Last of Simplicty 1283, Smoking Jacket

かなり寒くなってきたので、家の中で服の上に羽織る、いわば半てんのようなジャケットが欲しくて、作ってみました。
型紙は、ここのところずっと使っているシンプリシティの１２８３番。一つの型紙に、いろんな服の型紙がついてくるのでこの型紙はとってもよし。
生地は花模様にキルティングされているニットで、写真だとかなり紫だけど、実際は、ちょっと見黒な、ものすごく濃いナス色です。
ちなみに外の気温が６度ぐらいだったので、すっごい親指握りしめてるわ（笑）

Now that it's getting really cold, I wanted a house coat that I could wear over my sweater or even hoodie. So I made a knit jacket. Worn together with Butterick 5526 shirt.

By the way, I look funny in the photos with my thumbs in the fist. It was freezing cold outside. I guess it's my defense mechanism.

The pattern is Simplicity 1283, Mimi G design unlined jacket. Yes, the same pattern I was working on for the past 3 projects :) This pattern set is definitely a perfect capsule wardrobe builder. Considering the fact that you can buy the pattern for $2 at Joann, this is such a big bang for the buck. (Makes me more hesitant to buy indie patterns that are so expensive for a single pattern)

I made a view D, which is an unlined jacket pattern. It has patch pockets and a belt.

There was a wool mix fabric that I was eyeing on for this jacket, but it was 29 British pound per meter (about $35/yard). So I bought this cheap quilted poly jersey for a toil. It doesn't just have a quilted effect; it actually has some thin batting or fluff in between the two jersey layers.

The outdoor photos show the fabric color more purply, but in real life, it's a very deep eggplant, almost black like the below fabric close-up photo.

Couple of things I changed design-wise. You can see in the envelope photos that the belt goes over the collar in the original design. It looked too messy for me, so I shortened the collar by 3" so that it ends above the tie belt.

Then, once it was finished, I did not like the look of the tie belt on me altogether, so I ditched the belt and put a hook and eye at the end of the collar to keep the center front together. This means I do have belt loops sticking out from my sides for no reason, but this is a house coat, so who cares.

For the fit, I narrowed the shoulder about 1" and lower the high neck point to change the shoulder slope, which then required to lower the center back a bit.

Since this is an unlined jacket, I attempted a bound seam finish for the first time. I failed miserably for a couple of reasons. It looks OK-ish in the photo, but if you get closer, the binding is super wonky and tucks everywhere.

I used rayon seam binding. I guess the first mistake was to even think about using a woven binding for a jersey. The two materials were just not compatible.

I originally started sewing the binding in 2 paths: sew one edge on the seam allowance, fold over the binding, then sew the other edge down. Two seam lines of incompatible fabrics = double the wonky seams.

Then I remembered that I had just bought a binding foot. It worked much better especially after I pressed the seam binding in half before sewing it down. But the quilted jersey just did not like being fed through and the rayon binding too drapy.

I am glad that I made this toile. This design just wasn't for me. The Man of the House called it a smoking jacket. With my button-up shirt on today, he called it "Ellen Degeneres in Hugh Hefner jacket."

I actually finished this jacket last weekend but I was so disappointed I did not want to take photos. Well, since then, it has grown on me and I am totally wearing it (like right now), but I don't think I want to attempt another one with expensive fabric.

Millennium Series

もうすっかり寒くなって、朝霜おりてた。本当にものすごく寒いんだけど、凍った野原と霧の出た空に朝日が昇っていくのはものすごく美しかったです。馬が放牧されているところでは、逆光の中で馬たちの息が白くたちのぼっていて、寒いのも忘れて立ち止まってしばしうっとり。

犬は凍ってても気にせず草をむしゃむしゃ食べます。キジを見つめるユキ。

久しぶりに本を読みました。スウェーデンの推理小説家、スティーグ・ラーソンの「ミレニアム」シリーズの第３作、「眠れる女と狂卓の騎士」。
シリーズ１作目の「ドラゴン・タトゥーの女」がハリウッドで映画化されています。ダニエル・クレイグとルーニー・マーラね。
実はもう３作とも昔読んだし、ハリウッド版の映画も見てるし、スウェーデンのテレビシリーズもずっと昔に制覇している。ネットフリックスでハリウッド版の「ドラゴン・タトゥーの女」とスウェーデン版の２作目の「火と戯れる女」をやっていたので久しぶりに見たんだけど、３作目は出ていなかったので本で読んだ。長いし、無駄な部分が多いんだけど、話は好き。

