Project Pondering: Big Complicated Jacket

Without fail, the weather gets cold and I start thinking about outerwear I could sew. This is how I end up with three tailored coats, two jackets, and more fleeces than I can count. So I don’t really need another coat, but Waffle Patterns just released the “Kikyo 3-In-1 Jacket” and it would be SO much fun to sew:

Look at all the pockets! And all the zippers for the hood and the lining! Plus I could quilt the zip-out lining and use up some fleece for the batting!

AND, this would look like a Barbour jacket if I used waxed canvas, which I haven’t worked with before.

Oh it’s hard not to just buy the pattern and do it. But because it got cold, I switched out seasonal clothes and eeesh I have a lot of clothes. (“But not THIS piece of clothing,” my brain adds.)

Tuesday Project Roundup: Last Of The Block Prints

It’s been an unseasonably warm fall so these summery block prints still feel appropriate. This is the last cut of the three I ordered and it was destined to be a shirt for Doc (so I could wear my blue tiger dress with it and we could attract comment, if we go out somewhere).

This is the staple aloha shirt pattern I use for him, New Look 6197. I mixed things up and used the Daughter Judy Genra Shirt instructions for the facings, which involve sewing them into the shoulder seam first for a really clean finish–a vast improvement over the New Look instructions.

This was a fast, straightforward project. It’s fun to work with these prints–look at all the fierce tigers staring at you!

Tuesday Project Roundup: Kaftan!

Reader, fabric choice makes such a difference: The Bonnet Shirt/Dress in a shirting was stuffy and nightshirty. The Bonnet in a tiger block print? Desert Aunt Kaftan Time!

I don’t usually make a pattern three times in a row but apparently I really like this one. The sleeve details are nice and the band collar makes it fast (the collar/placket reminds me of a J. Peterman linen shirt I had in high school; I’ll try to dig up a picture).

 

I was a little worried about making a dress, since I haven’t worn one in years but because this is a KAFTAN it’s easy to just throw on and walk around in.

Tuesday Project Roundup: The Most Karen Fabric There Ever Was

I’ve been sewing up the block print fabrics I found on Etsy into Bonnet Shirts/Dresses and this fabric in particular brought me so much joy.

 

It is pink! AND orange! At the same time! AND has fierce tigers all over it! Perfect for all your Desert Aunt wardrobe needs; that tunic length will also be ideal for a swim coverup.

 

The fabric is also really forgiving to sew–it’s not a tight or fine weave so things just relax with steam, and it doesn’t get the wear creases that a real shirting fabric does. Naturally, I want to buy even MORE of it. (I don’t need more fabric.) (Put that on my headstone.)

Lesson: Just Use The Good Fabric

After I posted about block prints and dresses a few weeks ago, I finished my muslin of the Bonnet Shirt in the dress view. I used shirtings I had in my stash (the last of my order from Sultans a couple years ago); in my mind, a mix of classic stripes could be preppy and cool.

Except it turned out more “Founding Fathers slumber party” than “cool preppy dress”:

The pattern was fine but I could not get over the nightshirt vibes, so I cropped it to the tunic view. Much better!

 

I DO think that I’ll like this pattern as a dress–just in a print that feels like me. I’m not preppy! I love colors and patterns! So it’s a good thing that my block print order arrived:

Tuesday Project Roundup: Hiking (Climbing) Pants

Since shorts season is ending, I thought I’d make some hiking pants. But every pattern I was seeing didn’t seem high-waisted enough to be comfortable with my hip pack. Then I remembered the splash that the Leila Makes Topo Pants made–Leila has a huge Instagram following and released her first pattern for a pair of climbing pants last year. The pattern said it was high-waisted to work under a climbing harness. Boom! Pants pattern acquired.

 

The pattern has some nice details, like a double front with knee darts, and the drafting was fine. She’s selling these as unisex, though, so I made the recommended full seat adjustment just by guessing how much my seat would need. The elastic at the ankles seemed like a weird insertion method and the instructions could have been tighter, but overall it wasn’t too amateur of a pattern.

I made these in a technical stretch woven (Eddie Bauer for Joann) and did not size down as the pattern recommended, so they’re baggy. But I don’t mind; I’ll probably grow into them as I keep squatting and I can throw a base layer under these pretty easily.

 

The pockets included in the pattern are unequivocally great, though: two deep front pockets plus as many holster pockets as you want to add (I made two and put velcro on one). I also added a zip pocket into the yoke seam, which was pretty easy to figure out. (You lose your ID in a lake one time and you put a secure zip pocket for ID ONLY on every pair of pants thereafter.)

