The Finished Jacket: Minoru Round Two

My mom excitedly modeling her new Minoru Jacket

Now that the Christmas rush is over I have a lot of updating to do. I was so busy traveling and crocheting and sewing non-stop to finish up presents, these last two weeks before school starts up again for the semester have been really relaxing. I've done almost nothing craft wise, except make a shirt (the Sewaholic Renfrew Top ) , and upload all of the pictures of my projects to share with you guys. As you can see from the above picture I finished up the second Minoru I was planning on making. It came out perfectly, I really like the additions and changes I made to it compared to my first one, and it was very hard to part with it.

My mom excitedly modeling her new Minoru Jacket

Now that the Christmas rush is over I have a lot of updating to do. I was so busy traveling and crocheting and sewing non-stop to finish up presents, these last two weeks before school starts up again for the semester have been really relaxing. I've done almost nothing craft wise, except make a shirt (the Sewaholic Renfrew Top ) , and upload all of the pictures of my projects to share with you guys. As you can see from the above picture I finished up the second Minoru I was planning on making. It came out perfectly, I really like the additions and changes I made to it compared to my first one, and it was very hard to part with it.

Minoru Round Two...and Three: The Plans

Do you guys remember the Minoru jacket I made? I love this jacket so much I'm planning on making two more, another for me and one for my mom! I had mentioned before really liking the fit of this jacket and the possibility of wanting to make a heavier version for the winter or even try to make a longer version for snowboarding. I looked around for waterproof/breathable fabric that would be good for a snowboarding jacket and most fabrics really wouldn't cut it. I did find a website that sells outerwear/extreme fabric and they had Gore-Tex and a number of other really good fabrics that would handle extreme cold and snow really well, but they were all really expensive and plain. If I'm going to shell out a lot of money on fabric I at least want a pattern that I like otherwise I can just buy one, but I guess that's the tradeoff for a jacket that fits your body perfectly.

My mom's jacket is going to be olive green, with a nice cozy furry lining, complete with a lined hood and some additional pockets added in. Since I nixed the snowboarding idea I'm now thinking of making a mudcloth jacket.

Mudcloth Fabric from Spoonflower - $17.50/yd

I'm not quite sure yet whether I want to buy pre-made fabric or make my own. The pre-made fabric is pretty expensive, but making my own would be time consuming and the supplies needed could add up and end up being expensive too. I do like the idea of making my own pattern on my own jacket thought.

Credit - Apartment Therapy

Apartment Therapy even has a mudcloth tutorial that is easy to follow and the end result came out really cute. It really just comes down to the time it would take to mark out the design, lay down the glue on the design, and then dyeing the material. The jacket takes 4 yards of fabric to make, which is a lot of fabric to mark out a design on. The other option would be to make the entire outer shell out of plain canvas, and then once it's sewn together I could mark out the design and dye it. It would be a lot easier to mark out a design on an already assembled jacket and that would make the design fit together better as well. That may be what I end up doing after all! I'll probably go to get fabric in the next couple of weeks for these, and since I already have all of my pattern pieces cut out and saved from the last time I doubt it will take me very long to make these. Fingers crossed!

Do you guys remember the Minoru jacket I made? I love this jacket so much I'm planning on making two more, another for me and one for my mom! I had mentioned before really liking the fit of this jacket and the possibility of wanting to make a heavier version for the winter or even try to make a longer version for snowboarding. I looked around for waterproof/breathable fabric that would be good for a snowboarding jacket and most fabrics really wouldn't cut it. I did find a website that sells outerwear/extreme fabric and they had Gore-Tex and a number of other really good fabrics that would handle extreme cold and snow really well, but they were all really expensive and plain. If I'm going to shell out a lot of money on fabric I at least want a pattern that I like otherwise I can just buy one, but I guess that's the tradeoff for a jacket that fits your body perfectly.

My mom's jacket is going to be olive green, with a nice cozy furry lining, complete with a lined hood and some additional pockets added in. Since I nixed the snowboarding idea I'm now thinking of making a mudcloth jacket.

Mudcloth Fabric from Spoonflower - $17.50/yd

I'm not quite sure yet whether I want to buy pre-made fabric or make my own. The pre-made fabric is pretty expensive, but making my own would be time consuming and the supplies needed could add up and end up being expensive too. I do like the idea of making my own pattern on my own jacket thought.

