Finishing Touches-Alastair’s Farm Suit

 

Alastair's Farm Suit, v.2

Alastair’s smocked farm suit is finally finished.  I had completed the smocking when we were in the mountains a few weeks ago, but needed to upgrade it a little.

This was a ready-to-smock outfit and I have relied heavily on them this past year.  The quality is very good, but there are improvements that can be made.

original collar and button

The shirt was a plain, serviceable and nice white broadcloth.  In order to make it more a part of a two-piece outfit, I added a whip stitch to the collar and cuffs.

upgrade: embellished collar, pearl buttons, red thread button sewing

At the collar, a 3.5 straight stitch was worked in white thread.

The edge of my presser foot was guided along the piping, making the stitching line perfectly parallel to the piping.

On the sleeve, there was ready made stitching below the piping.  On both the sleeves and collars, red 12 wt. thread was simply whipped over and under the stitching line.  I tried floche and then floss, but they were too thin.  Perle cotton was too heavy. The 12 wt. renders a subtle but pleasing extra touch.

Another improvement was button replacement. The clear plastic “utility” buttons were replaced with mother of pearl 4-hole buttons, which offered an opportunity to put a punch of color by sewing them on with red thread.

machine stitched hem

The final upgrade was at the leg hem.  The machine stitching was removed and the hem was hand stitched.

v.2 handstitched hem

None of these changes or improvements took a significant amount of time.  Little touches are what make lovingly made clothes extraordinary.  Few people will notice the upgrades, but you and I will know the garment has been made as special as we can make it.  

I did not “make” or construct this suit, but now, when Alastair runs around in the outfit, I can feel satisfaction in having made it more “homemade.”