Progress on the Kelly!

 I've made some good progress! I reached out to the folks at Closet Core Patterns to ask for fitting advice. I decided I was just too confused to make any decisions. And it was good to just take a break for a minute. They got back to me and advised that I do the 22 shoulders as it looked like a good fit there, and then grade out to a 26 everywhere else since I was trying to achieve more of a loose outer coat than a closer fitting jacket. I added a bit to each of my pattern pieces and then tried it on - and WHAM! It looked GOOD! And so, I spent last weekend cutting out all 18 pattern pieces (I am making view A with a hood). It was tedious, but glorious at the same time! I listened to some sewing podcasts and leaned into it!

This week I set all the pattern pieces aside and spent time gathering all supplies for the jacket. I already had my fabric, so I washed that. I prepped my stablizer by soaking it in warm water for 30 minutes then hanging to dry. I have no idea if that did anything, but I didn't want to chance ruining the jacket by skipping the step! I got my bobbins all wound, and even got a little bobbin holder that sits on my machine so I always have two at hand. I purchased a clapper from eBay which arrived today. I gave it a scrub and it's drying. I am excited to try that out on all my seams! I have a half yard of silk organza on its way from Mood - my plan is to make that into my own press cloth. I decided this is going to be a project I focus on the process with - because oh geez are there a lot of process steps!

Tonight I spent the evening cutting out the lining fabrics - the two sleeve pieces in flannel backed satin, and then the front, front yoke, and back all in a plaid flannel fabric. I am a bit torn on what to do for the hood - flannel or the satin. Part of me wants the flannel for cozy, and the other part of me wants the satin so it doesn't catch on my hair. But as I type this I know I will cut out the flannel - I think I will really like how the hood looks when it is down and has the plaid lining the hood. So those will be the pieces I cut tomorrow.

Let's talk about sizing...

While I was working on the prep work this week I found myself really thinking about sizing. When I got the email back from Closet Core it included this line "...remember a size is just a starting point, and you can make changes to the pattern to make it more comfortable and wearable for your body." WHOA. I know this isn't some Earth shattering advice, but it really shook me. It was just what I needed to hear.

This got me thinking deeply about how the magic of sewing my own clothing is to be able to make it for me, and my body today. I think when I started this jacket last year, I was still deep in diet culture and I got stuck on what I "should" do and what size I "should" be. Which doesn't actually make sense. Because I want this to FIT. I want to make it in a size that fits. If this was a jacket in a store, I would just grab the next highest size (or not, as so often is the case...). Regardless of what that size is. And I would probably have some feelings but then I would move on and I would wear the thing and not care about the sizing.

So I kept going back to this idea of size and processing my feelings. Once I started thinking of pattern sizing as letters, or as colors, I realized it didn't matter what letter or color I was. I didn't have any value judgement on a color! What if my shoulders were red and my hips were purple? Wouldn't I just love those colors as they were because they meant I could sew my jacket to fit me? Once I had that thought, I was able to let go of this need to find the smallest possible size to sew to get the jacket to fit. The designer could have used any size to mean anything - it doesn't matter what they call it. I just need the numbers to find a place to start and to understand an expected ease. I realized I just needed to sew whatever would get me the jacket I would actually want to buy and invest my time in. And that just so happened to be a 22 at the shoulders and a 26 graded out. Once that mental block shifted, I joyfully moved forward with my pattern pieces. And I am so excited to get to sewing this thing!

Next steps:

1. Cut hood in flannel lining
2. And then get ready for the epic cutting session with the twill fabric!

Onwards!