Black and White

‘Idle hands are the devil’s handiwork!’

Oh! How true that is. In my case it’s browsing the internet to pass some time but I usually end up wasting a lot of money buying things I don’t really need. Luckily this time, it wasn’t me who spent the money but I did set myself up for a lot of sewing instead.

So it started out as a quiet summers day when I was browsing the internet and I happened to visit the Merchant & Mills website. They always have really lovely fabrics and once a year, I would treat myself and get some from them. This time as I had just returned from a very expensive trip, I was financially disabled and had to admire the fabrics through the screen instead. I did, however, show this lovely ‘dash’ printed linen to my partner and he commented at how lovely it would be if he could have a French work jacket in that print. As I wasn’t going to sew it for free, I negotiated with him that I could make him the jacket in the fabric that he liked but on condition that he buys me the fabric that I liked. Seeing that I was bored out of my mind and getting a bit annoying, he agreed for some peace of mind.

I immediately scrolled through to the payment page and within a few days, a brown paper package arrived with the fabrics inside. I didn’t realised how heavy they were but the print looks much better in real life. The print for the linen fabric was created in collaboration with Merchant & Mills and the ceramicist, Hannah Bould.

It took me two days to finish both of these jackets and I have to say at some point while sewing, I found it a bore. I usually don’t mind sewing one offs but the same thing together can be quite mind numbing. Anyway, I took it in my stride and remembered that I was doing this to kill some time. Besides, I’m being paid to do it!

I have sewn this pattern so many times I didn’t have to think much about the construction anymore. However, I’m always pedantic when it comes to sewing it well. I want both of these jackets to last as long as the fabric and bad sewing can ruin this. I always take time to make sure my sewing machine is set up properly, the patterns checked and the correct sewing technique is used. I have been known to take everything apart if the sewing is not right. Usually no one would see the mistake but behind the back of my mind is that annoying realisation that I have done it wrong and was too lazy to rectify it.

When I compared both finished products, I realised that the white linen looked much better than the black. Unfortunately, I chose the black linen but when trying both of them on, the black suited me much better. For some reason, white always over accentuates my tanned skin but compare for yourself and decide.

I would have liked the white dashes to be more opaque as you can see the black linen coming through.

The white print looks ‘cleaner’ and in a way more suitable for summer.

Regardless, I managed to kill some time and the ‘client’ was very happy with the results. However, he is now co-ordinating with me so that we don’t both wear the same outfit on the same day. Funny though as I had chosen the black linen on purpose so that we do!