Wow! And that teal mohair jacket.

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Wow – thanks so much for the wonderful welcome back to the sewing blogosphere everyone!  Because I had abandoned my blog I almost expected a negative reaction, but instead was overwhelmed by all your positive comments. It’s like being part of a great big sewing family!

Meanwhile, I’ll share some pics of that teal mohair jacket – yes, a finished project!  I started this jacket in 2012, and once I had completed the buttonholes and collar it sat on the dress stand for ages gathering dust until I finally purchased some lining to finish it.  And the lining sat on the ironing board for ages gathering dust until I cut it out.  I can’t remember where that sat, but it probably gathered dust too until I got around to sewing it up, and then I decided to get all couture-y and do some fancy stitching on the lining. No wonder it took until 2015!
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I am really happy with the collar – a typical 60’s ‘Jackie O’ style:

But to be honest I’m really not quite finished – because the fabric is so thick, the front neck edge really needs a small dome or hook on the corner, so of course all the photos I took tonight show it sticking out.  Oh well, I can’t see it when I’m wearing it.

I used the same hair canvas on the collar as I did on the front edges/buttonholes it worked really well. On this super-thick fabric you should have seen the amount of cloth allowance I used for the collar. Here’s a pic showing part of the under collar, and a few of the zillion tiny prick stitches that I used to compress the seam allowances inside:

I also prick stitched the facing at the back neck (a bit blurry in this shot). Can you spot a couple of extra joining seams?  There’s one on the CB top collar, and a nifty one hidden on the front facing. If you have a good memory, I cut this jacket out of an old coat, and had to make some modifications to squeeze everything out.

The buttons were dyed to match, and although they are man-made they are fairly good rendition of the traditional stitched leather button. I would have preferred a size up but they weren’t available. The lining is a plain black viscose, and I echoed the button decoration with some running stitches around the edge – you know, just to save getting up and ironing it…

So that’s it – I’ve worn it quite a lot this winter.  Even though it has 3/4 sleeves it is toasty warm, and I don’t mind wearing long black sleeves under it, or gloves on super-cold days.  I’m also amazed with how many colours it goes with, like oxblood, and err, black.
I have to say this fabric was a pleasure to work with, even if I had to use every bulk-reduction trick in my arsenal.  If you like this mohair look, I’d highly recommend trying some of this fabric if you can score some from your Mum’s cupboard like I did!
CRAZY OUT-TAKE OF THE DAY!

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60 thoughts on “Wow! And that teal mohair jacket.”

  4. As always, your work is impeccable! I love the blue stitching against the black lining. A really beautiful creation; and it looks so snuggly and warm and cosy 🙂

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  9. Hi Sherry, I was so glad to see you returned to your sewing blog. I started following and reading your blog about five years ago. ( I've only been blogging myself for over a year). Your blog always stood out because of the wealth of info that you shared , and your very obvious talent too. Over the years I stopped following a lot of the popular blogs that I had found, as eventually I wasn't learning anything new from them. I often checked in to see if you had any new posts, and was so glad to see you were back. 🙂

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  17. Some garments have to hang in the aging closet until the right time…this one is such a gorgeous example of proper aging! Great hand worked details and the color…perfect! So glad to have you back, I clicked on your blog many times hoping to see you posting and now it is here…hooray!

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  24. So retro and modern at the same time. I surprised that this fits you after all your running…I thought you would need a whole new wardrobe. When you said the buttons were dyed to match…did you dye them? How is that done?

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  25. I love to see hand-stitching, the lining is lovely. I will echo the others and say that I also love the color. It looks great with your coloring, and makes a great winter jacket. Also glad you're back. I always enjoyed your informative posts.

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  46. Ha yes – I did drop a few kilos katherine! This was a 34″ bust pattern, at the time I cut it I was 35″ and now I'm 33″ so I'm still in range, but admittedly I do look like I could fill it out more in these photos. It fits good around the hipline now where it was probably a bit tight before.
    I got the buttons dyed to match a swatch of fabric by one of our local button wholesalers, usually a service they offer for a few dollars extra.

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  50. Hello . Lovely to see your jacket . I LOVE the Jackie collar too. I have wondered about drafting one and figured that the thing that makes it stand up like that is reducing the length of the outside collar edge compared to the neck edge . I. Would that be right Sherry ? Marianne

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