Love and Hate

Sewing is many things to many of us, and while contemplating this in an intellectual manner (or not) I thought I'd put together a little post on the matter. 

There are times when we love it and times when it drives us crazy (beginners take note!).What follows are the worst and the best of our treasured art. 

Things I hate about sewing:

• When the bobbin runs out and you've got like 6 more stitches to do until you've finished (obviously I don't pre-spin bobbins- does anyone do that!?)
• Changing thread colour mid way through.

• Finding threads stuck to all my clothes, all over my bed, in my cats mouths, in my cups of tea, in my husbands chest hair...!
• Endless cutting. 
• When you are gathering a piece of fabric and the thread breaks-agggghhhh! 
• Snipping off all the annoying threads at the final hurdle (I mean, do you do that as you go? Smarty pants if you do!)

Things I love about sewing:

• Looking at pretty fabric and knowing you can make it into anything you want.
  

• The smell of a hot iron on new fabric- what is that? Chemicals probably!
• Making and giving awesome handmade presents. 
• The other cool people who sew to or who want to sew.
• Vintage pattern art. 
  
• The way that when you are totally in sewjo mode everything else switches off, its kind of like meditation right?
• That cats and sewing are a match made in heaven (a kind of heaven where cats continually sit on your workspace, chew your pincushions and knock over your tea onto your fabric-but in a mega cute way!)

• The sound of a sharp shear slicing through silk (say that fast)
• Pride in your finished product.

I'm sure I'm missing loads, what else is there? What do you love and hate? 

(I hope everyone realises this wasnt just a cunning way to get two cat photos onto the blog....Who me?)

A very unseasonal coat post!

I've got a coat post. Ok, I know its practically summer, but what can I say, slow blogger right here! 

I made this coat for the hub for Christmas, technically it wasn't ready by Christmas but I think he got it in January, so not too bad. And pretty generous of me, if I do say so myself!

 I used a burdastyle pattern....a woman's pattern! The first muslin I made up was huge, I really don't get Burda patterns, the sizes are weird and never the same. The 42 was much too big in the shoulder so I adjusted it a lot and changed the hood as you really could have fitted a head and a cat in there (not that I would be averse to carrying a cat around in my hood, it would be brilliant actually!)

I topstitched the whole lot, around the hood, down the opening edge, around the sleeves and the tabs. The fabric was a sort of brushed wool/felt thing in a deep forest green and the top stitching really gave a bit of interest to the otherwise plain fabric. I decided not to go with yellow for the top stitching to match the toggles and piping as I thought the coat already looked enough like an 8 year-old's coat and that might not have been the best look for a man of mature years!

The thing that really took the time was quilting the lining, which I did with a fleecy backing to give extra warmth. We live somewhere warm but the hub has an unnatural tendency to feel the cold. The quilted lining looks pretty awesome if you ask me. 

I also hand sewed those bloody toggles on (slighty wonkily ...) as I couldnt get my machine through the layers at such an awkward angle. If I'd have properly thought it through I would have done them first but well, I didnt!

The piping round the pockets is straight in real life!

Just like the original eh?!

source

He loved it (but since its not really winter anymore hasn't worn it much yet) and I think it turned out grand.
Inspiring anyone to make a coat? Hmmmm, well perhaps not now, but wait until October you lot and you'll be knocking down my door to make yourself a coat at one of my coatmaking classes!