 

And they’re definitely high-waisted enough to be comfy with my packs, so all in all a successful project. Plus I have some pants if I ever want to try climbing.

Tuesday Project Planning: Block Print Dress

We took our friend to brunch a couple weeks ago and saw a lady wearing a blue floral block print dress and it seemed like the most ideal thing–soft and loose but also polished, long sleeves so you stay covered/warm but also cool for hot afternoons. Have I made or worn a dress in the last five years? No. Did that stop me from finding inspo on Etsy and looking for fabrics? Of course not!

To be clear, you can buy one of the above ready-made dress off Esty for under $50…but where’s the fun in that, especially when Daughter Judy just released a new shirt/dress pattern?

Besides, you can’t know the quality of your Etsy dress, nor can you get it in blue tigers or PINK AND ORANGE STRIPES:

 

I actually have a trial dress cut out in an assortment of shirting fabrics I had on hand, which totally makes buying NEW fabric for ANOTHER dress justifiable, right?

Tuesday Project Roundup: More Survival Gear

When I was ordering waterproof zippers for my pack from Ripstop By The Roll, I threw in a couple rain poncho kits, too. Doc has a rain shell but I don’t, but I was also thinking about coverage for our legs and packs. Ponchos were the answer.

 

I finished mine first since I still had orange thread in the machine from my pack. The kit had all the hardware and pre-cut fabric so it was a fast sew. It even includes a rectangle to make a stuff sack for it!

 

The instructions say you can add tie loops to the hem to use this as a ground sheet or tarp in a pinch. (Prepared for every eventuality? YES.) I skipped hemming the sides since the fabric was silicon-impregnated and didn’t seem like it was going to fray, but added two KAM snaps on the sides under the arms and used grosgrain tie loops as the snap reinforcements.

I’ll get Doc’s sewn up next and then we’ll have two ponchos, or one ground sheet to sit on and one tarp to keep the rain off. JUST IN CASE.

Tuesday Project Roundup: So Many Pack Pictures

This might be one of my favorite projects, right up there with the winter coats I’ve made–I guess I like sewing functional things with lots of different pieces.

This is the Stitchback MP, described thusly: “The Stitchback Mountain Patrol or ‘MP’ is a panel loading backpack with a removable back pocket. The large zippered openings make organizing and accessing your gear easy. A volume of approximately 30 liters, makes it suited to gear intensive day-long excursions or even ultralight overnight trips.”

 

I didn’t use all ultralight materials BUT I also didn’t have to buy any fabric for this–just foam, spacer mesh, zippers, and hardware. (I’ve linked all the sources at the end of the post.)

I followed the pattern nearly exactly; the only changes I made were to add a slip in pocket behind the water bottle holders (seen above) and add one ribbon loop to hold a G hook to suspend the hydration bladder and two others to hold an accessory pocket (another Stitchback pattern, but not one that came with the pack):

 

You can tell I started getting fancy with this when I put my sewing label on the accessory pocket. I also decided to do a decorative stitch of a pine tree on the back spacer mesh, and at the very end I looked up how to make paracord zipper pulls because why not?

 

And the MAP POCKET? The entire reason for this pack? It holds a map! And the smaller divider also holds a compass, plus a bunch of other stuff.

Honestly, this is a giant pack; I could fit cold weather gear and rain gear and lunch and dinner in here and not fill it all the way. But that’s exactly what I wanted–it only takes being unprepared once to never let that happen again.

Despite sewing through the trauma of almost getting lost, this was a delight to make (and reinforced what an awesome sewing machine I have). I can’t believe the pattern was only $10 because it’s one of the best I’ve seen in 35 years of sewing–highly, highly recommend. It was also fun to play with the colors and see what I had vs. what I needed to source. Which, speaking of…. here’s where everything was from:

Tuesday Project Progress: New Pack

I started working on a new hiking pack about two days after I posted the pattern I was considering. That’s the pattern I went with and it’s just a joy to sew–everything is clearly marked! There are instructions on how to fit the shoulder straps! The parts fit together beautifully!

It’s been a lot of fun to make all the separate parts and just take my time to think about what my ideal pack would have (other than lots of colors, obviously).

The back panel of the MAP POCKET, with key leash and sunglass loop.

 

I added a drop in pocket between the bottle pockets and the bottom panel.

 

I’m making a detachable inner pocket, too (and using clips instead of pins, to give the waterproof fabrics a fighting chance).

 

A waterproof zipper on the back pocket! Silk clips and daisy chained webbing!