I sewed the jacket for Gammie.I was knitting a cowl for her and wanted to sew her a jacket to go with it. One great thing about sewing and knitting for other people is I can use patterns and fabrics I am anxious to try, but aren't really me. I love sewing Eileen Fisher-type clothes for Grammie and am always inspired by the lines/shapes and the knitted accessories they pair with the clothes.
The pattern is Simplicity 3506 and the cowl information is on my Ravelry page. The cowl looks wildly different than the patten photo. I made it really loose. There are notes about this. I love how it turned out, but had to decide early on that it was going to be quite different than what I had intended to knit—and that was just fine by me in this case. I loved learning this stitch pattern, sort of a fake cable, and I really what to try it again and make it more sculptural, like the pattern photo.
The jacket was pretty straightforward. I did eliminate the split cuff detail. It's a nice detail but it was causing me trouble. I used a wool gabardine for this, which I know now was not 100% wool, although it was labeled as such. When I pre-washed it, it smelled like wet acetate and it would not take a press worth a dang. So that was annoying. But it drapes nicely and looks lovely on her, as you can see. The inset pockets are handy and the pleat in back gives it great movement.
I have been sewing now while thinking of matching knitting projects. Or when I knit, I think of sewing a matching garment. Trouble!
Not sewing related:
- I finished the Night Circus and while I did like it, I also found it a bit lacking when I was done and some of the themes and imagery were pretty predictable. But, I still loved visualizing this world. There is a review of it here on the blog Fat Books and Thin Women which comes down pretty hard on it, but I can understand her criticisms, plot-wise for sure. I still enjoyed reading it quite a bit. Her review of The Marriage Plot is pretty interesting, too, and comments that follow.
