Ill-Fitting Bathrobe or Stylish Peplum Jacket? (McCall's 5529, aka my oldest UFO)

So my oldest unfinished sewing object is finally finished... and I can't decide if I totally hate it or find it mildly acceptable.

I mean, there are a few pros here: it has raglan sleeves, it's an adjustable wrap style, and it's made from a stretchy (but not too stretchy) chartreuse RPL doubleknit. Plus: a peplum!

But... there is a big con here, and that is the poor fit. It's just way too huge all over—in the sleeves, the shoulders, the body, the front. Even when I wrap it as carefully as I can, it feels more "ill-fitting bathrobe" than "casual, yet chic jacket" to me.

This could be because I muslined and cut it out when I was seven months hugely pregnant back in 2010. I thought it might still work now because it is a wrap and a knit, but... I think it's also the pattern. The examples on the envelope look equally large and rather baggy and wrinkly in the sleeves—it should have been a warning sign that the model has her sleeves scrunched up:

The basics

Pattern: McCall's 5529, a self-belted unlined raglan-sleeved cardigan/jacket with peplum, designed for wovens or stable knits. I believe it's out of print in the envelope edition, but I bought it as a download from SewingPatterns.com and tediously taped it all together. I made View C, with self-fabric belt and smooth non-gathered peplum. But I don't think I really recommend this pattern. The collar doesn't seem to know what it wants to do, the belt is rather "meh", and the peplum could be more fun, but isn't.

Fabric: Chartreuse Sophia doubleknit rayon/poly/lycra from Fabric.com (similar here on sale for $8.99/yard). It's a great fabric... BUT I think this would have worked better in a softer knit—like a sweater knit or stretchy French terry.

Size: According to my old notes I made a size 14, did a 2" FBA (adding four inches across the bust total), shortened the body by about four inches to hit my short waist... and added quite a bit of width to the front to accommodate my then-huge pregnant belly. I also took in the too-baggy sleeves by an INCH each but apparently that was not enough.

Instructions: Just fine—nothing exciting.

Construction notes: Back in 2010 I had originally been making this on the serger. When I picked up this UFO a few weeks ago the body and sleeves were together and all that remained to be done was attach the peplum and collar and sew up the belt. I finished it on my machine with a narrow zig-zag stitch.

I did the topstitching and hems with a regular long straight stitch since this doubleknit is so stable.

I slipstitched the inside of the collar by hand and it took me AGES—I ended up carrying it with me to playground excursions and such. A lot of work for such a mediocre result!

Wear: As lackluster as I feel about this make I do still think I will wear it, mainly to work. It's warm and cozy and I got quite a few compliments on it when I wore it to work Friday—mainly due to the color, I think. Chartreuse is kind of my thing, to say the least.

I have a theory that scrunching up the sleeves might help—thoughts?

Successes: My first jacket! OK, so it's an unlined unfitted knit belted wrap jacket--a glorified girly sweatshirt. But still--my first jacket!

Room for improvement?: The FIT! Next time I make a raglan-sleeve top, I want to see if I can make the armhole more comfortable, perhaps by adding a gusset.

I suppose I COULD take it apart and alter it to fit better... but I'm just DONE with this project. Whatever. At least the unfinished object pile is TOTALLY EMPTY. For now, anyway... I doubt I will ever make this pattern again and I can't say I recommend it.

My next knit jacket project bodes much better for success, as I KNOW the style is just perfect for me—the Cake Patterns Carmine Jacket (which I drew the cover flats for, naturally):

Cardi/Jacket Muslin Progress...

Apologies for the lopsided nature of these pictures--the camera battery died before I could redo!

Thanks for all the feedback on the cardi/jacket muslin from my last post on it--most of you felt that the collar would be a good idea, so I went ahead and basted it on, and I think you're right--it does look more finished.

