parka Archives - Handmade by Carolyn

a Kelly for Kelly, and one for Cassie too…

16/10/2016 1:14 pm \ 25 Comments \ Carolyn

O hey-a! After finishing my own Kelly anorak and having it admired to the nth degree by family members, I made a few more! a pale grey one for Cassie, and I also made a deep cobalt blue one for Tim’s girlfriend Kelly. Well, it seemed only right that she should have a “Kelly” too!

I quickly snapped that top picture of an unsuspecting Cassie waiting to meet up with me in town before she noticed me heading towards her… I know it’s a bit blurry and not very posed to show off the anorak to modelly perfection, but I just really like it nonetheless… to me it attests that she’s been wearing it a tonne, in fact every single occasion that I’ve seen her in the past three weeks since I finished it and gave it to her she has been wearing it. There’s no greater compliment to a seamster than that! as well as a testament to the pattern being an absolute style winner. Kelly’s worn hers each time I’ve seen her since I gave it to her too, but I’ve not taken any pictures of her in it.. will update if she sends me one 🙂

This, taken when I presented it to her three weeks ago, and probably the only time it’s been worn with the sleeves unrolled like this. It does look a little more wintery like this. I have to admit, it does look a lot trendier and suits the casual, “heading into summer but still need a layer” look to have the sleeves rolled up.

Both the anoraks are in a nice weight cotton drill from Spotlight, in fact, all the other bits and pieces are from Spotlight too. In both anoraks, I added a few inches to the length of the body and modified the pockets to have separate pocket flaps so as to close the pockets; otherwise these are both made up exactly to the pattern.

This picture below of Kelly’s anorak has been my most “liked” picture on instagram ever! far more than anything I have ever made for myself! Interesting, no? Well, I think it is, anyway 😉 I don’t know what that “says”, if anything at all, but maybe something. Social media is such a funny phenomenon. Something else also interesting to me is how a person, any person, can have a certain number of followers and the number of “likes” never ever reaches anywhere close to that number. Honestly, I have no idea about how or why this is so, but it’s just a curious thing.

I’d got enough of the same white cord for Kelly’s anorak , but since I’d found a nice, perfectly colour-matched blue zip for hers’, and used blue thread for all topstitching and there was no other white anywhere in the jacket; the white cord looked all wrong. And naturally there’s no such thing as blue cord in the whole of Perth! so I just had to dye it. And, when your regular dye-pot is HUGE and there’s just one little length of cord what’s a mad maker to do? but of course, improvise.

Yeah, I know this looks uber-weird, but determination breeds resourcefulness… and it gave me such a laugh to watch this crazy little dye-pot bubbling on the stove! I’d tossed a pair of the same white plastic stops as I used for Cassie’s anorak in with the dye bath and it was very satisfying that they dyed up a nice deep blue too. I’d bought some silver stops just in case but fortunately the blue dye did the job beautifully 🙂

Different day, still wearing it. Yep, like I said, she’s worn it literally every single time I’ve seen her in the past three weeks. I’m calling that a ginormous WIN!

Posted in: sewing, Uncategorized \ Tagged: Cassie, Closet Case files, coat, dyeing, jacket, Kelly, kelly anorak, parka

a shearling jacket

07/02/2016 7:25 am \ 34 Comments \ Carolyn

As sneaky-peeked previously; my shearling jacket, and man, I’m so happy with it!! It turned out just exactly how I hoped, and was the most wonderfully cuddliest, comfiest thing to have with me in our recent visit to Japan; I loved bundling up in it each day in Tokyo and used it as a snuggly rug while on the plane… without a doubt the warmest coat I’ve ever made formyself, evah. Like wrapping myself in a fluffy blanket, and I was perfectly snug enough even in the subzero temperatures of Hokkaido.

Obviously, and with my usual attention to weather appropriate sewing ahem, I chose to get started on this super fluffy thing during the most heinously hot heat wave… 42C anyone? phew, try-ons were hideous. Seriously I question my sanity sometimes. Well, lots of times actually 😉 Anyway it was all worth it in the end, since I’m quite chuffed with how it turned out.

