Friday, October 25, 2013

My First Jacket!




     I finally, finally finished my very first jacket! I posted previously (kinda) about it before it was finished. :) It's certainly far from perfect but it's the largest project I've tackled so far and I'm happy with how it turned out. There may be things I go back and make better later, however.

     The pattern was McCall's 6531, and for it I picked out some very soft brown fabric for the lining (this wasn't part of the pattern, I just worked it in myself) and an army green kind of canvasy fabric. I am not yet very good at identifying different fabric types, so if you can tell me what these are specifically, I'd appreciate it!


    So, the first thing I did was make a muslin of my jacket. I didn't want to waste any of my fabric and I wanted a perfect fit! Making the muslin also let me know which of the pattern pieces I needed to cut extra of in order to make my lining.

   I stitched together my lining and was just super happy with how well it fit and how good of a job I had done so far! :D Yay me!




      I had a helper, of course. ;)



     After I sewed together the same pieces in the sturdier outer fabric, I was a little less excited. Once again, I picked a little poorly with my pattern. The armpits are kind of saggy? But that's okay. Purpose number one was personalized warmth, and it's achieved that and some. However, next time, I think I will look more closely for non-fitted sleeves/armpits.


    So, now I have a new jacket that may have some flaws I wish I had not made and a few errors in judgement as well, but I still love it. :) It's my first jacket and I'm sure it will keep me plenty warm!




    Mind the strong that I missed, haha. It apparently also doubles as a cat bed.



   Hope you guys enjoyed my blog! If you have any tips or pointed on sewing a better jacket, or sewing in general, I'd love to hear it. I am still fairly new to sewing. ;P


14 comments:

  1. Amanda Kissell SmithOctober 25, 2013 at 7:10 PM

    Great job. I like to sew but I am not very good. Love your gorgeous helper too.

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  2. Thank you! I like to sew but I am not very good either. Even though I feel like I'm getting close to being good! Currently somewhere between 50% - 75% of the things I make I actually end up liking, so I don't think that counts as 'very good' yet haha. :)


    And thank you on half of Pisica! She's my little old girl, and she loves helping me sew! I have four others for when she's too busy napping though. ;P

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  3. Looks like the pattern uses kimono sleeves, where the sleeve and bodice piece are all one piece (rather than a "set in sleeve" which most clothes have). This will always be baggy under the armpit (unless you insert gussets - see herehttp://www.blogforbettersewing.com/2012/01/how-to-sew-two-piece-underarm-gusset.html).

    And the "canvas"y fabric is maybe a cotton drill? Can't quite tell what the brown would be - is it towelling? Doesn't look like velveteen.


    In response to your comment below - actually liking 50-75% of your stuff IS VERY GOOD. I know several people who I would say are pretty good sewers, but don't like 25-50% of their stuff. I class myself as reasonably good now, still fuck up ALL THE TIME and still dislike about 25% of my things.

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  4. Thank you very much. :) The sleeves and bodice parts are one part. Next time I will look for a pattern that doesn't use that, but overall I do like the jacket. :)


    It's cotton something, I'm pretty certain. I should have paid more attention at Jo Ann's! The lining was grouped with the sherpa fabric and other such stuff, it's really soft and silky.


    And thanks so much! I wish I liked more of the things I make, because sometimes I spend too much money on trying to make something that I like, haha.

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  5. I think it turned out adorable! The end photos you can't even tell the armpits are saggy. Good job!


    Josie
    FineandFeathered.com

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  6. Thank you very much. The more I see it the more I like it. I can tend to be my own worst critic. :)

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  7. I'm in awe! I can't sew, but I would think that a jacket would be really hard. Well done!

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  8. Thank you. It is definitely the biggest project I have tackled so far, but so glad I did!

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  9. Very impressive! I LOVE the color! And your kitty is so sweet - looks so similiar to my CoCo!

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  10. Thank you! Haha, I feel like I could have done better but I'm definitely happy with the final outcome. Thought I may redo the front pockets better, wouldn't take much effort to make them a bit more well done.

    That's Pisica, she's one of five but she is totally a big sweety. Sassy, too! I posted a blog yesterday that has pictures of all five. :) http://fk-sew.blogspot.com/2013/10/pet-portraits.html

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  11. Great job! Very nice and looks nice and warm too. What is your previous experience with sewing? You say that you are new to it, but you must have some training in order to take on these projects as your first projects.

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  12. I just learned the basics in home ec. in high school, about seven years ago.

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  13. Look super cute! Love that pea green color.



    Man, I can't imagine sewing anything so complex. I JUST sewed my first zipper yesterday and it took me hours, haha.

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  14. I get super nervous about sewing zippers, especially the long one on this jacket!

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