Sewaholic Minoru Jacket

Today marks the beginning of September in California and what a perfect time to make a winter coat - 100 degrees outside and not a cloud in the sky.  I won't be modeling this one due to the weather, but luckily, my trusty Mannequin decided to volunteer to do the modeling instead.

This fabric is a quilted poly (I think) that I purchased during a vacation in Vancouver, Canada a number of years ago.  I remember wrestling with the fabric, trying to make it conform to my carry on bag and hoping the bag wouldn't burst at the seams in transport.  It's stitched with a variegated thread in a swirly, floral/paisley motif.
I questioned using this fabric for this coat because it was so bulky, but I thought I'd give it a go and I'm glad I did - I absolutely love the way it turned out.

I opted not to sew in the optional hood because of the fabric's bulk - there was no way it would fit into the collar without looking like I had a pillow around the back of my neck.

I special ordered a zipper to get the perfect purple color.  Originally, I ordered a plastic molded zipper because I was afraid that a brass one would snag the stitching, but coincidentally, was sent a brass zipper instead.  After e-mailing the company and having them send me the correct plastic molded zipper, I ended up using the brass one they had originally sent.  The brass pulls out the orange color on the thread so nicely I think. 

The coat pattern doesn't come with pockets so I decided to draft my own.  Rather than do a square pocket, I rounded the corners on the bottom to better match the swirly pattern of the stitching and added a lining to them as well.

Here's a look at the back.  The jacket has raglan sleeves with elastic filled cuffs on the sleeve ends and elastic 3/4 of the way around the waistline.

I stitched thru the middle of the elastic to help keep it in place.

But here's the best part of the jacket - the lining!  I just love it!  This fabric too was in my stash and the colors match perfectly.   

I even fussy cut the inside pockets to match.

And added some bias tape to the bottom of the hem to help tie in the light blue color.

Here's another view of the inside front all zipped up.

And the back view.

The loop on the back is some grosgrain ribbon.  I tried to make a loop from the quilted fabric, but it was just too thick and I figured it would feel like I had a knot on the back of my neck when wearing it so I changed it to a ribbon loop instead.

This puts me at sewing 24.625 yards of fabric during the 2014 Stashbust.  I have another 5.375 yards to go to hit my own personal goal of 30 yards.  With that said, I better get busy!

Until next time - Happy Sewing!

Sewaholic Lonsdale Dress

It's been a few weeks since I've posted so I thought I would write about something I made awhile ago.  This is the Lonsdale Dress #1102 by Sewaholic Patterns.  A halter style dress with straps that are double knotted in the front, then go over the shoulder, thru some loops on the dress back and finally tie in a bow.

The fabric is a very drapey linen with a cute coffee print motif on it.  I purchased this fabric at Stonemountain and Daughter in Berkeley, CA probably 10 years ago (or more!).  

 

Here you can see how the straps go over the shoulder and tie in the back.  A very feminine look to the dress I think.  

The skirt has front pockets as well which come in very handy.

I trimmed the bottom of the hem with Rick-Rack.  Kinda hard to see in this photo, but the Rick Rack kind of looks like the little coffee beans that are printed in the fabric.  

Just a quick post today.  I'm very late in completing my May Make a Garment a Month Challenge and need to start cutting it out!  The muslin is fitted already so hopefully I can finish it this weekend.  Wish me luck!

Happy Sewing!