It’s Cold OUTSIDE!

Did you feel the sudden chill in the air? It has been such a weird Autumn! Just a few days ago, we were enjoying an Indian summer but in just a few short days, the weather suddenly went cold. I guess this is how Autumn actually is.

With the nights getting colder as we head into October, I sit here with a very smug face, happy that I have finished making my winter jacket for this year. I decided to utilise some of my free time a couple of weeks ago and started making another winter jacket after the success of the one I made last year (here).

Recreating this jacket is very emotional for me as while I was making the first prototype last year, my dad suddenly passed away. This was the last garment he saw me making and I still remember him being intrigued at what I was doing and he kept asking me how I was going to put all of this together. When he suddenly died, I was in utter state of shock and confusion. On the advice of my friend, I took the pieces of the unfinished jacket back home to Malaysia and worked on it to distract my mind from all the thing that was going on during that turbulent time. This therapy helped me through my period of grievance and I am a much better person because of it.

The first jacket was created in memory of my father and this second one that I have just completed will be in celebration of his life. That is why I’ve decided to use a bright African print fabric to represent the colourful person my dad was.

After wearing the original jacket last winter, I’ve noted a few issues that I was unhappy about and rectified it in this jacket. I decided to distribute the padding a bit more, add a few more pockets and also added to the length of the jacket. On and off, it took me two weeks to complete this jacket and I am extremely pleased with the results.

Initially, I thought that the fabric that I got was a bit thin so decided to fused it with light weight fusing. This was not necessary at the end but it did give the printed fabric a bit of stability, a sort of heavy weight feel to it.

As usual, I incorporated a zip pocket inside the jacket. This time, the lazy side of me lost the pocket battle so instead of one pocket, I had two on each side instead. Strangely enough, I could sew the binding around the pockets much easier as I learnt some tricks from quilt making! You could call it transferable skills!

On the outside of the jacket, a last minute decision meant that I added two top pockets. I felt that it was a bit bare on the chest without it. Besides, I can’t go wrong with extra pockets.

There was a lot of stuffing going on in the lining and this also happened on the fur trim. I felt that the fur trim was a bit floppy so decided to stuff it to get more volume out of it and the result looked amazing. I really regret not getting more of this faux fur fabric as it looks like the real deal but as it came from the roll, I could cut it to any shape I wanted.

Oh! Did I tell you I actually bought 3 different African print fabrics? There is one in a gorgeous red and another in a lovely jade green. I’m sure they would look lovely as a jacket too but I think I am getting ahead of myself. After all, Christmas is just round the corner and I already have a long list of things to do!

Time to prioritise!