Some more of what I've been up to

I managed to persuade Georgia to stand still for long enough to snap a pic of her new sweatshirt. This one is Jalie 2795 which I borrowed from Keely while she was too busy studying for her exams to be sewing. (It obviously worked - she got all A's or better as usual!) The unusual hood/collar combo on this really appealed to me. It is really cosy, and sits nice and flat when it's down. The shape of the sweatshirt suits Georgia too, so we have another winner!

I've also been working on my own design, JAR #2. I decided that the skirt needed something to pep it up. Keely will tell you I'm rather fond of roses. (OK, mildy obsessed with decorating items of clothing with them!). So for this one I tried a simple embroidery/applique combo. Pics are not good because I took them at night in dodgy light, but you can get the idea.

I got the rose image from a stencil I bought at Spotlight a couple of years ago. I traced it onto Glad press'n'seal with a fine tipped sharpie marker. Once the ink is dry it's permanent and doesn't bleed onto the thread as you sew through it. I stuck the press'n'seal onto a scrap of the coat fabric, and layered that with a scrap of the lining fabric onto the coat skirt and pinned the layers together. On a limp or unstable fabric I'd baste it on, but this was fine with pins.

Then I sewed along the lines with my sewing machine, on a short stitch length. I wheeled by hand when it wasn't fairly straight. Which was a lot. I started and ended each section in the same place, and pulled the top threads through to the back before tying off the tails so there is no obvious start and stop on any section. Here it is after I've stitched it and pulled out the press'n'seal.

And finally here it is after I'd trimmed each of the scrap pieces. The border of the lining really helps to pick the design out I think. I'm really pleased with it so far!

Now I just need to get thread for my lining, cut the lining and sew the rest of the coat together. Monday I'll probably be working on a velvet coat for a friend, Tuesday will be working on my Dad's boat canopy (he's spending a week in Doubtful Sound in November and needs it for then. I am so jealous!), so the coat might take most of the rest of the week to finish.