Sometimes I click on the sidebar ads on Facebook, so as to sort of pay for the service, you know. So today, there were a really cute pair of shorts on the sidebar…neon green and shocking pink diamond patterned hotpants. Completely obnoxious and inappropriate for everything, but also totally eye-catching. Which, I’m sure was the idea of using them for the sidebar ad.
So I clicked through and looked around a bit. From the same manufacturer who brought you the shorts linked above is this jacket, which on first glance I thought was rather ugly, but which quickly grew on me, mostly on account of the clever use of the boldly printed fabric as well as the obviously meticulous tailoring and construction. The high-standing, rolled over collar and winged cuffs and the pretty piping are nice details, and the subtle mother of pearl buttons are the perfect complement to the deluxe Paisley type design of the fabric. I could actually see myself making and wearing a jacket not unlike this. I like drama (but only when it comes to my wardrobe!)
Not everything on the Taigan website is that inspiring, though. Or maybe it is inspiring, but all that it inspires is ire. This fugly little silk blouse pissed me the hell off. That is one completely unacceptable blouse in just about every possible way. Its most egregious sin is the complete and utter disregard to matching the very obvious, bright, distinctive striped fabric. Along the center front seam, not even the tiniest hint of an effort has been made to match the stripes. This is a #1 sin in sewing. This would get you a D- in freshman home-ec and a serious talking-to from your 4H Project Leader. There is absolutely no excuse for such shoddy craftsmanship. They have BOLTS of this fabric…certainly they could spare a few extra inches per blouse to match patterns. And it’s a bold, balanced stripe pattern joining along a simple, straight seam. It should be an absolute breeze to make a blouse like this correctly. I’m almost tempted to assume they made it wrong on purpose, just to be contrary. Surely they should know better!
And speaking of matching patterns, I have a new project on the table. I’d wanted a new winter coat that was not of the butt-ugly athletic persuasion. I wanted wool, I wanted earth-tones, and I wanted femininity. I think I will have all of the above in the following:
Coat (View A)
I’m planning on using dark brown 8-wale corduroy for the collar, cuffs, and pocket trim on the jacket, and lining it with wool crepe, which I have not yet chosen. Yes, I will be modifying the pattern a bit to integrate hipline pockets with contrasting flap closures and contrasting cuffs, because I think they will look cool. I can’t feature a coat without pockets. It just isn’t possible!
I’m pretty excited about this project. It will be stylish and girly, but not pink/purple/light-blue like all of the athletic apparel for women. Also, it is not polyester/nylon/etc., which gets to smelling like armpits before the average week is out. I sort of like my orange Pearl Izumi jacket, but it gets so freakin’ skanky so freakin’ quickly. GROSS! Wool is a good choice for insulation, as well as for not getting all stinkified all the time, plus this fabric is hand-washable, thus easy-care as far as I’m concerned.
Love that pattern. The fabric looks just right as well. Would you really wash the finished coat, though? As opposed to having it dry-cleaned, or just spot-cleaning with a damp cloth?
Wow this is several leagues above my level and I would love to see some progress photos to gaze at in slack-jawed awe. This would be serious tailoring.
Yes the neat curvy cheeky structuring would suit you down to the ground. I can see you in it already.
Mostly I will spot-clean it, but when it inevitably starts getting manky from being sweated in daily, I will certainly give it a hand-washing, in cold water, and then monopolize the drying rack in the basement. I haven’t taken a single thing to the dry cleaner’s in years, as I had a distressingly high proportion of things come back from the cleaner’s wrecked. Linings shredded, stains that weren’t there when I sent it off, weird, greasy texture to the fabric, or crushed and shattered buttons.
I figured I could take the risk of hand washing it. I could hardly be worse off for averages and if I wrecked it, it would be my own fault, rather than paying somebody else to destroy my clothes for me!
And since this fabric already is labeled as being suitable for hand-washing, I don’t really feel any qualms about hand washing it. I’ll pre-shrink it, as you do, and just generally handle it gently.
Wow. Consider my mind blown. Could this be a weather thing, I wonder. Over here in Northern England, that kind of coat would tend to go over a close-fitting jumper or at least some sort of T-shirt with sleeves, so the sweat problem wouldn’t really arise. Plus by the time coat weather arrives, sweating is a distant memory. The idea of bundling a coat into the washing machine causes much cognitive dissonance in my poor old hidebound brain. (Will the coat be lined? Oof, that just caused a mental valve to pop and fry.)
But if it works, why not! I would imagine you’re a dab hand with a steam-iron.
Oh, it will be worn over a sweater (or two). It gets crazy cold here in Kansas…the sweating happens because I ride a bicycle to work, no matter the weather, and I have a couple of fairly steep hills to cope with on the routes to and from the office.
I can say that Kansas winters are fairly severe…very dramatic. We get heaping snowstorms, and some days it is so cold it feels like your bogies will freeze when you draw a deep breath. I actually have studded snow tires for my bicycle!
The coat will be lined…with wool crepe. And it won’t be bundled into the washing machine…I’ll probably was it by hand in the bathtub in cold water. But usually I will just spot clean it, as one does. The bathtub thing will only happen when things get dire.