Review of Gift-Making December

Or, why I haven't blogged in over a month.

Where did December go? Well, it flew by me. For the past month, I've been focused on making and buying presents for family members. The truth is that it was not all fun in 2017. And this was a monster of my own making, so-to-speak.

Next year, there will be few handmade gifts. I promise. I do love the idea of handmade gifts but I obsess over it. I don't think that fits with the spirit of giving. So unless it is zen sewing and gives me selfish pleasure, I must step back and allow time to breathe and enjoy the joy.

Here are the gifts I made, and honestly, some really were fun.

This jacket was requested by my granddaughter. It's made using Kwik Sew 3818, a medium-weight wool and lined with a medium-weight silk-cotton blend. I blogged about it here so I won't rehash it, But isn't she cute in it?

Next up were two robes. These were also by request. And they were so simple to make using Simplicity 1562, now probably out-of-print.

They are both made from polyester fleece, so easy to sew. The owls on white background is for my 8 year old granddaughter; the Clemson-themed robe is for my 11 year old grandson. The Clemson version was a HUGE success. He almost wore it into a movie theater. The owl version will be used too but did not garner great enthusiasm.

The last requested gift was this super-simple pillow case for a youth-sized pillow:

Here it is in its first use with 2-year-old grandson:

Now a sensible person would have stopped there. Those were requested and so pretty much guaranteed to please. I did not stop. Next I made these two (2!) patchwork pillows for another 11 year old grandson and his 13 year old brother (who wears glasses like these). They have two dogs of this breed.

If they look simple, then please, please look again. They took FOREVER to piece. Each contains half-square triangles no larger than 1 inch. Yikes! What was I thinking?

The pillows finish at standard bed-pillow size. I put a zipper in the back to allow for machine washing. When the 11-year-old opened it, he said, "Oh, look! A pillow." And he proceeded to unzip it and remove the pillow. Hmmm...

And then I could have stopped, yes? But for a long time now, I've had this great idea. My husband wanted a shirt to match one that the 2 year old had. Such a shirt simply did not exist. So I made each of them a shirt using this lovely cotton shirting from Gail K in Atlanta.

It took some research to find a man's shirt with most of the conventional details. I settled on Vogue 9220. Then I took measurements from one of my husband's shirts and tried very hard to make them match. In the end his was a bit too tight and the little one is too big. Of course, too big is not a problem with a two-year-old, so now I'm thinking about ways to remake the one for DH. Or maybe not.

The little one is from one of my old Ottobre magazines. I have used and used those patterns making many things for grandchildren with the enclosed patterns. I must say that was joyful to make.

I should probably write a separate blog on DH's shirt. I learned a lot about the fit of a man's shirt and I should document it before I forget.

As I reflect on making gifts this past month, I realize that the simplest were perhaps the most joyful to make. There's a lesson there.

So that was my December. I'm so glad it's January now.

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MMM Day 10

Today I'm wearing a spring coat. I remember the first time I heard that expression - a spring coat. My NH granddaughter was talking about a jacket I had just gifted her. She said it would be a great spring coat. Having spent a large part of my life in Austin TX, that made no sense. But today I am in Boston visiting the Museum of Fine Arts. Today a spring coat makes sense.

This coat is made with Vogue 8934, a design by Marcy Tilton. It has a stand-up collar, set-in sleeves, side-seam pockets, and a slight lantern shape. The outer fabric is a firm medium weight cotton I bought at Gail K in Atlanta. I lined it with a fun piece of polka-dotted Bermberg Ambiance lining. I quilted the lining to cotton batiste. If you want more info on it, check my old blog post here.

The pants are one-seams from Cutting Line Designs, made up in a light weight black wool, probably a tropical weight. It travels beautifully with wrinkles dropping out as I wear them. They are almost 4-season pants for me.

The top is RTW from Talbot's. I know. This is quite shocking but it's practically vintage, a present from DH during the 80's. It's made of silk but has a nice weight to it - not a light silk.

And, now, en marche!

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Raincoat Making

On this, my first raincoat make, the fabric was both friend and foe.

The Soho Coat from The Sewing Workshop

First, it is just a fun and interesting piece of fabric. I probably bought it from Marcy Tilton though it's been a while and she has nothing like it on her web site right now. It is a double-face fabric with black on one side and a black and cream stripe on the reverse. I think that the black side is nylon or maybe even rip-stop. The striped side appears to be a rayon knit.

The double-face feature was great for this pattern since the wrong side shows. I decided early on that the solid black would be the right side. However I had to constantly remind myself of this as I sewed. My reptilian brain wanted the striped side to be the right side. More that once I pinned it incorrectly and caught myself right before bringing the presser foot down.

I was cautious about sewing this piece because it is so different from anything else I've sewn. I even made samples! The samples showed that it would be easy to sew - no need for special feet or thread. But it does have a tendency to get sucked into the presser plate hole. That was pretty easy to manage though.

I love these deep pockets.

As usual I did not have enough fabric to make the coat as shown, but after reviewing some images online I decided that it was really a lot longer than I wanted anyway. And I'm not crazy about that high-low hem business. Just not my cup of tea. So I cut off 15 inches and reshaped the hem. It is a 3/4 length coat and would fall just above my hem if I wore a dress. But I don't wear dresses much.

In this picture you can see that the side seam is forward a couple of inches, making the in-seam pockets so much more useful than a regular in-seam pocket.

Because of the nylon I was hoping to severely limit my pinning, or at least keep it inside the seam allowance. I was afraid I'd end up with holes. Luckily I had some of this handy-dandy repositionable tape on hand. That was a great way to eliminate some of the pinning. If you don't have this on hand, I highly recommend it. Wonderful stuff.

I also had to be careful with the iron. A couple of layers of silk organza created enough of a barrier to avoid melting the nylon. And I was surprised at at how beautifully it presses.

A little Darth-Vader?

The neckline on this gave me fits. In the end, it looks fine, I think. The fabric is super stable, almost like sewing on paper except it doesn't tear. The shoulder and back neckline are attached to the cut-on hood like so:

Check out the front pattern piece. Looks like a dart, yes? But it becomes the place where the shoulder seam and the hood attach to the back. Yikes.

Here I am adding a tailor's tack, going only through the wrong side (the knit side).

The Soho Coat from the Sewing Workshop runs large as people on Pattern Review have pointed out, but I'm thinking that's a good thing. It is a coat, after all, and I might wear it with something bulky underneath. If so, I'll have plenty of room.

In sum, I am really pleased with this coat and I think I'll enjoy it for a long time to come. It was fun but challenging to make. It will be especially good for travel as it folds down to nothing.

There is a little more on Pattern Review.

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