A Jacket for Spring: Minoru by Sewaholic Patterns, and Adding Pockets

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Well April looms large on the horizon - which means only 2 more weeks until our Walthamstow Swap 'n' Meet up!

Pattern: 1103 - Minoru Jacket (Image Source: Sewaholic Patterns)

I'm hoping to find some great fabric to make my Minrou Jacket by Sewaholic Patterns - I want something medium-thick(ish) in a cotton or blend. Kinda casual fabric in a beige or khaki type colour. Here's hoping that I find it :)

I've already bookmarked all of Tasia's great series of sewalong posts she ran for the jacket - so I'll be able to tackle this soon. Which is a good thing too, as all I have jacket-wise for work is either too thin and light weight, with ¾-length sleeves and only really suitable for Summer; or it's a long woolly coat and winter-weight - so too warm for the nicer weather. Either I freeze or I am to warm. Ergo I need a spring jacket!

But, I definitely need my Minoru to have pockets! There's been some great posts for this already:

Side-seam pockets (via BurdaStyle)

Sophia Sews: Minoru Jacket: Adding Pockets

Patch-pockets with FREE template (from Karen at DidYouMakeThat):

And, this article by Threads Magazine: How to Attach Patch Pockets Without Topstitching (using your machine, not by hand!)

I want nice big pockets for shoving my hands inside it's a toss up between patch-pockets or the ones from Sophia Sews, where she's added-in a new vertical seam between the bottom of the waist and the hemline - and into that inserted in-seam pockets. Hmmmm... maybe I'll do both! Side-seam pockets lined with something flannely / fleecy-stuff to keep my hands warm + patch pockets on-top to dump all my bits 'n' bobs in :D (yay! )

Vintage Sewing Notion - 'Magic Stitcher'
Image Source: eBay #280845028553, from this seller

In the meantime, I've become obsessed with Pinning pictures of tailor tacking gadets (aka speedy / quick / auto stitchers - or even called sewing awls) onto one of my Pinterest boards (so, so addictive LOL!)

Threads Insider, Part 2- Coming Soon (From: Threads Magazine)

It's nearly here... 'slookin good too from the sneaky peek email I got yesterday...

Email from Thursday 8th March 2012

[Screenshot from Threads Magazine] Image of a front page of a digital edition of the magazines

[Screenshot from Threads Magazine] Features of the different account options.

[Screenshot from Threads Magazine] - Looks like there'll be videos too :)

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In other news... I DID finally manage to finish my Scout Woven Tee (yay!). In the end I redrafted and cut out a whole new fresh collar. It all went together pretty smoothly. I did have a few hitches of my own making along the way; but nothing I couldn't sort out - and all learning opportunities of course LOL! Will do a proper post with pics about it v. soon. 

Plus, it's only 4 weeks to go until the Walthamstow swap 'n' meet up!

A New UK-Based Service for Custom-Printed Fabric?.... What a Great Idea!

There are already a few well know services available from online companies in the US, where you can get your own designs custom printed onto an array of different fabric types (or buy the design of someone else's from a selection). But, until now shipping costs to get these fabrics delivered to the UK had put me off flexing my credit-card.

But, a blog post today on yes i like that has me somewhat excited at the prospect of a possible new UK based source called BeFab for custom printed fabric.

But, they need our help! BeFab have set up a short survey to gauge demand. If you fill it out, you’ll be in with a chance to win £100 worth of vouchers to be spent once the company is up and running. You can take the survey here, and they have a Facebook page here if you’d like to keep up with progress on the project.