Suits Me: The Refashioners 2017

Suits Me: The entire ensemble

Portia's #therefashioners2017 challenge of #suitsyou was right up my alley! My work wardrobe is based on business casual, with a strong bohemian influence and a little bit of chic mixed in. I felt that a suit refashion was the perfect opportunity to make some work attire while adding my own twist!

I used a 2-piece suit found on eBay for this refashion. It was a Haggar men's 2-piece gray pinstripe suit with a single-breasted 2-button 42 long jacket and a 36x34 trousers. (I found another pinstripe suit in a lighter gray with a vest that I will also be refashioning at some point.)

Before

I started by making a sleeveless suit dress from the jacket. Using the jacket sleeves and adding ProWeft Supreme Light interfacing, I was able to insert a wide waistband to make the dress a work-appropriate length while maintaining the original back vent. I used my dress form, Astrid, to pin fit the suit, generally along the original style lines. I was able to use the original lining, so this was almost a zero waste refashion! I didn't reuse the shoulder pads, instead pinning and repinning the armscye until I was happy with the style line. The only other supply I used (besides thread) were some buttons from Joann. The fiddliest bit was sewing the lining to the suit at the armscye. A lot of hand sewing went into this! My favorite thing about the make is the deep pockets. The back vent needs a bit of a rework to lie a bit more smoothly. 

Front

Side

Pockets!

I will probably layer it over a long sleeved shirt and tights for the winter. It also looks great over the skirt as a long waistcoat!

The back -- the vent is a bit wonky

The trousers were wide enough that I was able to squeeze my TNT pencil skirt pattern out of it by adding a center front seam, retaining the original front and back pockets (hooray for pockets!). The skirt is a bit more pegged in than previous makes due to fabric width. I used the skirt from Simplicity 2154 and added a lining using Bemberg rayon from fabric.com. The lining isn't in the original pattern, so I made my own pattern adding additional ease at the hips and a bit of extra length at the back vent so it doesn't pull. I also used pleats instead of darts at the waist. To sew in the lining at the vent, I used this nice tutorial from sew2pro. I used the original waistband and put in a center back zipper all the to the top, first interfacing the fabric, then adding a button and fabric loop inside à la Tany.

Front

Side

Back -- needs a pressing after being packed for a long car ride to Missouri!

I'm quite pleased with both pieces, which can be worn separately or together, making lots of different winter layering options! Taking an all-business suit and stamping it with my own personality was very satisfying. Thanks for the challenge, Portia! I'm looking forward to next year. In the meantime, I can refashion that other suit...

A Tale of Two Pouching Pockets

I had high hopes for this make, but I'm not pleased about how it turned out! I used the Ginger pattern, version 1, from Colette Patterns and indigo denim fabric from Vogue Fabrics in Evanston, IL. I'm not sure which denim it is--it's pretty heavy, with minimal stretch and minimal recovery. That might have been the source of some of my issues.

I interfaced the denim for the waistband to support the center point, but used fabric from an old skirt for lining the waistband to prevent it from getting too thick. I used the same fabric to add in-seam pockets.

I finished all the exposed seams with a 3-thread overlock stitch to prevent fraying. I topstitched using normal thread in a double thickness. I wanted something more subtle than the usual gold or yellow topstitching usually used with denim, since I wanted to be able to wear this skirt in a more professional setting. I combined navy thread and a brighter blue thread for a bit of contrast, and I like the way it turned out! The hem was turned over twice and topstitched.

I think that the bottom of the skirt--especially in the back--sticks out in a funny way. The skirt wrinkles quickly and obviously. Finally, the pockets pouch out and interfered with the smooth line of the side seam.

   

 

As you can tell by these pictures, I am several months behind on blog posts! I had hoped that a few washes would help things hang better, but this doesn't seem to be the case. If anything, it's gotten worse:

I think that by taking in all the seams and making the skirt less A-line, it might hang better. Perhaps this fabric is just not right for a Ginger skirt! I have about 1.5 yards of the fabric left--I plan to wash it a few more times and find a more structured pattern without any bias-like seams (if I bring myself to try again).