Burda - 03-2008-101 Jacket Alaska Style - Done!

Okay, it's done and I really like it. Full review coming at Pattern Review soon. Here are some of the detail shots and a funny bonus one (well, two really) at the end.


The white things that you see at the pockets are the faux-piping I used to highlight them. I left just a bit of the pocket lining showing around the zipper.


The back has a fun detail that you can't really pick up from the line drawing or the photos. There is a back overlay on the top half of the jacket. This would be a great place for a vent if your fabric is not breathable.


Here you can see it a little bit better. The belt goes through the bottom of the overlay. You can still see my chalk markings. It's not really crooked, it just looks like it.


Here it is open. I really like the length of the coat. I was going to add 2" to the sleeves but forgot. You can see on the original coat, the sleeves look a bit cropped and they really are. Go figure.


All zipped up. Thank you Lindsey T for offering to get me some cool zippers. I opted for the plain jane black from JoAnn's.


Here is some of the sleeve detail. I love all the topstitching on this coat. It did make it very time consuming though.



This is my favorite part. I lined it with sweathshirt fleece in camo print. This coat is so Alaskan. It is the same as the fleece on these shirts. I made the fleece-y, soft part on the inside and the sweathshirt side next to my skin so it would slide over clothing. I quite like the effect.

Holy crap-a-noli . . .

So my mother and sister came down to watch the kids so my husband and I could have some "us" time. We decided to go camping down south (Kenai, Soldotna, Homer, etc.). On the Kenai River at a nice fishing hole, a lovely young creature and cub came to chase us out of her fishing hole. It is the most scared I've been in a long time. The pictures are blurry because of the hand shaking. We are standing in the river and can't go much further back because the river is deep and fast. She is on the bank blocking our only escape route. She finally decided she didn't want to deal with us and took off into the bushes. We were stuck in the river for about 45 minutes hoping she would not find us offensive or scary. Mama bears can be quite scary (read: f'ing scary) if they think their young are being threatened. She only did a little threatening, aggressive behavior and that was when she got within 20 feet of us. For most of the encounter she was 25-35 feet away from us.

Yes, that's a gun. At one point, all four of us had drawn our weapons. Shots were fired but only into the air. She didn't really seem to mind much. She came right back.


She's a small sow really but much larger than any of us.


The cub was a cutie. He's in the back.



On another note, my son made these super cute bird houses for his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather for Father's Day. They are mostly orange because that is his favorite color.

I am almost done with the Burda WOF jacket. It just needs cuffs, belt, and lining.

Burda - 03-2008-101 Jacket Alaska Style

So you can obviously tell my husband is on his two off because I don't post often when he is home. Sewing gets put on the back burner (sort of) when he is around. We do lots of stuff with the kids and work things that need working on. I don't feel bad about it because I can sew my little heart out when he is gone.

I am currently working on this Burda jacket from the March 2008 issue. I have made six things out of that issue. It was my first one but it seems to have some jewels in it. My son started Spyder soccer so I have been standing out in the windy sunshine to watch him scamper around the soccer field and not play much soccer. He is having a ball even if he just reads books on the sidelines and holds entire conversations with other kids in the middle of the field while the ball is screaming past with 10 kids in tow. Maybe he's not a competitive kid? My husband and I are pretty competitive; to the point where we can't play each other at raquetball. Kind of embarrassing. Anyhoo, back from my tangent. Burda jacket in breathable XALT Burlington waterproof fabric. It is dark green. It is taking me a while because there is a lot of topstitching. I am making my typical 36. I should have an actual picture of the coat to show you today or tomorrow. We'll see. I plan on lining with a thin sweathshirt fleece. This coat will be very functional; very unlike Burda's silver one.


This is the version I am making. I meant to lengthen the sleves by an inch or two but forgot.


My husband really wants me to make the cropped one and then strut around the house with only it on. He said it would be good for my sewing skills. Yeah. Right.


