Ziggy sucked up…

…all my energy and will to live!

StyleArc Ziggi jacket #4

You know, this is a lovely looking jacket pattern, and the end result is going to be good [even if it kills me] but this is so full of crappy instructions and problems I’m surprised so many people have managed to finish it!

I left it lying because, well, sleeves, and also I was waiting for the zips to arrive.  They appeared midweek, but I currently have no energy for weekday sewing, so it had to sit a bit longer.  I took the sleeve back out, put the seams back as they were, then just pinched out a dart in the middle of the undersleeve piece, just to match up the armscyes.  Not great, but it worked, sleeves in.

Then I set to with the zips, which went in fine with plenty of basting [although the sleeve zips would have gone in better while the sleeve was flat, just sayin’ StyleArc!  Wifey’s little T Rex arms meant the sleeves had to be shortened by 3/4″, which is worth noting- she normally needs a full 2″ off, so I’ll be sure to watch that when making one for my monkey arms!  Collar, no trouble.

Lining and facing instructions are crap too- so I did it my way, partly by machine, hand under-stitching, and bits of hand finishing to get a neat effect.  Then I noticed that the bloody pocket bags sit right into the facings AND the hem.  I have NEVER seen this before.

I don’t like putting in linings in the RTW way, bagging out by machine is just so…RTW.  So I had to break the job up to make room for the pockets to be left free.  I did it by hand, starting and finishing just above the pockets, then did some more tweaking to fit.

The missus has very slim hips, so wanted quite a lot more taking out of the side seams.  After this, I tweaked a bit out of the lining, leaving it slightly larger for ease.  Then more hand stitching, finishing off all that decorative top stitching because I’m a glutton for punishment.  We’ve agreed on small shoulder pads, just to make the back look even better!

I’m hoping to get it done tomorrow, barring further bloody disasters.  Here’s a teaser of the rather fetching neckline.