Butterick met Kenneth King and produced---

This:

Threads #158 had a tutorial by Kenneth King, using what he calls "bias strip insertion".   Bias strips are cut and folded, like bias tape, then twisted and sewn into a base panel.  That panel is inserted into garment seams.

My Designer group's challengee for this month was to embellish something, using a strip of fabric.  That strip could be strip piecing, bias tapes, fabric tubes--whatever, as long as the embellishment began with a strip of fabric.  This project was perfect for the challenge.  And so it began.

Here's a detail of the bias strip insertion on the front panels and sleeve:

I used this simple OOP Butterick pattern for my base.  It has a bust dart and lapel.

This is the journey.  Using drawings, this is what my base pattern looked like:

I curved the neckline into a sweetheart shape, and drew in the style lines for the base panel that would hold the bis strip embellishment:

But--uh oh!  The design lines went right through the bust dart.  So, I shortened the dart, making it touch the design line nearest the point of the original dart:

Then, I cut out the bust dart, slashed the outermost design line to the bust point, and opened the dart.  Now, the dart is in the seamline of the panel:

Next, it was a matter of cutting the pattern apart on the style lines, and adding seam allowances.

The panels are 3" wide, finished.  I cut bias strips 4 -1/4" wide (3" plus two seam allowances), folded them into a bias tape, pressed them,  and sewed them to one raw edge of the panel. Then gave them a twist, and sewed to the other edge of the panel.  That panel was then sewn into the garment fronts.

For the sleeves, I used the same technique, but made the bias strips narrower and with spaces between each strip.  Originally, I tried to put them touching one another, but that was too full for a small circumference.

The fabric content is unknown.  I picked it up off the grab table at one of my sewing clubs.  I underlined the jacket with white lining, and made HongKong finishes on the seams, and bound the armholes.  For a closure, I used button loops and covered buttons, and put a modesty panel on the button side.

And that's how I did it!