Tulips

Hi again! I have not been great about blogging this past year, have I? I’m here to share my visit to the tulip fields. I wore 3 new me made items on this day! I wore a Seamwork Audrey denim jacket in Cone Mills stretch denim from Melanated fabrics. I also wore a Nina Lee Kew dress in Rifle Paper Co Strawberry Fields rayon and a new headband style that I have listed in my Etsy shop.

I have made a Seamwork Audrey jacket once before. It was made with gold Cone Mills denim and you can read about it here. This jacket was giving me all sorts of problems this time around from accidentally sewing the welt pocket lining on upside down and spilling fray check on it. But- it’s done! And I’m very happy with it. This time I shortened the length of the body and the arms by one inch. I’ve needed a blue denim jacket in my wardrobe again. This is going to get worn a lot.

The Nina Lee Kew dress is a pattern I’ve had for a while now but never got around to making. I was wondering what I should wear to the tulip fields and kept thinking about this rayon I had in my stash. This was a spontaneous make. I didn’t have enough fabric for the facings so I picked up some white rayon from work and lined the bodice with it. I also used some vintage buttons I had on hand. I’m so pleased with how it turned out. The only fit adjustment I made was lowering the bust darts a bit. I started to make a wearable muslin out of some vintage floral poly. I love this dress so much, I’ll have to get around to finishing that one. I also would love to make the skirt version. I have some linen in my stash I think would be perfect.

I visited these tulip fields two years ago. It was such a nice experience. I was so disappointed when they were not able to open last year due to Co-vid restrictions. It was much busier this year (at opening!) and was not a fan of the large crowds. We quickly snapped some pics, picked a few tulips and left. Next year I will plan to visit on a weekday so I can hopefully enjoy it more.

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Seamwork Audrey Denim Jacket

 

Here’s my Seamwork Audrey denim jacket! I wasn’t sure about making this pattern at first because I already have a RTW denim jacket. I really loved this gold Cone Mills denim, though so I thought that would be a fun addition to my wardrobe. Here I’m wearing it with a Seamwork Hazel dress I made last year.

This is a good pattern but I have to say I hated the instructions. They bounced around so much! For example, in one of the first steps I’m making the sleeve cuffs but it doesn’t say to attach them to the sleeves until one of the final steps! I definitely would suggest reading the instructions all the way through and maybe rearranging them. I also found it easier to stitch several seams before switching out to top stitching thread and doing a bunch of top stitching at once. The instructions have you constantly switching it out after each step and that’s not necessary. I think it sped up my process significantly.

And those welt pockets! It was my first time sewing them. I seriously considered just leaving them out after reading the instructions. I started to just go for it and I figured it out. Or I think I did, anyway! They look less than perfect but they are functional pockets so I’m happy. I definitely need some practice with those.

As far as fit, I think it’s good. I removed about an inch from the sleeve length so I think that’s perfect.  I also removed maybe 1/2” or an inch from the length but if I were to make this again I’d probably make it a little more cropped.

I’m very excited to wear this jacket this spring. It will add such a fun pop of color to my outfits. I also kind of can’t believe I made this! I’m really pleased with the end result.