There I go again, looking off to the upper left corner, where no doubt someone is walking swiftly, coldly by, wondering what I’m doing down there.
I’m loving my outfit, THAT’S WHAT I’M DOING.
Nope, I’m not gonna lie, I love it. It’s all wool all the time, and it did an excellent job of keeping me warm in the 19 degree air. Well, you know, proportionally, considering it’s just a sheath dress and cropped jacket…
Oh but the jacket fabric. THE JACKET FABRIC. Found on Mood Fabric’s magical upper floor, immediately hugged to chest and guarded with my life. One other (very fashionable) lady snagged some as well, and like 80 people wanted to swatch it, WHICH MADE ME WANT TO SOB. (If you’re shopping online, might I suggest this beauty I’ve been ogling forever?) I went directly home with my treasure and spent the afternoon on the floor with it, laying it out every which way to come up with a placement for this Burdastyle Maxi Coat pattern (10/2013 #130). Never been so happy to be on the floor.
MY JACKET, SHE IS WATCHING YOU!!! WATCHING YOUR EVERY MOVE!!!
You’ll notice I didn’t go maxi with the jacket. I was just so happy with the print placement at that point, I thought more material would take away from the effect. Sometimes more is just more.
Can’t believe I just said that.
The pattern called for darts at the shoulder, but I opted for tucks instead, as the wool is pretty thick. Doesn’t fray too much though, so I finally tried a technique I’ve been wanting to wrangle for awhile, the blanket stitch. It’s fun! I’d even call it therapeutic! Especially when done on a Saturday morning, with spiked coffee and jazz, when the bulk of the weekend is rolled out before you like a glorious bolt of fabric. Editor’s note: With a thick, non-fraying wool like this one, you can be creative with your darts and finishing techniques. Another idea for the shoulder darts would be to cut them open and then join the edges together with a decorative stitch. And instead of one dart, maybe two small darts? Anything goes these days in fashion.
Yes, Virginia, there is also a dress– a princess seamed sheath dress from one of my favorite blue envelopes, Simplicity 2337. I went with a TNT for this medium-weight, safety cone orange wool (which has a slightly scratchy hand on the face, but is totes comfortable against the skin). Between the pattern placement for the jacket, real life, and crazy online sewing competition madness, I needed a quick TNT! And this is a solid my closet desperately needs….
How do you feel about wool? I’m sort of head over heels in love with it!
