August in Review

Sewing, Alterations and Mending

Clockwise L to R:  Reversible wool winter jacket (OOP Vogue 2571), cotton patchwork garment cover (no pattern used), cotton knit panties (OOP Simplicity 8229).

Most of the sewing on the reversible winter jacket was done in the previous months.  I didn't finish it before August arrived and I certainly didn't plan on sewing it during the hot summer months.  This project almost took a year to complete from the dreaming about it stage to sewing the last toggle on.  I'm just happy I'll be set for when the cooler weather arrives.  Apparently, we're supposed to have a traditional cold prairie winter with lots of snow.  Woohoo!  I'm not a fan of the summer heat or the insects that thrive in this weather.  

the winter of 2024-25 should see below-normal temperatures for about two-thirds of the nation, from east of the Rockies to Ontario. 

Winter temperatures will be coldest from the Prairies into the Great Lakes region. The coldest outbreak of the season will come during the final week of January into the beginning of February when frigid Arctic air brings a sharp plunge in temperatures especially across the Prairies.  [Source:  Canada Winter Weather Forecast 2024-2025 - Farmers' Almanac (farmersalmanac.com)]

This reversible wool winter jacket and a pair of ski-pants will keep me warm enough to survive this weather outlook.  

Replenishing undergarments have certainly been on my want-to-sew list this month.  The wish to sew a new batch of panties only yielded one pair so far.  Currently all my sewing equipment is put away but once the equipment comes out so will OOP Simplicity 8229.  

As far as alterations, I did spend some time with a seam ripper and try to alter this skirt hoping to make it fit.  But it ended up in the scrap fabric pile instead.  If the skirt couldn't be altered, the plan is to save and reuse the fabric.  

There is a big mending pile that was neglected this summer while I tended to the blessings from the garden and fruit trees.  

Top L to R:  Fruit and custard tart (birthday dessert, recipe from Good Housekeeping Illustrated Book of Desserts), homemade ricotta cheese (because the price of ready made cheese is ridiculous and it is super easy to make cheese, recipe from shelovesbiscotti.com) and apples prepped and ready to make a batch of homemade apple juice (so many recipes found online, take your pick). 
Middle L to R:   this was the summer of pie-making, apple and gooseberry pies (recipes from Good Housekeeping Illustrated Book of Desserts).  
Bottom L to R:  homemade hamburger buns (recipe found online), homemade French bread (recipe from one of the Moosewood cookbook), and gooseberries!, oh my gosh, so many gooseberries that there was even gooseberry jam production.  

With the exception of the ricotta cheese, all of these were shared with others.  The ricotta is saved to use in lasagna which will likely be shared with others.  It was fun and exhausting working in the kitchen but I will admit I miss having some time to sew.  Although, after all that hand-stitching on the winter jacket it was nice to have a bit of a break and let the sore fingers recover.  Maybe now that it's approaching the end of harvest, I might get a chance to tend to that mending pile.  

Stash-busting 

Stash busted this month:

• 4.5 metres fabric + scrap pieces patchworked together to create new fabric yardage
• 2.4 metre elastic
• 5 leather toggles
• 5 metres of knit binding / trim
• 4 thread spools

Stash-busted totals for 2024:

• 63 metres fabric + scrap pieces patchworked together to create new fabric yardage
• 5 metres of knit binding / trim
• 8.6 metres interfacing
• 6 invisible zippers
• 2 metres Knit 'N Stable tape
• 6 metres trim
• 8 sewing labels
• 25 buttons
• 5 leather toggles
• 7.4 metres elastic
• 18 thread spools
• 4.3 metres basting tape

Total additions this year:

• 5 leather toggles
• 14 thread spools
• 11 sewing patterns
• 10--20 mm buttons
• 7.8 metres trim
• 15 metres fabric
• 1 second hand cover stitch machine.  

Happy Sewing!

New Batch of Undies: OOP Simplicity 8229

Simplicity 8229 is now an out-of-print (OOP) pattern.  If you can find it, it is one that I highly recommend.  I've made more than a few pairs of cotton panties for myself and others over the years using this pattern.  It is my absolute go-to and trusted pattern for this project.  

The fabric and elastic are pulled from the stash.  The fabric is a light yellow cotton knit from the now closed Mitchell Fabrics.  The blue picot elastic was sourced from Marshall / Northwest Fabrics many years ago.  

This is the first pair of a batch that I plan to make.  On that note, I should get back to work.  

