Yesterday was the final class to complete the blazer all the students had to do was add the twill tape to the front, add the sleeves, tailor the sleeves with the rollino and shoulder pads, complete the lining and sew it on the jacket to finish it.   Easy enough right?  Well it was INTENSE!!!  Most of the work has to be done by hand because this is bespoke tailoring after all AND a final exam, this all takes time, a lot of time... 
We had a few hiccups, two people were absent for very good reasons.
One student who came to class realized she came to the blazers class without her blazer!  The poor thing felt so bad especially because her house is in Bradford, the class is now held in Oro Station, almost one hour north!!!  Well she met her mom halfway and made it to class blazer in hand.  I was not concerned because I knew she would catch up to the class in no time, which she did. 
Another student had to leave for a short period of time to someplace with wi-fi to register for university classes for next fall, she was sailing right along BEFORE attempting to register, then something went wrong which threw her for a loop and she ended up doing the back neckline a few times before it finally came together, and come together it did beautifully!!! 
There were other issues with finishing, fit etc that will happen usually at the worst possible time, so once students have to taking seams apart it takes time.  A 4 pm finish ended up a 6:30 pm finish and then the clean up!  Suffice it to say it was a very long day for all the participants! 
I thought it would be a great idea to match my shoes to my outfit, after all one must represent right?  Well 10,000 steps in stiletto heels is not the smartest thing I have ever done...  I was never so happy to see my flip flops EVER!! 
The class almost finished the blazer which is no easy feat to begin with but to do it on such a short timeline is extraordinary!  Their work is impeccable, the fit seems to be perfect, it is such a pleasure to teach these ladies who I'm proud to say are going to receive their Italian certificate of completion for finishing book 1.  They dedicated 2 years of their lives to complete it, which they have done with a smile. 
But alas even on the last class there is homework: 
Homework is to add the buttons and buttonholes to the blazer, press it, remove the basting and any leftover tailor tacks then give it a final pressing before handing it in for grading. We will get together later in the summer once the two missing students have taken the last class and completed the work that way we will see each other once again and I will distribute the well earned certificates to the class. 
Have a great rest of the summer, stay safe. 

So summer classes are HOT!  I mean hot in the true sense of the word! Yesterday was the blazers class complete with hot irons, poorly working A/C and a bunch of HOT  ladies in the class!!  I mean this hot as in way cool!!!
Anyway we learned how to add welt pockets with a storyboard to start with and then right into the jacket front!  It was kind of like baptism by fire to go right into the jacket front without much practice but these ladies are troopers, they did an AMAZING job!  All of them did great, their personality seemed to shine through even in their welts.  Some did the pockets without breaking a sweat, others on the other hand had puddles of sweat where they were working LOL!!! 
Blazer teaching points:  order of class

• Pockets on the front, this has been successfully completed! 
• Sew together the back and front pieces
  • Add lightweight fusible interfacing to the HEM ALLOWANCE ONLY on the side front, side back and centre back pieces – if they are already stitched then fuse the individual pieces or if your jacket style is not with the peplum then one long piece will do. 
  • The other option is to stitch pick the hem allowance on the jacket pieces, fuse the interfacing and re-stitch the seam (forgot to give this instruction in class)
  • If they are not stitched yet, then add the interfacing before stitching
• Sew together the sleeves
  • Add fusible interfacing to HEM ALLOWANCES ONLY as well on the sleeves
• Sew together the lining and facing
  • Sew together all the lining pieces
  • To the centre back lining stitch as discussed in class – 2 to 3 cm down from the neckline with a regular stitch; leave a small space then machine baste to about just above the waist (this will vary from person to person); leave a little space and then machine stitch the rest.  Back tack on the stitching lines please
  • When sewing the lining to the front facing (upper collar) do not sew all the way down, sew only to 10 cm ABOVE the end of the seam allowance
  • Sew the sleeve lining on to the completed body lining to get some practice by hand basting it to the armhole then stitching it in place.  This will also teach you how to hem already finished sleeves. 

The idea is to get to the point that we can tailor the sleeves and put the jacket together the final class. 
Next class we will be sewing the collar in place, adding the sleeves and tailoring them adding the rollino and shoulder pads to the inside.  We will bag the lining to finish the jacket
 

So yesterday was a little less eventful than the previous class, I had the key, the AC was turned on, everyone was there.....  a phone rings.... I picked up my daughter's phone and left mine at home!  Good job it's only a 5 minute commute LOL so my daughter patiently came and we swapped phones! 
The class had the task of putting together the canvas with the front stay and then hand basting it to the jacket fronts.  Seems simple enough, there is a lot of technique involved like hand basting the stay to the canvas then doing very large padstitching to affix the stay to the canvas.  When the students were almost finished the hand work I proceeded to tell them that it is quite acceptable to machine stitch the stay rather than sewing it by hand.  If looks could kill.... In my defence I did ask if they wanted to learn the real way of doing things or take short cuts at the very beginning, it was unanimous they all said "the real way", just goes to show; be careful what you wish for you may just get it!!! 
In the end they will be thankful they learned this, not right now but down the road when they wear their blazer and feel very good about it. 
In the meantime there is homework, lots of homework!
Homework is to finish the hand basting at the front plus the padstitching on the lapels and collar stand as shown in class.  The basting instructions are on the "Anatomy of a blazer" hand out on pages 3 and 4.  Please note the block capitals in this instruction:
                    11.    "Tailor tack EVERYTHING, roll line in red"
Please do not press the jacket fronts once finished we will be pressing them in class. 
Next class first thing we will be doing is the welt storyboard. 
Have a great week!