Heather Blazer

Hello! I made a blazer. As you can see, it's a casual, linen blazer, not a formal, office-appropriate blazer. I used the Heather Blazer pattern from Friday Pattern Company.

The outer fabric is Kaufman Essex Yarn Dyed Classics Woven Linen Check Indigo from Fabric.com. It's a linen-cotton mix, weighing in at 4.45 oz/yard. It feels a little more substantial than my favorite, Kaufman's Brussels Washer Linen, which is a linen-rayon mix. I am happy with my choice, as it's not too drapey. I wanted this to be a little bit structured. 

For the lining, I used some navy rayon challis from my stash. It's nice to have something kind of slippery. If I want to wear long sleeves underneath, they will just glide into and out of the blazer sleeves. 

Did I make a toile? No! I just held up the pattern pieces to see how long it would be. I didn't lengthen the pattern at all, and I'm 5'10". I'm happy with the length of the blazer. The sleeves would be a bit too short for me if I didn't roll them up, but I plan to wear them rolled, so this length is fine. 

This is a nice, doable way to learn to put in a lining. I have made a couple of lined jackets before, and it is always fun when you finally pull the outer fabric through the gap in the lining and see the almost-finished project! The hardest part was sewing the sleeves to their linings, but I just followed the instructions, worked carefully,  and it turned out fine. 

If this blazer ever gets torn, I will be forced to ask it, "What is your damage, Heather?" #GenXJokes

So this is my first fall outfit, sorted. I have lots of other plans for sewing and knitting. I never get to everything on the list, but it's fun to try!

Me Made May 2021

 It's time for Me Made May again! This is an annual challenge to wear your handmade clothes for a month - in whatever way you want to do it. This year, I plan to wear at least one me-made every day, take a photo, and post it on Instagram. This is will be fun and difficult since I have been staying in lounge clothes a lot lately. It will take effort to put on real clothes EVERY DAY for a month!

I'd also like to post about my handmade wardrobe in more depth here, though I am not planning to do it every day. 

Looking at my closet, I realized that I no longer remember the pattern for each item of clothing! I have sewn so many things that they blur together a bit now. If I post more often, I will have a record of the pattern, fabric, and changes I made to the pattern. 

It is nice and sometimes helpful to look back and remember what I made during certain years or seasons. I bet it would be interesting to see how many things I made each year, and what kind of things - like if I went on a boxy t-shirt spree and then switched to quilts.

It's helpful to know how much I lengthened something, or if I slimmed the legs, or made the waistband wider. The next time I make it, I already know what I did last time. I usually make notes on the pattern pieces, but it can help to have more detailed notes on the changes. 

I hate when I can't remember something, so I could end my frustration when my memory fails me!

My first closet mystery:

Is this boxy shirt a:

* Shirt No. 1 from 100 Acts of Sewing?

* Bo Shirt from Seamwork? (If so, I left off the sleeve cuffs)

* Lou Box Top from SewDIY? (I didn't think so, but it is a boxy shirt that I've made multiple times.)

Answer: Shirt No. 1 from 100 Acts of Sewing, in Nani Iro double gauze. I had posted the shirt on Instagram a few years ago, so I found the answer without having to look at line drawings (or at the pattern pieces) to figure it out. I did grab the line drawings to post here, since I thought it might be interesting to see them. The three patterns are similar, but they each fit differently. 

More Boxy Top Talk to come, probably!