Thursday 23 October 2014

It worked!

The big unknown in this project was whether the completed weaving with all its shaping would act the way my simple samples did and shrink the expected 20% in width and 25% in length. It took two times in the washing machine on an "easy care" setting at 30 degrees and with a 800 rpm spin cycle and one more rinse cycle before the jacket shrank to my expected final size. I measured each time and compared to the original sewing pattern measurements to determine when it was completely fulled. Next I pressed it on a low setting under a press cloth while it was still damp and hung it on the dressmaker's dummy to finish drying overnight. The fabric feels springy and comfortable and no longer looks like sacking. The edges are firm and even and the ends protruding from the inside surface are well felted and secure. It feels great to wear even without all the finishing touches I have planned. 

In all the excitement I forgot to photograph the jacket before I began doing things to it. You can see where I have begun to work on the pocket and cuff.




2 comments:

  1. It's amazing, Ruth! Looks like a good fit. Someone planned really well!

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  2. Wow Ruth It looks amazing, how beautifully neat. I love your use of the hair grips, what a good idea, I can think of other times this would be so much better than pins. Your holey shoulder solution (you told me on skype about this) has worked really well,and I love the pockets in the contrasting chunky weave, thats a really good feature

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