Weekend Project: Jackets for One and All

"You can always spot clothes made in a good place."

~Lillian Hellman

TWO jackets were finished this weekend!

First, Maria finished her first-ever jacket:

I think it came out very well, and she was extremely pleased with it. In fact, she wore it home! :)

Second, I finished the PINK "jacket" for my PINK laptop.

You may remember that I used the Amy Butler laptop case pattern - even though I wasn't sure that a pattern was truly necessary for what is essentially a series of rectangles...

And this pattern truly is a lot of rectangles! Between the fashion fabric, the lining fabric, the canvas and the interfacing, you end up cutting out over 25 rectangles!!

So, was the pattern truly necessary? Well, she did include a handful of tips that helped minimize confusion (such as labeling the back of each piece with masking tape) and made the final product more professional looking (such as ways to minimize bulk on corners and at intersections).

And, of course, it's nice to have someone else work out all the dimensions for you. (She explains how to make pattern adjustments for larger and smaller laptops.)

But I wouldn't say that there were any real surprises or amazingly clever bits that I couldn't have worked out on my own if I had tried to go patternless...

Note that the case is basically in the shape of a big plus sign. You place your laptop in the middle, fold the 2 sides over (velcro tabs to secure) and then fold the top and bottom over (more velcro tabs). There are no strap or pockets - it's more like wrapping your laptop up in a padded blanket.

One last comment - I misinterpreted the picture on the cover of the pattern envelope and thought that the side flaps had one fabric showing and the top & bottom flaps had the other fabric showing - sort of like a patchwork quilt. But, in fact, the instructions have you stick to one fabric on the outside and the other fabric on the inside. If you want the bohemian patchwork appearance, you have to make that happen yourself.

To summarize, Maria has a beautiful, classy, Sunday-go-to-church jacket and I have the PINKEST laptop in the world! ;)

I hope you had a great sewing weekend! :)