I've finally finished a roadblock

[chowmama]

It's a winter jacket, based on a raglan zipfront sweatshirt. Longer and heavier - a lot heavier. It's interlined with lightweight quilt batting, channel stitched to flannel from an old sheet. The outside is denim (described below) and lined with shirtweight black denim.

For background - we can't afford to travel much but have managed to make it to Ireland twice. On a budget both times, but when I want a souvenir, I like to get yarn or fabric. Our second trip, I could just about afford to go to a Dublin department store and visited a closeout fabric table in the bargain basement. The fabric I found was a stretch black denim, printed in an oversized gold paisley pattern, slightly sparkly. I don't know why it chose me. It's nothing like anything I've ever worn. It was obviously not going to be jeans; my butt already looks big enough. But I brought it home and looked at it occasionally, waiting for it to tell me what it wanted to be.

And then two things happened. First, my fall jacket wore out. It was a hoodie, frankenpatterned from a sweatshirt and originally done as a pull-on. Later, I added a zipper. The outer fabric was loosely woven (a mistake - when it started to unravel, it just didn't stop) and it was lined with a light fleece-backed knit. I loved that sucker, but it was falling to rags. The second thing that happened was a small matter of a pandemic.

I looked at the Irish denim. The Irish denim looked back. And I thought "Why not?".

I'm finally finishing it in 2023. I've stopped to do other things in the meantime. But it's been quite a job. I sketched my final frankenpattern on tracing paper and placed each piece on the fabric so I could choose what large motifs went where. (You really don't want headlights, pasties+g-string, or a target on your rear.) By the time I got all the major pieces with the right, perfectly matching, motifs, there wasn't a large enough chunk to make a hood, so now it's a collar with a stand. The interlining had to be made from scratch. All pattern pieces had to be cut out three times (outer fabric, lining and interlining). Thank the gods, my mom's old Bernina could handle the thick seams, at least if I helped by turning the wheel by hand.

And this time I did all the fussywork. I'm especially prone to getting sick of a project towards the end and cheating a bit. "Do I really need patch pockets? It's heavy fabric, there are enough layers, it doesn't really need interfacing. It'll be soft and comfy this way. I'm going to topstitch, that'll help. I don't want it too stiff." And it turns out limp and floppy. The buttonholes pull out of shape. And I really needed patch pockets. Etc., etc. Not this time. I wanted the kind of structure that would make this coat able to get up and go to work without me.

DH is describing it as a barn coat to wear to the Oscars. Even the outside front pockets are cut from fabric that matches the fabric underneath. On a hanger, you can't even see them. And it is warm. So warm.

So, it's done. Next, hem some sweatpants for DH, then figure out how to thread a serger. I've got old t-shirt knit sheets that I can use for practice and maybe a shirt or two. That way, I'll know what I'm doing before I get into the good stuff.