Simplicity 8475: Sewing For My Husband

I don’t typically sew for others, why you ask?  it’s too much stress and if they don’t wear it, it feels like a waste of time.  That’s the negative side of it, but there’s a positive side, there are times when people actually like it and there’s something to be learned.  I learned through this process that I wasn’t enjoying the process lol.  To have someone else involved was different for me, I like to have creative freedom lol.  I felt anxious and rushed, the hubby didn’t know what he wanted and what fabric and all of that so I started working on this later than I’d liked.

I wanted to participate in Sew Man Pants on Instagram and it had to be made in October (eye roll for waiting until the last minute).   I wanted it to be a quick project, I should have know my hubby wouldn’t have asked for something quick, like a bow tie lol.  I realize these are not reasonable thoughts lol but who doesn’t want a process to go quickly?

Also, the hubby kept making design changes (insert quadruple eye roll)  it was actually funny, when planning, I asked, do you want pockets?  he said no.  Do you want to add anything? he said no and at the muslin stage I asked how did everything fit and it was a go.  At the 1st fitting, everything thing went well and I was on my way, at the final fit for the side seams, he wanted all this top stitching and patches and all sorts of stuff.  I took a breathe and said, I can do those things, but I’ll have to undo some of what I’ve done.  I actually was ready to do them, because they were cool ideas, after he saw what I was going to have to do, he said, no,  I thought I was off the hook!  He said, ” I’ll just get those things added to the next one” WHAT!!! see, this is why I don’t sew for others, before you know it, I’m a personal clothier, and I wouldn’t have any time for selfish sewing…  I’m concerned I may have opened a can of worms!!!

Not sure about this, but I might wait a while before I do anymore unselfish sewing (call me selfish, I don’t care lol).

On to the jacket…

This jacket was pretty straight forward, I add my spin on it by lining it.  I ordered one from McCall’s pattern company but (it’s in the mail) you cant get expedited shipping and no, I wasn’t doing the whole PDF thing.  I made two  jackets, one out of a lightweight stretch denim for the shell with front back, sleeves, cuffs and collar.  I added the lining by making the front and back from sweatshirt knit and the sleeves from pre-quilted fabric.  I saw this jacket in one of the big box stores for $19 and looked on the inside, it wasn’t well made but would have served the purpose, I made it instead and it cost about $50 since most of the fabric was on sale and I used a remnant for the lining.

I basted the neckline of the lining and outer shell together and I basted the sleeve before adding the cuff wrong sides together.  I used the cuff and collar from the denim.  For the front, I trimmed back the front edge of the lining 1.5″ so the front band wouldn’t be bulky and basted to the outer shell along center front.  I also trimmed the hem 5/8″ so it wouldn’t be bulky but would just cover the lining’s hem.  I topstitched the yokes down, it was weird that you weren’t instructed to topstitch them, they acted more as an overlay secured with a button.

The directions were ok, but the way they added the collar seemed backwards, they have you add one neckband and then add the rest of the collar, that has you add an additional stitch and adds bulk, the collar could have been constructed separately and then attached to the neckline.  Also, step 19 tells you to press the un-notch edge of the cuff facing, but it really is the notched edge.

There weren’t many lined shirt jackets for men so I improvised on this pattern.  I narrowed the shoulder and shortened the sleeve and hem, those were where my only adjustments to the pattern.   These adjustments were all identified in the muslin stage.  I had my husband put on a sweater when we fit the muslin to make sure it could serve as a jacket good for layering.  I feel a tower placket for the sleeve may work better for bulky fabric, what do you think?   My hubby chose the quilted sleeves because the sweatshirt fabric was too hot and it felt better with short sleeves.  We are done, he’s ready for another and I think if he wears it a bit, I’ll consider another one for spring lol.

So do you unselfishly sew for others or are you team selfish sewing?