I think at times we all run into a project or part of a project that really trips us up. This week for me it was this jacket.
The jacket itself wasn't difficult. The inside of the jacket is unlined but as the pattern suggests, I tried to bind the inside seams for a nice finish. The binding was such a pain in the neck I had to walk away from the project for a few days. I actually avoided my work room for several days the beginning of the week because of this step of the pattern. In the end I decided that it was the inside of the jacket, not to be seen by anyone while Piper was wearing it. Sometimes I struggle with finishing a project that is flawed. When I want to give up on a project, I try to remember something my Aunt Brenda told me one day when we were talking about it, no one else knows if the end product was intentional or not. I have to learn to see the finished item for the good parts, like the buttons and top stitching and not the bad part, like the binding.
I do really like the finished jacket. I will just close my eyes when I put it on Piper and when it's buttoned I will open them so I don't have to look at the inside. I used a wool suiting for the jacket since it's intended to be used this fall. I'm so excited about the fabric. The wool isn't the scratchy wool, it's the smooth wool the has a beautiful drape to it. Traditionally this particular wool suiting retails for $19/yard. I happen to luck in to a fabulous sale and bought it for $4/yard. This is certainly one of those cases where I could not possibly buy this jacket in a store for the $5-$6 spent to make it. Last year I bought a similar jacket from Gymboree for significantly more (I won't say the price just in case DH decides to read this ;) ).
The jacket has this adorable cuff at the sleeve. I'm a big fan of cuffs as they allow for growing room.
Sewing a cuff on a sleeve this small can be a challenge. The easiest way to do this I find is to stitch the cuff right side in. Like this:
You can also see that I am using my edge-stitch foot and have the needle to the right so it will do a little less than a quarter inch seam. You have to go at it slow, as you can only sew about an inch before you need to readjust but the end results are very nice.
I also used fabric covered buttons for a nice finish.
I love fabric covered buttons. They just give a fancier feel to a garment, I think. Making your own covered buttons is really easy. I'll show you how next week.
In the end, like I said earlier, I am very happy with the end result. This was another great O+S pattern with wonderful, very detailed directions. I do plan on using the pattern again and I will try to bind the inside seams the next time. I have some ideas of how to make it work better.
I can't wait for fall. Piper's wardrobe is really coming together. I am a bit behind schedule, next on the list is some tops.
Thank you for this little tip. I'm a beginner so hemming is really the only thing I can kind of do. This helped make things so much easier for me.
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