Making a dress - Hanfu Jacket and matching trousers

Inspiration

For some reason, I went from making a simple underskirt to making a jacket for my Song outfit.  Yeah my mind was being very indecisive but once it settled on the the jacket I was happy to follow through.

Looking at my previous inspiration pictures, it had to be a long jacket.....very long and of course long sleeves.

And at the same time I thought I might as well make some matching trousers

Design

I decided to play it safe for the jacket and use one that I found on pinterest.

https://tieba.baidu.com/f?kz=675958102

Looks simple enough!  I did a bit of measuring and found out that the sleeves would have been a bit too long for practical officewear so I chopped of 10cms or so off.

Also due to fabric constraint, I had to shorten the jacket by 30 cms as I only had 222cm of fabric left.  Opps but as you will see later it is probably for the best.

Just need to draw it onto my fabric.

Construction

As always cutting the fabric is scary.

Man the design is simple but finishing the seams took forever because the material was so thick and heavy.  I really need to find a better thimble.

And then there is the collar.

It should be cut out in one piece but alas I didn't have enough material so what I did instead was make it up with three strips.  I made sure the pinstripes matched up so it is not too bad.

The construction of the trousers is the same as the previous one.

Finished

At first I was very pleased.  I love the long outline.

BUT something was not right about the shoulder area.  It was as if something was pulling on it even though it was not tight.

Maybe I didn't make it loose enough?

Conclusion

Not bad but definitely need to make the armholes and the chest wider so it drapes better but still it is a good outfit.

However I will need to reserve it for non-windy days or it will flap everywhere!

Making a Dress - Modern Jeogori

Inspiration

Lately I have been staring at modern hanbok,

Don't they look refreshing and light.  Probably completely inappropriate for the summer here in UK but they are so pretty.  Not to mention perfect for a work capsule wardrobe.

So what should I aim for?  On Leesle site there are plenty to choose from but I when for something simple and chic.

Design

It seems the basic elements of a modern hanbok is the jeogori (or jacket) and the chima (or dress).

However which one to make first?

I decided that since the chima/dress of a modern hanbok looks like a simpler make, I would tackle the jacket first.

I have to admit, I am not good at making jackets and the first decent one I made was the navy blue polka dot loose sack dress/jacket I made last time.

Therefore like a good cheat I used this pattern as a base.

So I followed the pattern around the armscye part as that is the hardest part for me and I found polka dot jacket was very comfortable.

Now rather then cutting it like in the picture I extended the line down from the bottom of the armscye by 13cms to create a short little jacket.  Then I create the front pattern to create an crossover.

Now I pinned the paper pattern to my Miffy 2 and added a collar.  What I didn't take a picture of is the issues I found.  The summary is that I could not create the collar I wanted with the back neck curve.

If I looked at the pattern for making a traditional jeogori, this would be straight and when I look at this picture below, it seems the back part is straight so I thought why not give it a go.

So I re-drew the back piece with a straight back neck.

Mockup time.

Hmmm so far so good.

Oh maybe a little care is need when I join the collar to the shoulder seam.

However it looks like I have a pattern.

Fabric

I was going to make this a lined jacket as I had some multicoloured polycotton in my sewing room taking up space but then I remembered my remaining stash of fleece.  As this is going to be a work wardrobe I might as well make something from that.  I do love wearing a fleece as I hate cold arms.

Also it would mean I don't have to line it!

Construction

Okay time to bite the bullet and make this.

Going well.

Oh good this has worked out nicely.

And this is where the WIP photos ended because the rest is just attaching the arms and hemming the bottom seam.

Finished

Not bad at all!  Almost like the jeogori in the picture.

Looking nice and smooth

Oh and as I had some ribbon with hearts, I thought that would be nice to use as a tie for the otherwise black little jacket.

Conclusion

Overall I am very happy with it, I can certainly wear it to work and it is nice and cosy but of course there are things I would like to change.

One, taper the sides a little.  On closer inspection of the original jacket, the sides are not straight down but taper in slightly to the waist.

Two,again closer look on the collar, there is a slight curve on the collar but only slightly.  This might mean I will need to re-design the collar but this curve is similar to the one I normally sew on a kimono so maybe it might not be too hard to incorporate.

Three, lengthen the bodice a bit more.  This is a bit short for my liking but it is still okay.  I will just have to look at it as a bolero jacket.