Mystery Project: Complete

Alright peeps.  The big reveal is a few words away.  Either this garment is fantastic or fug.  Hmm...fantastically fug?

I bought the fabric from Vogue Fabric during their visit to this year's American Sewing Expo.  Fabric can be mesmerizing sometimes.  I passed on this print the first time thinking it was hideous.  But something kept drawing me back to it, so I caved and bought 2.5 yards.  It is unlike anything I have in my wardrobe and not a print I would normally wear - especially not like this...

Tada!  Yep.  I made another pair of jeans out of this cRaZy fabric.  

Sewing the jeans actually took about 5 hours at the most.  The hardest part was trying to line up the pattern pieces to keep print semi-symmetric.  One circle sits a bit higher on one leg, but you can't really tell.  Well, actually you can, but whatever. =)

I tried really hard to maintain a vertical line down the outside seam.  The end result isn't what I envisioned, but it's not bad either.  I'm happy with it.  There was just no way to keep it consistent with all the curvature in the side pattern piece.

I cut out two sets of pockets - one with circles and one without.  I thought long and hard about putting the circles on my butt.  In the end (hah!) I decided against it - I'm too old for all of that "attention."

In the pictures, I'm wearing the jeans with Kwik Sew 3558 (jacket) and McCall's 6078 (cowl-neck top).  I'm thinking of making a cardigan or pullover out of a bright yellow ponte knit to wear with them.  

The verdict:  I LOVE these jeans.  I really do.  I am a little nervous about wearing them outside, though.  I think they look like pajama pants. I'm sure I'll get over that eventually. In fact, I might wear this whole outfit skating tonight.  I'll let you know how that goes!

L

Moto Jacket & Mystery Project

Thanks everyone for commenting on my zipper question.  Some preferred brass with lighter tape, others said black with brass will give make the jacket pop, while others said the silver will blend nicely.  These are all excellent points - which leave me no closer to a decision! 

These three comments pretty much tied the whole thing together:

Christiana writes:  "I like the dark tape as well. I'd take it a step further and go with a gold topstitching to pull it all together." 

SarahLiz writes:  "I think Judith is right - are you going for a dark and dramatic look, or a more blended, subtle, look. Also, what do you have to wear it with? That might help decide the choice too."

AnnaChristina writes:  "I like the light zipper with brass teeth, but I think silver would also be sharp. I think the fabric could be dressed up or down with the more subtle look."

I hadn't even thought about topstitching or how this jacket was to be worn and coordinated with the other garments I have.  Duh!  I was so fixated on the zipper color that I completely neglected the basic function of the garment.

So with everyone's comment in mind, I gave the jacket a second look.  I selected a few colors for topstitching and placed the garment next to another top that's currently in progress. The more I looked at everything, the less I liked the brass teeth.  The grey fabric has a washed effect and I couldn't be settled with the pop of gold.  Of the three colors I used for topstitching ( dark grey, light grey, and black), he one that stood out the most was the one that could be seen the least:  dark grey.  So I have decided to go with....drumroll...silver teeth!  I like the idea of being able to dress the jacket up or down and think starting with a more subtle look is better.

I haven't started sewing the jacket because the first thing to do is to put in the separating zipper - something I do not have, yet.  I can cut and fuse the interfacing, but until I get the zippers, there's not much else I can do.  In the meantime, I started another project using this fabric:

This print is wild and SO not me!  I was nervous about buying it because it's not something I would normally wear.  I'm going to keep the details under wraps until I finish it. Unfortunately, this project is stalled as well because I don't have a notion that I need to proceed.  I'll order it when I order the zippers.  Until then, you're free to make a guess!  Hey Kyle!  Shhhh...don't tell anyone. =)

L