Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Pattern Review - VegBee's Fair Weather Jacket pattern

I purchased this pattern from sweetshop on etsy. I'm also familiar with the pattern designer from her blog Just Tutes which is a great place to get some wonderful free tutorials and Craftster ID Vegbee.

I am totally pleased with the pattern. It was probably better made than some of the over-the-fabric store-counter ones and so cute! It's also really nice to know I'm supporting another crafty mother. The pattern came from Canada and took less than a week to arrive in Florida. The pattern itself is a very durable paper (not the thin tissue paper) and is boldly written with large information, clearly labeling each piece of the pattern, the markings, sizing and which way the grain should go. I also had a question about possibly resizing the pattern for my oldest to a six. I sent her an email and she was quick to reply with suggestions on how to do it (plus she has a pattern resizing tutorial on her blog), you won't find that kind of service with some larger pattern makers.

I purchased materials specific for this project. I got flannel for the lining at $2.99 a yard and Corduroy for the shell which was about $4 a yard, both on sale. I needed 2 yards of each to make the largest size which is a 4. My three and a half year old had a wonderful (read: mommy went crazy trying to get her to decide) time picking out the lining and we finally settled on a tiny ice cream print with a pink background. I'm making three, one for each of my girls and purchased the corduroy all the same color which is a dusty rose, though the lining will be different for each girl. My 5 year old is getting a white background flannel with lots of bright tiny flowers and the baby (17 months) is getting a blue background flannel with trees, acorns and squirrels on it.




I initially was opting for buttons that matched the shell fabric but after seeing some other examples of finished products on Craftster.com decided to do covered buttons from the interior fabric. With the corduroy and the flannel, I think a matching hat would be in order and that would be completely enough for a Florida winter. I'll update with more photos as I make the other jackets.



There was a small learning curve as my baby decided to throw the directions on the floor after I took the book apart to get the pattern out and I couldn't tell what steps went in which order. But even with that the pattern was labor intensive but not at all difficult and after a quick email letting her know, she's considering revising with page numbers. The only real problem I had was with the button holes. My machine was having a hard time with the thick corduroy on the edges which is folded over a few times and the 2 layers of flannel so the button hole foot had a hard time feeding the material through. Next time I'll either do vertical button holes or make them a bit further into the jacket to accommodate the bulk.

If you decide to purchase this pattern, I don't think you'll be disappointed. Happy sewing!

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