What is it about making jackets that is so enormously satisfying and fulfilling? I don’t know exactly why, but I always find jackets, and dresses too, to a slightly lesser extent; to be the projects that give me the biggest of happy warm fuzzy buzzes… 🙂

wrt this one; well I’ve wanted to make a shearling jacket for oh, about ten years now. Ever since the first time I clapped eyes upon one belonging to our friend S; a colleague of my husband’s who is always super suave and cool and has a slightly alternative, very hip and happening taste in clothing. He owns a beautifully thick, oversized shearling jacket that he’s had for years and years and trots it out every winter once or twice. Every single time I see it I’m struck all over again by how awesome it is and have harboured a secret desire for one of my own…

I bought the faux shearling from Spotlight and the burnished, dull metal buttons from Fabulous Fabrics. The pattern is loosely based upon McCalls 5276, a pattern I’ve had for years but only muslined once and not got any further… oops! I pretty much chose the pattern just for the collar alone, since I wanted that big oversized 70’s lapel collar on my jacket, but not much else.

My alterations included;
Body and sleeves slimmed down and lengthened somewhat.
Welt pockets added as described here,
Belt and belt loops added.
I also fine-tuned the front edge and collar to have it so I could happily wear it in a variety of ways… a) open, cardigan style b) buttoned up halfway with the lapels flared, c) buttoned up to the neck with the collar laid down in a peter pan style, and finally d) with the collar turned up and buttoned up right to the very top in a funnel-neck style. Also, having the belt tightened or hanging loose adds to the wearing options too.

Because I was using a shearling obviously I left off all facings and all edges are left raw. When working out how to seam the pieces together, I checked out a pattern for a shearling jacket from one of my Burda magazines… which mentioned overlapping some edges to be joined and top-stitching the overlaps to minimise bulk. So; I overlapped the shoulder seams in this way, and also the collar-to-neckline seam. The other seams; namely the sleeve, side and armscye seams are sewn right sides together in the conventional way.

Even though I used the McCalls collar, I still cut it a bit bigger on the edges – just in case!!- never forget the golden rule of sewing… you can always cut away but you can’t add it back… EVER!!! And then trimmed it here and there to allow it to sit how I wanted it to look, to fit how I was imagining my collar. I’m particularly pleased with how the collar looks when buttoned up to the neck like this..

I made the sleeves extra long, so I could turn them up and have a woolly “cuff” on the sleeve ends, and also made wrist strips. These are sewn to the sleeve, then wrapped around and buttoned to themselves. The seam allowance of the cuffs are topstitched down for a neat look when they are turned back, and then I stitched-in-the-ditch of the sleeve seam down to the sleeve so the cuffs stay folded up permanently.

Welt pockets: my tutorial for how to do the welt pockets is here

Buttonholes: I’ve written a separate post detailing how I did the buttonholes here, so as not to clog up this post more than it is already! aaaaaagh! picture overload!!

In summary; I thoroughly enjoyed having and wearing my cosy new jacket in the subzero temperatures of Japan, and now we’re back home…. and it’s 35C… lol! so it’s off to the back of the wardrobe with this fluffy hulk of a thing. See you again next winter, you snuggly bundle of cosiness!

Details:

Jacket; my own design based loosely upon McCalls 5276, faux shearling
Top; the twist top from Pattern Magic by Tomoko Nakamichi, in ivory ponte, and in charcoal ponte
Jeans; Burda 7863 modified to be flares, in ivory cotton denim, and made as regular bootcut in black cotton corduroy
Gloves; hand knit by me in 4ply charcoal merino, details here
Socks; hand knit by me in Noro 4ply, details here
Shoes; Francesco Morichetti, from Zomp shoes

Posted in: sewing \ Tagged: coat, daily outfit, jacket, McCalls 5276, own design, parka

Raincoat the Second

09/07/2012 12:13 pm \ 46 Comments \ Carolyn

Ta da! please allow me to present the raincoat that I have made for Cassie.
It is made using the same self-drafted pattern I used for my own raincoat, with just a few minor fitting adjustments. All the details are identical to my own coat; the seams in the shell are French seams, waterproofed with Seam Grip, and the coat is fully lined with soft and lightweight white polyester net.
Cassie chose the colour herself and I am happy with the knowledge that she is unlikely to get run over crossing the road whilst wearing this 😉

