Burda 03-2009-115

Watch out Christabelle. Roll over Nigel. TMB and Mary Nanna are in the garden for a photoshoot.

Overall I'm pretty pleased with how this came out. Things I like? I love the pockets, the belt, the overall fit and the practicality of having a rain coat in a climate with 1200+ (50 inches) rainfall a year.



Things I don't? The revere. It's been a long time since I messed one up quite like this. Fortunately you are all too polite to comment. The revere has made me seriously think about sewing the whole thing again just to get it right. Fortunately I only have a Virgo rising, so perfectionistic tendencies get quickly subsumed by laziness.

The darts are another bone of contention, it looks like the front is too big. It's not. I think the I should have made two darts, shortened them off and sewn them down. Oh alright then, you've twisted my arm, I'm just going to have to sew another one, a good one, for non-playcentre use and in forest green. I'm already eyeing up some wooden buttons and a wooden belt prong and bar from Salvage (a retro fabric and notions shop on Mt Eden Rd). So we can have woods and the trees. Pa ha ha.

The ugly fabric contest is now open for voting. I had a surprisingly hard time actually, I'll be honest. Part of me thought it would be bad form not to vote for myself because I thought and worked hard on my project, part of me just really enjoyed what some other people had made and wanted to acknowledge that. But here's a weird thing - frankly, mine was the only fabric I thought was ugly! And I know lots of people thought mine was actually really interesting, and funky and not ugly at all!

Taste? There's no accounting for it. Oh well, I'm not particularly bothered one way or the other, for me, the whole joy was in the entering.

Speaking of joy, I have enrolled in a tailoring workshop. The Palmer/Pletsch 3 day affair, where we do with interfacing what tailors do with a lot of hand stitching. We have to bring along a pattern to make up, with a revere collar and welt pockets. Do you think I could find one among the big 4? Only really old daggy ones, nana chit, not nana chic. The pockets on nearly all of them were faux welt or patch. Are patterns being dumbed down?

So I went to good old BWOF and there is a very attractive revere collar with welts in the march issue, number 110. It is 3 and a half dots. (Advanced level sewing, with special features.) And you know what people? If I pull this off, I'm going straight to Pattern Review and changing my level to advanced. I will have earned it.