This is absolutely one of my all-time favourite things I've ever made.
I mean, scroll back up and look at it again, how could you not love it! I used the beautiful Atelier Brunette Collection
Stardust double gauze in both black and ivory. This fabric was wonderful to both work with and to wear.
I saw a jacket that ended up being quite different from my end product a few years ago and just fell in love. Anyone who knows me or follows me, knows that I don't do simple. And this jacket is just perfect for that understated but not really understated look that I ideally want in outerwear.
Let's talk about the fabric first. Double gauze is such a winner except with a lot of handling it will separate. As you can probably tell from looking at this jacket - it was very labour intensive and I quickly realised I had to stay stitch the edges of my pieces. The gold dots on this just elevate it and really add to the end WOW factor I'm constantly chasing.
I feel the cold. Like incredibly, terribly, I-will-complain-non-stop-about-it, kind of feeling the cold. I have made a long Tamarack before but find it isn't really good for winter use because it just isn't that warm. So for this jacket, I lined it with black flannelet and double batted it with a bamboo and wool blend batting.
Double batting + double gauze + flannel = SNUGGLY KATIE.
The only downside of this combo is that both double gauze and flannel-like to catch lint - A LOT. It's totally fine for the white but the black makes it pretty obvious, so you'll need to own a lint roller if you want to use this fabric.
Now let's talk about the pattern. Overall this has the shape of the wonderfully simple
Tamarack by Grainline Studios. But I changed the length. For my shape (I'm an hourglass) things that finish at my hips (my widest point) are a big no-no. So I extended this by roughly 30cm. I also omitted the pockets because I didn't want to ruin the line of this jacket. Which is my number one regret and I think I'll go back and add them somewhere.
To get the snake-like effect, I drew straight onto the pattern then cut it up and added a 2.5cm seam allowance to each piece. This pattern had me feeling a little bit like a master mathematician. To get all the sides to line up. To make all the pieces work. To not cut out a white piece instead of a black. It was quite an adventure and sure took my concentration. It was not a quick task.
If you've made or seen a Tamarack before you know you need to quilt it and this stumped me for a while. I didn't want to take away from the snake-effect, and in the end, I just chose thread that would disappear into the colours and stitched 1cm from the seam.
Next time, I would only do single batting in the arms. It's so warm but it does constrict my movement, and I'm absolutely going to add some pockets so my poor hands don't turn into icicles.