The Last of the Summer Roses: an 80s pattern

While I was taking a blog break, I did a bit of sewing. Not a huge amount, but I made a couple of summer dresses to add to my closet. The first one was this 1987 McCalls 3220, a pattern I thrifted a while back. 

The very trim dress is hiding on the pattern cover, you only see past the boxy dull jacket when you look at the line drawings. This kind of simple silhouette is one of my faves, especially the cut on drop sleeve, so I grabbed some rayon from the stash to try it out. I've had this fabric for a few years but heard that roses were in fashion again this summer so thought I'd better use it ;) 

This was quite an easy make. I had to make a few length adjustments, and I cut it at 14/16/18 like usual, which gives me most of the circumference adjustments that I need. The bodice and skirt are cut separately and an elastic casing added at the waistline. There is a back slit at the neckine but I find I can pull this over my head if I'm careful so may leave it off next time and just lower the neckline slightly. 

There are pockets, of course! This fabric is so soft and lovely to wear, and I really like the way it fits. It doesn't pull in any part of the dress, and yet covers the underarm area well so there is no bra flashing.

I like this length, and may just have to make this one again with more old rayon in the stash. It works well under a jacket as well, although a few wrinkles may appear at the shoulder. Even though I'm not as keen on florals as I used to be, the strong colours and larger print do it for me here. 

Anyhow, very pleased with this one. I really do love 80s patterns! And I finally got to take some pictures at a location I've been meaning to use for a while, the entrance to Upper Queen's park, near the theatre, where some old cast iron dogs were installed many, many years ago. They used to grace the entrance to a grand home belonging to a local doctor - you can find the story on the fascinating StreetsOfStratford.ca if you're interested in that kind of thing! 

Yanaka Jacket in Scrappy Remnants

I've been wanting to make a Yanaka jacket for a while! I love the silhouette and the relaxed design; cropped or shorter jackets usually look best on me so I knew I'd have to make this one. I considered making a quilted jacket, but realized that a simpler print mixing version would suit me better. This project was made for the Liesl & Co. Ambassador Circle but was also inspired by the PatternReview Print Mixing Contest that ran in January (and if you're a PR Member, you can still pop over and vote for my jacket until Feb 10 if you'd like!) It will be shared on the Liesl & Co blog shortly as well!

This is an ideal pattern for print mixing or colour blocking, as there is a centre back seam, sleeve gussets and facings that can show if you fold the collar down. Lots of opportunity to use smaller pieces and show off those pretty leftover bits. And I have lots of pretty leftover bits! I use a lot of cottons and linens in my sewing so I got out my scrap bins and pulled out some of the larger remnants. I trialled a bunch of different combinations but finally decided on five floral prints that all fall within the same colour tones and scale. One of the prints (on the sleeve gusset) was just a cotton from my stash, but the other four prints werer remnants from other projects -- Butterick 6725, Butterick 6655 , the Itch to Stitch Celeste, and the Sew Different Harmon Top. 

I came up with a placement plan, but these fabrics were all fairly light/fluid. The Yanaka pattern recommends a medium to heavier weight fabric to support its shape, so I interfaced all the pieces with a medium weight fusible interfacing before starting construction. I knew that the standing collar, the front points and that wee back notch needed to be sharp, not floppy. Interfacing them prior to construction allowed me to use these particular scraps.

I didn't make many changes to the actual pattern. But there were a couple. I shortened the sleeves, actually by a little too much. In the end I didn't want to take any length out with a wide hem, so I made a 2" wide sleeve facing out of the cotton I used for the sleeve gussets (these were non-interfaced) and hemmed the sleeves that way. This also gave me a clear surface to stitch the lining on. I've added back some of the length to the sleeve pattern so I don't make this mistake again.

And I did also make a lining for this -- the jacket pattern is unlined, but with all my interfaced innards I wanted it all covered up nicely. Because of this I finished all my seams with a quick pass of the pinking shears since they'd end up invisible anyway.  I added in a 1/2" centre back pleat to give more movement room, and the lining was also a scrap!

The most notable change I DIDN'T make was that I did not shorten the body of the jacket at all. I almost always shorten above the waist but this time I liked the finished length and didn't want this to be too cropped, so left it as drafted. I really like how it turned out! It's really comfortable and the fit is great. I love the chance this pattern offered to use some of my beautiful print scraps to make a one-of-a-kind jacket. The lines of the design are just made for it!