Simply Curious

This was supposed to be a mockup.  It became a monster.


I bought a pattern off of Etsy from Lekala of what I thought would be a cute, simple jacket with minimal fabric requirements, exactly what I wanted to make with the mere 2 yards of coral fabric I had.  Since the fabric on the discount table at G Street Fabrics was cheaper than muslin, I grabbed a large amount of what I felt closest matched the type of fabric I had, and set to work testing out the pattern.

For all its cuteness and simplicity, this pattern was a bear for a beginner like me.  It's a computer generated file customized to your measurements.  However, the instructions were rather foreign to me, (I guess translated English?  I'd never heard of a selvage being referred to as a 'beam' before.) and the printouts had the annoying habit of being JUST a little bit over the edge onto the next page, coupled with my printer's inability to print the last 3/4" inch of each page.  And I had to add on the seam allowances myself, which was difficult due to the close layout of the pattern pieces.  Fortunately I have a stash of large sized paper that I was eventually able to trace over.

Once I overcame those obstacles, I had to solve the problem of the huge sleeves.  If I narrowed the sleeves, the armhole became too big.  If I narrowed the armhole one way I got these awful pulls in the back.  I eventually just added a big curve to the arm and that will have to do.

By this point I'm thinking this cheap striped fabric is pretty awesome and I actually DO want a 'real' jacket out of it.  I decide I'm going to add cuffs.  And pleats.  And lace.  And a button.  I have no idea how to do any of this, but years of faking it in one inch scale gave me confidence to proceed in my insanity.

So, this was a real learning experience.  And I'm still not done!  I need to solve the droopy lining problem, most likely with hem tape.  And then - make the coral one.