A jacket to wear when sitting outside the pub and it gets a bit cool…..
Another jacket. I know. And i probably have others that i could wear whilst sitting outside the pub, and it gets a bit cool. I suppose that the difference this year is a greater likelihood of sitting outside at the pub, as right now some of my friends are still reluctant to sit inside, whatever the weather might be doing. My goodness, have we been in some crazy outdoor situations on wet days!?
I bought Simplicity 8700 for the Hackathon, and made a zipped fronted winter coat from it. The coat got a lot of wear last winter, and as some rather old coats are going to the charity shop shortly, it will get even more wear this winter. So having just completed this top, i suddenly decided that i needed a new jacket that would be long enough to cover most of my long sleeved tops, and had space for 2020 sleeves. In fact, i wanted something that looked a bit like the one on the pattern cover.
The length is somewhere between the short and long version of the pattern, designed to cover the Simplicity 9149 top, and others. It has two large pockets, positioned as for the long version. No flaps. They get in the way. And a lesson learnt from the winter coat, was to line the pockets, which i did. The majority of the jacket is unlined, as it is intended to be casual, but, i did line the sleeves. Its always helpful to line sleeves, as it allows the jacket to slip on and off more easily, over those 2020 sleeve variations. As with the coat, i also used lining for the collar facing, to reduce bulk. The only other ‘option’ that i selected was the sleeve bands. I almost always have to shorten sleeves, so including the bands gave me a bit of potential for further adjustment of the sleeve length should i get the standard 5cm sleeve shortening wrong – which i didnt!
The fabric is a cotton twill from Barry’s.
The buttons were a new venture for me, bought online from the Button Company. I have a favourite market stall for buttons, and rarely buy them anywhere else, but i don’t want to go to the market right now, and i am not sure that the stall is open. Buying buttons online is ‘postage heavy’. I needed 5. Spares are always handy, and helps to make my button box ‘magic’. So i selected 3 different designs, x 6, which came to about the same sort of value as the postage. On reflection, had i bought them on the market, i would either have driven into town, and had to pay to park, or got the bus, and paid bus fare, all of which cost the same ballpark as postage. Justified then!
I did have a problem with the pattern and am trying to remember if i had the same problem with the coat….. I had trouble getting the collar to fit. I do vaguely remember steaming the wool on the coat so that it fitted, but that approach isn’t possible with cotton twill. ‘Esme‘ wouldn’t like it, but the result is generally hidden from view.
Surprise, surprise – i had fabric left over. And you may have noticed that i often make something with the leftover fabric shortly after finishing the original garment. This time i made another rucksack (to take to the pub and contain my umbrella!) I could have made the whole rucksack out of the green fabric, but made a deliberate design decision to add some interest by using some leftover faux suede for a contrasting flap and side pockets. Considering it took me about 8 years to make my first rucksack, i have now made 3. As soon as i had hand stitched the lining to the bag, it was filled with a bottle of wine, picnic plates and cutlery, and my umbrella, and went to another ‘weird’ gathering, in a tent, in the rain, in a friend’s garden. Exactly what the whole ensemble was intended for. Whilst the bag looks a bit lop-sided on my back, that must be me, as you can see that the bag is all properly lined up when not on my back!!
I have a couple of British get-a-ways coming up. I suspect both items will be well used.
One Week, One Pattern
Me Made May 2016
Me Made May 2015
Simplicity Competition
Sew Over it Patterns
all my own work by ann 