It is getting cold. I have not lived in full-fledged winter weather for such a long time. But regardless of the temperature, when the sun is out, the country side England is just as beautiful. I took the dogs out for a walk in the morning. The grass was frozen and the fog was covering the lower ground. The dogs still ate the frozen grass every opportunity they got and made light crisp sound as they much on the grass. When we reach the horse field, I saw the horses further down the field against the rising sun. The horses sparkled against the bright sun light and their breaths rose like smoke as they breathed. It was breathtakingly beautiful and I had to stop and watch until it became too cold to stay standing still.

It took me over a month but I finally finished reading The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson. It is the third installment of the Millennium series, or more popularly known as the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series.

I had read the series before, watched the Swedish TV series  (longer than the movie), and the Hollywood adaptation of the Dragon Tattoo before. I watched the Hollywood's Dragon Tattoo on Netflix last month, then there was the Swedish film version of The Girl Who Played with Fire on Netflix as well. But they did not have the third one, so I had to read the book.

I do feel that especially this 3rd installment book, the writing is not great. It's not necessarily the writing (especially when I'm reading an English translation), but I think the book needed a bit of editing. I don't mind the length, but some part of this book could have been organized a bit better to streamline the story. Some parts are disjointed.

I wonder if the Swedish court system is really like how it was in the book in real life. The way the evidence was presented during the trial without the other side's knowledge is crazy.

So, the author, Stieg Larsson, passed away after completing the 3 installments. I did not know until very recently that the series is being continued with a replacement author. Luckily, when I went to the library yesterday to return the book, the library had the 4th installment, The Girl in the Spider's Web, on the shelf so I grabbed it. Let's see if the story is still interesting to carry on.

By the way, this is my biggest fear about A Game of Thrones series (or correctly, A Song of Ice and Fire series). I have been a big fan of the series and patiently waiting for the new book. I mean, if it took him 6 years to go from book 4 to book 5, and that's before the HBO series, I don't even know if he's going to even finish the book 6...

Simplicity 1283 Mimi G Knit Pants Ver. 2

先週作ったニットパンツが非常に履きやすくて気に入ったので、もう一つ作ってみました。
型紙はシンプリシティの1283番。布はグレーのポリエステル・レーヨン混紡のポンチニットです。
ジーンズがきつくなって、こんなゴムウェストのパンツに頼っています。
まだまだ改善の余地大なんだけど。

Mimi G knit pants 2 weeks in a row. This was one of my fastest sewing projects ever. I started cutting fabric this morning, and I'm already done before dinner time.

The pattern is Simplicity 1283, Mimi G design. The same pattern as last week.
I made View C, the knit pants.

The fabric is poly/viscose/spandex ponte. I bought this with the black ponte I used in my previous version. Same price but this one is much smoother and dog hair does not stick onto it as much.

I did the same alteration and design change as last time.

• Cut the size 12
• Raised knee 3"
• Omitted back zip
• Omitted front darts
• Changed waist band length to match
• Shortened horizontally above crotch 1.5"
• Scooped in back crotch
• Inserted 1.25" elastic in waist band. 

I traced how I scooped it last time on the pattern so I refined it a bit. The red line is the new cutting line.

The below is the center front. I let out the front crotch curve a bit. The blue line is the original cut line. However, when I was going through these photos, I realized that I had created camel toe. Yikes. I probably over-did this alteration.

So I sewed in a bit at the curve just now. Hopefully the "toe" is not as noticeable.

I still have lots of wrinkles, but this pair looks better than the last one probably because I'm wearing heels this time and the fabric hangs better. I give myself a passing grade. I mean, this is a pair of elastic-waist knit pants that doesn't look like pajamas. How much better can it be.