Grey linen jacket: pattern answer for Unknown

 A while back I posted an action shot ;) of my grey linen jacket in "A different kind of embroidery".  In that post, I called it a Montana jacket, as it turns out, wrongly.  It's in fact a Sandra Betzina pattern, Vogue 7610.  It's an old, old pattern, not available from Vogue any more, not even in their out of print category, but I spotted a copy on ebay today, so obtaining it isn't entirely out of the question!

There's a lot of seaming in the body, per the line drawings:  fitting opportunities, anyone? 

I omitted the breast pockets but left the pocket flaps, updated from a traditional to an asymmetrical trapezoidal shape that I thought played well with the seaming lines below it.

Trapezoidal pocket flap

Nice pointy back yoke....

The second jeans jacket  I made, in peach-tan linen, was also a Betzina - not Montana :) - jacket:

Vogue 1036.

This one, Vogue 1036, is still available in the Today's Fit category.  It has rather less seaming on the body, but more than makes up for it with the very fanciful sleeves!  I particularly liked its between-the-seams pockets, so I borrowed that detail for the grey one as well: 

Bottom waistband is at left: I rotated them, but blogger rotated them back, grrr!

 I used a mixture of serger and french finishing.  Serged vertical seams of the body are held down with topstitching.  I gave the yoke some nice hand-basting TLC, and frenched both top & under sleeve seams. Since sleeves might be rolled up on occasion, I wanted them to look finished.

This poor jacket and its matching slacks spent six - count'em! - months stuck in an unaccompanied baggage barrack box, and arrived home only recently.  Judging by the water staining here & there, they got a little wet in transit. They're now soaking in a hot solution of oxy and borax, getting ready to face the summer season.  In March?!  Why not summer in March, asks the eternal optimist.

26 March: a small update to show jacket in full, front and back.  It's  freshly out of the washing machine, spanking clean, very wet, and very unabashedly wrinkled. Dried like this it'll be easier to iron when the time comes.

Shirt dress by Burda

I'm hugely amiss in keeping up.  BUT - there's still a lot of catching up to do since I abandoned the homeship for dustier-hotter-stinkier pastures a year ago.  My partners in life - once known as Big Guy and Baby Boy, henceforth to be The Dashing Dudes Duo - keep taking precedence over my other main squeezes, the Ancient Dependable Kenmore and Frisky Husky Sergy.  Do I feel guilty?  Nah! Life with my two Great Gorgeous Guys is ever so much more fun than any self-imposed sweatshop situation.  But never fear, I'm in the throes of a new dress, and, though progress is measured in stitches per day, totally lovin' it.

The idea:  a trench-dress.  I'm a great fan of the shirt-dress - throw it on, wrap a grand scarf around the neck, toss on a pair of matching earrings, and I'm oh-so-ready to power meet The General. Or two.  Or a dozen. Watch me. Yessir!!!

The pattern, above,  Burda 7827.  Raglan sleeves, right breast yoke, waist and shoulder tabs, left breast pocket, welt waist pockets.  I had already blended this pattern from breast level down with the Chado Ralph Rucci overshirt, to create one of my favourite workwear garments, a shirt-dress made out of an amazing dark grey silk-wool blend with stunning jacquard self-pattern, that looks like a million bucks and keeps me amazingly warm.

The fabric for the current iteration is another exquisite silk-wool blend from Michael's, this one in a dark navy-grey blend. It has a subtle pattern, a self-stripe, with a little braid detail within the stripe on the front face that only a microscope... well, almost.... can distinguish from the wrong side.

The pic above shows the true colour - a steely blue, the colour being the result of two distinct thread colours - dark navy weft, pale grey warp.  The earrings are self-made:  I acquired the little lapis lazuli hearts at the Kandahar AFB bazaar, and added the hooks.  They don't look as garish in nature as under the flash.

The alterations:  almost none.  I shortened the centre back to compensate for my absurdly straight stature,   lengthened the sleeves to full length, and added standard cuffs. Other than that, at this point at least, no changes.  It's going to be, as far as I'll be able to manage, a straight (long sleeved) version A. With eighteen -count'em! EIGHTEEN!!!! buttons and buttonholes.  God help me: patience is not my strong suit.

