Thursday, November 11, 2010

New velveteens in the shop and I rave about the Sandlewood Jacket!

We got our Anna Maria Horner "Innocent Crush" velveteens in yesterday and I am completely smitten....



















They are so soft and so pretty and a breath of fresh air: I bet they will be super-popular!

We've been cutting fat quarters of these new velveteens and making bundles: whew, what a workout... this stuff is substantial.

Jessica and I were talking about what you could do with the new velveteens and we came up with all kinds of ideas: pillows (of course), bags (natch), skirts (especially at this time of year), quilts (these would make amazing quilts!), but what I really want to make from the velveteen is a jacket.

I have been teaching a class on how to make the Sandlewood Jacket by Amy Butler and it is quickly becoming one of my all time favorite patterns.

















It's so easy... as in, no buttonholes, no zippers and just ONE lonely little page of instructions.

There are only 4 pattern pieces to cut out: that is, IF you omit the "hanging loop" and the "tie," like I did, so it cuts out very quickly.

If you use home-dec weight (or perhaps a certain velveteen?) for the outside and quilting weight for the lining, then you don't need to use ANY interfacing (always a nice quality in a pattern, I think).

And it's really 2 jackets in one: the design is completely and utterly reversible, so you're getting a lot of bang for your sewing buck.

I did a bit of searching for other versions of this project on the interweb, but it seems like so far this pattern has been waaaay under the radar, which is strange, because I can't recommend the Sandlewood pattern enough.

The jacket is really flattering (trust me I don't say that lightly!) and totally stylish: I will be wearing mine all fall, winter and spring long.

I did find a great pattern review here, by the way.

When my Sandlewood Jacket is all done (which will be very soon), I will take photos and show you.

These new velveteens that just arrived are BEGGING to be made into a Sandlewood Jacket (Yes, that's where I was going with all of this).

Now that the wedding is over and I am getting used to this new rhythm at the shop I have carved out a little more time to sew (remember when I used to SEW on this blog?) and I think a Sandlewood Jacket in a lovely velveteen is completely possible.

And when people ask me if my jacket is "homemade," this is what I'll tell them!

See you again soon...

XO,

Rhea

2 comments:

Unknown said...

okay, i'm totally in for making a quilt out of that stuff. goshhhhh, so pretty!!

LizzieAlone said...

Rhea, could this be a robe?? Like, with something gauzy?