Seersucker Suit Project: the Reveal

The Seersucker Suit Project is finally complete! Four pieces of fabric from the stash, including some golden oldies, have turned into five garments, now hanging in the closet. There was an intentional sequence in the project, so that I wouldn't sew the key pieces first, start wearing them and forget about sewing the others.

The project began with a short-sleeved shirt made from the newest piece of fabric in this project (2015), a 100% cotton lawn fabric from Liberty of London in their iconic peacock print. I goofed when ordering the yardage from fabric.com, not realizing that the fabric was only 54" wide, not 60" wide. The short sleeves will work just fine in the warm South Carolina weather!

Next up was the tan silk broadcloth shirt, another oldie from the stash (1980s). I pre-washed the fabric, which softened the texture beautifully. This shirt will now simply go into the laundry like any other shirt. There's no trick to sewing silk broadcloth: just start with a fresh size 9 sharp needle.

With the shirts completed, I moved on to the jacket. I haven't sewn many jackets in the past few years, so this was a real brush-up of my tailoring skills. The seersucker was a bit more sheer than I realized, so the light gray fusible interfacing shows through a bit, but that doesn't really matter to me at all. This fabric was the oldest piece on my stash (from 1976) and it feels great to finally get it sewn up! There is a lot about this jacket that isn't perfect, but the best part of the current maker movement is that nothing needs to be perfect! We simply make for the satisfaction and enjoyment of creating.

With the jacket completed, the next segment was the matching pants. I cut the legs wider at the bottom than the pattern indicated, straight down from the knee. The only other change I made was to fully line these pants using the same poly/cotton broadcloth used to line the jacket. The rear welt pockets were the biggest challenge because I haven't made many of them over the years, but with careful marking, they came out well enough.

The final portion of the project was the matching tan linen pants; the fabric is as old as the seersucker. Because this fabric is older, I was careful not to use the fold in the fabric as part of the pants, as linen fibers creased in the same place for a long time can crack when opened. I used the same pattern as the seersucker pants, but cut the legs as directed in the pattern, tapered from the knee. The welt pockets were made more quickly and accurately this time, which usually happens with repetition.

With all these components, there are many combinations! It's great to have this project completed, so I can move on to other sewing adventures. In the pipeline are printed knit polo shirts, maybe a silk noil tropical shirt and a couple of quilts for the Quilts of Valor presentation we do semi-annually at work. These quilts presented to veterans are the highest honor a civilian can bestow, and it's quite a ceremony. Stay tuned for more sewing adventures!

Until next time,

DTFM

danthefabricman@yahoo.com