So here's what I've decided:

• I'll leave the length even all around after all. It's short enough to work for maternity, but long enough that it might work for a while post-maternity, too.
• The FBA itself is just fine. I need to rotate the horizontal dart I added to point towards the apex.
• I definitely need to add some front width, though--at least 2 inches total. It's supposed to wrap at least a little!
• I'll take in the sleeve seams a bit.
• I honestly have no idea how to fix these baggy raglan armholes--so whatever. It's a knit cardi-jacket. And the fashion fabric is much nicer/smoother than this crummy wrinkle-prone stuff, so maybe I won't get the same wrinkly effect.
• I'm going to baste the final together before serging in case further tweaks are needed, but I'm done with this muslin!
• Definitely going to replace this gathered peplum with a smoother eased peplum with a lot less fullness.

But not tonight. This pregnant seamstress needs to put her swollen feet up, cuddle with the cats and take a nap.

Mini-Wardrobe Progress & Setbacks: Cardi/Jacket Muslin!

With a little over a week to go for the mini-wardrobe contest, I have one finished polka dot top and... a muslin of the double knit chartreuse cardigan jacket (yes, I know I said I was going to switch to lime... but I'm a chartreuse girl at heart). To refresh your memory, here was my sketch of the jacket:

The pattern is McCall's 5529, a belted unlined raglan-sleeved cardigan/jacket with peplum (oh how I love a peplum!), designed for wovens or stable knits. I believe it's out of print in the envelope edition, but I bought it as a download from SewingPatterns.com and tediously taped it all together:

And here are the flats:

I started with view B, with the more gathered/ruffled peplum and self-fabric belt. I went with a size 14 and did my usual major FBA. Since I haven't had a waist in some time, I shortened the bodice by about 4 inches to make use of my "empire waist" (aka underbust).

I had no illusions of making a wearable muslin this time, so I used some hateful, stiff, wrinkle-prone and cheap-feeling red cotton lycra knit with a similar stretch to my doubleknit fashion fabric and wrote all over it with permanent marker. I didn't have enough for all the pieces, so I arbitrarily cut the sleeves off at the elbow (which I WON'T do in the final!) and left off the collar for now.

I'd never made a jacket per se before, but I have made a raglan-sleeved hoodie, and the construction for this was just as quick and easy--made from a knit, it's really a glorified girly sweatshirt.

Below is the result, before belting. I tried it on with the polka dot top and a shirred skirt similar to the one I plan to sew for the contest. (Apologies for the awful low-quality flash photos, but I had my camera set wrong and by the time I realized I was just too tired for a redo.)

Initial thoughts:

• My FBA didn't quite do the trick. It is a jacket, after all, meant to be worn over other things. I think I need maybe another inch or two total width for it to meet more easily in front. Also, the horizontal bust dart is too low (it should point to the apex).
• Gathered peplum + gathered skirt = gather overload. It's just too much fullness all over. So for the final, I think I'll switch to the smoother circular view C peplum.
• The back fit seems just fine.
• What is UP with these SLEEVES? I love raglan tops, but... the sleeves themselves seem too loose/baggy... and the the armhole is too deep which means it feels super-tight and pulls in a nasty way when I lift my arms. Is this just the nature of raglans and I've never noticed before? Do I need an underarm gusset? How deep can a raglan armhole be? I guess I need to dig through my reference books...
• Speaking of sleeves, it's pretty hot out lately--I wonder if I should make them short, instead of full-length? Then again, long sleeves are good in chilly air-conditioned offices...
• The back length is good, but the "waist" seam in front is too low, nowhere near my "empire" waist.

Of course, this thing is meant to be belted. So I grabbed a random belt to test the effect, and then tried it with the front pinned up for a proper empire look:

Much better, right? It's almost a cute peplumed bolero. Maybe I don't even need the collar--I could just bind the edges, maybe with some cute foldover elastic.

I'm going to think about it for a day or two, and in the meantime try to finish my skirt and muslin the Parfait dress...

IF my sewing machine cooperates... That's the setback I mentioned. My normally hardy Viking Platinum 730 seemed to be having some major issues with tension and skipped stitches last night. I'm hoping it was just that crummy red cotton lycra fabric, so I'll test it tonight on a plain woven... but if she has to go into the shop, I'll probably have to give up on the contest unless I can make substitute garments with a serger/hand-sewing combo. Maybe this could explain my shirring struggles?