I ran into a snag buying the pink fabric, that fortuitously turned into a stroke of brilliant good fortune: previously when buying the royal blue fabric for my own raincoat I had bought 3m to ensure I had plenty to play with, since there is nothing worse than running out of fabric halfway through a project, no? It turned out 3m was plenty, in fact it was way more than plenty and I ended up with an annoyingly large leftover piece. This is a pain, because I am really trying to rid my life of leftovers. Especially icky nylon leftovers which have a very small desirability in my wardrobe. So when I went in to buy the nylon for Cassie’s raincoat I asked for 2m of pink, and was mildly horrified when the roll only had 1.4m left on it. But the cunning stash-busting part of my brain instantly saw a beautiful possibility…. a quick consultation with Cassie, who cheerfully agreed that yes, a wide blue stripe did indeed sound very nice (phew!) and I went home with the 1.4m of pink, joyful that I was going to be gainfully using up the rest of that blue nylon after all… and so quickly after it had joined the stash too! (air fist punch) Yeeah!

Of course it was not all beer and skittles from then on; I did have to conjure up a bit of pattern placement magic, and do various mental calculations for various stripe scenarios, and there is one short extra piecing seam in the blue under one sleeve, but I did manage to squeak the raincoat out of my pieces of royal blue and pink successfully. I’m pleased to report that the final scrap count is almost non-existent too (‘nother air fist punch).

There was a hiccup; the making of this second raincoat did not go as smoothly as the first. You know how the second time you do a thing everything is supposed to go much much quicker and easier?

Well, no.

Halfway through, my ironing cloth slipped a bit and I managed to iron a hole in one almost-completed front. It was a very small hole, but it was. An. Unmistakeable. HOLE! When I saw this; steam started to emit from the ol’ ears and I had to walk away to calm down for a few hours.
Once I had regained some composure, I returned to the coat and thought about possibilities. Y’know when life gives you lemons there is always a silver lining, or something or another, yeah? And I surprised myself with my own ingenuity by coming up with the idea of a little pocket for her iPod. Where the offending hole was, there is now a welt, covering a little internal pocket. It closes with a little mini-strip of velcro, with enough room at the top for the headphone cord to come out. And fortuitously, the welt is in the perfect position where its vertical opening is covered by the zip placket when the zip is closed, improving waterproof-ability. Yowza! It’s like I planned it all along!!

Below left; I made the welt as small as I could that could still fit the iPod sliding in sideways, the pocket bag hangs below and to the side… Below right; I stitched the top of the pocket bag to the lining to help reduce the drag effect of having the pocket bag off to the side of its opening. Fortunately, iPods are very lightweight!

I am happy now.
And y’know what? I am even more ecstatically happy that none of my boys wants or needs a raincoat, and that this is the end of raincoats. At least for now. I’m raincoat-ed out. I want to make something fun and easy and selfishly frivolous now!
Later, fellow self-fashionistas!

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Cassie, coat, hoodie, jacket, own design, parka

Operation Raincoat

01/07/2012 12:38 am \ 50 Comments \ Carolyn

Warning: distinctly un-humble and boastful post to follow…
I have made this; my first ever raincoat… :0 and I am thrilled!!!!! with how it turned out!
Making a raincoat is one of the scary things I have always wondered was too hard for me, whether the technicalities were beyond me. Now I have successfully made one I feel like I have achieved another small step toward having an entirely me-made wardrobe.

Thank you so much to all who left a comment regarding good quality raincoat fabric sources 🙂
I checked each and every one of your recommendations.
I found extremely helpful this article written by Caroline, the link sent to me by bloodsweatshoptears. Caroline wrote about making a waterproof cycling jacket and included bundles of relevant and very interesting information for the outdoor-gear sewing newbie like myself. And the jacket she made is so awesomely fantastic and inspiring…
Caroline’s article included a link to another very very informative article on how to choose rainwear, which I read and reread. This article really helped me to honestly assess what I actually wanted from my raincoat… which was: another raincoat almost exactly like my old one!

I had bought my previous old raincoat at Kmart for our eldest son Tim when he was about ten years old. After he had worn it for a coupla years I had to buy him a new official school uniform one, so his old navy blue one became mine. I have worn it and worn it pretty solidly every rainy winter’s day since … and Tim is now 22 years old, so you can see the old raincoat has done very good service! The only reason I am replacing it is because it is finally starting to fall apart…. so, I did a close inspection of the old one to work out what to copy and what I could improve. And this is what I did, and have learnt…

I used my old raincoat to help me draft a new pattern: I didn’t have to chop it up to do this, but this would be an excellent plan for someone who hasn’t done much self-drafting. It has raglan sleeves, a hood and a high, inner collar. I incorporated a few, very minor, fitting alterations and small design improvements at this stage.
I decided my raincoat doesn’t need to keep me warm, just dry; so: waterproof, non-breathable fabric, something like nylon ripstop would be the best. I knew from my old one that this kind of fabric does keep one plenty warm enough in our climate already.
I wanted a full lining in my new raincoat. My husband’s raincoat has a polyester net lining; something akin to the fabric school sports shirts are made of; that is smooth and comfortable and very nice against the skin. I added this to my shopping list.

