I’ve been trying to follow along with Tasia (Sewaholic) on her Minoru sewalong, but it’s going in starts and stops. My first muslin seemed too small on the top so I traced another set of pieces, just about all of them, and made a second. More changes were made on this muslin to widen the sleeves and give more room across the back, but now I’ve got the fabric cut and the shell of the coat sewn up I’m not sure all my changes were a good idea! It looks like I’m going to have to bite the bullet and start ripping out the sleeves and collar and undo some of my alterations. Aaaarrragh!! The cause of my problem might be that I used a cheap cotton/poly to make the muslins and it’s not draping like the fabric I’m using, which is Canadian Mist (50% Micropolyester / 50% Cotton, bought at dragonfly fabrics). Should have used the real McCoy for a muslin! (Just found out that I can get it at Darrell Thomas’ for $7/m, which is way less than at Fabricland.)
So, to get back to the main point of this post, when I read about Amy’s side pockets on her Minoru jacket I had to do it too, cause I love pockets. How many times have I been asked to hold onto someone’s toy car/plane/rock/thing? Countless!!
The pocket pattern piece was borrowed from a summer dress I made last year (still to be posted about), and just expanded a bit more. Also, the important thing is that the bottom of the pocket should be no lower than the hem stitching line, at about 3 3/4 " (9.5 cm). I'm not sure about catching the bottom of the pocket seam allowance in the hem as it might pull the hem up when my hands are in the pockets, so I'm going to add a short piece of ribbon to the bottom of the pocket and then catch that in the hem. One of my fleece jackets has this.
The pockets are made from a layer of black Bemberg lining (which I also used for the sleeves)facing the outside, with the main lining on the inside so it’s slightly visible on the outside, kind of peaking out. Unlike Amy, I did topstitch the side seams above and below the opening, but on the front piece.
It might be a bit hard to see as my topstitching isn’t very bold. The picture above shows most of the side seam with the pocket closed. The bar tacks are more visible in the pics below.
It doesn't look too bad! And I like having the seams topstitched.
So, that’s it for now, as I’m going to go backwards and start un-sewing next week! This week is a right-off as I’ve been doing a long-awaited spring clean on the house in preparation for guests coming this long weekend. I’m beat!
Hopefully I’ll be able to catch up again next week, but I’ve also got big plans for making up a pattern for my Kid’s Tool Belt! I’m sooo excited about that I can hardly sleep!
Pockets are a must for me too! I agree, top stitching makes it look good.
ReplyDeleteHi Steph, thanks for commenting on my ikea-hacked cutting table. The height of the cutting table is between 35 and 36 inches, which would make it roughly counter height, which is ideal. The bookcases I think are a little over 31", and I used 5/8" plywood (total of 3 layers because I use additional squares at the casters), and the casters are 2" but the hardware of the casters also add a little bit of height.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of... this pattern is on my wish list! Love how versatile it is. Although I need to retrain myself on sewing, it's been so long. Good luck!
Thanks for the additional info on your table, it's a fantastic design! I told my husband about it, so he's now forewarned! Not that he has to make it for me, but I guess I might need his help for some of it.
ReplyDeleteMy Minoru jacket hasn't been touched since I wrote this post, our long weekend with the out of town visitors sure did me in! I plan to *attack* it this week before the kids get off for March break.
I bet you won't need to spend much time retraining, a lot of it will come back pretty naturally.