R. H. Seamstrix

I finished the jacket! It turned out really well, when the recipient sends me photos of it in use I'll share those in a separate post. This was created with McCall's sewing pattern M7636. The non-cotton components are the elastic in the waistband, the purple zipper, and bright blue shoulder piping. The cuffs and collar are grey ribbed cotton, the outside is purple flannel and the inside is quilt cotton.  

I've been working steadily on the jacket, and finally the sleeves are complete! The original pattern called for the hem between the cuffs and lining to just be pressed in place, but I wasn't pleased with how that looked. Instead, I've sealed it off with some leftover bias tape from the blue/green apron , and I definitely prefer this look. Now I need to finish the bottom (which includes elastic for the waist), and then there are some finishing stitches for structural and cosmetic reasons.  

Here's my full (for now) outfit for longsword practice. The sword is borrowed, the gloves, helmet/hood, and boots are mine, and everything in lavender and white is something I hand-sewed. S9593 - Quilted short jacket (undyed muslin with quilted sleeves, closes with corset-style lacing), pattern  S9593 - Quilted vest (lavender cotton with undyed muslin lining, dark purple cotton bias tape to finish the edges) B6752 - Tunic (white monkscloth, sleeveless) Shorts (undyed muslin, cloth drawstring) I might eventually add a way to hold the long vest closed, but I'm wearing it out and about to get a feel for what options would suit me best. For now, it stays closed well enough without anything added.     

I installed the zipper (including the barely visible piping which strengthens the area around the zipper). Next, I've pinned a contrasting piping (blue) to the armholes. This will eventually create a bright blue line around the shoulder, where the sleeves meet the rest of the jacket. I love how adding the zipper turned this into a jacket, suddenly, in a way that the collar and pockets did not.

It turns out that the first thing to sew in this jacket is the pockets, so I'm working on those. They have a facing and a lining, and then get attached to the outside layer of the jacket.

Yesterday I cut a bunch of fabric, for a jacket which will have a purple flannel outside and use this blue/green fabric for the lining. I've also obtained a grey, ribbed fabric for the cuffs and collar, but I haven't cut any of that yet.