FO: BHL Victoria Blazer

Wowee! I made a blazer! Granted this is a really simple pattern, oversized and boxy so fitting woes are minimal, only a partial lining etc, etc, but I'm really quite pleased with myself. I went off piste a little to make the lining go in a little easier and now I'm feeling super smug that my sewing skills are improving enough for me to even consider not doing exactly what the instructions tell me.

So, not only was this pretty easy I'm also mostly really happy with how it turned out. I like the style on me, I'm pretty happy with the fit and I love how it's kinda all business on the outside and party on the inside! I'm not super in love with the fact that I managed to sew the bottom of the lapels into the bottom, but by the time I realised it was too late and I know how it happened (clumsy cutting out) so I'll do better next time.

The changes I made were:

• Set the sleeves in dead last instead of before sewing in the lining
• Sewed the entire lining in by machine, turning it right way around through the armhole, instead of a gap left in the back
• Attached the lining and the shell at the armholes using an overedge stitch
• Topstitched the outer edges of collar, lapels and cuffs as my fabric didn't press too well, I think they look a bit crisper now.
• Topstitched all around the collar and lapels where they join to the jacket to stop the lining from poking out so much. Next time I'll use understitching as well to really keep that lining where it should be.

Blue Steel!

I've kind of got a bit of the blazer bug now, probably because I wore one the other day and Stu kept taking the piss out of me, so of course I now feel the need to wear ALL the blazers. I can see me making at least another one of these and I have my eye on one in jersey from Burda mag last year. Next up though is a cute little shirt for Cassie and I'm also knitting away on my DROPS Nathalie cardigan, hoping that I can finish that while it's still spring.

What's in progress?

Now that Lady Kina is finally done it's time to move on....to another cotton cardigan! I've had DROPS 136-1 otherwise known as Nathalie on my to do list for a while. I bought the yarn, DROPS Bomull-Lin, the actual recommended yarn no less, last year during a sale and it's been taking up so much room in my stash since then that it was definitely time to use it.

The pattern, being a DROPS pattern, looks a little overwhelming. Their approach to pattern writing leans towards walls of text with loads of stuff all going on at once. It's actually really straightforward once you break it all down but I highly recommend sitting down with a pen and paper and rewriting the instructions into steps that are most intuitive for you.

Sewing wise I'm currently working on a Victoria Blazer from By Hand London. I'm using some grey and pink pinstriped suiting for the shell and some slightly horrendous snakeskin shines stuff for the lining. My sister asked me why I even own that fabric and I have entirely no idea. It seemed like a good idea at the time and I sort of like the idea of it as a lining, like a secret touch of bad taste on the inside!

I'm just about to sew up the sleeves, then I need to attach the collar and lapels, insert the lining and set in the sleeves. Hopefully that will be achievable this weekend and then I'll have the perfect garment for the sunny but slightly windy weather we are having here at the moment.