Okay, first things first. I'm completely aware this Morris Blazer by Grainline Studio is too small for me. It isn't blatantly obvious when viewed from the front, but the back view - as you'll see in the last photo - is snug across the shoulders and under the arms. The truth is that when this pattern came out, I could not WAIT to cut it out and get sewing. So like any rational sewist, I cut and sewed it when I was 30-something weeks pregnant and had no idea when or if it would eventually fit. Instead of being patient, I somewhat arbitrarily chose a size 6 and got to work.
(I say "arbitrarily," but what I actually did was compare the pattern pieces to my size 6 Archer pattern pieces since I know it fits with a little room. They were quite similar, and since the Morris is designed for fabrics with stretch, I figured it would work. Someday.)
Now that we have that admission out of the way, let's talk fabric. This is a medium-weight, stretch polyester suiting I purchased at Fabric Depot in Portland. I would have preferred a lightweight, stretch wool, but this color was EXACTLY what I had in mind. I wanted a more muted navy instead of a true or royal blue, and this fit the bill.
It was a bit hard to work with since, well, it's technically plastic, but I used a Teflon Pressing Sheet to prevent melting the fabric (affiliate link) and some Warm Company Lite Steam-A-Seam 2 (affiliate links) to help crease all the folded and/or turned-back areas. This fabric wouldn't hold a crease at all, so the fusible tape really helped.
The construction was fun, quick and easy. The pattern is great as is pretty much everything by Jen at Grainline Studio. It was professionally drafted, and the instructions and illustrations were easy-to-follow. I did get a little hung up on how to attach the facings at the bottom points in the front (as did another blogger), but the sew-along and Lizzy's advice helped get me through that. I think I was just tired as I was most likely working on this around midnight.
The one other issue I had is that I, too, have the drag lines on the front pieces that several other bloggers have mentioned. And I, too, believe it is a product of this fabric type (not easily pressed polyester) and/or interfacing and not the pattern itself. I do have the idea to use some fusible web to put between the facing and the front pieces to alleviate this problem, but as of this posting, I had not tried it. Perhaps I will get around to it at some point, but it doesn't bother me that much.
I followed the instructions exactly and used double-fold bias tape from my stash to give a nice Hong Kong finish to the center-back seam as shown above. I hand-stitched the collar facing to the center back.
As previously mentioned, this is a size 6 which is probably a size or two smaller than I would make if I were sewing for my current measurements of 36-38"/30"/38". I anticipate that it will fit much better by fall when it's actually appropriate to wear this garment!
Don't let that perfect topstitching above fool you; I ran out of bobbin thread in this exact spot on the other side but couldn't be bothered with unpicking the whole thing and starting over. There are a couple overlapping stitches where I had to start with a new bobbin. I'm sure no one will notice. ;)
Okay, so here's where you can really tell this blazer is too small for me. I hold extra weight (20 pounds of it at the moment) almost exclusively on my torso, so a couple months' time should fix this problem.
And don't you love my camera lens cap in the back pocket? And remote in the hand? Ahhh, sewing blogger problems...
I really love this pattern and already have dreams of an olive green, ponte one in my head. It's destined to be a fall staple when I need an extra layer over my tee or tank to look instantly pulled together but still comfortable and relaxed.
What do you think? Have you made the Morris Blazer yet? Do you love this look as much as I do?
