Eve Jacket

Well one good thing to say about snow days is that it gives you some extra time to get on with things.  Saying that it is only possible if you managed to stay home and not get stranded like all the people we have been hearing about on the news.  My son has a hotel booked in Scotland for the weekend and still thinks he is going, er I don't think so!  People sleeping in cars and on trains it is just awful, we don't get snow very often but when we do it always brings us to a standstill.  I hope everyone gets home safe and warm soon.

Anyway back to the jacket as I mentioned a few days ago it is a Pattern House pattern that came with Sewing World magazine.  I added a lining and had a few different ideas about the sleeves. First they long, then three quarter and finally now they just come to the elbow because really that it where I would end up pushing them if they were three quarter as they felt a bit odd at that length.

The sleeves would probably have been ok at three quarter if I hadn't added a lining, I would imagine on a simple jersey make of this that would be fine.

I am wearing it now so I feel like I should be going somewhere but the whole idea of this make was to have something to slip on around the house that was a bit smarter than a hoody when it was cool.  It certainly feels warm enough especially with the lining, if just goes in the wardrobe for an 'occasion' it would not get worn.

It doesn't have any fastenings and for my purposes it doesn't need any, I think you could add some sort of frog fasteners or edge to edge closures like hook and eye on the inside if you felt it needed to remain closed outdoors.

Here you can see the lining inside which makes for a nice look and ensures it slides on and off.  I hand stitched it all the way around, along the hem and at the sleeves.  For me hand stitching is quite a nice activity.

My version of this jacket has this little cuff at the elbow, it is not on the pattern but as I mentioned in  my last post I was trying to make this out of just one metre of fabric so I had to put a join in my sleeve.  There is also a join on the inside front facings, it worked and I literally had tiny bits of fabric left but if  you are a beginner I wouldn't recommend doing this as one mistake and you won't be able to finish your project.

I am happy with it now it is finished and I am wearing it with something more neutral.  This morning I came down and got on with the hand stitching straight after breakfast. Then in my impatience I tried it on over my pyjamas and thought oh no I don't like it!  Well is anything really going to look any good over your pyjamas? So maybe next time I'll hold out judgement until I am actually dressed for the day.

On the Mannequin

At the weekend I did something quite unusual and bought a sewing magazine, much as I like to flick through them there isn't usually much to grab me but I took the plunge and bought sewing world.  It has a nice shift dress pattern but I already made my own pattern for one of those so that is no real gain.  With it came a paper pattern for a three quarter jacket so I thought I'd make that for a change.
When I got it out though it was printed on both sides so I still had to get tracing paper (read baking paper!) out and mark out.    As these magazines are quite expensive for what they are I feel for many people getting the proper pattern is the bonus of them, so I think this might be a disappointment  for a few people.

When I had a read through it did have a few nice ideas but not a lot I want to make, cross stitch, a bag  and some coasters. I then read it was it's last issue after twenty two years, this is a shame because although it is not quite for me I am sure there will be plenty of fans who will miss it dearly, not to mention the staff who produce it.

So the pattern that came with it was a Pattern House one, and maybe this tracing off thing is the way a lot of patterns are going but I still think a full pattern for the main event would have been better.  It is called the Eve Jacket, I like the grey on the cover so I bought a nice medium jersey at the weekend. When I cut it out I also cut a lining which is not stated in the pattern and the jury is out on that at the moment as I keep faffing with it on the mannequin thinking it is pulling out of shape.  So we will see, it may not stay.

 Now the fabric that I bought has a reverse side of sparkly silver or maybe that should be the right side but the bolt was rolled the other way.  If it was near Christmas maybe I would have used it that way but as it is I have gone for the plain grey side.  I thought a lining would give it more substance so that is just on trial.  I did also cut the sleeves full length on my jacket then changed my mind and lopped them off.

Here it is so far while I decide on the lining, I also need to press all seams and put the interfacing on.  I am still not sure if the style is for me but you don't know unless you try something different and I do tend to stick to the same things.

I really like the look of the Knipmode magazine but you can't just get it direct here without contacting them and then waiting for a response, it looks a bit like Burda magazine where you do have to trace off but it looks it bit more modern.  I may have mentioned it before but it seems a shame they are not more accessible,  I watched a YouTube  review of some French magazines too and they all looked really exciting.  Maybe I am just intrigued because they are not available here and it is a case of what you can't have.  If anyone has any recommendations for worthwhile publications let me know. I don't like it when they always feature a basic t shirt or a dress with a few pleats in the skirt.  I pulled a few off the shelf when I bought the magazine last week and they all seemed to have similar patterns on them.  As I have said I don't use many patterns but I though it would be good this year to try some new things.

Today was a snow day, I have probably squandered it but never mind.  I watched the news, had a slow breakfast and pondered what is in the freezer so that I don't over food shop this week.  This is not because I buy huge amounts I am quite good with this usually it is just last week there was stuff for the bin which drove me made as I hate waste. We then went shopping and spent more than usual so I was grumpy when I got back, I am shopping alone this week so I will stick to my plan.  I also saw some potatoes in the cupboard which may not last the week so they have been par boiled and frozen to save any future waste.  There were also a few  potatoes chopped ready for tonight's stew for the meat eaters, I'm also making a tofu and spinach lasagne, trust me that tastes better than it sounds.

So I will go now and have another look at the jacket and get the dinner started, keep safe in the snow everyone.

Zebra Shirt

This weekend I made another shirt with my burda pattern, it is one of the few patterns I own but as I know it works I return to it.  Each time I use it I try to do something a bit different with it but at the end of the day a shirt is a shirt so I don't really think you need more then one pattern.

I bought the fabric back in November and had thought I would make yet another skirt, however this year I am trying to fill the gaps and make more tops as for the last few years it has been mainly skirts and dresses.  It comes to light when you dress in jeans at the weekend and realise all your tops are quite old and you need  a bit of variety to go with them.

For this shirt I decided to do three quarter sleeves, make it quite a bit shorter than the pattern and also make the collar a bit slimmer.

I also wore it straight away as another theme is not keeping things for a 'best' that never comes and actually get wearing the items.  My only niggle with shirts is I feel they make your bra straps fall down, am I imagining this or is it a real thing?  It doesn't seem to happen as much with jersey tops, maybe it is just me.

Yes I know not great pattern matching down the back but it wouldn't have been possible with the small amount of fabric I had and I really do hate the fact that it can waste so much if you try to do this at every point on the seams.

Things do line up better at the front, the pattern was quite random too, it appears to be three zebras down just below along the row then every fourth row down they are in a straight line.

I also did a little turn up on the sleeves so I folded it to the reverse, stitched it in place then folded it to the right side and pressed.

I always put pins along where my button holes are going to go then a tiny mark for the button once these are complete.

Here is the old faithful pattern if anyone is interested, as I stated I only own a couple so if you are buying a shirt pattern it is good to know one that is tried and tested.  This is not biased in any way it is simply one I have owned for a while.  I bought more fabric today that will become another shirt dress from this but that can wait for a later date.

I also cut out a little slip on jacket from a pattern that came with a magazine, I will share more on this as it progresses.