Now, I am sure everyone is dying to know where I bought this awesomely gorgeous fabric (hehe, kidding!)
Well: I browsed the online fabric stores, and had even bookmarked a few and was pretty much all set to BUY, when, like, the next day, I happened to be passing Spotlight and thought it would be worth going in to check out the separating zips. Well, you never know whether the ones you are buying online are dearer than Spotlight, and I’ve always found their zips, while not plentifully stocked, to be very reasonably priced. And while I was there, I idly checked out the fabrics; and hey, whaddyaknow? Nylon ripstop! The colour selection was not huge, but it was definitely cheaper than any I had seen online, so I picked up some royal blue plus a glow-in-the-dark green for trim, just for fun. Polyester net? They didn’t have exactly the same sort that was in my husband’s raincoat, but they did have some that seemed pretty good, so I picked that up too… Velcro? check! Zips? check! Cording and cord-stops? check and check! Spotlight is a much maligned store, and frequently by me, too 🙂 but I have to eat my words now since they had almost everything I needed! The only thing they did not have was some of that marvellous Seam Grip I have read about to waterproof my seams… but I recalled reading that its primary use is in tents and camping stuff, and barely 50m away from the front door of my Spotlight is a BCF store (Boating Camping and Fishing); practically next door. So I popped in, and yes of course they had Seam Grip. I promptly bought some. I was all set!!
The nylon ripstop can be cut just with ordinary household scissors, so I did not blunt my good dressmaking shears on it… bonus!

One can’t use pins willynilly since it has to be waterproof! But when necessary I pinned within the seam allowances.
Not for looks (since the raincoat is fully lined) but for extra waterproofing, I sewed all the seams as French seams; bar some of the internal pocket seams which are inside the coat and so are not a waterproofing issue.

I ironed the seam allowances “up”, against gravity (another waterproofing tip) before topstitching in place.

Seam Grip is messy stuff. Apparently it is the best product around for this job, but check out the fine print; it contains toluene. This is nasty… back in the dark ages when I was an analytical chemist I would have only opened a bottle of this substance in a fume-cupoboard. Not having access to a fume cupboard anymore, I worked outside and used disposable rubber gloves. I cloaked Bessie in plastic bags to protect her (not that she is susceptible to carcinogens….) and draped and pegged my half-finished coat inside out to do the seam sealing.

I left it to cure for 12 hours, and kept on going out regularly to pull apart the bits like the underarms, that were sticking to themselves; to ensure nothing became permanently glued together. Even when fully set I have found the Seam Grip has a tendency to stick to itself. Having the lining in has alleviated the problem somewhat, but not completely. I sure hope it de-stickifies eventually :S

Ventilation: meaning, an aperture for one’s body heat to escape outside; is a must in waterproof non-breathable garments. So I copied a feature from my old raincoat and hammered in two eyelets under each of the arms, at the back. These, as well as the eyelets in the hood for the cording (pictured below), are each re-inforced on the inside with an extra four layers of self-fabric, for strength.

Quick and simple velcro-lined tabs to tighten the wrists. I’ve used something like these on my old raincoat for the last dozen or so years: so they’re second nature to me and I am accustomed to them, so I copied them exactly for my new one. No need to re-invent the wheel, right?

Waterproof pockets; an essential. These have a full-width flap that is an extension of the upper front, covering a zippable pouch that is an extension of the lower front. These are similar in design to the ones on my old raincoat; I simply extended them so they are much wider, thus eliminating seams. In fact, at the sides they extend out to and in to, the side seams and the front placket. Less stitching therefore simpler to construct and finish off, and you get wider pockets! What’s not to love about that? (I can do a tute on these pockets, if anyone is interested. I’m frankly a bit terrified of doing tutes now, but I am pretty chuffed with how they turned out, so please let me know, ok? 🙂 )

This has been a fun learning curve.
Of course, eagle-eyed Perth readers will instantly see that I could not possibly have taken these photos during the last 4 days, since it has been unrelentingly sunny. Truth: I raced out to take these during some early morning showers last Wednesday, but have been too apathetic to even look at my photos since then, let alone write up this post. But anyway, here we are. And I am sure we will get more rain soon. Hopefully.
And yes, flushed with my own sewing success, another raincoat is already in the pipeline, this one for Cassie…. 😉 stay tuned!