The benefit:  once this baby is finished, I'm So Totally Instantly moving on to a spring trench coat.  Yep. I've the fabric, the lining, the patterns, and have been meaning to get one done for a couple of years, but always getting checked by something else.  This time, this is IT!  No matter that I may be a little early in the season....  when spring arrives I'll have it timed perfectly, won't I?!

PS:  the trench dress is finished, but Mother Nature decided to gift us with a blizzard, so the reveal will have to wait. This has been the longest-never-ending-story-garment I've ever tackled, and for no good reason except perhaps too many dark evenings and mornings, but now it's DONE:  I'm so happy to be movin' on!

Civilization HO!

I'm  baaaack!  Here are some last-minute parting shots of my wild-wild-east, Central-Asian, rocket-attack-ducking adventure: 

Civvies wear cadpat too!!! (but no guns....)

...at (rocket-attack-siren) times, with helmets!!!

A very fond goodbye to my dear friends (with guns)...

...each week's growing crowds of running mates...

...and sleep-deprived coffee buddies (nb, made-by-me running top)!

...and Hello, sewing machine!

Well.  That was then... and this is - three months later - now. My sewing machine's on the table, with the chosen fabric - a gorgeous navy wool-silk blend - and the pattern, a classic shirt dress - nearby, all awaiting my attention.  But - ever since I got back, family life's been interfering with my selfish sewing plans.  I've been focusing on, ahem, intellectual matters - meh! big time unproductive!  So, this week, let's see if I can get my scissors & needle in gear!

Maid in the Shade :)

43 degrees tall!

In this environment, I typically prefer dressing in jacket over sleeveless shell  - the combination gives good coverage against the fierce sun and dust, and, since the jacket is invariably unbuttoned, excellent ventilation.  But I have only so many jackets here, so I like to vary the look every few days.  Since the look of the day (always Groundhog Day, remember!) is long slacks and sleeves, my range of variations is limited.  I posted the above shirt  when it was just sewn, and here it's as part of an ensemble.  The slacks are the Jalie jeans pattern, and I like them enormously. Not so much for the fit any more, they're very loose nowadays - but the fabric, some sort of nylon-dominated, maybe with cotton, technical stuff that doesn't stick and wears extremely well. Thank you, Fabric Mart!

Much cooler than two weeks ago!

So, I made three of these McCall's 6035 shirts, and I wear them with great pleasure.  Below I'm wearing another. Its cotton is coarser than the other two's, but that only makes it even more breathable, ergo perfect for this place. 

All clear - all clear - all clear!

 Why the strange pose and mis-matched headgear?  Well, periodically we have little episodes of excitement, called rocket attacks, and plopping down on the ground when the siren goes off (think London Blitz, I kid you not) is the standard way to minimize risk to one's stylish attire.  So there you go.  The grey slacks are another version of the Jalie jeans, in stretch cotton that I like but would love if they were a tad lighter weight.   The camera jitter is due to..... use your imagination!

Civvies get medals too!

I feel honoured to have received it from our Commander himself. 

This is actually a sewing-related post!  For the ceremony I picked my "almost-camo" outfit, which consists of wide leg trousers and matching bias-cut tank top (seen peeking out from beneath the jacket) in a very soft, loose weave linen (Fabricland), and the Vogue 1036 Today's Fit Betzina jacket in a cross-weave tan-peach linen (Gorgeous Fabrics).  You already saw the jacket on a coat hanger here.  Colour-wise, this is the closest I have to our Canadian combat fatigues, and it generally blends in beautifully with the local colour scheme, not to mention the locals:

Blending into the local scenery

On an average day (which is every day - think Groundhog Day - each day is just like the one before)  I can be exuberantly colourful:

The Last BBQ at TFK HQ

Again, wide leg trousers and a tank top covered by a lightweight, unlined jacket, all in linen. 

Our combat mission is now over, and I too shall be coming home. Soon.  Hello, my beautiful green Ottawa!!!