Bring on the Rain!

Well, I don't know about y'all, but my "sewing life" has been way less about sewing, and way more about working. But way back in June, my mom requested a raincoat. One that I make for her. One that matches some rain boots she has. I've been sewing every spare minute since Thanksgiving!

It wasn't until her visit to Atlanta in October that she chose her fabric, and well, it won't match the rain boots. I used the Amy Butler raincoat pattern that I made for myself and for Laura. She tried on mine, and while she really isn't any larger than me, she wanted it bigger, because she wants to be able to wear a sweatshirt underneath. People. She lives in Texas. It's hot there (recent ice storm notwithstanding). Oh, well... I think she'll be able to wear a sweatshirt.

Since I've already made this twice and blogged about it each time (click on the links for the posts), there's not much left to say. Gonna bullet-point it...

• I used laminate this time. A first. Wasn't too hard, but occasionally gave me problems.
• The sleeves were still a bitch. And not just because Mom wanted them looser and bigger.
• My sleeves were too short. Hers are extra long because she wants to roll them up to show off the lining.

• I used some of my previously traced pieces, and traced some from scratch, and had some weird things happen. They were fixed in the muslin stage.
• I was nervous about making the buttons with the laminate, but they went together like a charm.
• Don't worry about my mom seeing this ahead of Christmas... she never reads my blog. :/

And that's about it. No more sewing planned for 2013... the cutting table has been transformed into the wrapping table. If you celebrate Christmas, then you know what I'm talking about!

Happy Holidays and Happy 2014!

Minoru Sew Along

I'm doing it! The sew along. Really, you can tell because I've got the badge over there. You can't tell by the actual work I've done on it, but I have all the supplies. The fabric, the zipper, the lining, the elastic.


I'm going to show it to you in just a minute. But first, I'm gonna show off my new facebook badge "Like" thingie over there. To the right and down just a little. Just in case you missed it when you're reading the fascinating prose and seeing the awesome pictures. ;)


It's gonna be a raincoat.

Raincoating from Gorgeous Fabrics, lining from fabric.com, separating zipper from Sew True Supplies.

The Raincoat, Finally

And just in time for a forecast of rain! So sorry to have gone MIA, but life feels so complicated these days. The raincoat took about a week longer than I had wanted it to, but that must have been because I could only get up the energy to sew about 30 minutes at a time.

Flat covered buttons, denim blue topstitching. I made the large and altered the sleeves just a bit to make them bigger, and dropped the armhole. I also shortened the sleeves. More than necessary it turn out. Oh, sure, they look ok, but I wish I had made them a bit longer so I could turn them up. As it is, I like this next look for when it's warmer.

I made the hood less gigantic. I always hate when the hood is so big you can't really see where you're going. So that's good. Besides the sleeve length, I'm not in love with the pocket placement, and the belt loops are just a hair low. That's just being nitpicky though.

Finally, my friend, Denise, is hosting a fabulous giveaway over at her Blue Gardenia blog. Do you love vintage patterns? Silk? Red fingernail polish? If the answer is yes, you must check it out!

Raincoat Sneak Peek

Do you remember this pattern that I previously made for Laura?

Well, I've been working on mine all week with finally something to show for it.

I'm using the same black raincoating fabric that I used for Laura's, so this, obviously, is the lining. Originally, I had purchased this Amy Butler twill for a vintage shirtdress, but the reality is that the color is all wrong for me, and actually, I kinda don't like it. However, I do kinda like it for a lining. I wanted the sleeves to be slippery (lesson learned after I made Laura's), and had this silvery silk (poly?) charmeuse in my stash.

For the exterior topstitching, this is what I'm going with (ignore any wonky topstitching that you might see... I'm goin' with it):

And one final, nagging reminder to comment on the giveaway. I'll announce the winner(s) tomorrow!