Or as I like to call it #rigeldisappointmentjanuary. I'm a little sore about this project, so sore in fact, that I wasn't even going to blog about it. I thought about pretending that it never even happened. People would forget that I decided to partake in #rigelbomberjanuary, and I could just delete my instagram photos, right? Well, at the last minute (on the last day of the month I might add), I decided not to forget about it. It's good to share the fails too right? First off, let me just say that there is nothing wrong with Papercut's pattern. It was fun to sew up, albeit a little stressful because of the welt pockets. (I had sweaty palms because I have never attempted welt pockets before.) The jacket itself turned out fine, although the ribbing was a little less structured than I would have preferred, but that's just down to a lack of available ribbing out there. It's just...it's not for me. The colours are not working for me, and I sorta don't think the shape is right for me (but that could be a sizing issue too - I made the medium, but I think I could have gotten away with a small or at least a small in the shoulders). Anyway, I really want to like it, and I have really, really tried to like it, but I just don't.
I think the biggest problem with this jacket is my fabric choice, oh and the ribbing too. When Sonja of Ginger Makes announced Rigel Bomber January, and posted some inspiration photos, I fell hard for Craft Sanctuary's quilted bomber. It's made out of a delicious Liberty lawn and quilted and lined. I immediately checked the stash for Liberty prints and the hubs and I settled on this one that we got at Shaukat. To be completely honest, I have no idea why I even bought it because I don't even really like it. I think John chose it because he loves the colours. So there was the first mistake.
The second mistake is that I had to order the ribbing online, so it was really difficult to find a good colour match. In my mind I was looking for a dark maroon/burgundy, but I wound up with this brick red from Fabric.com. By the time it got to me, I was tired of waiting, and wanted to get the show on the road, so I just went with it (I won't be doing that again - settling I mean).
Ya, so that happened.
I guess it wasn't a total waste because I did learn how to make single welt pockets - I used this tutorial. I have never sewn them before, and I was super nervous about doing them, but they turned out really well. Another sewing fear conquered. Yay! Silver linings people, silver linings.
I think part of the heartbreak over this make is all the time and effort I invested into it. I mean, I took the time to quilt it all. It wasn't difficult, I just cut out the pieces, marked some lines and then quilted them with some leftover quilt batting I had, but it was time consuming.
I also lined this bad boy with a delicious rayon challis from Fabric.com. I used Elizabeth's method which was pretty easy. It feels really nice when you put it on. It's snuggly and warm, and silky against the skin. It's a little stiff due to the quilting, but I think with some wear and a wash or two it will probably soften up really nicely. See what I mean, I really want to like it and I'm really heartbroken that I don't. I kept having that yucky feeling of disappointment and regret in my tummy every time I looked over at it. I even popped it on several times throughout the last week or so to see if I changed my mind.
I just think the colours do not work for me. It might be my insane blue hair, but it might also be the shape/style of the jacket too. It looks so lovely, on so many people. I mean have you seen this one, or this one. Or my favourite this one (I swear Katie and I are sewing twins - we both seem to sew up the same things around the same time not even knowing we are doing so - she has great taste and great style so check out her blog if you haven't already.)
I didn't really take a lot of good photos of it (my bad), so these are all off my iPhone, but you can see the lining peeking out a bit there.
When I finished it, I put it to Instagram and as I expected got mixed reviews. Some people liked it, some people were quiet about it ('nuff said), and lots of others reassured me that it was fine but also that it was okay not to like it. Thank you guys for that.
Anyway, to make a long story even longer, I had finally had enough of looking at it, and I was about to stick it in the back of my closet and pretend it never happened, when my Mom and Stepmom came over for coffee this afternoon. I wasn't sure if either of them would like it, but sure enough my Stepmom tried it on, it fit, and we decided it looked much better on her. SOLD! (or rather GIVEN! but you know what I'm saying). This made me ecstatic! I am so happy for this make to have a home, and so happy that it is with my favourite Stepmom! I think she's going to get some good wear out of it because it looks really great on her.
I sort of sprung the photo shoot on her (poor lady - she really must love me because she agreed to it), but doesn't she look great!
So that wraps it up! (Enough whining and wallowing already!) I really liked this "sew-together" concept. It was fun to sew something with a bunch of other people, watch other people's progress and see what we all did with the same pattern. It also gave me the push I needed to get this done. I have had this pattern for months and it probably would have just sat in my stash if it wasn't for this. Even though mine didn't turn out exactly as I imagine, I would still recommend it. And if you didn't quilt it, it's a really quick sew for a jacket. Now onto different things - I'm planning for the Crazy Dog Lady Sewing Challenge (and there's always more Archers, Gingers and Lindens to sew). Woo hoo!
Has this ever happened to you? Have you ever made something that you just didn't like? How did you get over it or what did you end up doing with your project?