb7cf6
If that still doesn’t work, let me know and I can add you manually! Sorry about the hassle. I’m glad you like the new top pattern!
I’ve emailed you too as I didn’t get the news letter for some reason!
Love the new lining – and I’m all caught up on the jacket front, although I’ve only cut one collar lining piece… I must have mis-read the instructions so I’ll cut another shortly!
Don’t worry, all you need is one lining collar piece! Sorry if that was confusing. I meant that all you need to cut is one piece, as opposed to cutting all of the lining pieces in general.
I think we’ve got you sorted with the email newsletter – thanks for the order! :)
I’m all caught up on the Sew Along and a bit further. I spent a lot of time Saturday staring at the jacket, though, deciding exactly how I wanted to add pockets. I ended up cutting off the front piece right under the elastic markings (scary!), and drafted two new pieces for that part so I could add pockets a little closer to the zipper rather than at the side seams. This is difficult to explain, but I got the idea from a men’s pattern I made my husband a while back (http://kwiksew.com/Catalog/cat_detail.cfm?pid=3815&Cat=Men&Level=Jackets,_Vests&QL=MenJacketsVest). I meant to get pictures up on my blog this morning, but Downton Abbey was up on PBS.org and well…… I don’t have to explain the rest :)
After some blood, sweat, and tears the pockets came out beautifully!
I’m looking forward to the rest of the Sew Along!
I am thinking about adding pockets as well. I am still very new to making clothes, so I was thinking that the easiest way for me to add pockets is by sewing on pockets to the outside of the jacket, kinda like this one from the flicker pool: http://www.flickr.com/photos/acbrown28/6696052097/in/pool-sewaholicpatterns/.
I may change the shape of the pockets, making them slanted towards the side-seams to make it easier to get your hands into the pockets. I’m going to try and draft pockets tonight for my muslin and see how it looks. Wish me luck!
I also added pockets to my jacket, but simply added them in the side seams. This is a pretty good explanation of what I did: http://seekatesew.blogspot.com/2011/07/sewing-101-adding-pockets-to-any-skirt.html
I do like the pockets on the outside too though!
What a neat way to do pockets! I’m glad they worked out for you!
Ha im loving it so far! Its so simple to sew its rather ridiculous!
I just have a question that has been baffling me… how long does the elastic have to be? I know it says two yards and i read that there is an elastic guide for cutting it… i just coudnt find said guide. am i blind?
you rock btw. (just in case you didnt know this already…)
The elastic guide is on the instruction sheet! It’s on the left side of the front page, just under the little drawings and pattern piece list. I know, it’s a bit random but it was the only place there was room!
I just finished my first muslin but I think I am going to need a second! Bummer I was hoping to get caught up this weekend, but I really want to ensure I have the sizing and everything correct before I cut my fabric!
I am a bit further along as well. I am not making a hood, so I forged ahead. I have the jacket collar on, and am ready to attach the zipper placket. This step is confusing to me. When I line up the marks near the hem, my placket reaches above the top of the collar. Am I to sew the placket all the way over the collar? Can someone who has gone this far speak up and clarify for me? Thanks :-)
Are you possibly attaching it upside-down? (Or, on the wrong side?) The placket should not go up above the collar – it should line up at the top (if I did my muslin correctly, of course!).
Thanks Noreen for jumping in – yes, the placket should line up at the top of the collar. The placket is shorter than the jacket, when we stitch 1.5cm (5/8″) across the bottom of the placket, and turn it, that forms the guide for folding up our hem.
I hope this makes sense! If not, it will be covered with step-by-step photos soon.
thank you Noreen and Tasia, I’ll check it again in the morning. Perhaps I didn’t get my 2nd petite adjustment taken out of the placket. hmmm…
Hi Tasia,
I’m up to date with the Minoru and since the beat is quite relax, I’ve decided to make a spring version also. So I went fabric shopping this weekend and bought some nice black twill. And guess what ? I even found some beautiful knits for the upcoming Renfrew…
Oh nice – black twill will go with everything! And now you’re all set for the Renfrew top too. You’ll have a couple of great weekend wardrobe pieces soon!
