Sew Serendipity: Classic Tailored Jacket, My Version

I love the beautiful images and inspiring projects by Kay Whitt in her book, Sew Serendipity. Kay has a fun, whimsical style and makes projects that are flattering on most figures. I saw this jacket in the book and thought it would be a fun project to make. I pulled out some options from my cotton sateen stash and had just enough of this floral Block Print Blossom by Joel Dewberry. The green color seemed neutral enough that I thought I could wear it with a lot of different things in the springtime. 

So I worked away and found the pattern easy enough to follow. But I was a little horrified by the result:

Seriously? It looked like a maternity coat. I added ruffles on the bottom of the sleeves because I thought it would add a fun detail. Bad improvisation. I kept thinking that because the model in the picture was probably an extra-extra small, the coat looked cute and dainty. The hardware on the coat made it look more mature, but making the coat in a size Medium just looked totally unflattering. I immediately felt like I looked like Lucille O'Ball when she was pregnant. She wore these house coat frocks, and she would have asked to borrow mine had it been her pregnancy decade.

Visuals

So I attached a belt to the jacket, and it really slimmed it out and made it look a lot better. I just stitched the belt right onto the back of the coat, like she gives an example of it in the book.  Still, the sleeves made it look to girlish. So I cut those off and left a 3/4" sleeve with a hem. 

In the end, the coat turned out much cuter than I thought it would after I first completed it. There are a couple of things that bother me about it. #1. It isn't lined. So unless it is made out of wool or another warm fabric, it isn't going to do much to protect from the cold. #2. I don't like the inset sleeve so much and would rather that it have normal sleeves because somehow I feel like inset sleeves look like they are made for giant shoulder pads.

#3. My fabric choice probably wasn't the best idea. I love the print and the color but on such a big piece of clothing, it reminds me so much of the Sound of Music Curtains with the big mossy green print. I feel like I could line up with the Von Trapp children and would fit right in.

But it was a good project, which Kay told me herself wasn't too tough. She was right. It was manageable. If it had the lining that I really wish it did, maybe it wouldn't have been so easy. I am not sure. I am still not sure if or where I will wear it, but I have made so many projects that I may or may not ever wear that it is really not why I make things to begin with. 

Modern Yardage... my new project

I have been a terrible blogger lately. Not because I don't love you all: only because I have been so busy with fabric. Tomorrow begins our pre-launch for a new business that my husband and I started a few months ago. Actually more than a few months ago. We have researched and learned and wrestled with decisions about fabrics and inks and machines and FINALLY we are ready to launch --well, sort of. 

A pre-launch means that our website www.modernyardage.com will go live. Are all of our current designs up and ready to order? No. Is our site perfect? No. Can we take orders yet? I'm not quite sure. But when our site goes live, we will be able to allow fabric lovers to see what we have been up to and explore how our big idea will bring beautiful and unique fabrics to them... that they won't be able to find anywhere else for a price as low as we offer. So are we ready? We better be. We are close, and we invite you to check us out while allowing for some construction as you shop. We hope our customers will help us to find issues and ways that we can improve before our actual launch next month.

We think there are too many restrictions and gatekeepers in the way that the quilting fabric world works as it now stands. We wanted to be able to eliminate trend speculation, overstocking unpopular fabrics, and color and scaling limitations placed on designers.

Along the way, we can offer designers creative freedom, instant-to-market designs, and a better platform to connect with their consumers. We print fabric on-demand. How can we do this? Digital textile printing. And I can't wait to show you how much fun it can be.

As a consumer, you will enjoy multiple colorways of the same designs. You used to choose from 2 or three. We offer up to five or six color ways of many designs. We also offer most prints in three different scales. So you can make a skirt with one print and make an accent on it in the same print but a smaller size. How fun is that?

There is so much more to it, but these are just some of the great things that we are excited to offer our customers. We have wonderful designers and many more coming soon. So check back often.

This is a bag I made from a design by Cindy Lindgren. This is the same print, in two different color ways and in two different scales. Orange and more orange. I can't get enough.

This apron is made of two different color ways in two different scales as well. 

There is a lot of fun coming from Modern Yardage. I hope you will follow us on Instagram @modernyardage and on facebook. I'll try to keep you posted.