Cascade Jacket Progress - Hampered by Responsibilities (ick)

Whew, sorry about the silence around here, folks.  I'm getting my butt handed to me with this course I'm teaching, and now that my textbook has arrived (finally), I get to power through it while I try to write two final exams...in less than a week.  AHA yeah that's going to go well, I can tell.

Anywho, I'm plugging away at my jacket.  I finally found the brown leather and wood toggles I wanted, only to realize that brown leather was going to look awful next to the trim I'm using.  I cut up some of my leftover leather from my hitchhikker's jacket, and I like the look.  Even if I did cut the leather loops a little bit too long.  Oops.  I'm attaching the sleeves now, but the sleeves are a little tight across the upper arm, so I have to let them out a bit. 

Using McCall's 6286 as a guide, although I shortened and narrowed them up.

I've also added a bit of shaping to the back through a couple of darts.  I won't do this in the winter coat version though.

Speaking of the winter coat, my fabric arrived!!  I like it, despite how plain and boring it is.  I wanted an easy-to-wear background piece that I could add lots of fun accessories to, like bright knitted hats and cowls and mitts.

The pants material looks pretty much how it showed online.  I'm pretty excited to try sewing these up, but I need to finish this jacket first.  I'm enjoying the slow sewing, which is good because the toggles definitely demanded that!

Ooo question!  I'm trying to find a source for thinsulate interlining material that won't include ordering it from the States of a cost of $25 for the fabric, $35 for shipping, and an additional $20 when you convert that to Canadian.  I suspect I can do better than $80 for 3 m of interlining fabric if I source it in Canada.  Does anyone know if anywhere down south carries thinsulate?

Anywho, I'd better get back to it.  No, not the jacket - I need to come up with 10 exam questions tonight.  :P  Although those sleeves are calling my name...NO HEATHER, BAD.  Back to work, missy!

Not..Quite There Yet

Okay, so I didn't get the jacket finished today.  I didn't even get it half way, but I'm okay with that.  Would've been nice to have my jacket for the trip to Haines this weekend, but I hear the ocean's going to be dumping down on us anyways, and it's probably better to bring my rain jacket instead.

In case you missed it, I thought I'd try to finish this jacket in 2 days.  I might've been able to do it if I'd been able to spend any time on it yesterday, but there was no way I was missing Knit Night!


As you can see, I got the main body put together.  The only changes I did was take in the side seams below the waist, since it was very loose there.

I changed the pocket openings to the side instead of the top because I basically live with my hands in my pockets, and the original pocket wouldn't work.  It's pretty comfortable this way. 

 

 

I might add a couple of darts up the back of this version to take in some of that bulk.  But overall, I'm pretty pleased with the fit so far.  A bit of shaping around the bust probably would've been a good thing, but it's not something I'll be doing for the winter version of this coat.

This is going to be a warm jacket.  It's cozy even without sleeves and the flannel lining!  I'm pretty excited about having this jacket, and definitely for the final winter version.  I can't wait to get back to this project, because I really want the finished jacket.  Heck, I need this jacket, my current fall jacket doesn't compare at all!

Okay, gotta go pack for our trip.  Happy Thanksgiving, Canadians!  Happy Canadian Thanksgiving to everyone else, too, for that matter.  :)

Ow my hands...

This took FOREVER, but my Cascade Duffle jacket pattern is prepped and cut out!  And my fingers are raw from doing it.  :(  I know I mentioned that I was making a winter coat in my last post, but I wanted to test out the pattern first and I've been needing a spring/fall jacket for longer than I've needed a winter coat.

Sorry for the crummy photo, but the khaki colour is the outer fabric, and the plaid flannel is the lining.  I've only done some minor modifications, including narrowing the shoulders by 1/2 inch and cutting one size for the shoulders and another at and below the bust.  Oh, plus adding some waist shaping and shortened the arms by 2 inches.  I'll probably detail this out more later, but I needed to write this down somewhere so I don't forget.

I'll be using this reclaimed zipper I stole got from my Grandma, and possibly this trim material.  I'm not sure how yet, maybe around the hem and across the yoke seam?  Not sure yet.  I'll also be trying to track down some leather the same shade as the zipper for the toggles.  I'm also going to see if I can find some caribou antler for the toggles, but we'll see how successful I am at that.

Oh, and I'm putting a ridiculous deadline of Friday on myself, because we're going to Haines this weekend and I'd love to have a new jacket for it!

Okay, bedtime.  Wish me luck!

Project: Spring Jacket - a Bit of Alterations and a Lot More Planning

Okay, so I mentioned last post that I'm tackling a spring jacket.  And I didn't really give you much details except "Minoru-like".  That's mostly because I was still working it out.

But now I have a much better idea of what I want!

I don't have sources for these, but they were all found by googling 'womens spring jacket' or 'hooded spring jackets'.  Sorry guys, I saved a bunch of photos (to be deleted later) for ideas, and forgot to nab the sources.

I'm hoping for something loosely fitted, but not way-oversized.  I want a simple shape without a ton of seamlines (i.e. no princess seaming), but lots of details like drawstrings, fun pockets (welt? patch? welt and patch? flaps?  WHO KNOWS!), sleeve tabs (maybe???), snaps, and definitely a hood.  I want a zipper front, but maybe with a flap overtop with snaps?  I want it to be easy wearing.  And I want it to be past my butt, but not to my knees - perhaps mid-thigh?  Maybe a little shorter?

I'm still uncertain if I want it lined or not.  The hood will be, for sure, and probably in self-fabric.

