I have so much to say!!! I'm computer-less til Wednesday so I'm blogging from my phone. Bleh. I'll do a photo dump then details.
The hood and collar - I love both.
LOVE the wide elastic
I hand embroidered a little tag :)
Because you HAVE to have pockets!!
Lined in a soft pink pongee
Cuffs
Fabric, pattern and notions:
I received the pattern free after hosting the vintage contest on PR. The fabric? Also FREE! I won this water resistant linen during the Fabric Mart Fabricista contest last year.
The lining is a poly cheetah print scored during a Spot the Bolt sale at Hancock.
The zipper is a C&C and both zipper and elastic were also purchased at Hancock.
I traced my pattern (which I hate). OMG. Front, back, sleeve, hood, collar, cuffs, band, plus the lining pieces. Gahhhhh.
One note about the pattern; the print is SO faint. When I muslined the Thurlows I noticed it too.
I cut a size 14 based on finished measurements.
Adjustments:
I mostly made aesthetic changes. I did shorten the sleeves a little over an inch. They are LONG.
otherwise:
-I added pockets from M6531
-I only used an interior pocket on the left side and left off the Velcro closure
-I used 1 1/2" elastic in the cuffs vs 2"
-I changed the hood shape a bit (it was kind of pointy)
-I left off the zipper in the collar. My fabric has some body and I knew I would never stuff the hood in
-I didn't do all the top stitching. The linen has a bit of texture and it wasn't popping much.
-I removed some width from the hips after the fact
-I used lining fabric for the hanging loop
-I hand embroidered a tag (which I love!)
-I had 2.5 yards of fabric and ended up having to cut the bands and the inner collar on the cross grain.
-I interfaced the outer collar
Other thoughts:
Aside from tracing making me sad, the pattern went together rather easily.
I did read the sew along before starting but didn't need to reference it while sewing. I'm not sure why I was more intimidated by this pattern; I sewed a BURDA coat for goodness sakes! Maybe because everyone's looks SO good that I thought it was hard?
Nope. Not at all. Just a good pattern.
I contemplated doing an FBA but decided I didn't need it. I will however, remove hip width and give myself more butt room for next time. It's not snug at all but I know I could use more space.
The gathers make me happy. Eeesh! So awesome!
Th instructions are fine but I mean, when you have a lined outerwear pattern with 1 full page of directions well...they are terse. Not difficult but some things are combined into a step which can get confusing. But there's a sew along so there's that. Because the hem is top stitched, there's really no reason to slip stitch the sleeve lining to the cuff. So I skipped that noise.
And oh. My. Gosh.
I lost or tossed or something...the elastic guide for the sleeve cuff. so I measured and tried on and decided on a length. And then I almost tossed my machine out of the window trying to make it work. Next time I will partially sew the cuff and thread the elastic through. That will be annoying because it's so wide, but better than the fiddling I had to do.
I was going to do welts but decided a patch pocket with a twist would look great. So I perused the collection for a cool pocket and settled on this one. The actual pattern calls for a gusset around the pocket. I think that's pretty cool and may use it next time. I didn't realize it though until I'd already lined the pockets. I used a pale pink poly pongee for the pocket lining. Since the lining is so much darker I didn't want to risk it peeking out on the sides.
I really love it. SO MUCH!!! It sounds like a lot of adjustments or nit picking but really, it's a fantastic pattern and is exactly what I had in mind for a cool weather jacket.
If you own it, and have made it, I know why you love it. If you haven't made it, do it!! :)
