This is the Dunya jacket.

I definitely noticed the Dunya jacket when it came out. Fibremood have a lot of instagram influencers and they (when feeds still worked) overloaded my instagram feed.  Curiosity followed, and I had a look at a lot of patterns.  It wasn't enough to make me bite.  It's a different feel than other pattern companies.  You don't get the instructions when you buy the pattern.  You have to do a bunch of drama getting an account in order to access the online instructions.  I guess it's true about age, I'm getting grumpy, I want to not spend time on my computer making yet another infernal account for something I'll use once.  Just in time, instagram is so crappy I've tapered my usage way down.  A funny mental shift, to realise we once didn't think about life in terms of how it would look in a photo...and to go back to living life without documenting it.  Yet again I wondered about my blog's utility.  The act of sewing and the act of blogging about it can be very disconnected from one another, and it's easy to get behind when I'm inspired to sew a lot and not particularly keen to sit in front of the computer. 

Then I posted a lackadaisical post about the Zoey tank top and got over 2000 views (rare for me, as noted, I'm too obnoxious to have so many loyal readers and I'm definitely not influencer material.)  So I suppose for now I'll keep going.  It's reassuring to see that the few remaining blogs out there are still getting some love. 

 A friend told me this would suit my sudden desire for an oversized and cozy coat that would feel like wearing a sleeping bag.  For some reason, I was Inspired.  So much so that I actually bought fabric specifically for the pattern - expensive fabric!  I got Mind the Maker Thelma thermal quilted fabric in olive.  I got it from an Australian website but I don't recall which one.  I went specifically to The Fabric Store to pick out a lining and as invariably happens I didn't like anything.  I bought some silk.  It's pretty but, hm.  I bought the pattern and printed it and then winter got too busy!  I decided to move, I had so little time left and this kept being right on top of my queue while seeming like too much work to actually make.  I even actually bought snaps in the States for the kam snap press so I would be Ready. 

Hopeless.  It took another year to finish the move and get settled and actually buy the snap press.  I found a new lining fabric.  Still not totally convinced, it's Liberty tana lawn with feathers on it.  I just couldn't settle on anything I loved and this was good enough. 

I made size XS

I could have made S by the size chart but the instructions - which are very good - I don't recall too many specific gripes - they recommend going down if you don't want it massively oversized.  I had a moment of puzzlement looking at the pattern I had printed then realised you have options to have the seam allowance printed, or not, and you can have it included, or not.  I included the SA lines and the cut lines in my printed pattern. 

 I didn't rush this project out.  The fabric is a real pain to sew because the raw edges, once cut, leak the thermal midlayer and it's very hard to tell where the green actual fabric is.  The coat gets to be quite a LOT for my small sewing machine to manage.  

 I found to my shock that each step went very smoothly and things came together in a beautiful fashion.  I did have some drama with the corners of the hem facing at the side seams, whatever the instructions said to do was impossible, or maybe my fabric was just too much to wangle.  There is some visible stitching there where I tried to avoid leaving holes and just topstitched everything in place.  The end result is totally fine.  I didn't diverge from the pattern anywhere.  My snap press was magical.

 

 

And I love this jacket!  I wore it a lot this winter, though now it's too warm for such things.  It's completely oversized and ridiculous.  I do wish that the front hem were slightly shorter and the back hem slightly longer.  I do feel a bit silly out and about in town because there is coat everywhere around me but I trust that I actually look cooler than everyone else.  

TPC27: the Trend Patterns Puff back jacket review

 I'm doing unusually well with jackets this season - 2!  Already!  And maybe I can get together my energy for a third?  The jacket list might finally slim down a bit?

Anyway in order to convince myself to get on with this - I cut it out at home and took it to a sewing weekend in Auckland.  It fit on the leftover piece of green poplin (has a kind of windowpane check in it like it's a sporty fabric, but I think 100% cotton.)  This piece was about 1.5 m long but was also about 2m wide, and that's what saved me.  

I had bought the lining and Draper's fabrics specifically for this project. 

Made the smallest size. I didn't see a normal type of size chart, just a finished measures size chart, and that was very huge, so the smallest size seemed wise. 

