I Need To Do Something Just For Me

Sometimes we get caught up in doing, doing, doing. Doing for our spouse, doing for commitments, be it work or charitable commitments, doing for friends, and the list can go on and on. Then we come to a point that we just need to do something for ourselves, just for fun.  

A number of years ago, I talked about working through The Artist's Way. A fabulous experience and well worth your time. One of the commitments that you make while working through the book is to take a weekly artist's date. It can be just for an hour, but doing something that you really want to do and doing it alone. It can be something as simple as taking an hour long soaking bath, or something a little more extravagant like taking a horseback riding lesson. For those of us who sew, taking a little time to make something just because we want to can be an artist's date. And that's what I'm about to do :)

I recently saw the Sydney Jacket from Tessuti Fabrics, and loved it.

The line drawing is what will either suck me in or make me turn the other way. The Sydney Jacket sucked me in :) What did it for me was the yoke shaping.

Other than the side seams, the seams are actually overlapped and then stitched, so the fabric needs to be one that will not ravel, like a melton wool, boiled wool, fleece, etc. The jacket also features a pocket with a faux welt, so super easy to do. Also take note that this is an unlined jacket, so you need a fabric that is either double sided, reversible or has a nice back.  

I purchased the fabric pictured below a while back. It was a piece that I ordered online. I wasn't exactly pleased when it arrived. The fabric is fine, just not exactly what it looked like online. The fabric is more blood red than cherry red, and as it turns out, it will work perfectly with the Sydney Jacket pattern, so all is not lost. 

The pattern has been downloaded, printed, taped together and cut out, so now I just need to cut my fabric and get started. I'm so excited as I think this will be a super fun project.

And before I go, I wanted to share with you a fabric that I recently purchased. It's swirly!!!! The fabric is wool. I actually found it in the home dec department. It was marked down, but still expensive, so I purchased just enough for a skirt. I laid it over the red fabric above for the photograph, but I think I might underline it in black. We'll see. When the fabric is held up, the little swirly discs hang down and bounce. I think this is going to be a hoot to wear!

I can't wait to get my jacket together, so stay tuned for the final result. 
Be sure to take a little time for yourself. It really is so important.
Rhonda