the fabric of our lives...

Cotton; oh, how I love thee. The touch. The feel. Yes, the commercial is true: cotton really is the fabric of my life. As I said in my earlier post, I am busy creating a test garment for my swap jacket. I picked the fabric up at Joann's a while back during a sale of clearance items so it was a smokin' hot deal at $.90/yd. I bought what remained, which was just shy of 2 yards. The muslin jacket is almost complete and in my opinion, it's definitely wearable:



I cut a 12 because it matched my bust size at 34" and claims to have a finished bust of 38". Now, by my rudimentary math that would equal four inches of ease: definitely enough for a jacket which is meant for the external layer over at least a bra and shirt. I ask you, dear reader, does this look like four inches of ease to you?? Granted, while highly unlikely, it is possible that the girls have grown overnight. However, the jacket is sporty in nature and actually looks good without a closure. I would even go so far as to say that it looks like it's meant to be that way :) Hooray for Rosanne!

M5189 was started with much trepidation. My last (and first) jacket made was not exactly what I would call a success. While not a complete failure, it has remains an Un-Finished Object that I occasionally try in dismay. The fabric for the UFO was a grey stretch polyester suiting that was extraordinarily difficult to work with. Working with my white cotton for this jacket was so radically different, so incredibly non-frustrating, so easy that it gives me new respect for my sewing skills that the grey jacket came out as well as it did. White jacket sleeves: easing and gathering took all of 5 minutes. Grey jacket: three hour session with the help of a sewing pro and still not quite right. Poly is good for some things but maybe not so good for learning to manipulate fabric. The cotton, why, it made want to give a tutorial on how to ease a sleeve, if only just to tell the world one must start with a fabric that likes you and that wants to do what you want it to. World of difference.

Rosanne and cotton, sittin' in a tree. S-E-W-I-N-G. First came poly, then came cotton, then came Rosanne in very own jacket. Lame, I know, but I just can't help myself.

One question:
Do you think the sleeves are too puffy? The husband commented they look slapped on...He is a man of many, many talents however, descriptive verse is not among them. And I was thinking this just might be worthy of entering the contest as a stand alone item. What do you think? Okay, that was two questions.