Sewing weekend.  Well, I started the jacket the first evening - and still really woozy from 6 night shifts in a row (bad idea, people) - got through the interfacing and prep work, and went to start the pocket, and I came to a screeching halt.  Every single other welt pocket in the known sewing universe is a "home sewist" welt.  The pocket consists of two separate pieces of fabric, and the welt is a friendly little rectangle (or two) that you sew down the sides and flip right side out.  Thus, every single online instruction is for same.  This pocket is constructed using an industrial welt, and there are no tutorials anywhere.  The instructions didn't make sense and I had no assistance.  That one other person who blogged about this - for some reason her blog vanished off the interwebs.  She had complained too about the welt but I know she figured it out eventually and I couldn't remember if her blog had any sage advice.

 Oh god, it was time to do the inconceivable and make a practice welt.  I literally went to bed and dreamed about this, nightmared all night about this welt. 

But I had nothing else to sew.  

I made a practice welt.  After cogitating all night my brain understood this welt still had to behave as a normal home sewist welt.  If you make this jacket or have this issue, the relevant info is that you fold down the top flap inside out and sew it down to a mark, (NOT a bit further!) and THEN the loose little edge is your standard welt edge and that's what you sew to your main fabric.  I am not usually a tutorial-constructing blogger, but if people want a tutorial I could try to make one.  

Things after that went better.  It did still take 3 welt pockets before they were not horrible, so the sides of both welts on the jacket are a bit stretched from me trying to cover my too large holes.  The rest of the jacket caused me no dramas.  

I even, because I was at a sewing weekend and had time, tried to tack down the hem edge against the inside seam allowances.  But still, this jacket has the fault of all lined jackets I have ever made.  The lining at the sleeve comes out because the sleeve facing isn't stuck down.  The hem bags down and doesn't look precise.  I had all the time, and I ironed a lot, so that hem edge at some point looked great. Not so much now. 

I think I have to stop making lined jackets until I'm ready to read a tailoring book.  I am not happy with these features but luckily my housemate loves hugely oversized things (this is MASSIVELY oversized) and she has claimed it.  It would easily fit a full zip hoodie underneath, and that's her jam.  It does have very long sleeves, which I am not bothered by, they just about cover my hands but in general that is ok with me. 

I hand sewed a single snap on the front to shut it. 

It doesn't make sense to me to have buttons on the front, because it's so oversized it really overlaps too much for buttons that go straight down.  One or two snaps in strategic locations make more sense to me.

Overall this was an interesting make.  I am NOT using this pattern for the precious star print Moschino fabric I am hoarding.  I will NOT make this again.  But, interesting.  

The itty bitty furry Arlo track jacket

Friday Pattern Co, stop two. 

This Arlo track jacket has been planned for a year, when I bought this fluffy Marc Jacobs fabric from The Fabric Store because I love it so very much, it has the best feel even on the inside.  The amount of fluff means it would be pretty annoying on a pattern with a lot of small fiddly spots, but for this it worked out nicely. 

The Arlo jacket has even been at the *top* of my sewing to-do list, but so little sewing happened so the list wasn't really moving.  I wear zip front hoodie type things all the time, so I really should put more work into making my own and getting the quality of them up to my standards!  

So the Ilford jacket felt small, even though it fit, and felt kind of useless, because that style is not really my thing.  

The Arlo has a lot of size options.  You can cut things at a short, medium or long length in the bodice and sleeves.  By the size chart I'm an XS chest, S waist, and M hip.  So I cut from XS chest to M at the bottom of the bodice piece, and then cut all the pocket level pieces as M.  I used the short length for the body, and the middle length for the sleeves.  I cut extra long pieces for the hem and the sleeve cuffs so I could use self fabric that doesn't really stretch much.  

Other than green fluff getting everywhere, this was an easy sew.  Oh, and except for how the fur got in the way and I couldn't actually see whether I was sewing the seam allowance.  That meant I sometimes had to sew things twice, but it didn't impact the final garment - if anything my seam allowances were scant and the jacket should be slightly larger than expected.  I didn't topstitch because the stitch lines would not have been visible and I didn't see the point. 

The pockets are quite neat and it's easy to get a good finish on them. Everything came together really nicely.  

 

However I had some deja vu once I tried this on.  Again, it just...feels small.  And that's before I mention the sleeves.  Everyone who reviews this mentions the sleeves and I really should have taken that seriously!  They are about 4" too short.  like, the sleeves end at my wristbones.  In the photos they somehow seem longer but I promise they aren't.  And I used length "M" sleeves.  

I have not decided whether to cut the sleeve cuffs off, add another sleeve piece, and put on new cuffs.  

