Monday, July 29, 2013

Fi, Fo, Foe, Fum!

For reasons known best to itself, zee blog is having trouble saving and this is about my fifth attempt, but never no mind!

I've just come back from a proper long holiday at Mum & Dad's, where I had meant to finish off Practice Dress 1, possibly an orange gingham shirt (I had gingham envy after I saw this little number and this one), and definitely The Giant Jacket for my Dad.


In reality, I got the huffs with Practice Dress 1 because it was all baggy like a sack even though I've managed to gain weight in the process of making it. So I've slung it across Celia until I can be bothered hemming it and either gaining more weight or unpicking the damned thing and stitching in all that ease. 

So instead, I give you: The Giant Jacket, from KwikSew's K3123.

My Dad is 6'6", you see, and has a life long issue buying clothes that fit him properly. At least, he did after his Mum (that'd be Celia) stopped making things for him. His sister has the same issues, and apart from Long Tall Sally, so do I. So when I rocked up at Spotlight to buy the fabric, the lady behind the counter was all "This is enough o make a dressing gown you know. Is he a giant or something?"

"Yeah. He kinda is."


Not that you can tell from these photos, but check that arm length! I stuffed up the arm extension a little because I forgot that the shoulder seam actually drops down the arm a little, extending the arm length already. The toile (AKA lining, coz I can't bear to throw it away if I can use it ;-) touched his fingers!

 
The buttonholes proved a bit of a challenge, as I hadn't buttonholed before. Naturally I stuffed up the first one, which by dint of poor judgement was the top one! But it's not too noticeable, really. Pocketing it up was a bit of fun too. The welt pockets sit perfectly, hands in place. And I pulled out my handy ol' Reader's Digest Guide to Sewing & Knitting from eons ago for a how-to guide on doing those sneaky inside pockets, as they weren't included in the pattern.

My topstitching went a little skew-whiff in places, but it always does with thicker fabrics. I'll have to work on that.

All in all, this is a really easy pattern to sew, even with extra secret pockets, and I'm fairly pleased with the result. I'm most pleased with my Dad's reaction though. And I might make another one later. We'll see. 

Oh, and I did cut the gingham out...I just need to stitch it together. Maybe next time ;-)

Giant Seamtress, out. 





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