Everything in life is free, apparently.

We got robbed. Again.

When we first moved into our house about 5 years ago we came home from a 20 min trip to sign up for a class to find that our house had been broken into. Silly us, we didn't have our alarm system hooked up yet, but you can bet your ass it didn't take us long to do so after that. They got the tv, camera, laptop and case, and the ipod and made a bit of a mess. Thank goodness for insurance. 

This time we got off easier. They broke into our car (thankfully, not breaking any windows – what nice robbers!), nabbed a couple of fm-tuners and the garage door-opener and then grabbed B's bike and a couple of bags of cans going to recycling from the garage (we were parking on the street because we're using the garage to paint baseboards). 

All in all, it could have been worse. Here we are at the scene of the crime:

How cool is my new blazer?

It's popped-collar-cool. 

And pretty much free! The fabric was from a friend and I had thread in my stash—a super easy and quick project.

It's nice to have pictures so I can see where to tweak things in my next attempt (if there is one...probably). The sleeve length could be shortened by about 3/4". 

All of my other changes (detailed in my last post) worked out well, and although i got a pretty good fit in the back, it's still a bit tight when driving so I may make another adjustment there, adding maybe another half inch. 

It looks like I may have almost too much fabric there at this point, so maybe I'll just increase the width on the lining.  

The sleeves hang really nicely, the shoulder seams are in the perfect position, and the shoulder darts are perfect for my "sit-all-day-at-a-computer" posture.

Squinty McSquinterton

My official review on pattern review is here. 

  

I really hate cutting on the floor.

Renos are a ridiculously slow process, especially when you do them yourself. On the upside though, I replaced all of the plug-ins and light switches myself and now I feel like a pro. The carpet is in and we were supposed to start on the trim/baseboards this past weekend but there was a sticking door to fix that took most of our (my dad's) time and then we had to make a supply run.

As for sewing, I couldn't wait any longer for my sewing area to be put to rights. I had some new patterns come in the mail after everything else was packed away and I've been salivating at them for weeks. My sewing set-up isn't ideal at the moment, so it took some time to set up and I had to cut out on the floor (I can't believe I used to do that all the time – talk a bout a back ache!), but this first project isn't overly complicated so it went fairly quickly. 

First up: McCalls 6711 (the jacket)

It's a simple little jacket with no closures (calls for a hook and I which I won't be using, because... why???). 

I used this book to double check what size to use and if I needed to make any obvious adjustments. 

All of my measurements were matching up to the size 12 pretty much so I went with that (even though going by the pattern envelope I was closer to a size 14. Joi Mahon also has a Craftsy class on fitting that takes you through her unique fitting process.

http://dressformsdesign.com/books/

My fabric is free from a friend who was destashing. It's a bright turquoise polyester (sounds terrible) with a sheen on the right side (really terrible) and I chose it because I was intending it to be a muslin (no kidding)—a shiny bright blue jacket didn't seem like something I would need in my closet. But, after basting everything together the fit was pretty great, even across back, so I decided to make it up for reals using the "wrong" side without the sheen. As luck would have it, I also found perfectly matching lining, also from the same friend's destashing gift. Plus, if Kristy can rock a bright blue blazer, so can I. 

My changes: 

1. Increased the width across the upper back by 3/4" splitting it between the back arm scythe and the sleeve.

2. Decreased the width of the upper chest by shaving a scant 1/4" off the front arm scythe blending out to the original seamline at the shoulder and underarm. The jacket fits exactly like the picture without doing this, but you can see that there's some extra fabric there (circled) on the model and I wanted to eliminated a little of that if I could.  

I Made both changes to both the fashion fabric and lining. 

Because this jacket is meant to be casual ie: not very tailored, I didn't get too fussy with the fit in the back. This decision may come back to bite me in the ass once it's done and I realize that I did need a sway back adjustment, but finger's crossed... 

Lucinda took this jacket to the next level by tailoring the crap out of it. Her's is beautiful, but not the look I'm going for in a casual spring/summer throw-on-and-go blazer so I'm going to stick to the given instructions as far as interfacing and tailoring (or lack thereof) goes. Plus the popped up convertible collar is what attracted me to this pattern in the first place so I don't want to loose it.

So far I've put together the shell and the lining except for the side seams and then I'm going to bag the lining using this tutorial by Grainline Studios. I should be able to finish it tonight—a very quick project. Photos and review coming soon.