Stitchin' in My Kitchen

This will just be a short little post about my just finished asymmetrical zip jacket, Butterick 6169. Described as: Semi-fitted, lined jacket has shoulder pads, seam detail, welt pockets, exposed zipper, and two-piece sleeves.  I want to make myself a full on moto jacket at some point, so I'm working my way up to, starting with this pattern.  I made a muslin for a straight size 12, and only made two small changes: First, a swayback adjustment. It was very roomy at the small of my back, and I know it's described as semi-fitted, but I didn't like the look and I took out a few inches back there so it would fit close when I had it zipped. Second, the pocket bags are not drafted for adult human hands. They are crazy small so I drew them large enough to put my hand in them (see the picture above? Her hand can't go any farther in!) Otherwise, it was a great little jacket pattern. I spent about a day working on this, there's not a lot of hand sewing, just the lining at...

Over the past few years, I’ve developed a pretty solid me-made wardrobe.   There aren’t too many holes or missing pieces that I need in my daily life.   I had a few summer pieces I wanted to sew for the upcoming season but after that I was planning on spending time this year on some more involved, time-consuming, sewing-skill-challenging projects.   The first one is a classic trench coat – or the Briscoe trench coat, inspired by ‘Law and Order’ Detective Lennie Briscoe, who rocked an awesome Burberry trench on the show (I often watch/listen to Law and Order reruns while I sew, mainly if I’m home alone). I was cruising vintage patterns on Etsy and I found this 1974 vintage Vogue 1095 Christian Dior trench coat pattern, and I bought it for $31, which may be the most I’ve ever paid for a sewing pattern.   I just loved the back, and thought it was a nice variation on a classic theme.   It was a size 14, for a 36” bust, so pretty much perfectly sized. ...

I have probably half a dozen bomber-style jacket patterns in my collection, none of which I'm crazy about.  I've made the Rigel bomber, but don't like how low the neckline is.  I don't know where (Instagram probably) but I saw this Teddy HB bomber by Louis Antoinette, a pattern company I was unfamiliar with. I liked the unique design lines and decided to give it a shot. Based on the size chart I cut a size 40 and decided to dive in without a muslin.  The pattern is designed for wovens, but I had wanted to make a jacket with this Metallic Silver Laminated French Terry that I had bought from Mood: The laminated surface removes most of the stretch, so it was more like a woven or stretch woven than a knit. It's crazy looking - Tim hates it.  The lining was a purple polyester I bought a while ago at Fabric Outlet SF. The pattern instructions come in English and French. My version had Step 5 in French mixed in with the English instructions - so I flipped over the ...