lizzardtears: January 2022

Thursday, January 20, 2022

Elf Jacket

I started making this jacket for another project back in september. I was trying to put together a halloween costume, but was not really feeling it. It was something I did not choose and just really didn’t like, but I had been told it was the theme for what I was going to attend. I tried really hard to make myself like the idea but kept putting it off. It turned out that was a good thing because of scheduling I didn’t get to attend the halloween thing I was going to and at the last minute they changed the theme anyway so I would have felt totally stupid wearing a custume I hated. Actually I probably would have scrapped the whole thing and worn an old costume. That is how much I disliked the original theme.

What I did end up with was a white jacket ¾ of the way done. I probably would have gone ahead and finished the jacket regardless of not going to the halloween thing (without the embellishments that I had planned) but I ran into some issues with the fabric I had chosen. First I found out it was dry clean only. And how did I figure this out… I washed it. But there were no instructions on the bolt so I had no idea. I had bought the 30 yard bolt at a tag sale for $8, not even knowing it was 30 yards till I started this project. It just sat in my closet for a few years trying to tell me what it needed to be. When I started this project I went ahead and unrolled the entire bolt so I could see how much fabric it was. And I was actually pretty surprised to find out it was 30 yards. I was going to use the fabric as the liner in the jacket as well so I went ahead and cut off 9 yards and that is what I washed. When it came out of the washer I was very disappointed to see all the lovely sheen had washed away. I almost gave up then, but decided it didn't really matter that much and went ahead and cut out the pattern. I am glad I only washed the 9 yards though, if I do decide to use the 21 yards left on something I will know not to wash it first.

In any case I worked hard at getting this jacket done only to realize the fabric was much too heavy to use as the lining. The lining bagged out horribly and it looked sloppy. It was around this time I realized the scheduling issue and decided to just give up on the whole jacket. The fabric was ruined and it wouldn’t hang right. So I just left it on the mannequin for the next few months.

Now jump forward to december 3rd and I am going back and forth between wanting to dress like an elf or not for a thing I was attending. Some people were going dressed like an elf, while others were not. It was totally up to us. And one of the gals said something to me about how she expected me to dress as an elf and she was expecting something great. She was not being bossy or anything we were just joking around. But it got me thinking maybe I could turn the disaster of a jacket into something beautiful.

And so began the remake. First off I knew I had literally three weeks to get this done and no idea what I was going to do. So I started scheming that day. I still wouldn't commit to yes I was going to dress as an elf because I was scared I wouldn't have time to finish the project. And I have been struggling with sewing mentally ever since walking out of a bad situation that involved sewing last spring. I am not going to go into any of that just that it really messed with me and made me feel like I was incapable of sewing anymore. Which I hated, and I kept trying to get it back. I have struggled with several projects since then and spent a lot of crying and being upset that I couldn’t love the thing that always brought me joy, but I was also determined to get that joy back and refused to stop sewing.

I would love to say that this jacket cured me but… not quite. I struggled through this and fought with it. I tried using the same fabric to make just a facing for the hem but that still fell too heavy and caused bagging. I knew I needed something lighter weight for the lining. Like lining material but I really didn't want to put the money into something that I was unsure I was going to finish. So I finally came up with a plan. I was not going to line it. Which meant I had to tear apart the entire thing and do french seams. I love French seams. They just make everything look nice, but I also dislike french seams because they are finicky and take a long time. I much prefer to overlock seams but that doesn’t look very nice if it shows, so I spent the next week redoing the jacket while I waited for the embroidery floss I ordered to arrive. I had just enough white lining fabric on hand I could cut into bias strips and used that for facing the hem and it worked YaY! I decided to make it short sleeves instead of long because this was an indoor thing and I knew it would be hot. I also spent time online searching for clip art I could turn into the embroidery for the jacket. I printed it and pinned the paper to the jacket. I hand embroidered right on the paper then tore away the paper when I was done.

In the end I did bite off more than I could chew and simplified the design a bit by leaving off the snowflake part of the design. But by that point my poor fingers were so raw from being poked I needed a break and I actually finished the jacket two days ahead of schedule. I decided it didn;t have to be absolutely perfect just absolutely done and I was okay with the simpler pattern. I received the embroidery floss on the 9th and by the 22nd I was done. I think I did pretty well for what time I had to work in and I love the jacket. I did a good job and people loved it. my favorite thing someone told me is "you look like you stepped out of a movie." I however did not get any pictures that day. Some people took my picture but I didn't take any. So when we got snow this week I was like oh yeah I am going to do some photos! Everything else is things I had, except the skirt I borrowed from my sister.

The jacket was made using Simplicity pattern #2172. And I did find myself enjoying making some parts of this jacket, and relaxing into sewing once more. I will rediscover the love, it may take a little while but I will.