elizabeth_mn

Here is the jacket I made for work last week. The pattern is Butterick 6140.



The fabric is lana bolito, a boiled/felted wool and rayon blend. The pattern was designed for this fabric, or one very like it, and has raw edges everywhere since it doesn't fray.

I liked sewing this. The fabric is spongy and forgiving. The pattern is roomy so I sized way down, and I may still take it in a bit in back when I take it home. I cut a small in the bust and hip and an XS in the waist, whereas the chart would have put me on the high end of medium. But that's pretty much par for the course with big 4 patterns.

I can see wearing it in spring with bright turquoise and fuchsia, with a short pencil skirt and leggings and a big scarf.

I have another work project this week, a blouse in a Japanese cotton double gauze floral. This fabric is wonderful and amazing. So soft and pretty! The pattern is a pretty basic princess-seamed, button down shirt with a collar band and no collar. My vision here is something to wear under cardigans instead of a long-sleeved tee shirt. If it works I will make more, in soft light flannel and lawn.

Sewing for work can be a little stressful with the deadlines and the pressure to make things perfect, but it is a nice perk since everything for the project is free. And sometimes it lets me try styles or fabrics I normally wouldn't.

The fabric store where I work, Treadle Yard Goods, is on Grand Avenue in St. Paul, a local fashionable shopping street that has emphasized small independent businesses for the last several decades.

There is currently a controversial proposal about parking meters on Grand that you can read about here.

I think meters are a terrible idea. People already complain constantly about parking being "a nightmare" on Grand, and I often have customers tell me they circled the block three times, or that the only reason they bothered stopping was they happened to see a spot out front. Then they go on to spend $100.

Our classes usually run about 3 hours. If students have to pay for parking too I think we will get fewer signups!

People might be fine paying meters for necessary things like doctors offices and banks, or even restaurants, but for the majority of non-essential businesses (as much as I hate to think of fabric as non-essential!) no way.

The only thing meters will do is divert shoppers away from independent, locally owned businesses and make them decide to go to the Mall of America instead.

I understand that the city needs money and I am totally willing to pay my taxes and support services, but there are better ways!