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.

Simplicity 1283 Mimi G Knit Pants

ニット生地で、パンツを作ってみました。
型紙はシンプリシティの1283番。
先週？作ったタートルネックシャツと一緒の型紙です。っていうか、タートルネック着てるし。タートルネックの上に重ね着してるのは、ちょっと前に作ったカットソーです。あら、そしたら全身自作服コーデですね。
生地はレーヨン／ポリエステルブレンドのポンテ・ローマ（ポンチ？）。犬の毛が超つくんだけど。
前身ごろのお股部分と後ろ身頃の太もも周辺のフィットがまだまだ発展途上。
ちなみにもう暗くなるのが早くて屋内写真となったので、黒いパンツが見えやすいように写真の露出最大限にあげています。

I thought I had a late start this morning, but fortunately, the day light saving time ended and I had an extra hour! So I got on sewing and made knit pants today.

The pattern is, again, Simplicity 1283, Mimi G design pattern. I made View C, which is the knit pants.

I used poly/viscose/spandex ponte. The fabric is jet black. I have increased the exposure on these photos to see the wrinkles.

I cut size 12. In order to fit my non-existing waist and ever so protruding belly, I eliminated the front darts, which add 2" to the waist circumference.

Also, I am short (5'3") and short-legged on top of that, and I don't wear high-heels, so the legs were obviously too long for me. I raised the knee by 3".

The pants are a bit too high-waisted for me, so I shortened above crotch by 1.5". I also did a low butt adjustment by scooping the crotch curve deeper. Here is the photo showing the original seam and my low butt adjustment. (I used my cover stitch machine's chain stitching to test the fit so it's easier to remove the stitches)

The pattern calls for a back zipper and hook & eye at the waist band. I eliminated them both, and put a 1.25" elastic in the waist band. That makes these pants essentially yoga pants! But hopefully they look nice enough to wear it in public as regular pants.

As you can see, there is still a lot of wrinkles both front and back, but for now, I'm happy with it.

PS: I am wearing my turtle neck shirt that I made last week, and my Simplicity 1805 kimono sleeve shirt. So, yeah, my outfit is entirely me-made!

PPS: The Man of the House asked me what I was wearing, after looking at me wearing what I was wearing, meaning he does not approve my outfit. I told him I was going for an art teacher look. He then said I look like Barb, from Stranger Things, meaning I look like I'm from the 80's. (He just binge watched the Season 2) Well, then I guess I'm going for the art teacher from the 80's look.

Turtle Neck! Simplicity 1283

すっかり寒くなってきました。毎日レッグウォーマー履いています。
１０年も砂漠に住んでいたので冬に重ね着できる服があまりないことに気づきました。
なのでタートルネックロンT作成。
生地はモダールと絹の混紡ニット。見た目シンプルだけど、触った感じが非常にスムーズで、着るには高級感たっぷりな生地です。
型紙はシンプリシティというブランドの1283番です。
基本的に、ババシャツとして着たかったのでかさばらないように体にフィットな感じ。かなりお腹引っ込目で写真撮影。
生地の値段が高かったので、１メートルで出来上がってよかった。

Having lived in the desert for a decade, I lack garments that I can layer. Now that the weather in England is getting chiller every day, I needed some thermal under-layer shirt. So I made a turtle neck shirt.

The fabric is a modal 85% silk 15 % jersey. I only bought 1 meter because it was pricey. I made a toile using rayon jersey so I could address all the adjustment before I get to the modal/silk. I'm glad I did.

The pattern is Simplicity 1283. It's a Mimi G Style pattern. The pattern envelope comes with a variety of garment (top, skirt, pants, jacket). I made a view A, which is a knit top.

The original pattern is a cropped top, but obviously, I wouldn't want to show my midriff so it's a boring, basic, no frills shirt.

The pattern has CF and CB seam so that you can make a chevron with stripe fabric. I eliminated the CF/CB seam.

To make a full length shirt, I lengthened the pattern by about 9" at the hem. I needed 8" originally, but I shortened above　the bust by 1" so I added that back at the hem.

The top is a typical Mimi G Style, I believe, with negative ease. This is my first Mimi G design, but having followed her blog for many years, I think she always makes figure hugging knit garment with negative ease.

