Opposites Attract!

The theme for July's Make A Garment a Month Challenge is "Opposites".  A suggestion from yours truly!

Opposites can take on many different interpretations - opposite season; opposites on the color wheel; plaids and stripes, etc - you get the idea.  My opposite is going to be opposing seasons.

In my part of the world we are currently in mid-summer - the perfect time to make a quilted winter vest!  I will be using Vogue 8757 as my pattern.  This is a jacket pattern, but I'm going to turn it into a vest instead.



I think the line drawing gives you a better idea of the actual jacket/vest.


You might recognize the main fabric I'll be using for the vest.  The fabric on the far right is a leftover piece of purple quilted fabric from a Minoru Jacket I made a few years ago.  The middle fabric is a satin cut-off from a prom dress alteration and the fabric on the left is a nice piece of cotton from the Robert Talbott outlet in Carmel Valley.

You might also recognize the piece I'll be using for the lining.  This was a top I made from the remnants of the Minoru Jacket lining - New Look 6245.  I was never really thrilled with this top and it's been hanging on the alteration rack for quite awhile.  I really like the print on this satiny fabric.

So for this project - I'll have quite a few iterations of the theme "opposites" going on:

- Opposite Season - making something for Winter when my current season is Summer.

- Old versus New - turning something old into something new again by reusing the old top for the lining.

- Zipper versus Snap - I'll be changing to a zipper closure instead of a snap closure as suggested in the pattern.

If I think of any other opposite in the sewing process - I'll be sure to mention that in my final project post.

Happy Opposites Sewing everyone!

Star

Vogue 8778

This jacket is a Katherine Tilton design for Vogue Patterns.  I made this awhile ago and have finally posted it.  This jacket adds to my collection of jackets that are members of the "Big Collar Brigade" - I seem to have quite a few members in my closet.

The jacket is made out of polar fleece and the day I took the pictures, it was about 80 degrees outside and I was roasting, so I tried to take some quick snaps.

The jacket is very loose-fitting with an asymmetrical front zipper closure.  I wanted to do a little something different with the zipper so I combined two different zippers in my stash.  As you can see below, one side of the zipper is white and the other side is black.  Also, after sewing in the zip, it seemed a little plain, so I added some polka dot ribbon to each side.

The black polar fleece was the packing material used in an e-bay purchase of a new sewing machine.  Of course I couldn't throw it away - for goodness sake - it was free fabric!  There was about 3 yards of the stuff and it had various holes and marks so I needed to work around them when cutting out the jacket pieces.

The striped knit sleeve material was leftover from a previous project.
The polka dot polar fleece was purchased at a local fabric store - I can't remember when exactly. Here's the back view - pretty simple from the back.

After completing the jacket, it seemed like it was missing something so I added the pocket to the front.

The pocket material is some cotton knit I had in my stash.  To make the pattern, I used a salad plate from the kitchen and traced around the outside of the plate and then added a seam allowance.  Using two pieces of knit, sew the circles together and turn.  When I added the pocket to the jacket, I decided how much of the circle I wanted to turn back to form the flap and just sewed around the edge of the rest of the pocket.  Add a button and ta-da!  Super easy pocket!  I think the round pocket pulls from the polka dots on the collar and my cute little polka dot button was the finishing touch.

The two collar pieces in front just meet - no hooks and eyes or anything.  I might add some hooks and eyes at a later date.

That's it for now!  Hope you like it!

Happy Sewing!

Sewing Workshop Olive Top

This blouse is the Olive Top from The Sewing Workshop's Alex & Olive Tops pattern.  It is a scoop neck knit pullover with diagonal side seams and an exposed decorative back zipper placed on the diagonal. 

 

The knit fabric I purchased at the Puyallup Sewing Expo a few years ago from The Sewing Workshop's booth.  I liked both sides of the fabric so much, I decided to use the wrong side for the sleeves.  Laying out the pattern took a little thought as I wanted to have the stripes going two different directions on the back piece. I did a quick drawing to reference as I laid out the pattern pieces and this helped out a lot. 

 

For the back zipper, I decided to highlight it by placing a bold red plastic zipper with red rick rack and a black and white ribbon on each side as well.  I think it looks quite nice!  It is very comfortable to wear and I receive a lot of compliments each time I wear it. 

 

Happy Sewing!