I'm back. I had no intention of staying away for so long (have I said this at other times?), but... life became somewhat overwhelming, then moved on to being completely overwhelming. I'm dealing with it.
I missed blogging... keeping some sort of record of sewing accomplishments... something to keep me on track, a place where I could click, click through posts to make myself feel better when I'm feeling that I'm getting nothing done, a sense of a real accomplishment when I would finally post a project. Somehow simply hanging a finished garment in the closet doesn't quite equal a picture and a blog post.
Seems like I have a lot of catching up to do here. Where to begin? I did keep taking pictures, so it would only make sense to use those pictures first.
As the snow was beginning to fall (all too early) last fall, I was still finishing this jacket.
I was definitely tempted to pack it away as a UFO until spring, but managed to convince myself that it would be a welcome sight in a finished state, come spring. A number of people were sewing various versions of this same jacket, and I definitely paid attention to what others had to say. The sleeves needed rejigging to hang better. Far from perfect, but much better than they were originally. Fabric is a "novelty polyester", which, I vaguely remember buying for an evening jacket. That obviously didn't happen, and this casual jacket is much more practical in my life. The wrong side of the fabric is rather rough, so lining had to happen. How thoughtful of my stash to produce a very silky poly charmeuse just for that purpose.
Raw edges were treated with a Hong Kong finish, then slipstitched to the lining.
I like a "nice" zipper for a jacket like this. "Nice" zippers come in a very limited selection locally, so I did have to make do with something shorter than the recommended length. It worked. I do know that I probably paid more for the zipper than I had probably paid for the fabric. No waiting for sales. No trolling around online. When I need a zipper I need it NOW, and that means a mad dash to the store, agonizing over the lack of choice, then finally choosing from what's available and making it work.
