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Marie Me…

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Style Arc ‘Marie’ jacket #1

I bought this pattern a while back, [July 2016 lol] and then wasn’t sure about it.  I don’t really wear jackets, or even cardigans, very often [post-menopause, ]I’m more likely to be too hot than to need another layer.  It is pretty though…

So I matched it up [finally] with this oddment of chunky knit stuff that I bought from the Jersey Lady at the Rag Market ages ago.  SO it probably cost about £2… Anyway, not surprisingly, it being an oddment, and the jacket having a drapey front…there wasn’t enough.  It needed front facings, so I scavenged some ponte remnants from stash, which had to be pieced to fit the L-shaped pieces on, and then ANOTHER oddment from stash of plain black jersey for the sleeves.  I just about squeezed the rest out, by piecing the back yoke too.

The sleeve fabric looked suspiciously like the last of my lovely black merino, so I did a burn test, and the pong makes that pretty certain.  While I was at it, I burn-tested the chunky knit [assuming it to be acrylic] and found that it has a high natural fibre content too.  Yay!  The merino is very fine though, so I’m doubling it up to match the weight of the body fabric.  This could all go horribly wrong…

Then of course, none of the black open end zips in stash were the right length.  I tried to get the metal end stops off, but no dice, and I had to order another one from eBay.  Most annoying.

I eliminated the CB seam, and got cracking.  All pretty straight forward, but the topstitching may turn out to be a bad idea- stitching across rib knit tends to stretch it out into weird puckers.  I just kept going, praying that plenty of steam would do the job…

Meh, it’ll do.  Side panels assembled, princess seams pinned, remembering to leave the left side open  for the zip.  Overlocked.  All good.

No.

A surprisingly good shot of the fabric, slightly glittery…

I’d swapped left for right. I HATE unpicking overlocking, especially on a stretchy rib knit, stitched in black on black.  Unpicking, swearing.  Re-pinned, re stitched.  Yay!  Er, no.

I hadn’t got it the wrong way the first time, I just had a brain fart. FML.  More swearing, more unpicking, restitching.

For some reason, I don’t want to sew any more today…

**PS, I did though, just a bit

13 thoughts on “Marie Me…”

  1. Is it cruel of me to say “I love hearing about you undoing a perfectly good seam?” I spent a good deal of yesterday doing just that. While working on some Seminole Patchwork for a charity auction I thought the blue striped squares were wrong so I took them out. Later when I was hopelessly confused about the pattern of the patchwork with all the blue squares I asked my husband to check the layout. His verdict? I was missing all the blue striped squares! ARGH!

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    2. Yep we all do it, reversing fabric right side/wrong side is my usual cos my eyesight is rubbish and I’m slapdash! This stuff looks very similar, only difference is the thickness of the rib spacing on each side! Evil.

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  2. First, I love the look of that jacket (I’m with you in the post-meno stuff, so I hope you can whip it off quickly), but that fabric! Way beyond me. Way beyond me.

    The ripping out stitches twice would have done me in (would have done in a bottle of wine, too). You have far more talent and patience than I, I’ll tell you that!

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    1. Well it’s all looking a bit wavy along the seams [very ribby fabrics always do that I find] but should [I hope] look OK when worn. I got the front facing on, but I think I will hand understitch rather than cause more stretching with machining it. Then to tackle the potential evil of a double layer of merino jersey for the sleeves…what was I thinking?

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  5. First of all, I can’t even imagine sewing such a fabric. And unpicking, I do believe, requires lots of swearing. And laughing, because what else can you do? Cry? NO! And hooray for natural fibers, your jacket will be wonderful!

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