It’s just not me

I have been busy sewing for others and finally got a chance to sew something for myself.   I made Vogue 8430 which is Marcy Tilton’s latest offering.  I used a fabric that is a bit of a mystery fabric rather than the called for felted fabric.  My fabric was a wollen that had a distinct herringbone pattern on one side and a fleecelike back.  Quite drapy and actually worked very well for the jacket.  I needed to use a few techniques that differed from the pattern instructions because the fabric does have some ravel factor, unlike felted wool.  So…I zigzagged and mock flat felled the seams.  It seemed to work well.  Low bulk, blends nicely with the fleecy back so that it can hardly be seen.   For the edge finish, the pattern calls for none, I used a wide 3 stitch overlock on my serger.  I used 2 strands of rayon machine embroidery thread in the upper looper, wolly nylon in the lower looper and regular serger thread in the needle.  It’s a beautiful edge, not at all stiff with just a bit of sheen and plenty of coverage to prevent ravelling.  Since this lovely fabric (really a woven despite the fleecy back) was rather stretchy I set the differential to +2 and lengthened the stitch length to 3.0. 

Now for the bad news…I wear a large in RTW and I made a large in the pattern.  Still swamps me.  The pattern looked fine on my double.  The trouble is it’s just “too much”.  At barely over 5″ and plenty curvy I really do need to wear more body concious garments.  I had planned to wear this with black pants and a cute red mock neck to Christmas Eve services tonight at church.  Guess I will be wearig something else.  And I need to figure out what friend has suffiiciently short arms and flamboyant style to enjoy this jacket.  But..at any rate…I have reduced the stash by 2.5 yards, learned a new serger technique, and spent a lovely few hours in the sewing room.  I also learned that I need to quit fighting my personal style..tailored classics and sew them!

Note:  Pattern modifications – lengthened front to match back of jacket…I don’t care for the stair step look.