Project details

Seams:  Knit / Lightening bolt stitch

Seam finish:  Overlock and Cover stitch

Fabric:  0.5 metres (95% cotton, 5% spandex)

Elastic:  2.4 metres

Pattern:  OOP Simplicity 8229

Additional Tools & Supplies:  Cutting table, fabric scissors, pins, wrist pin cushion, Janome sewing machine, walking foot, Janome coverpro, Janome serger, threads, thread clippers, iron, ironing board and tea.  

Happy Sewing!  

Scrap busting: Garment Bag

 

This afternoon I pulled out the scrap pile to create a cotton garment bag for the winter jacket.  It's now safely put away until I need it.  

Project details

Seams:  2.8 straight stitch

Seam finish:  Overlock stitch

Fabric:  variety of left-over scrap pieces (100% cotton)

Pattern:  Self drafted 

Additional Tools and Supplies:  Cutting table, fabric scissors, tailor's chalk, pins, wrist pin cushion, Janome sewing machine, Janome serger, threads, iron, and ironing board.  

Happy Sewing!

Reversible Wool Winter Jacket: OOP Vogue 2571

Would you believe this winter jacket has been ten months in the making?  Actually, mostly planning, procraftinating and sourcing supplies.  Although, there were hours and hours of basting and hand-stitching involved as well.  Anyway, I'm thrilled with how this project turned out and it can be put away until the first snow flakes arrive.  Right now, we're living through a wave of "extreme heat".  

The pattern used for this project is out-of-print (OOP) Vogue 2571.  I stumbled across this pattern when I was contemplating a jacket made from a quilt.  And then I changed my mind and started thinking that a wool jacket would be more practical for this part of the world during the colder months.  

This lead me on an epic journey to find suitable and affordable fabric for the project.  Fabricland's 2023 offering of coating fabric was a disappointment.  All of the selection had some percentage of man-made fibres (polyester mostly) and did not feel warm enough for surviving a prairie winter.  And there was much the same at Marshall Fabrics.  Although, Marshall Fabrics did have some 100% wool coating options, these were out of my budget range.  And then I happened to check out the coating fabric selection at Winnipeg Sews and much to my delight there was a wonderful selection of wools.  

I chose this cream coloured wool for one side of the reversible jacket and the gray and cream coloured wool for the other side.  They're both wool and are warm on their own.  Together they make my dream winter jacket.  

These wools were previously owned and collected by Winnipeg Sews to be resold.  The gray and cream coloured wool came with a tag attached from Victor Woolen Products Ltd. dated 1984.  I couldn't find wool of this quality in the local retail shops when I was searching for coating fabric.  I feel very grateful to work with these wools.  

I am also grateful for this knit binding that I used to finish the edges of the jacket.  The cream and gray trim was a perfect match with the wool coating fabric.  All thanks is going to God.  I did have buttons selected for the cream side.  And for a time I was determined that this jacket would have hand-stitched buttonholes.  The original plan was to sew the binding by machine.  

And then, after much procraftination, plans changed.  I wasn't happy with how the trim looked when I tried to stitch through all the layers on the sewing machine.  Briefly, I thought of doing a rolled hem on my serger.  That did not look nice.  In the end, I decided to stitch only one side of the binding by machine hiding one of the gray stripes.  And then I hand-stitched the other end in place.  What I ended up with is the gray stripe on the gray and cream colour wool and the cream stripe on the cream wool side.  It was a lot of work and I lost count how many times I poked my fingers with the needle but it was worth it.  I love how it turned out.  

The toggles were ordered online after more disappointment with the options found here locally.  These are leather toggles made in Italy and the quality far exceeds anything I found here.  In the end, I didn't make the buttonholes or use the buttons considering if I would actually use this as a reversible jacket.  I prefer the look of the gray and cream side.  

The pattern is a keeper, although I'm not sure if I will make another anytime soon.  Love the fit most of all.  I did give myself a little more ease in the back by fanning out the pattern piece from the bottom hem.  I'm thrilled that this also fits comfortably over the scoliosis back brace and the hood hides the bump out the back brace creates in my clothes.  There are generously sized side pockets on both sides of the jacket and love the design of the hood. 

Project details

Seams:  2.8 straight stitch

Seam finish:  Serged

Fabric:  4 metres (vintage wool coating)

Closures:  5 -- 7" toggles (leather)

Foldable Knit Braid:  5 metres (cotton knit)

Pattern:  OOP Vogue 2571, circa 2001

Additional Tools and Supplies:  Cutting table, measuring tape, measuring gauge, fabric scissors, tailor's chalk, hand sewing needles, variety of threads, thimble, pins, pin cushion, Janome sewing machine, thread clippers, walking foot, Janome serger, iron, ironing board, clapper, sleeve ham, tailor's ham, tailor's pressing mitt, tailor's wax and tea.  

Happy Sewing!