Drats – a not-so-simple jacket- Amy Week 3
Oh, what a difference a week makes! After my confidence-building Mad Men week, I decided to go for a challenge – a two piece ensemble. I knew I was going to sew a skirt, but since I believe I can sew one in my sleep, I was after a bigger challenge – a jacket.
I had a weekend trip to Kansas City, so my sewing started at about 4 p.m. on Sunday. (I was home by noon, but chose to procrastinate.)
I started with the skirt. It was actually a pattern and fabric Jennifer had purchased a while back and gave me as a hand-me-down, already cut with interfacing adhered. (By the way – I accept hand-me-downs anytime.) The skirt went together magically, until I remembered I needed a zipper to finish it. So I did what I could then began working on the short jacket. Not feeling that motivated, I thought I’d finish up on Monday evening. I figured the skirt was pretty much done, and thought the jacket seemed basic… boy, was I wrong!
Amy's completed skirt and difficult jacket.
After picking up the zipper for the skirt on the way home, I got started again sewing the skirt at about 7 p.m. but the finishing took much longer than I anticipated, so finally at 9:30 p.m. the skirt was done. It fits, and looks pretty nice – even the zipper went in easily.
So with the clock ticking I started on the jacket. The front and back were easy – even the pleats went fine. Then the instructions got a little tricky when it came to adding the collar. “With right sides together, pin front facing and upper collar to yoke back facing at shoulder and back neck edges, matching centers back and small dots.” Um…. What? Working with a piece that looked like a half donut with teeth, and a sliver moon – just where are the shoulder and back neck edges? After studying the drawing, fabric pieces and reading the directions…. Oh, about 35 times, I gave up at 11:30 p.m., resigned.
Joanne was out of the office this week, so I skipped reveal day. I decided wearing the skirt without the jacket, just wouldn’t do.
Mark read the instructions with me on Tuesday night to help me figure them out. I moved a step closer, but work halted again when it explained how to add the collar and yoke to the front and back pieces. It took a while, but I got them attached – but a bit off kilter. Okay, enough off kilter that I need to rip out the seam and go after it again. I also attached the front facing incorrectly, so I’ll need to redo that step too. At that point it was 11 p.m. and I’d had enough!
So, I can say my project was half completed this week. And my dressform, Clara, is wearing it well. I’ll work on the jacket more and hopefully finish next week. It looks cute, so far. Wouldn’t you agree?
Until next week…
Amy
