I finished the jean jacket this afternoon (I see from the photo, I need to reposition the second button from the bottom just a smidge to eliminate the ‘bulge’ in the bottom opening).
Finished Jean Jacket
The back
Jean Jacket Back
The back turned out nicely. The adjusted size E closes across the front as it should. Turns out, the linen was difficult to work with – stiff and coarse. The shoulder pads and sleeve headers do what they should – lift the shoulder a bit, and smooth the sleeve cap. Fiddly to do but worth the effort. The lining fits in well and is slippery enough that my arms slip into the sleeves easily. And I like the contrast elements in the sleeve bottom.
This is the fourth jacket from this pattern – it’s a well designed pattern (the inside zipper pockets are a good addition) – the markings all align and the parts fit together precisely.
It’s not that I went anywhere – I’ve just been working away at several things and not finished much to write about. But I’ve not been idle!
I’ve been working on a linen Jean Jacket (Out of print pattern by Sandra Betzina)and slowly making progress. It’s a lined jacket, with lots of top stitching and I’ve added two inner zippered pockets at the front facing/side lining seam so I can actually carry something in a pocket. The jacket pockets are no good for even carrying a Kleenex – they’re too shallow and anything I’d put in there would just fall out.
Partially constructed Jean Jacket
I’ve made three of these jackets over the years – a cotton/linen blend, a wild printed fabric, and one in denim – the problem is they’re TOO small – they don’t fit – I can’t button them up. I needed another one in a larger size. I’d bought the linen to make a dress but after a couple of washings and dryings the fabric was still too stiff to use for a dress or pants so I decided to make a jean jacket.
I’ve got the lining constructed, the sleeves (which have quite a bit of detail) are done. I’ve set up the sleeve facings having added a Hong Kong finish to the open edge. Now I’m working on putting the rest of the lining together. I expect I might be finished the jacket tomorrow or over the weekend.
In the meantime, I decided I needed a new iPhone carrying case – not much larger than the ones I’ve made before but larger enough that I can carry a credit card, my drivers licence, health card, some money in addition to the cough candy and chewing gum I always have on hand (because of my pesky cough – which BTW has subsided substantially recently – not gone but much less of a problem). My first try wasn’t quite wide enough and the top pocket was too deep. So I made a second.
iPhone Case 2.0
What I did was figure out how to add two zippered pockets to one side in addition to the zippered pocket along the length!
I haven’t written any instruction for how to do this version. When I get around to making another one and taking photos as I go along I’ll set up some instructions to share.
It’s still not large enough to fit my keys in but I have a hook on my key ring which I can hang on the strap if I don’t want to carry them in a pants or jacket pocket.
And I’ve almost got a sock finished from the new pair I’m working on – that will probably be completed this evening.
But since it’s been just over two weeks since I reported on anything I though I should update what I am working on.
This turned out to be a subtle, but interestingly detailed pattern when the socks were finished. The hint of white separating the blue from the turquoise created a clear colour boundary.
The yarn was one of the remaining balls from the yarn I’d bought last year from Hobbii in Denmark. I didn’t plan the layout – I just started with the interior end that presented itself (I almost always work from the inside of a ball to the outside – that way the ball doesn’t roll around). It was just luck that I was able to begin and end with the blue leaving the turquoise element in a nice location on the leg and foot! I did have to match up the yarn for the second sock – but that’s usually how it goes. Because of the way the pattern worked out, I decided to keep knitting the toe in the blue, rather than change to the solid I used for cuff and heels.
The Escher Quilt finished last week, I started on some summer clothes. I’ve gained weight since I moved into the apartment, particularly this past year, and none of my summer pants fit me! None of them. The waists are waaaay too tight, but also across my belly the zipper has a hard time closing. So rather than trying to remake them, I decided to start from scratch.
Linen Pull-on Pants
A couple of months ago I bought one metre each of three different colour linen fabrics from Blackbird Fabrics (online) – nice weight, and I thought the fabric width would be wide enough that I’d be able to scrape out a pair of pants – well almost – I would normally buy 1 1/4″ metres for a pair of pants why I didn’t call and ask them to sell me the correct amount, I don’t know!. As it worked out, I was just able to fit in the fronts and backs and the front and back pockets but all facings and had to be cut from something else. With the red pair I had to create hem facings because the legs weren’t long enough to turn up; the mauve pair ended up somewhat cropped; the navy pair were OK in length. Because I intend to wear them with loose tops (I haven’t worn “tucked in” in a long time) I can get away with an elastic waist, pull-on pants.
I want to make one more pair but that will have to wait until the fabric stores here in town reopen – Wednesday, this week, I think – to buy some khaki/beige linen blend fabric.
In the meantime, I’ve turned to tops and dresses.
Top Recut From Dress
This top is a dress remake of the dress I made in 2014 for Benjamin’s Bar Mitzvah. 2014 – that’s a while back – the dress was just too small. I put it in the give-away pile and then decided to use the fabric as a “muslin” to recut the dress as a top to see how it would look in a larger size. Not bad. I can certainly wear it with white or red pants and a bit of jewelry and look decent.
I was using this garment as a mock-up for a longer casual summer dress. Working from a pattern I’ve had forever
I retraced the size 14 I now needed, carefully drafted neck “yoke” pieces (the pattern uses a neckline facing, but the neckline is a bit too large so I decided to add an insert (“yoke”) to make it higher, rather than change the neckline on the pattern) and I also lengthened the sleeves to close to elbow-length.
I had bought some viscose/cotton/flax/ print fabric a few weeks back with this dress in mind. Yesterday, I cut it out and assembled it.
Floral Viscose/Cotton/Flax Casual Summer Dress
I’m not going to be glamorous in this dress, but it’s going to be loose and cool and comfortable on a hot summer day (OK we don’t get a lot of those here in NS but we do get an occasional warm one).
I purposely used two tjaps (stamps used to apply hot wax to the fabric) to create my design intending to use the “rectangles” as a border at the hem of whatever I eventually made. We stamped two “border” sections so I’d have enough. I came home with 5 metres of this batik rayon fabric – the dress will take about 1/3 of what I have – I’m going to try to border the sleeves a wee bit, as well, if I can.
That’s today’s project. I have more linen and linen blend, as well as rayon, fabrics in my stash to make several more garments but I really don’t need more than two dresses – we don’t get that many hot days here. So that fabric will stay put for another summer.
jmn 