I don't want a belt.

In fact, I sort of want exactly this, with a few tweaks:

Source

I was originally going to start with Simplicity 2508, but eventually decided against the princess seams for a boxier design.  After another dive in the pattern stash, I found New Look 6942.  And in fact, I've sewn this pattern up once before, almost exactly 5 years ago!  In fact, a couple of months before I even started blogging on Sewing on Pins, holy cow.

What's great about using this pattern as my starting point is that not only have I sewn this before, but I still have the jacket! (It's the bottom right jacket in this photo.)  So by trying it on, I could work out what pattern alterations were needed!  WOO HOO!!!  And hey look, here's some of them:

Sorry for the weird colouring, I tried to brighten it to show the lines better, and then the whole thing turned blue when I saved it.  And then it got a lot worse before it got better, but at least you can sort of see the mark up.

There's a few things that will change here - I'm still working out how the handle the zipper in the front, but I have my centre-line marked up, so it won't be hard to adjust it as needed.  Note to self: work out what you want here before tomorrow.  But in general, here are the alterations so far (marked up in red marker):

• 1 1/4" FBA (5/8" on each side), using this method for non-darted tops and small FBAs
• ...but instead of aligning the hip width on the final swing, I swung the original pattern piece (shown marked up in green, or possibly blue in the picture) out so that there was an added 1 inch at the hip
• I'll also be extending the hem line down about 9 inches on the actual fabric, but I'll work out the length on the back piece
• 1/2" narrow shoulder alteration
• Dropped the armhole down by 1/2"
• Raised the waistline up by about a 1/2"

I seem to be about a 1/2" everywhere - in fact, I think I only needed 1/2" on each side for the FBA, but I opted for a bit more room there.

I haven't altered the back yet, but that'll only need a 1/2" adjustment on the shoulders and armhole, plus re-tooling the sideseam below the waist, and all of this I can just copy from the front.  Oh and lengthening, of course.  I've also added an extra 1/2" width to the sleeves, and I might yet increase that by another 1/2" - I want those sleeve comfortable!

Was going to steal the two-piece hood from this gem, Simplcity 8936...

I was originally going to add both a hood and a collar, like on Minoru, stealing the hood from Simplicity 8936 (the old Thrift Store Find above) and the collar from Simplicity 2508.  But I despise a lot of bulk around my neck, and I think that it would just drive me batty.  Instead, I want just a hood, and I want it a bit smaller and in three pieces (which ruled out 8936).  Yet another dive into the Stash churned up another Thrift Store find:

The pattern is way too small for me, but I think the 3 piece hood will be perfect! Well, after I added a piece to it.

I might yet angle the top of the hood out a bit more so I get some decent coverage if it rains.  My fabric is heavy enough that the finished lined hood will be heavy enough to give it support.  But again, I'll work that out later.  I plan to make up a quick toile to make sure the pattern works before cutting into my fashion fabric.  I actually used the collar stand that comes with the original jacket pattern to shape the collar part of the hood, but I can't be sure that it'll work until I try it out. 

Again, the centre-line is marked up on the hood and some extra width is added to line up with the overlap over the zipper.  But I'm still working out how to do that, and I think I've worked out that I'll need to have a separate piece for both the outer zipper overlap and the zipper shield inside.  I originally thought I could just include the outer overlap on the right front piece and the inner zipper shield with the facing, but I think I've talked myself out of that now.

I might treat the whole jacket zipper like a front fly zipper on a pair of pants.  Not that I've ever really done that (except in repairing a pair of the Boyfriend's hiking pants - I win at being a Girlfriend for that, btw), but there's enough tutorials and I'm a smart cookie, I'm sure I'll muddle through it well enough.

*~~*~~*~~*~~*

Well okay, that was enough babbling for one day.  I've missed doing intensive planning posts and a lot of progress posts, like I used to do over on Sewing on Pins.  I have some thinky stewing in my brain about blogging - how I used to blog, how that's changed, and how I feel the whole online sewing community has evolved over time - but that's for another day. 

For now, wish me luck - because I totally want to cut into my fabric and have the shell sewn together by tomorrow evening!  Or at least cut out.  Maybe just the pattern alterations done.  WE'LL SEE!

Frankenpattern Planning

Holy cow what is this?  Three posts in two days what what?!  If you've missed the previous two, please check out my very first pair of (ginormous) handknit socks, and my (FINALLY!) finished Cardboard Cafe cardigan, the best garment I've ever made.  Haha I've been hit by a creative bug of late, but sadly it's coincided with a lack of any desire to clean, and my sewing room is a disaster, ye gods.

Whatever, I have Plans.  I need a new spring/fall jacket something bad.  My favourite jacket is disintegrating (literally), and I want a change anyways.  Though I'm having a heck of a time finding what I want.  I like the overall look of Sewaholics Minoru, but I don't want to deal with the fitting issues I know I'm going to have.  And I sort of want to use some of the patterns in my stash - I've bought so many patterns that I haven't used at all of late, and I can't really justify yet another purchase.

But...nothing is quite perfect.  But I like bits and pieces of a couple patterns, and there's details from another pattern I want to add, and other details I'm going to make up and throw in on my own.  I think.  I'm still hashing this out.  I'm pretty excited to get started on this - it's been a while since I've challenged myself with a sewing pattern(or patterns, in this case) and I think it'll be fun.

And just cuz I'm cruel to myself, I'd like to have it done by the time I leave for a trip back to Manitoba next Thursday.  AHAHA!  But come on, I'm unemployed, this should be more than doable!