At the beginning of the year, a friend asked me I’d do a suit for a work colleague. She was struggling to find something that would fit her well and was appropriate for her new job.  I was like, I don’t know, depends what is she after? And exposed a huge list of reasons why this could or could not be a good idea. Then I thought, well I could give it a go since it would be a good experience to have.

I was actually planning to share this with you when I made my own version of the same suit. Yes, I was so pleased with my idea combined with my friends’ choice for the pattern that I wanted one for myself as well. However, it will take me much more time to actually get there, and I wanted to share with you my impressions about this before I forgot what was it like.

She decided that she liked the jacket from NewLook #6035  view A (I got my pattern with Sew Magazine issue 75) and the Manhattan skirt from Capital Chic

It’s been interesting: getting the measurements for someone else, and thinking as I was doing this what changes I need to make to the patterns to get a good fit for her (this meant shortening the pattern between bust and shoulder by 1.23 cm and add 5cm between the waist and hip).

Because she chose a navy blue fabric (from Abakhan), I managed to  convince her that it would be too boring and adding piping in the princess seams will make the suit a bit more interesting, without making it stand out (it did mean more work for me, but I think it was totally worth it). With this project I took extra care, and constructed most of the garments after with I asked her to come for a fitting to make sure they fitted her well. Indeed sounds so posh, I also used thread to trace hems. This is how it looked before we were ready for a fitting. Not impressive , I know.  When I decided the size for the skirt I forgot, like a mad woman, that the Manhattan skirt does not have much ease in the waist. So the skirt I made the first time was a bit to tight on her. Luckily, I am very good as minimising fabric wastage and managed to cut another skirt using one size bigger.

Following are some pictures of the jacket and the skirt. It’s been an interesting experience for sure. I’ve learnt a lot of things. I also realised that if I am making stuff for others I seem to remember all the good sewing habits, I tend to ignore when I am making something for me. Which is good in a way! Now, I just need to  apply all those skills to all my projects. But I am a bit to impatient for that. This is the finished suit. My friend was pleased with it. I hope she gets to wear it a lot.

As I made two skirts, I adjusted the second one to fit me. This meant taking it on the side seams and shortening it. So, now I have yet another Manhattan skirt. This brings the total to four skirts. So, by far, this is my favourite pattern for making a skirt.