The Joy of Separates – Grainline Morris

Hi there – after unexpectedly deciding last week that I was going to try to sew all the Indie Pattern Month challenges over at The Monthly Stitch, I have been sewing like crazy to finish my entry for Separates Week!

I actually made three separates for the challenge (Sewaholic Hollyburn skirt and Named Kanerva blouse) but I want to focus on the Grainline Morris blazer today as this is my very first jacket!The Morris has been so popular since it was released a few months ago – I was inspired by Katie’s loose fitting ‘boyfriend’ Morris; Elena’s blue Morris and Carly’s spotted blue and white Morris.

I bought the pattern as a PDF a few weeks ago and just at the same time Clothspot stocked this navy blue ponte, which was exactly what I had in mind. I have used other pontes from Clothspot here and here and they have been excellent quality – there is a higher percentage of viscose which gives them a lovely soft feeling and a great drape.I didn’t have a similar fabric to make a muslin so I decided to just cross my fingers and go for it and aim for a fairly relaxed fit. My measurements gave me an 8 at the bust, 12 waist and 14 hip. I went with a 12 at the shoulders and bust and graded out to 14 from the waist.  I wanted the blazer to be a bit longer – finishing around my hips, so I cut the length of the largest size and added an extra 2 inches at the lengthen/shorten line. I did mange to remember to increase the length of the facing piece and I cut the hem facing to match the bottom of my adjusted pattern piece.

I was concerned that my fabric might be slightly too drapey so I used knit interfacing on both the facing and the front of the blazer itself – I just used the facing to cut two extra pieces of interfacing. Several people mentioned the front collapsing slightly due to the weight of the facing on the unsupported front and I think the extra interfacing minimized this.I used a straight stitch on my sewing machine for the seams and then overlocked the allowances together to finish the seams – most of the seams are enclosed by the facings – the centre back seam is the main one which remains visible. There is a slight gathering on the sleeve head to ease it, I hate gathering – I never manage to get it looking even!

Everything came together so exactly – all the facing pieces fitted perfectly around the body and I love the neat way the shoulder seams are enclosed.

I think if I make this again I would revisit the shoulders – the upper arm seam  is off my shoulder by a couple of inches, and looks too wide. I’m not sure whether simply going down a size or two at the upper shoulder would solve it? I am looking forward to following the sewalong to get some more tips.

The length is exactly as I wanted and I think I will wear this all the time over the summer – this is the North of England so you always need to have a jacket no matter how lovely the weather might look!

I have plans for a version in a lightweight stretch denim – what do you think?

Anyone else working on separates this week for the Monthly Stitch?