Another unexpected oddity - the pockets go all the way to the side seam, of course, which makes the jacket feel kind of wide in that spot.  It doesn't bother me, but it's a thing I particularly noticed - maybe because this fabric is so bulky. 

It's getting into spring and the tight coziness of this jacket isn't as desirable as it was in the depths of freezing winter.  I just can't decide if it's actually too small.  Maybe I should make all unisex patterns by the Friday Pattern Co in size M across the board...

It leaves me with a pretty lukewarm feeling about these patterns, though at least I have no issue with the instructions, which are clear and have nice diagrams. 

Also, the A0 was quite rude, the sleeve occupied its own A0 page...that's a LOT of empty paper for one little tiny (and too short) sleeve.  

Trish Newbery Carter Shirt Jacket review

 Literally not a single post in the internet about this pattern. Anywhere.  Really?? There are 7 posts on insta about it and they are all by the same person.  That's insane!  This pattern is like, invisible to the masses!  Where are people getting pattern inspo from these days?

I chose this for my more jacket-y shacket because it clearly could tolerate heavier fabrics, I liked the side slits, and the hood versatility meant in the future it might be hacked to so many interesting things.  I also really want the two front patch pockets plus side seam pockets in my shackets (that's like, the entire point!)  I made the Logan first (here) as the more shirt-y shacket and I love it but I do kind of struggle to fit it into my wardrobe much. 

This fabric is Italian, it is tweed on the outside but a mystery soft inner face.  It has a little bit of stretch to it.  I don't know where I got it, possibly Mood Fabrics when I shopped online a few years ago, but also possibly from The Fabric Store.  And what was I planning to make with it anyway?  It's been in my stash for a wee while and I presume I bought it with some plan I have since forgotten. 

Without any advice to hand I turned to the size chart. XS.  A little worried as the shacket seems to have no ease at the hips which on me can often lead to pooling in my lower back.  Indeed the instructions say Menswear fit: consider going up at the hip.  That's stupid, we are women, why are you making a pattern specifically that won't fit women?  Ok so S at the hip.  Regrets, should have done M.  

I wanted to finish this in a day and I didn't quite make it.  I took a lot of time on the details.  I broke out the very old and precious Liberty lawn for the hem facing and under the collar.  Spots I expected to be tragic mostly turned out ok - everything lined up the way it was supposed to.  This is not due to any help from the instructions.  They check every box entitled "what I hate in pattern instructions."  They are in a weird order, photos, done on coloured fabrics, and the words are not helpful.  I had to google how to do the sleeve placket because the instructions were so opaque to me.  

So I got it done, and now I had a button problem.  I've recently realised I need to just get rid of my donated button stash, because it doesn't provide, I waste hours looking for matching buttons and I still never have any.  I hate buttons, and my button stash actually makes things worse. 

I set this project aside until I could focus on buttons.  The fit is ok but it's snug on my hips, which is kind of ok because the fabric has a lot of stretch.  However, there's pooling in my back...the jury is out.  Will it pass my stringent judgment or will it be directed straight to the Someone Else pile?  The fact that it lounged on the floor for so long is kind of an answer to that question. I was actively avoiding dealing with this, and not just because it's really painful to do buttonholes these days.

I got some reasonable buttons and then continued to actively procrastinate until a friend showed up to visit me.  Her style is quite a bit different to mine and she's narrower in the hips than I am.  I stuck this jacket in front of her with my eyebrows raised and she fell in love instantly, in fact, she didn't even want the buttons.  I insisted on putting them on the sleeve cuffs only because they were gaping open.  

 

Sorry for worse photos than usual. I let my friend take them so I at least got them before she left.

My procrastination was a clear sign I didn't really want this jacket in my life.  The fit on her is much nicer than on me - again I should have gone up to M at the hips.  But also the style of this jacket suits her perfectly without the buttons on.  A win!  She has already sent me happy hotel selfies in her new shacket. 

 I wouldn't use this pattern designer again.  I'm not sure whether I would make this pattern again either.  There wasn't anything egregiously wrong with the fit on the chest or sleeves, I just didn't enjoy the experience.  It's probably a bad habit to want to try out another shacket pattern rather than improving on the two that I have...but you know, Tint of Mint Polina?  What's up with Tint of Mint patterns?  Are they another diy pattern designer with no experience and shitty drafting?  I admit I am very curious.  There's also the Axelle jacket...but it looks suspiciously like the Potter I'm already planning to make.