Scary Skill Swap - the reveal!

I posted here about the jacket I have been making for Mr Little Time and here it is!

It's been a long time in coming as I got the lining and shell assembled and ready to be stitched together and finished, and he changed his mind about the lining fabric, so it all went on hold while different lining was chosen, purchased and delivered.  Grrrr....

We started with the basic Fairbanks pattern from Green Pepper, purchased from Rocky Woods.  I was concerned that the fit would be very loose - more "hiker" than the look hubby wanted.  On measuring the pattern it confirmed there was about 10" of ease across the chest, which was far more than he wanted.  Comparing the pattern to a jacket with the right fit, we decided on a size 36.  After making a muslin, I added 1" to centre back and centre front to give a bit more space across the shoulders without messing with the raglan sleeves.  I narrowed the sleeves for a sleeker fit and took some volume out of the hood.

Overall the pattern is very good - all the seams matched and the instructions and pictures are very clear, even for the slightly more difficult techniques like welt zippers.

After looking at many different inspiration pictures, hubby decided on a front patch pocket with a flap rather than the welt zip and flap of the pattern or the integrated flap I drafted.  He also wanted the front in one piece without the vertical seams. So I was able to use the front lining pattern piece for the outer (extending it to match the length of the back outer - the lining is shorter).  He also wanted a little mobile phone-sized pocket on the arm.  Both pockets are lined in the navy cotton original lining fabric.  This was the look he was going for:

Kirk Douglas in Heroes of Telemark (Source:  notrecinema.com)

I mocked up a storm flap in lining fabric to get it to the right size and cut it in outer and lining, sewed together and topstitched.  I attached to the inside of the zipper tape before fitting the zipper and it worked (phew!).  He didn't like the drawstring waist so I didn't need to incorporate that.  There was much debate about the hip pockets, but it would have made the front too busy - the Telemark jacket is quite a bit longer.

The construction of the jacket is pretty solid - every seam is straight stitched, zigzagged inside the stitching line, pressed to the side, top-stitched and finally seam sealant tape applied.  I was worried about how the tape would go on given that the fabric couldn't be pressed at more than a medium heat, but it was really easy.  It fixed on securely at a medium heat on the iron and was repositionable until it cooled.  As I was lining the jacket and didn't need to worry how the inside looked, I added extra pieces of tape at the points of stress like under the arms (it was tricky to get the tape to fit nicely round the curve - most of the seams were sealed when the jacket was flat so there was only an issue with the side seams.).

I didn't use the cuff that came with the pattern - hubby wanted a narrower one with a velcro tab fastening to pull it tight like a vintage jacket he has.  So I based the pattern piece on that.  Narrowing the sleeves also meant I could leave out pleating the sleeve at the cuff.

There was a lot of top-stitching so my edgestitching foot got a serious workout!

The new lining fabric is this from Point North.  It's a bit lighter in colour and a lot lighter weight than the cotton (which hubby preferred).  The lining is topstitched around the hood and zip, and finished inside the bottom hem and cuffs.  Rather than using the casing for the drawstring round the hood, I left an opening at the neck edge and stitched parallel to the topstitching to make a channel.  If you do this, a little tip - make sure you make the channel wide enough to get a safety pin through.  It'll make your life much easier! (Ask me how I know).

After much deliberation (turns out having it exactly as you want it isn't as easy as it sounds!), he chose navy buttons from Minerva for the front pocket, navy and white vintage 1960s suit buttons from Ebay for the sleeve pocket, and white cord and toggles for a contrast.  Rather than buy a grommet setter for one grommet at the hem, I did a sort of buttonhole over the side seam to finish the edges neatly for the cord to poke through.

Despite being extremely indecisive and changing his mind throughout, hubby has been massively appreciative of the work and the end result, so he might even get more items made! In fact I have ordered the Pattern Cutting for Menswear book from Amazon so it appears that he will....

Do you sew for your partner?  Is he/ she as indecisive as mine?

The scary sewing skill swap

Try saying that after a drink or two...

This frankly scary looking collection is for a long - promised jacket for the husband.

Earlier in the year he did a beautiful renovation on a vintage Elswick bike for me and in a fit of gratitude I promised to make him a jacket.

It has to be mentioned that hubby is a fussy bugger when it comes to clothes. Everything has to be perfect or he won't wear it so I'm under pressure on this one! Here's my brief:

The pattern we agreed on is the Fairbanks pullover anorak from Green Pepper (bought from Rocky Woods - a treasure trove for this sort of pattern, which is not easy to find elsewhere).  The jury is still out on the inclusion of extra pockets - he likes pockets.  I am making a few amends to the pattern. In addition to a possible sleeve pocket and maybe 2 lower pockets for hands, the main pocket will be a patch pocket on the outside and the flap will be squared off.

The fabric hubby chose is a navy Goretex (the real thing and if you have ever tried to buy this fabric you'll know what a great ebay find this was!). We also got swatches from Pennine Outdoor who are so helpful on understanding this type of waterproof performance fabric. You have to line Goretex as the inside is coated with waterproofing which will eventually rub off as it is worn if left unlined.  He wanted a breathable lining of course so he chose a navy cotton. He doesn't want padding or insulation as he prefers to layer underneath with a base layer rather than wear a bulky jacket.

Fairbanks is a very clear pattern with good instructions on how best to sew the seams (with straight stitch first then zigzag inside the seam allowance and trim) but not so much on sealing the seams other than you have to do it! If you don't, water will drip through the needle holes rendering your precious waterproof fabric next to useless.

I've gathered a few resources on this as they were pretty few and far between - maybe this might help someone else! The choice is pretty much between a liquid sealant or taping the seams.

A post on the Sewaholic blog about making a waterproof Minoru was very useful

This helpful lady tested various seam sealing options

KBenco has sewn with Goretex and various other outdoor fabrics and posted about how to work with it here

This Ebay guide is goodl for understanding the difference between fabrics and has some good tips

 Based on the above, I decided to go for seam tape purchased from Pennine Outdoor which states that it works well for Goretex type fabrics. It irons on fairly easily at a temperature that doesn't damage the fabric (from the test swatches I have done so far) but once it's on, it's not coming off so I'm going to have to be careful! Ripping back seams isn't going to be an option as it will leave obvious holes in the fabric. 

I'm using microtex needles (to make the smallest possible holes when sewing) and standard polyester thread. I also have a waterproof zip.

Wish me luck!

Have you ever done a skill swap where you swapped your sewing skills for something you couldn't do? Any tips for sewing with waterproof fabric?