I wish I could find cool zippers. My only choice is Joann's and the local fabric boutique. The boutique has good stuff but never in the right length and color.

Tagged

I was tagged a while ago by Melissa and then recently by Christina.

What was I doing 10 years ago?

• Living in sin with my to-be husband.
• Just graduated with my BS in BS. (Biological Sciences)
• Starting my MAT in Education
• Debating whether to continue my summer job as an Aquatic Entomological Taxonomist (read: water bug classifier)

What are 5 things on my to-do list today?

• Finish up order for the hospital -- DONE
• Finish up sewing for MIL (short, quick sewing task) -- DONE
• 1 load of laundry -- DONE-ish. It's washed and dried but not put away.
• wash new fabric and test wool swatches with topstitching -- DONE
• get birthday present for birthday girl on Sunday -- eh . . . not yet?

Snacks I enjoy.

• Salty snacks. Salt and vinegar chips? Yum!
• Fresh fruit
• Nuts
• CHEESE (and most things dairy)

Things I would do if I were a billionaire.

• Buy land -- not sure where
• Set up education funds for my kids. These funds would not pay 100% for their tuition but would pay 50% of something like that.
• Play
• Sew

Places I have lived.

• Dillingham, Fairbanks, and Anchorage, Alaska
• Clemson, South Carolina (working at the Savannah River Plant, YIKES!)
• Tramway Bar Mine, Alaska (middle fork of the Koyukuk)

What are these and how do you use them?

When my husband's grandmother died last year, I inherited a bunch (a ton!) of different things. Most of the things are no-brainers; ribbon, fabric, beads, rickrack, etc. But there are some things that I just don't know how to use. For example, these snaps. Are there parts missing? I have lots of them but don't know how to apply them. Do I need a certain tool?

Then I have this set of tools. I think they are for setting snaps but I don't really know. They were all in a medicine bottle along with the wooden spool. It seems that she used the spool with these tools but for what? And what are those hook-things for?

Here is a close-up of the ends. They are concave to differing degrees and the male ends are different diameters.

Got 'er done!

These are the same photos from PR. I like to post them here also so you can see them without going through all the links on the review.

I love it.

Oh, and to those who are amazed at my speed. You know all that other stuff you guys do? Like housework? Bills? Grocery shopping? Spending time with spouses? Running kids around? I don't do it. My husband does all the bills and shopping when he is in town every two weeks (hence the blog title), my kids aren't old enough to go anywhere yet, and I have this 15-mintue rule about housework. You will notice that when my husband is here for his two weeks that I sew less because I like to spend some time with him. But when he is gone, watch out (he's currently gone). I only clean my house is 15-minute increments. Usually I do it twice a day. If you set a watch, you would be amazed what you can get done in a solid 15 minutes. I do spend one day a week doing deep cleaning (that's what I tell myself). That being said, I have three small kids so my house is always a mess. Sewing is my sanity.

Burda - 05-2008-105 Jacket in brown wool

I love this pattern. It really reminds me of this Threads pattern that got so many reviews last year. I didn't think of that until I was looking at these pictures I took this morning. But, replace the elastic with a belt and you've pretty much got it. I didn't like the HUGE sleeves of the Threads version. It is even the same(ish) color.

I love it in this wool. I'll get a lot of wear out of it as a light jacket. In the fall, it can just be a beefy blouse. This wool is so soft and non-itchy it would be fine. I am almost done. This thing calls for three decorative buttons and five sewn-in snaps. I don't mind sewing in snaps but I'm a s l o w hand-sewer. I'll update my review on PR when I get it accomplished later today. I will be taking the elastic out of the back and making a longer piece so it isn't so tight. If feels fine but I think it would look better a little looser. I can't for the life of me find the elastic measurements in the BWOF magazine. I just guessed at how big the elastic should be. Following Lindsey T's advice, I covered my buttons with the wool fabric. Love it. I should have gone one size larger though.