Rya Coat and matching beret

Hello fellow February sewers!

Today I'm here to show my Rya Coat, by Fibre Mood patterns.

Fibre Mood patterns seem to be pretty ubiquitous in my Instagram feed when they are releasing new patterns, and many of the sewers I follow made lovely Rya Coats. This shape seems popular in RTW at the moment, and I've seen many a jaunty version on the Brighton promenade this winter. (Regrettably, they also seem to be referred to as "shackets", but that's a portmanteau too far/annoying for my liking.)

I downloaded and assembled the pdf and bought and washed my wool from Minerva, then this project languished for quite a while, which was down to some fear - of Fibre Mood's quite minimal instructions, of working with wool coat fabric and of having to pattern match (dreaded).

 

But once I got my nerve up, it was really smooth sailing. Despite lack of hand-holding from FM, this was a simple construction, and I think a nicely drafted one too. My only errors resulted from my woeful bias binding (SO messy - avert thine eyes!!!) and my choice of thinner fabric for the pockets - everything else turned out peachy. I made a size 38 with no adjustments - and I'm really happy with the fit, which can contain my thickest sweater underneath. It's meant to be oversized, and perhaps I could even go up one if I ever made it again... I wouldn't do a full coat again, but I saw a version by bisforbryanna hacked into a bomber, which looks excellent and is something I'm thinking about.

Pleasing scoop hem at the sides - classic shacket move.

Looking at my button placement (buttons from Textile Garden), I could wish I'd spaced them evenly throughout the patterned squares. I was very pleased with my pattern-matching but buttons in the middle would've looked even swankier! But I'm really happy with this coat, which isn't warm enough for the coldest days, but brilliant for the in-betweens, and which I think looks really smart.

Finally, with my leftover fabric, I had a go at making a matching beret. I'll make a quick post about this next time, as I think it's an easy scrap buster, and who doesn't want a beret to match every outfit?

Thank you for reading, until soon!

More Pomonas and another puffy shirt

Hello January sewers! 

This is a summery shirt I've been thinking about and got round to making last weekend. I do like this aesthetic - sort of cowboy/Victorian flounce. Which seems to be a thing - I've seen nice examples popping up in my desperate-to-sell-me-stuff Instagram feed. Gross how they know just what I like.

Following on from my last puff-sleeved shirt, this is self-drafted, using Simplicity 8523 (view B) as a bodice block (it's a really simple top pattern, which was one of the three used at Ray Stitch when I did my six-week introduction to sewing course about six years ago. I think it's a great one for building on - just two front darts and apart from that a really simple block). 

From there, I used the bigger armscyes and sleeves I'd drafted, but made a v-neck and shorter sleeves for this blouse. I also drafted a collar and put buttonholes in the cuffs for some simple ties. 

I love this shirt! It's one of the times (which thankfully are starting to outnumber the other times) when what I imagined and the finished object are the same! 

The trousers are another pair of Anna Allen Pomona pants! I sure do love these guys. Nothing to add to these from my previous pairs, but these are in medium weight denim and have proved really useful for colder weather. Their bagginess means they're friendly to having layers of tights/socks stuffed under them too.

Fabric close-up! The shirt fabric is a lovely thin cotton from Merchant & Mills, with buttons from the ever-reliable Textile Garden. Both stash, now happily married together.

So it's a pretty thin, summery shirt, certainly not up to this weather. I'll have to wait for warmer times to wear it... a lot of waiting happening, these days. I certainly feel grateful to have sewing to keep my mind occupied.

Thank you for reading! Until soon!