I know it seems awfully early, but we're starting to get boots in at work, and I feel like starting to prepare for winter already. I've been hanging onto the remains of my beloved bomber jacket for a while now, with the express purpose of making a hat out of them, an I decided it was time. It was also time to finally cut into the sheepskin I've been dragging around for more than a year.
I wanted something in the style of an aviator or hunting cap, with a central gusset and two sides that extend down to cover my ears. The sides I wanted to give a quilted horn design.
Drawing out the sides, and marking 1/8 dashes on all the lines as a guide for stitching.
Poking through the paper pattern to give myself a guide to quilt by. Also to make things a little easier--poking through leather is never fun, and I had to do it quite a bit later on.
My studio becomes a hot mess as I begin to cut the sheepskin lining. I moved my table against the wall awhile back, it's working a little better this way.
And then, like an idiot, after being so nervous to cut into this sheepskin, I screwed up. I didn't reverse the pattern, so I ended up with two sides that were exactly the same. Thankfully, I managed to patch it and recut it properly. Such a dumb mistake though.
The sides and top quilted up.
Basting things together with duct tape, sure, why not. Don't want to pin leather.
Tacking the seams down, it made the seams lay nicer on the outside, even though no one will see it once it's lined.
And, I forgot to take the pictures of the inbetween steps, but rest assured that sewing the lining and the outside together was rather hard on my hands. Turning it inside out was also difficult, I was afraid I was going to rip it, it was so thick. But here it is! And boy is it warm.
And the back. The straps on the sides were originally the little straps on the sides of the bomber jacket. I was so sad when that jacket ripped, but I'd had it since sophomore year of highschool, so it served me well.
And now I look like something from Adventure Time. But it is incredibly warm and cozy.
In other news:
The cleared-off mesh is growing, I need to start doing some experiments on it to see what kind of lace pattern I want to use on it. It also needs to be washed, it makes me itchy when I work with it.
And I just picked this floral fabric up to make Seamus a shirt with.
My thread gradient is done! 12 colors, and a whole lot of work un-tangling and making bobbins out of then. When I was making my skeins, it didn't seem like much thread, but as I tried to rewind it into bobbins, the amount seemed a little overwhelming. There's also a little more color variation than I would have liked, but oh well. It's all cotton, and just about the same thickness as ordinary sewing thread.
While I had the pots set up, I also dyed a gradient with this silk/wool blend yarn. It's pretty fine, a little thinner than fingering weight? I might use it for some really fine fair isle work.
And the coat itself is rolling along. The back is almost done, just have to do a small spiral at the top and bottom, then it's back to tackling the front/side area. Then it's on to lining and quilting.