I’m rip-roarin’ and ready to move forward on the Minoru! Let’s go! :)
LOVE the new Renfrew top, too! I’m on a pattern-buying hiatus until April, but I’ll be adding it to my collection SOON. SO cute!
But Darci, you can get free shipping now, not in April! :) Good for you for sticking to your pattern-buying freeze. Whenever I tell myself ‘no more ____’ is when I find the perfect fabrics, patterns or whatever it is! I’m glad you like the new top!
HI Tasia,
quick question in regards to sizing.. I have made both Pendrell and Lonsdale in Size 12. I cut that for my Minrou muslin but for a jacket it is looking to be pretty tight. Would you recommend cutting a size or two up or am I better off just making some adjustments to the current size? I haven’t installed a zipper to the muslin but it looks like if I were to zip up the current jacket It would be skin tight in pretty much all areas, but I am afraid if I cut up two sizes it might end up being too baggy. Just wondering what other might have done as I haven’t heard of anyone else having the same problems with sizing.
Jessica, I also thought it was super tight before I added the placket in my muslin. Have you done that? You don’t need to add the zipper unless the fit is “iffy”. I used my RTW size 8,10 with a bit of room through my hips, just in case. The jacket is fitting well, though kinda loose. HTH until Tasia can respond.
Thanks Mary! That’s what I suspected too. The two front bands add quite a bit of width at the front and there can be a moment of panic when you try to close the jacket without them! I hope that’s what the problem is. The sizing is on par with the other Sewaholic patterns.
The pace is perfect. I am up-to-date, although I think I will add one more row of gathering stitches like Colette patterns tip was mentioned by Amy from Sew Well. I just put in my Renfrew order with free shipping a moment ago! Yay for me.
Awesome! Thanks for the order!
I like that tip, I wish I’d done the three-row gathers on mine too for a more even look.
HI Mary!
You are right I haven’t added the placket! I had forgot all about it after I tried the jacket on to check on the sleeves and realized it was too tight!! I am going to add the placket tonight and double check. Thank you for the help!
Hello, I’m late joining the sew along and I’ve caught up with the steps so far – thank you Tasia. As I’m sewing a raincoat, waterproofing the seams will probably delay me again – the guest post on Sewing Waterproof Outerwear is so helpful. I used topstitching thread in the bobbin and it worked perfectly on the seams. As well as lining the hood, I’ve also decided to put pockets in the side seams http://www.flickr.com/photos/37651834@N06/
I hope the rest of my progress will go so smoothly!
I like the scientific measuring of the inseam pocket – place hand, draw around it. That’s basically how to make a pocket that fits your hand! Glad you’re all caught up. It’s been a crazy week here so I bet you’ll be able to keep up as we go, I have to do some catching up myself!
If I can add an addendum to this (learned from painful experience): make sure the opening of the pocket is at least as wide as the widest part of your hand! I didn’t do this for a skirt once and realized when I was all done that I couldn’t actually put my hands in my pockets. :(
Thanks Tasia, nothing like a bit of science :-)
Katherine – this is really important, and I have made that mistake before too, I was just lucky that it was on a dress for my daughter so she could still use the pocket.
The Minoru Q&A post also has helpful links to in-seam pocket tutorials on Burdastyle.
Question regarding the Renfrew top… my husband has a very oversize cashmere jumper (sweater) and I was wondering if anyone has ever recut a woollen in order to resew it? Will it just run like crazy even if I overlock it? I’m sure one of the Sewaholics has the answer!
I’ve never re-cut a sweater to re-sew it. But I know people have done it before! Patty at the Snug Bug has re-cut sweaters into cardigans if I remember correctly.
Check out these links on Patty’s blog on restyling sweaters – this might give you some ideas!
http://pattythesnugbug.com/2011/flop-fix-3-fine-tuned-thrift-find/
http://pattythesnugbug.com/2011/my-upcycled-hot-glue-anthropolgie-esque/
this one has lots of suggestions and tips for re-working knits:
http://pattythesnugbug.com/2011/flop-week-wrap-up/
Hope this helps! My biggest concern would be the knit unravelling and falling apart when it’s cut, before it’s re-sewn. A serger would help, if you pre-serged the edges of the pieces as they’re taken apart. The bigger the sweater, the better as you’ll be able to cut your pieces in the middle of the salvaged parts.