Credit - Apartment Therapy

Apartment Therapy even has a mudcloth tutorial that is easy to follow and the end result came out really cute. It really just comes down to the time it would take to mark out the design, lay down the glue on the design, and then dyeing the material. The jacket takes 4 yards of fabric to make, which is a lot of fabric to mark out a design on. The other option would be to make the entire outer shell out of plain canvas, and then once it's sewn together I could mark out the design and dye it. It would be a lot easier to mark out a design on an already assembled jacket and that would make the design fit together better as well. That may be what I end up doing after all! I'll probably go to get fabric in the next couple of weeks for these, and since I already have all of my pattern pieces cut out and saved from the last time I doubt it will take me very long to make these. Fingers crossed!

Minoru Update: It's Finished

  Ahh my lazy left eye is showing
I finished my first ever jacket, and it was so easy to make! I can honestly say that I loved this pattern from start to finish. The pattern and instructions included were easy to understand and very clear and if I was ever confused I would just click over to the sew-along posts that Tasia has posted over at Sewaholic. I was surprised at how fast I got this done. I was originally thinking it wouldn't be finished until the end of July, but it only took me two weeks! I am dying to make a couple other variations of this. I definitely want a heavier version for winter, and a snowboarding version if I can find the right fabric. The long length, sleeves, and high collar would make this coat perfect for snowboarding in. Most snowboarding apparel is still geared to guys and even the women's brand's still make 'baggy/boyfriend' style apparel. It will be nice to look like a girl for once when riding!

The pockets are even I swear, I'm just grabbing it weird

The only changes I would make would be to line the hood, and possibly add some outside pockets the next time. I originally was going to put dark blue/black buttons on the pockets but I snapped my button in half so I figured the red just make the pockets pop.

  It clearly needs a good ironing to press it out a bit

I like the fit on the jacket a lot too. At first I was worried that it would be too big once completed, but once you add the the elastic to the waistband it comes in quite nicely. However I still have room to wear sweaters or bulkier objects underneath without feeling like a sausage

 

Unveiling the secret hood in the collar

 

There is only one thing that I did wrong when sewing. I accidentally sewed the inside collar on the lining on the wrong side so the seam is sadly visible. No one can notice it because it's only visible on the inside around my neck, but it's just one of those things that will drive me crazy forever. At least I know for next time, and will hopefully remember not to do that again. Other than that I was pleased to not have made a lot of mistakes or little things that I would notice even if no one else does. I can't wait to try out some of Tasia's other patterns as well!

  Ahh my lazy left eye is showing
I finished my first ever jacket, and it was so easy to make! I can honestly say that I loved this pattern from start to finish. The pattern and instructions included were easy to understand and very clear and if I was ever confused I would just click over to the sew-along posts that Tasia has posted over at Sewaholic. I was surprised at how fast I got this done. I was originally thinking it wouldn't be finished until the end of July, but it only took me two weeks! I am dying to make a couple other variations of this. I definitely want a heavier version for winter, and a snowboarding version if I can find the right fabric. The long length, sleeves, and high collar would make this coat perfect for snowboarding in. Most snowboarding apparel is still geared to guys and even the women's brand's still make 'baggy/boyfriend' style apparel. It will be nice to look like a girl for once when riding!

The pockets are even I swear, I'm just grabbing it weird

The only changes I would make would be to line the hood, and possibly add some outside pockets the next time. I originally was going to put dark blue/black buttons on the pockets but I snapped my button in half so I figured the red just make the pockets pop.

  It clearly needs a good ironing to press it out a bit

I like the fit on the jacket a lot too. At first I was worried that it would be too big once completed, but once you add the the elastic to the waistband it comes in quite nicely. However I still have room to wear sweaters or bulkier objects underneath without feeling like a sausage

 

Unveiling the secret hood in the collar

 

There is only one thing that I did wrong when sewing. I accidentally sewed the inside collar on the lining on the wrong side so the seam is sadly visible. No one can notice it because it's only visible on the inside around my neck, but it's just one of those things that will drive me crazy forever. At least I know for next time, and will hopefully remember not to do that again. Other than that I was pleased to not have made a lot of mistakes or little things that I would notice even if no one else does. I can't wait to try out some of Tasia's other patterns as well!