A Little Something

I bought this pattern several years ago. I never had any great enthusiasm for it. I was hoping something new would make me stop using the same three dress patterns over and over again (Not that there's anything wrong with that) and this seemed like something that might work for me. But before I got around to making it I started to have doubts about it, mainly about the high, wide neckline. (and I'm not sure about the shoulder strap version.)

I hardly paid any attention to the little jacket. I had this piece of lovely seafoam green woven polyester, left over from something I made way back in the late 80s or early 90s. For a long time I have had it in the back of my mind to make a little jacket and recently everything just clicked - this fabric, this pattern. And so...

The pattern is for a lined jacket but I didn't want a lining so I cut facings out of a lightweight fabric (cotton? cotton/poly?) that is nearly the same color. It didn't quite turn out perfect but I love it.

And now here's a funny thing - while I was cutting out the pattern pieces for the jacket I started to feel little stirrings of enthusiasm for the dress so maybe I will make it. Maybe.

This was a bigger piece of fabric than I thought it was and I actually have enough to make something else, possibly a skirt if I wore short straight skirts, which I don't. That's okay; maybe in another 30 years I'll figure out something to make out of it.

The dress in the photo is just what I happened to have on when I decided to photograph the jacket. It's several years old. I can't remember if I ever blogged it or even what pattern I used.

Still Here, Still Sewing

Oh my, it has been such a long time. For the past... something like two months, I have been working on what I started calling, "The Sewing Project From Hell." Not that it was especially difficult but things kept going wrong, entirely because I wasn't concentrating and did stupid things and that made me procrastinate. I would finish one step and then take two or three days off from sewing and then just one more little step and so on. Before that I finished a couple more of those little cotton knit cardigans and took pictures but the pictures turned out terrible and I never did get around to trying again.

Anyway, here's that project that took so long. I noticed that my husband complained a lot about the jacket he was wearing for working on the house and around the yard. The sleeves were too short, it was too warm, and so on. So I decided to make him a jacket that worked better for him. And finally, here it is.

I used an old shirt pattern and just added a lining. The outer shell is a medium-heavyweight denim. The lining is a fairly hefty flannel with satin sleeves.

I also added a couple of tabs in back that can serve as hammer loops. I sort of hate to show you this picture because my stitching is so terrible but it's functional. That's the whole point of the jacket so I'm not terribly bothered about this.

The most important thing is, he likes it and has been wearing it. I was worried about that because I have made shirts for him that he wouldn't wear and I could never figure out what was wrong with them because they were basically the same as other shirts I made that he did like. So that's another reason it was "The Sewing Project From Hell" - because the whole time I was working on it I was thinking, "Am I going to all this trouble for nothing?" But he likes it! Success!

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Now I'm ready to make something for myself. Sort of like a reward, you know? But I decided to make some pants (trousers) and leggings for my granddaughter. I have a lot of leftover pieces of denim, twill, and cotton spandex knit that are just enough to make little person pants and it will be good to do something with those and get them out of the way.