Project Run-Away

I have spent many hours the past week putting together a one-of-a-kind quilted jacket for my 2 year-old grand-daughter.  It was a good mind challenge for me since the pattern was not intended to be lined and my "model" was not available for fittings. I was pretty much winging it.

 

Simplicity 2292 was my pattern choice. First, because it has raglan sleeves which would make sewing AND fitting easier. Second, because it had other patterns for pants and a jumper and if I have to pay so much for a pattern it better have options. Yes, there is a hat included BUT really??

The girl version is strange. I might have fallen for it if it was only from the illustration. I guess they were going for a cupcake theme. I did make my own interpretation that is more like the boy's.



 

 The Cloud 9 organic fabric from Joann was my inspiration. The lollipop flower, gray chevron and the birds in the branches are from the collection. The other coordinating fabrics are from my stash. I just cut a pile of 2" wide strips and started piecing them together in roughly the shape of the pattern pieces.

 

I cut a light batting to the pattern size and used it to cut into the patchwork.

Utilizing some of the fancy decorative stitches on my new Janome machine, I went to town on the patchwork surface with white, greeen and hot pink thread. This was the fun part and went very fast.

 

I put all the pieces together at the raglan seams first. The pattern called for sewing up the sleeve seams first, but I could see this would be really hard when doing a lining. Essentially I made the lining in the same way then sewed up the underarm/ side seams in outer layer  and lining. But not yet.

                                     FIRST I added the zipper.

 



 This is the lining. Sorry. I could not resist this polka-dot fleece. I have the zipper pinned into a sandwich between the 2 layers.
Here it is with the zipper that I got from Zipperstop on Etsy. They have actually been a shop in NYC since 1941 and can get you just about ANYTHING. I find the local supply in both type and color to be severely limited.

As usual, because I tend to make this stuff up as I go along Ihad to fudge a bit. I wanted to put my grand-daughter's name on the jacket with the cool ability my new machine has to do text (albeit, only very small) but I had progressed too far to do it directly. Well, I tried but messed up. So I spelled it out on another piece of fabric and hand stitched it on. Close up I see a problem with that lower right corner!

Considered a nice hanging loop in the inside back, but again I thought of it too late.

Now it is done EXCEPT for the final sleeve cuff. Angela and her older brother are coming and I can't wait to put it on her and have her pose adorably. Riiiiight. The day was great for an outdoor photo shoot but a bit on the warm side for a fuzzily lined quilted jacket. About 5 minutes would have done it,  however she is a two-year-old with a mind of her own as do all children. If I force her into it the pictures would be ugly anyway. Her dad is going to try for one IF she ever thinks it worthy to put her little body into it!!

 
This is as close as I could get to having her AND the jacket within camera range. Got it onto her long enough to see that it fits, however it wasn't long enough to even get the camera turned on. Having a lot of leftover giant pink polka-dot fleece, there is also a pair of pull-on pants, a tasseled hat and a stuffed bunny her six year-old brother requested. He amused himself much of the day playing with fabric scraps turning them into blindfolds, tails, etc.
He even draped a piece of fabric around Angela into a sort of a garment. Maybe he has a future on Project Runway?

The hat stayed on just long enough for this snap.

Creativity abounds.