Sewing Blog.

I love a good white jacket, it reminds me kinda like a lab coat. We used our mad scientist skills to tame complex in-set corners, in-set sleeves and non traditional lining. 
In this post, I get behind the seams, showcasing the inspiration and the important design elements. I also share with you the challenges and what I learned. 

Back in the winter of 2017, I taught a 2 day reverse pattern drafting workshop at Maiwa School of Textiles. Reverse pattern drafting is all about extracting a pattern from an already made garment. In below example, I demonstrated the pattern extraction process from a Zara jacket. This is the base of this blogs inspiration!
If you look carefully, you will notice many pattern pieces make up this jacket. I like to call it the 'Tetris Jacket'.

Fabric inspiration came directly from below ikat fabric from the Maiwa supply shop in Granville Island. This ikat fabric is hand woven, which in my mind makes it so special to wear. We used the same fabric on a vintage bow blouse design too. Keep an eye out for that blog post in the coming months.

For the past year, we have been making a conscious effort to use up fabric in studio before buying anything new. We had just enough white linen left-over from when we made a white linen summer dress. What worked in our favor was the many small pattern pieces that made up this jacket design. We where able to use up smaller bits of left-over fabric. You can find this linen from Fabricana in Richmond.

First glance at this garment, it looks fairly simple in design. But there are many advanced technical design elements involved. In-set sleeves, lining, in-seam pockets, facings, and in-set corners. Kinda like peeling back an onion! Have a tissue handy as you read on. JK!

I feel the lining is the silent hero in this jacket. I do not mind breaking rules. Using non-traditional darker lining in comparison to the outside lighter colored fabric may not have been the best decision, but you never know until you try. I am a firm believer in pushing the boundaries of your comfort zone. If your risks work, its such a rewarding payoff. If they do not, you have just learned a great deal of knowledge! Read on as I ended up learning a lot in this situation. 

This is technically a in-seam pocket with a facing. It worked well in this situation to hide the darker colored lining fabric from peeking out. The pocket along side the in-set corners, was probably the most challenging elements to stitch. The opening of the pocket is centered within a vertical rectangle seam which has in-set corners. The opening of the pocket was also lined up to an adjoining seam above and below this area of the jacket. Basically many seams of this tetris jacket came together right at the pocket. If you where off by a 1/16" anywhere else in the jacket this is where it all showed its ugliness.  

No collar?! Yes please. Minimalist designs can be found all over right now. I like the idea of being able to layer with a collared shirt underneath. Changes up the look with each new shirt.
​We applied a 4 inch width front facing from the hem up the center front, then narrowed it down over the shoulder towards the center back. Edge stitching was applied around the neckline, to keep facings 'facing' your body only.

I already started talking about the complex pocket section earlier. Here is a closer look at the in-set corners surrounding the pocket. 
To add strength to the exterior part of the in-set corner, we fused a small bit of interfacing. When you clip the seam allowance towards the corner, the small bit of interfacing will strengthen the fabric from ripping away over time. So never throw away scraps of interfacing, they can be used in these areas.

The biggest thing I learned from this design is an obvious one! If your lining is darker than your exterior fabric, most likely the lining fabric will show through. In our case, the white linen was kinda sheer. The lining doesn't show through dramatically, but after many wears the raw edge of the darker lining fabric starts to show through.
If we where to create this design again with the same white linen, an interlining would be required to ensure a solid separation between the exterior and lining fabric. The interlining could be basted to the exterior fabric. Another option, would be to finish the raw edge of the lining prior to closing up the lining to the exterior jacket. What would you do? Please share your ideas below in the comments.

​Designed, drafted, photographed and written by Sheila Wong
Constructed by Caitlyn Sio and Sheila Wong
Edited by Sahar Manavi

Happy Sewing!
Sheila Wong Sewing Team

Welcome to the final blog post in a 3 part series featuring all things textiles in Japan. Well, not all things textiles in Japan, just what I saw in Japan this year. Part 1 (Fabric Shopping Guide: Kyoto), and 2 (Fabric Shopping Guide: Tokyo) where all about buying textiles. Part 3 dives deeper into the history of fabric, in particular- silk! 

The Silk Museum is located in Yokohama, Japan. From Tokyo, you can take the Fukutoshin line from Shinjuku-sanchome station to Nihon-odori station in Yokohama. This is a 54 min train ride, than about a 3 minite walk to the museum.  

​Cost of entry is 500 yen for adults.  That about $6 CAD to learn all about silk. You cannot go wrong!

The Silk Museum is comprised of 3 main sections.  The Wonder Farm and The Study Library are located on the main floor, and The History of Silk is located on the second floor.  The museum is set-up with a lovely flow to allow you to guide yourself through the sections of the museum. 

You begin in The Wonder Farm, which provides you with an introduction to the life stages of a silk warm. 

 Traditional rotary cocooning frame pictured above.

The following two photos show the process of reeling silk from cocoons. If you look closely, you can see the many filaments coming out of the bath of cocoons being pulled up and spun into silk thread. 

The second area of the museum is The Study Library. The main focus in this section is displaying how silk is used in our everyday lives. 

According to one of the areas in the exhibit, "the length of the filament making up a single cocoon is an average of about 1,300 meters".  A single necktie requires 140 cocoons! Something to thing about the next time you make or purchase a silk necktie.

In addition to learning how silk is used in our everyday lives, this section also showed what silk fabric looked like when using natural dye methods. Visually, this was really stunning to look at!

The final area of the museum is The History of Silk located on the entire second floor. I really appreciate the way the museum is curated. As you walk up the steps to the second floor, you have already learned about the life cycle of a cocoon, and how silk is used in our everyday lives. You are now presented with the Kimono in many forms from different periods of historical Japan. There are displays of kimono's from the Asuka, Nara, Muromachi, Momoyama, Edo, Meiji and Taisho periods.

Above left displays a noble woman from the Nara period. Above right displays a typical outfit worn by an upper class warrior women during the Edo period.

Below was a really striking display of kabuki theater costumes. Traditionally, actors wore elaborate costume and make up. This is so on point! Please excuse the glass glare. It is more stunning in person, so be sure to check it out for yourself.

In addition to The Silk Museum, be sure to walk across the street over to the Yokohama Bay pier.  Take a stroll around the bay and take in the stunning views.  If you are lucky you can catch the sight of massive cruise ships docking at the main terminal.  Continue your stroll along the pier towards the Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse for picture worthy spots. This area has been the backdrop to many Japanese movies and tv shows. If you have ever watched Good Morning Call, this is where Nao gets stood up by her temperamental boyfriend Uehara in the pouring rain.

I visited The Silk Museum close to the end of my trip. It was really nice to get my learn on after buying hoards of fabric in Kyoto and Tokyo. It reminded me of intensive extraction required in one of my favorite textiles to design with. It also reminded me to treat all textiles with great love and attention. 

Stay tuned for a fabric haul video, as I picked up over 15 different fabrics over the course of the entire trip. Follow us on Instagram to know when that drops.

Written and photographed by Sheila Wong
Edited by Sahar Manavi

Happy Sewing!
Sheila Wong Sewing Team