Deer and Doe Pavot Jacket

As before mentioned I received this pattern as a gift for participating in the Pattern Review Wardrobe Contest. It was a really fun contest and putting things together and photographing them was part of the fun too. I think Colin would agree to that.

I decided as one of the pieces for the Natural Fabrics Contest I would use it to make a Winter coat. This pattern is unlined and made to be mid season but I've pretty much got mid season covered and for Winter I wanted something new.

My fabric came from Gorgeous Fabrics. I got some very nice brown coat weight wool and some black Bemberg lining for it. The buttons were from G Street Fabrics.  I definitely recommend Gorgeous Fabrics - the fabric got here very quickly and it is wonderful to work with.

My first observation when I was doing the muslin of the pattern is that French women are obviously not like 5'8" me. I had to drop the bust point down 1 1/2" and also drop the waist 1". Because I was making it to go over Winter jackets and sweaters I used the largest size, 46, and added 1" of ease to it as well. This fabrics was pretty beefy and definitely benefited by the additional ease.

 

 

I came to terms with the Peter Pan collar although I had to think about the first. Not exactly my style but it works on this coat. I also decided the puffy sleeve affect wasn't me and really wasn't this fabric. I made the sleeve as a basic set in with a fairly thin shoulder pad.

I also drafted the lining using the skirt pattern, the bodice and taking into account the facings. That worked quite well.

I found these very cool buttons at G Street Fabrics:

 

 

This was my first project on my new Bernina B780. It followed me home a few weeks ago and although it's cabinet isn't here yet I have it set up on Roberts sewing table I bought for machines not in cabinets and it's worked out pretty well in the interim. I can't get over how much the dual feed feature helped on this thick wool! It also made some really nice buttonholes. Having this machine and my B580 as my two main machines is truly a dream combination.

The fact I got both of these jackets done in the month of October feels much like a win already -
so - bring on the Surprise Sewing Bee!

The iconic jean jacket - Denim and Leather edition

I've done this pattern several times but I thought why not do this for the Pattern Review Natural Fabrics contest? This pattern is a basic jean's jacket.  I know there are several patterns out there for this but I have the program for it and decided to use that. A quick muslin confirmed the fit.

The denim, leather and very interesting lining material came from Gorgeous Fabrics. The denim is some really high quality black denim and the leather is glove soft. I did interface the leather with Pro Weft Supreme Medium-Weight Fusible interfacing from Fashion Sewing Supply. I can't say enough about this interfacing! It doesn't need to be preshrunken and it fuses beautifully. 

For the front I used the leather on the yoke. On the back I used it on the yoke as well as the strip in the back. I also did the cuffs with it.

The jeans thread came from Wawak as well as the buttons. A word about this thread from Wawak. It came in a very huge cone - I think enough for me and maybe a few generations after me. But the price was good. The gray thread looks pretty striking against the black leather and denim.

To fuse the interfacing to the leather I used a cool iron without the steam. It took to the underside very easily. I do have a shoe on my iron so I didn't need a press cloth.

I set up the Bernina B580 with black thread for the denim and leather construction. I put a leather needle in and used the very interesting leather foot - it sort of looks like it's on one training wheel:

I threaded the B780 up for topstitching. I used the jeans thread with a denim needle and put all purpose thread in the bobbin. I used the jeans dual feed foot with the dual feed engaged and it did a wonderful job on topstitch both the denim and the leather.


I did create a lining out of a really interesting looking cotton fabric. I thought it was a pretty nice touch to inside. I didn't flat fell the seams because it was lined.The other modification I made was to make the rounded collar more pointed. Just more my style.

I'm glad I finished before Fall totally set in as it's the perfect weight for that season.

Contests, contests.....

I did okay with the T shirt contest but didn't win. I don't mind that because I've got a bunch of new clothes to wear that I wouldn't have had otherwise. As a matter of fact I wore the long sleeved dress to work yesterday. I'm finding some of the T shirts work pretty well with the clothes I made for the wardrobe contest. And my jacket for the outerwear contest is getting a lot of use right now.

Right now I'm working on the natural fabrics contest. I've all but finished the Deer and Doe jacket but I'm making it for Winter as opposed to mid season as suggested.. Currently it just needs the buttonholes cut and the buttons put on. I made a LOT of alterations and modifications and I'll get pictures up shortly. I've acquired a Bernina B780 and it makes really great buttonholes.

The other piece I'm making is a denim and leather jacket. It's a Bernina My Label pattern (not stopping using it until it doesn't work anymore) and I'm doing some tweaks but for the most part it's going to be right on the mark. I'm loving the fact I have my B580 set up for the leather part and the B780 set up for the denim.

Next up is a contest that's sort of like the Great British Sewing Bee. The first week will have a challenge where we get one week to make whatever is announced. Someone will win, some will get eliminated. It goes on in this format for two more weeks then after the last week's challenge the grand winner is named. The teasers make it look like the prizes could be interesting and if I every felt a Project Runway feeling coming on this is it!