An Ill-Timed Minoru

A confession: my title isn't very accurate.  While it seems inappropriate to make a jacket in April in North Carolina--with 80-degree-days staying through September--I am going to Chicago in less than three weeks (where are my party emojis when I need them?) and I usually am the same size year in, year out, so chances are pretty good that I'll have this jacket longer than a season.

What can be said about the Minoru jacket by Sewaholic that hasn't already been said?  The Chicago trip was what gave me the final push, but I've been wanting to make one for months now and just never found the right fabric.  I can't tell you how many times I've looked at fabric online, added some wool or twill to my cart, and then closed out of the site, unsure of my choices and decided to procrastinate than buy the wrong fabric.  As if there is such a thing.

Once there was a deadline--May 9!--I had to get my ass in gear.

I finally decided on organic cotton twill from Fabric.com.  Does the organic matter?  I'm not sure--it's cotton twill, not a strawberry--but the price was right and I wanted charcoal gray, one of my favorite colors, which wasn't available in the "regular" cotton twill.  The last time I sewed anything resembling twill was during the Great Shorts Experiment of 2012, which, coincidentally, was also the last time I used a Sewaholic pattern (I think).  Every time I use one of Tasia's patterns, however, I'm reminded of how good they are: they fit so well and, while the instructions are sometimes lacking, there's so much on the internet (between sewalongs and personal reviews) that I never have a problem.  In fact, I don't think I even used the written instructions for this jacket--I followed the sewalong and that was enough.

The lining is Edenham from Liberty of London.  Yes, it's Tana Lawn.  Yes, I know, it's a lining.  This was not an easy decision to make, despite how quickly I fell in love with it.  The price, first of all, was a major staller.  Spending that much just on lining fabric would render a me-made jacket less economical than buying one from Macy's.  Second, this wasn't a tried-and-true pattern, and as I mentioned in my last post, things could have gone horrible wrong.  Was I willing to risk 2.5 yards of Liberty?  Apparently I was feeling optimistic, because I bought it (from Pink Chalk Fabrics--I love their selection, even if it's smaller than Purl) and it arrived and now it's a lining, so whatever.

As a note, it sewed up beautifully, as expected.

The beginnings 

Hemming

I made a straight size 8, no alterations, though if I were making one for winter I'd probably make a 10 to accomodate layers.  I don't plan on wearing more than a light sweater or a shirt in Chicago, which makes this the layering piece, and lightweight at that.  It's in the 60s here today, so it wasn't sweltering when I dragged Nick outside to take pictures, but I think it'll make a nice coverup for breezes and chilly mornings walking to the donut shop.

Nick, thankfully, overdoes it when I make him take pictures, so have at it:

Nick mentioned it looked like a trench coat from the back.  I can see that!  My elastic didn't bunch as much as I expected, which is totally fine.  I love how it fits.

In every single picture it looks like my hems are uneven.  I promise you, they aren't.

The sleeves are a bit long, but I think I can always roll them up if I need to.  Honestly, I'm so happy with this, and am so pleased with how easily it came together.  The only part I swore during was inserting the elastic, because elastic never has been, and never will be, my friend.

So that's that!  In other news, we have a final count of 31 containers in our garden:

This is only one side of the patio, but I've shown them all on Instagram.  That little red one that looks out of place is my cousin's; I planted sweet pea and zinnias for her yesterday and haven't been able to get to her house yet!  It's a neat little deck planter.  Hopefully it doesn't fall!  I'm also giving her my desk succulent, because I smothered it with love and it rebelled, choosing to wilt from my kisses and water.  Fine.  Suit yourself, loser.

I hope spring is coming your way soon!  And I hope Nick mows the lawn soon.  Good god, we're that house on the block.