Sleeves, however, were surprisingly loose and it had a low armhole. In order to raise the armhole, I shortened the bodice 1" horizontally above bust. I also took in 1" horizontally at the sleeve cap to match the shortened armscye. I then narrowed the sleeves by shaving off 1" from each side. I like how the sleeve fit but the cuff width is too narrow after the adjustment that if I want to pull my sleeve up, it only goes up half way up on my forearm. So next time, I will need to re-draw the sleeve to add maybe 1/2" or so below elbow.

The other thing about the sleeve is that they are pretty long. I personally love long sleeves and my toile sleeves scrunches up and I really like it. However, this shirt is intended to be an under-layer so I wanted the sleeves to be long but not too long. I shortened it by 2".

The original pattern has a high neck collar and zips up from the top part of center back all the way through the collar. Since I eliminated the center back seam, I eliminated the zipper as well. My jersey fabric wasn't stable enough to stand up on its own and my toile collar looked sloppy.

To address that, I doubled up the collar height so it can be worn crunched up or it can be folded over to be a proper turtle neck. Either way, my neck stays nice and warm.

I narrowed the shoulder by 3/8", and also changed the shoulder slope (lower the high neck point). The bottom photo shows how my pattern looks after the adjustment compared to the original size 12. (The traced pattern says 3/8" seam allowance but the photo was taken before I trimmed the seam allowance.)

Luckily, all the pattern pieces fit in 1 meter of fabric. Yey!
I really like how the shirt turned out and it's really nice to wear. I hope this modal/silk jersey will survive with regular laundry cycle...

Dog Crate Covers

去年、イギリスへの犬の空輸のために犬小屋の中にしくマットを作りました。
ちゃちゃっと作ってしまったのでかわいくないし、この蝶柄のフランネル、蝶々の青いインクが洗濯のたびににじみ出て、１年もたたないのにみったくない姿になってしまいました。
なので新潮。

Old crate mat cover I made last year.

New cover!

When air-shipping the dogs became inevitable last year, I hastily made a dog crate mat using 2" thick high density foam and butterfly printed flannel. The blue dye on the butterfly bled out and the cover has become sad looking less than one year.

So I decided to make a new one. Well, 2, obviously. The main fabric is cotton/poly blend upholstery fabric. It was pricey (about $22 per meter), but it is really nice and thick, but soft to touch.

I lined the cover with Ripstop so that the water does not get to the foam easily. The foam itself is also covered with old sheet to make it easier to put it in and out of the cover.

This is actually perfect for a bench seat cushion...

I used duck canvas for the bottom.

Crate mat in action.

Day Out in London

パスポートの更新のため、ロンドンの日本大使館まで行ってきました。平日のロンドンは週末とは違ってとても静かでした。

I had to renew my passport and visited Japan Embassy in London today. London in weekday was much quieter than the London I know in weekend.

ロンドンへの旅の第一歩は最寄りの駅ちかくの駐車場。駐車料金は４時間で2.7ポンド（約４００円）。

The first step to London: pay for the parking near the station. 2.7 pound (about $3.50) for 4 hours.

電車でロンドンへ。

Taking a train to London.

電車から地下鉄に乗り換え。

Changing to Tube.

どれが大使館かわかるかな、とちょっと心配だったけど、旗たっててわかりやすかった。

Japan Embassy.

パスポート更新の申請事体は、待ち時間もなく、１時間かけてここまできたのに、

５分もかからずに終わってある意味がっかり？

There was not even a waiting line and the whole process took less than 5 minutes.

イギリスの電話ボックスはまだ赤いです。っていうか、電話ボックスがまだあること自体がびっくり。バスも２階建てだし。

Yup, they still have a red phone box.

オットとロンドンに来るときにはできないことをしようと思って、布が有名なリバティというお店に行ってきました。

Pilgrimage? to Liberty of London.

 せっかく行ったのに何も買わずに帰ってきたけどね。

Ended up buying nothing though.

 ピカデリーサーカスに向かう道。カーブしてる道に沿って建物もカーブしています。

The street leading to Piccadilly Circus. The curved buildings along the curved street are very interesting.

 チャイナタウンのパン屋さんでお土産購入。

Bakery at China Town.

チャイナタウンではどのパン屋さんでもたい焼き売ってるよ。アンパンとソーセージパンとカレーパンと肉マンパンを買ってきました。お昼ご飯に食べました。

All the China Town bakeries sell taiyaki (fish shaped, red been paste filled sweet).