Accessorise a tartan blazer with a wooden snake

I finished this on Sunday, handsewing the hems up just minutes before we had to leave. This jacket is by far the most complex thing I've attempted since dropping out of fashion school {halfway through learning all about jackets ironically} and it was a bit difficult but totally fun!


I rarely sew with commercial patterns these days, so when I had to figure out the instructions and stare at the diagrams I felt like I was reading double dutch! I don't understand how you guys do it! If I wore a hat it would be off to you. I'm used to making my own patterns, or following tutorials written by clever bloggers.


Despite my issues I did remember how these sorts of jackets went, revere collars and two-piece sleeves. Matching up the plaid was pretty fun, I did well in the major areas, the body of the jacket all matches up and alarmingly the collar matches the back perfectly {unintentional but yey!}. Matching plaid has always been a bit fun for me. When I did work experience for Cyan Reign one of the things she was going to have in her fashion show were these freaking cute pink plaid hotpants. Well it took me three attempts of cutting them out before i had them right and guess what. She decided not to put them in the show. It was like my 'hazing' into the world of fashion. OH THOSE PINK PLAID HOTPANTS! Bane of my existance but it was pretty fun and she had a rad soundtrack playing while I continuously made mistakes.


I studded the shoulders and the pockets, making it a little bit punk. I used Burda 9671 for this jacket, and this was done up in the smallest size, size 3. I was sure it wouldn't fit the little Monster, since he is a tall skinny thing even though he's three in May {wait what?}. Surprisingly it fits pretty well, so hopefully it still fits him for winter! I really liked this pattern because it goes up to size 10. It was very time consuming, but now I've done it once I'm sure it won't be so difficult next time.


Also I started it when I was in my first trimester and just cutting fabric out was exhausting {woe is me}. Oh and I sewed one of the sleeves in backwards. I forgo that with two piece sleeves that there is a left and a right.

Check out that plaid-matching! I'm SO proud of myself.

I lined it in teal lining, which is kind of fun! It's my favourite colour, teal/turquoise, and I love the unexpected pop when it's not being worn. Did I ever tell you my philosophy about lining? If you're a long time reader or real-life friend then yes, you probably already know but I'm going to say it again anyway. I love lining things with unexpected fabrics. You don't see the insides of pockets or waistbands so I love lining them in weird fabrics that totally don't go. I made a pair of punk jeans once and lined the pockets with kiddie car fabric. So fun. It's like a little secret in your clothes that no one else knows about.

Pyramid studs on the pockets

The above photos I also made his purple shirt - resized down from a men's business shirt, and his pants - resized down from a pair of Tim's skate shorts that never were worn because he got too tubby {heh heh}. Bowling hat was $12 from a seller on eBay {it arrived squished which made me sad, but it was free shipping and it was for Vince so he would quit stealing mine}

Teal lining

Oh there's no buttons because while I enjoy sewing buttons on with my machine now {seriously look it up and try it out on your machine. It's revolutionary! haha}, buttonholes are a totally different subject we won't speak of. Oh how I yearn the buttonhole machine at fashion school.



Would it be too much to make matching pants?






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