Details:
Raincoat; self-drafted, with the help of an old one, nylon ripstop with polyester net lining
Skirt; Vogue 1247 lengthened and lined, red cotton velveteen ombre dyed brown, details here and my review of this pattern here
Leggings; self-drafted, red cotton jersey, details here
Boots; Andrea and Joen, from Uggies in Dunsborough (now renamed Eco-boutique)

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: coat, daily outfit, hoodie, jacket, own design, parka

Urban Sport style

04/09/2010 5:31 am \ 5 Comments \ Carolyn

Self-Stitched September, day 4…
I made this black parka a few years ago, completely inspired by the “urban sport” vibe of the Marni Spring/Summer 2007 collection, anyone remember this sort of look? Although I copied the shape and style from the designer collection, I drafted the pattern for my version myself. I was really taken with the slightly sporty appeal and loose comfort of this look at the time and I still think it is flattering as well as easy to wear. I was particularly pleased with how the oversized crumpled collar turned out.
The skirt is one I’ve worn loads over last autumn… you’ve seen it many times. It is made using Vogue 7303 again, out of a cheerful brilliant orange raw silk, seen here first.
Husband and children all out and occupied; I visited the library this morning to reserve next month’s bookclub book (Hearts and Minds by Amanda Craig), then faced the Saturday morning supermarket crush. Got three loads of washing on the line, house tidy and am feeling virtuous and accomplished; so with a clear conscience will spend a few hours now having some quality time with my sewing machine and the fabric stash … yes!! (air fist punch)

Details:

Parka; self-drafted, black cotton drill
Skirt; Vogue 7303, orange raw silk
Leggings; Metalicus
Shoes; Perrini, had for so long I’ve forgotten where I bought them…

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: own design, parka, skirt, SSS10, Vogue 7303

My Marni fix

26/10/2009 6:30 am \ 1 Comment \ Carolyn

Spring/Summer 07, Marni had a collection that struck me with lightning, fashion-wise. I loved and could have worn simply everything in the parade. On my budget, not to mention that Marni is unavailable in Perth, and also given that I love to sew, the only option was to try to recreate the looks myself.

The slimline black oversize sports parka over a crisp white skirt was my absolute favourite look, the one I just had to have, and one I wanted to reproduce as closely as possible.

So here is my effort, compared to the real deal. Please excuse that the model on the right is far less attractive.

Photo above from Marni Spring/Summer 07

www.style.com, see here

On pulling it out I realised its no longer a look that I am wearing as I’ve moved on fashion-wise, but as previously expressed in this blog, Wear Everything in the Wardrobe is my new rule. My Monday morning gals expressed surprise this morning that I was wearing black, as its not a colour I really wear much.

I remember at the time I was first wearing it I looked quite different from everyone out and about on the street, as it wasn’t a look that had hit Perth and wouldn’t yet for another 18 months when everyone was into this look all of a sudden. We lag a bit behind the fashions here.

The skirt is Vogue 7303 view A, seen previously here, and the top is my own design. Well, actually its really Marni’s design, slavishly copied by me, but by “my design” I meant that I didn’t use a pattern, but planned, cut and fitted the pieces to Bessie (the dressmaker’s dummy) to achieve the look I wanted. I was particularly pleased with the high bunchy collar and felt (still do) that the finished result is easy and comfortable to wear.

I think its a very urban look, perhaps better suited to striding about the city. A problem with the black parka, given my lifestyle, is its tendency to attract and display animal fur, with most unattractive results.

Speaking of which, a comment asked after Sienna, the furry beast lying half out of sight in my photo. The silly-billy has cut open a pawpad on a sharp bit of fence in our yard and is hobbling about looking woebegone (poor love), so I’m walking alone for a while. However I promise to include her again, as requested. The camera loves her (yeah, baby! Austin Powers style), so I think she deserves a photo-shoot… yes?

Other details:

Shoes; Perrini, bought many years ago