FO: Little Red Riding Hood Minoru Jacket

Hello Everyone! Thank you so much for all your helpful tips about knitting socks in response to my last post….I feel much less overwhelmed now and my sock is growing nicely. Today I am finally able to announce that I have finished my Minoru jacket! Yes that’s right….I have finished. Whew it’s been a long time! My Minoru journey started way back at the end of last year in November when I was lucky enough to win the pattern in Vicki’s giveway. Since then this project has been on the go, but for various reasons it has always been on the backburner a bit. For almost an entire year!!! I had no idea it was that long until I checked the dates just now. Opps. Anyways, I posted about my muslin way back in February!! Other projects with pressing deadlines got in the way, I started a new job, then it was summer (sort of)….all kinds of excuses kept cropping up for me not to work on my jacket. At one point I wasn’t sure how much I loved this jacket, and my lack of enthusiasm combined with my lack of motivation meant the outlook was bleak for a while. But I persevered and now I can proudly reveal the finished object.

 

 

Sorry for the slightly gloomy pictures...the weather is so dark and dreary at the moment, there was nothing I could do. So do I love it? Oh yes I do. I don’t know why I ever had doubts! Look at the hood….the beautiful polka dot lining….the gathered waist….I am totally in love with this jacket. It is definitely the most practical garment I have ever made, and probably the one that will get the most wear. I think the only thing I am missing is pockets….there are pockets inside, which are the perfect size for a phone or MP3 player, but no outside pockets. I’m the kind of person who habitually stick their hands in their pockets, so I miss them! I am considering adding patch pockets, but I will dwell on this for a while. If I added them now the stitching would show inside, although since there is already stitching where the elastic waist is attached, and where the inner pockets are, I’m not sure if this would bother me. I will see how it goes! Originally I was going to wash the outer fabric in NicWax to waterproof it. I decided against this in the end, but I may see if I can get a spray to make it at least water-resistant.

Right then here are the details:

Pattern: Sewaholic Minoru jacket

Fabric: Cotton canvas bought online at about £8/metre (I think) for the main coat shell, Polka dot linking £6.95/metre and slippery lining fabric for the sleeves at about £3.50/metre.

Notions: A 22” zip for the main closure, a shorter one (about 16") for the hood pocket, a tiny bit of velcro to close the inner pockets

Any adjustments?: I like my coats to cover my bum, so I lengthened the coat by a few inches. In fact I think you can tell how much I added, because I think the zip is actually supposed to go right to the bottom - but no matter, it's fine as it is! I cut a size 12, as I usually do with Sewaholic patterns, but there was a lot of room around the front so I chopped a few inches off each front piece before adding the planket. I’m not sure I adjusted the other related pieces appropriately, but somehow I seemed to get away with it!

Would I make it again? I do like this pattern a lot, but I’m not really one to make loads of jackets, so I suppose the answer is yes, but probably not for a long time.

My favourite things about this jacket are the hood (how could you not love the hood! I feel like Little Red Riding Hood...hence the title of this post!) and the fact that the sleeves are long enough to come partway down my hands…being tall this is a rarity, and it makes me feel so much more snug!!

 

 

Phew...I'm so glad to have this jacket finished, and so glad it turned out alright :)

P.S - If you haven’t already entered my giveaway there is still time…pop over and have a look to be in with a chance of winning one of three lovely patterns!

K xx