Sewaholic Granville Shirt

La version en español se encuentra aquí.
It took forever to get these pictures taken. A bit of sunshine and warmth is long overdue...

For this shirt, I found my inspiration with Madonna... I think I'll leave the cape for another day, but I have always loved her look in this video: -not to mention COWBOYS-

Damn, now I need a black leather shirt...
I love sewing shirts, I don't particularly like wearing shirts. But I love my new belt and wanted a shirt that goes with it. Behold, the logic of my brain.

Enter the Sewaholic Granville Shirt. I love the apparent simplicity of the shirt, but between the princess seams on the back, the two-piece collar and the sleeves with cuffs and plackets, it still provides a challenging sewing experience and the end result is a great classic shirt.

I knew from my Cambie that the fit would be great, made for girls with a pear-shaped body, just like me... I cut a straight size 10, which comes closest to my actual measurements. I think the back is maybe a bit wide, but all in all I like the fit as is, and it gives me enough room to move my arms in all directions when I'm dancing around in my living room.

I wanted a Wild West style shirt so I chose this burgundy red cotton dotted with little stars. I added two breast pockets but didn't add the flaps.
I also put french seams throughout the entire shirt. It gives a really neat finish overall and you don't end up with ugly exposed seams when rolling up your sleeves.

Tasia doesn't use the normal way of putting on the collar. I followed the directions that came with the pattern, and the result is a really nice collar, but it doesn't look better than my normal way (which is to put the collar together entirely and then sew one side of the collarstand to the shirt and then handsew or topstitch the inner collarstand in place) and I was really confused, so next time I will just do it the old fashioned way... I am a creature of habit...

So this is it, my new shirt. And I love it. Love looking at it and love wearing it!
Now all I need are boots. And a horse.

Sewaholic Minoru Jacket

La versión en español se encuentra aquí

This Jacket has been on my to-sew list forever (not forever, but at least a couple of years). I first fell in love with this pattern when I saw this one and last year I saw this one live and I was absolutely sold on the pattern.

I didn't make it before because I made a Watson Jacket and an Albion coat (not blogged) last year, and the wintercoat I was using didn't need replacement, but this year I collected some stains on my coat that don't wash out, so a new wintercoat it is!

If you follow me on Instagram, you already saw that I cut the original pattern and the fabric without a try-out version... I really love living on the edge...

The wool I used, I bought last summer (because that is the right season to buy wool) when I was visiting my family with the idea of making a dress... The lining is a super soft fleece. I feel like I am wrapped in a cloud...

 I think, apart from the zipper, any sewer with a bit of experience can make this jacket.

I made a few changes to the pattern:

I added outside pockets using this book

I think the reason for this is obvious... A wintercoat without pockets is just not practical (any coat without pockets is unpractical).
On the Sewaholic site there is a tutorial to make inseam-pockets.
I really like the look of welt pockets (and they don't scare me anymore) so  I measured the pockets on my current coat and just copied those.

I didn't put in the zipper in the collar to stow away the hood. First of all, I don't think I will ever put the hood away and second, I think this fabric would have been to thick to stuff the hood in the collar.
Instead I just inserted the hood between the body and the collar. This way, when I'm not wearing the hood, the collar still keeps my neck warm... I thought about making making the hood removable with a zipper, but in the end I just went the easy way.

 

I left out the elastic at the waist. The wool is already thick enough and I don't think I need more shaping in this coat, I wear about three layers underneath, so the slimming effect would have been zero...I also didn't add elastic to the sleeve cuffs because I like to wear gloves and it would be too difficult to get those on and off easily with elasticated cuffs.

The hardest part on this jacket is the zipper. But I think I can say I nailed that... I put in one side of the zipper and then carefully lined up all the seamlines and edges and basted the second part before sewing.

I really like the effect of the ruffling on the sleeves and across the back.

Can you tell how happy I am with the inside of this coat? It's fluffy, soft and warm... Perfect winter coat material!
 

I added some cross-stitch embroidery on the inside pocket, and I used this free pattern for it.
Happiness is carried on the inside.

Things I would do differently in the future:

• line the hood. This jacket has such a nice finish on the inside, except for the hood...
• change the construction of the cuffs. The instructions go for the easy finish of topstitching the things down, but the seam allowance are turned towards the sleeve, which gives a little bump there. I think if the seam allowance was to be pressed towards the cuffs and then handstitched (or topstitched) closed, the bump wouldn't be there.

Action shots. Also, it was like 20º when we took these pictures, the first rays of sunshine we have seen and felt in weeks. Every single person in the north of Spain went out this weekend for a walk I think...