Minoru Completed! A labour of Love.

Yahooo, finally I have completed my Minoru Jacket. It was a tough day in the sewing room today but we made it.

Today I started from step 15 alternative to slipstitching cuffs to completion. Step 15 nearly killed me, death by pins in the tips of my fingers, that is until I came to my senses and basted the sleeve lining. Then life became a little easier.

Next was stitch in the ditch, and an all new nightmare begun. I will confess to doing this step 4 times before giving in and stitching over the top stitching on the hood piece, it looks okay, not as good as it should but I can live with it. My problem was my main fabric was red and the lining was ivory, if I used only red thread and the line got a bit wonky (lots of people found this happened due to layers) the red line showed on the lining. I changed to ivory thread in the bobbin and I wandered onto the red hood. Now I know I can sew a straight line but this step, I hate to say...... whipped my butt.

Finally I was at the waistband stage, now I thought this might be difficult but really the hardest part of the waistband was locating some 2 inch wide elastic!!! But I managed to find some, so I breezed through this step, I even had time for a quick cup of tea.

And finally we arrive at hemming and done. This bit was pretty easy on the central back piece but I found my jacket hem wanted to pull out of shape a touch on the side back panels. I also had to trim the bottom of my pocket as I had put it in just a touch to low, but they are still very much usable and still a good size for my hands.

End result: I love this jacket and cannot wait to be able to wear it. Bring on a cold Winter!!!
Would I make it again? Yes I think I would, but not out of denim, in fact I would like a charcoal one to wear to work.

My fringe is not really like this!!! It was windy.

Can you see my pockets?????

I was so excited to finish I begged my husband to go down to the park to take a few quick snaps. The colour seems hard to capture in a photograph and I am straight from the sewing room. It is still quite hot so I did look funny to people passing by.

Also a quick note if you head on over and visit Noile she has posted Minoru Jackets from around the world..... and I made it on her post Whooo Hooo (prior to jacket completion of course).

Dana

Minoru Progress Report

Finally a progress report on my Minoru. I have uploaded a few quick pics taken about a week or so ago. Since then I have finished the cuffs and today I have completed Sewaholic step 13, as per Tasia's blog post.

As you can (sort of) see the collar zip and a lined version of the hood are all systems go. I did have a small hiccup with the hood zipper. I originally brought a dress zipper for the hood thinking I wanted something discreet. However, after sewing the cut out window I realised that my zip just wasn't going to fit. The dress zip was too narrow and somehow too short. I am pretty sure that this error is somehow my fault and most likely not a pattern fault as it is the first time I have ever done this. I ended up using the zip that I had purchased for the front of the jacket, just adjusting the length. I was happy with the end look but cranky with myself when I tried to find a replacement zip the same. I had purchased the zip at the Fabric Store and was unlikely to get a chance to go back there any time soon. I went to all my locals but no luck, there is a long story about how I came to find the exact replacement but I fear it is too boring to tell. So, the short version goes something like this .... I have a new zipper!!!! Yay.

Here is a photo of the heroic replacement zipper in all its basted glory (kindly modelled by Snow White the dress form).

I really love this pattern and get more and more excited about it as time goes by (imagine what I will be like when I finally finish it) but from the outset I was really hoping to get some external pocket action happening. Tasia put up this post  directing us to Amy of Sew Well's tutorial  for adding side seam pockets. I took the detour and was very happy with the outcome. Amy even provides a download for the pattern pockets so you can get moving with the sewing and not cry at the thought of drafting your own. The pockets were super easy to sew in and the tutorial was extremely clear to follow.

Amy does suggest using the lining fabric as fabric for the pockets but I am a little rough with pockets and wanted something strong. I ended up just using the outer fabric. Here you can see how discreet they are.

As I said I am now very much further along than this but I will have to save that update for later in the week.

Happy Sewing!
Dana

Minoru Fabric Choice

Hellooo.
Just a quick post today to give you a bit of an idea about my fabric choice for the Minoru Jacket (a fabulous Sewaholic pattern). The Sewalong starts Monday (or Tuesday Australian time) and I cannot wait! This is a whole bunch of firsts for me, first sewalong, first jacket, first separating zipper and I am sure there may be a few more firsts before the time is over.

Ta da.......
 (insert photo here??? Oops, no down there)

The outer fabric is a denim in a bright coral, picked up on my visit to The Fabric Store and the lining is just a basic Bemsilk lining fabric in Ivory, picked up at a chain fabric store . unfortunately, I haven't been able to take a good photo of the fabric and so I can only offer you this photo with flash that makes my fabric look more orange instead of coral and the lining white instead of ivory. Sigh....

If you are interested in the sewalong just head on over to Tasia's site, you can click on the badgy thing on the right or the links at the beginning of this post.... but what am I saying you already know it right???

I leave you with a photo of Tasia of Sewaholic in her Minoru jacket.

Click for the introduction post on Tasia's blog.