Hey everyone! Crazy day today, just finally getting a chance to reply to comments now!
If anyone’s having trouble signing up for the mailing list, try this link?
http://sewaholic.us1.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=ff503ea1e656d886223acea5a&id=7e3deb7cf6
It works on my computer and I’ve seen sign-ups happening all day, so it looks like the problem may have been resolved. If it still won’t work, I can add you manually, just let me know!
Eek, I am a little behind as work is getting the best of me. I do have one question for you though – I cannot seem to find 2 inch wide elastic. Every store I’ve gone to (all three of them) is sold out an can’t order more (as policy is that corporate decides what inventory to send to the stores). I was able to find 1.5 inch elastic. Do you think this will work, or should I continue my hunt? Thanks!
Oh no! What a pain. The difference between using 2″ and 1.5″ elastic isn’t too bad but some parts of your jacket will look a bit different…
The waistline elastic – this will be slightly narrower using 1.5″ elastic. If you’re going to substitute, I’d suggest marking your elastic placement lines slightly closer together as these lines were designed for 2″ elastic. (Otherwise your elastic will move and slide around in the casing!) Depending on where the placement lines fall on your body, either move the top line 1/2″ down, or the bottom line 1/2″ up.
The cuffs – these are also designed for 2″ elastic. You may want to shorten the cuff by 1/2″, so the elastic fits inside it. (And then you might also want to lengthen your sleeve by 1/2″ so the length stays the same.) Or, you can use the narrower elastic and let it ‘float’ in the cuff.
If it were me, I’d look for 2″ but then again I’m lucky to have stores locally that stock everything. I wouldn’t mind the waistline with 1.5″ elastic but I’d want to make sure my cuffs were shortened for the narrower elastic. The sleeves are generous in length so you may not need to worry about lengthing them if you’ve already cut your fabric!
I hope this helps!
Hi Tasia – thanks for the reply. I think I will try to hunt down some 2″ wide elastic. If I absolutely cannot find it, I will use your recommended alterations.
Hi, If you would like to, I could send you some 2 inch elastic?
If you would, please send me your adress at mq@live.dk
I have worked i a fabricstore, so i have a little stok with that kind of things ;)
MalleQ – Wow thank you so much for the offer (sorry I am just seeing this comment today). I was able to find 1-3/4″ so I think that should work.
I’m all caught up and ready for the next step! I love my jacket so far. I do have a question about the collar–I couldn’t find an 18 inch closed-end zipper that matched my front zipper to save my life. Do you have any tips for how to adapt a separating zipper to work?
I also have an 18″ separating zipper in my hood. There’s actually nothing you have to do to adapt it other than cover a bit of the end (where the zipper separates at the bottom) with the opening in the fabric. That way, you’ll never physically be able to open the zipper all the way so that it separates, and voila, it becomes a normal zipper!
Hi Tasia,
The pace of the sewalong is really working for me – I’ll be catching up on the weekends, so it’s not too daunting, and for me it’s a sneak peek of what lies in store on Sunday. I’ve never followed a sewalong before, it’s really motivating me to make time to sew.
Thanks!
@Annabelle-I have 2 inch elastic that I bought off the internet-Amazon to be exact. It wasn’t cheap, but I did manage to score free shipping. I bought several packages for my maternity pants re-fashion. Good luck with the internet shopping!
Hi Megan – Thanks for the advice to check out Amazon! I don’t do a lot of on-line shopping, but I may have to since it sounds like 2″ elastic is really the best option. Haven’t heard much from your side of the blog world – I hope all is well with your pregnancy :)
I have been on your email list for quite a while but can’t find an email where you listed the code for the Renfrew top. Sometimes I will delete the email when I’ve read the blog post through my Google Reader…Could you clue me in on the date of the code email? Thanks!