Morris Blazer, Muslin and Finished Piece

Corduroy blazer

My first Morris Blazer from Grainline Studio is complete. This project took a bit longer because I opted to do a muslin to check fit before putting together the final blazer. Muslin out of red fabric I got from City Sewing in St. Louis.

Fabric from City Sewing

Finished seams on muslin

For the armscye seams and to finish the edges of the lining, I used my new-to-me serger.  This one was a gift from a co-worker who was down-sizing. Conveniently, this machine was already threaded with black thread and now I can have both of my sergers (one with white and one with black thread) ready to go at a moments notice.

It needed a bit of cleaning and I needed quite a bit of practice with rethreading, but we worked together nicely in the end

I really like this machine so far, does anyone else have this model?

Muslin front view without sleeves

This jacket muslin finished way too small for me, so I cut out a larger size for the next go-around.  Fabric for the next round came from a scrap bag I picked up off Freecycle. Originally, I intended to use this floral corduroy for jeans, but I have yet to make any sort of pants and I really did want to wear the flowers.

             

I had to choose which direction to orient the flowers before cutting. I read somewhere that the pile on corduroy should face upwards.

Lainie, part-time pattern weight

When sewing this blazer together, I again used the Bernette 43D serger with black thread to finish the seams. For the neckline, I considered both a black non-corduroy facing and more of the floral fabric.

Front facing: black on left, floral on right

Opted to go with the floral facing

The pattern does not match across the back seam, but I hadn't made any attempt to have it do so.

Back view

The hem was done on my Bernina 1230.

Inside view of front and hemline

The picture is a bit dark here, but the jacket does fit well and it was comfortable to wear for a full day of work.  For the next version, I may add some length overall and a bit more width across the back of the shoulders.

On my way out the door

On the dress form