Wooly waver jacket: everything can't be a winner.

Fun fact: did you know that nice wool coating fabric can cost $20-30/yard? At that rate, plus the time involved, it seems kinds of inefficient to make a wool coat. Not everyone sews to be frugal, but I do. 

So while I wanted to use up flannel scraps and fur leftovers for parts...i didn't have the important outer layer. I found myself with a fabulous pattern and no fabric to sew it. (see this year's resolution. i am a pattern glutton. we all have flaws ;)

Luckily, expensive places like cities also have special super bargain places like the East Bay Depot for Creative REuse. Isn't it great that creative is IN THE TITLE? like, don't just use it, make it GREAT, people. 

On a very productive I scored the bundle above for less than $10. excellent pressing tools, 2-3 yards of wool fabric, and that adorable bunny sateen - maybe a lining? Not wanting to lose my thunder, i took the barfy pink home and plunked it in a stew pot with some aqua dye. 

in process, with instagram filter. looks a dream, no?

it turned out ok. I'd prefer the color were more saturated, but it had gotten really cold out, I'd already dyed my fingers once, and i wanted a flippin coat. 

IT went together really easily. YAY! I interlined with leftover flannel bits from various dresses and PJs, used some paracute cord i bought for a long gone BF for the inner drawstring and, my favorite part, reused some gift fur from a dear friend's 2006 christmas gift for a luscious faux fur hood. 

see? it all fit together so nicely! This lining is some tahari stretch satin i thought i would use for lingerie about a year ago. Turns out I don't wear satin pjs and don't really have a satin lounge robe kind of life. You guys. it's good to be honest with yourself. 

my handstiching is getting better....inside the lovely perfect length everything fit together cuff.

anyway, the color's not great on me. 

the hood is 100 pounds.

all the photos with me in em are on my laptop at work (school).

i think i messed up the button placement.

all those layers in the middle make the cinching kinda lumpy.

image stolen from student artwork @ my school. i love it.

something i'm doing makes all of my lower right plackets wonky.

everything can't be a winner. It's the process sometimes. Learning.

tell me about your near misses?

FO: cookie blouson jacket by waffle patterns

Construction was a nightmare.

I chose the wrong ribbing; wish it were heftier (especially on the collar) and had stronger elastic recovery/ waist cinching. 

The lining rules. The tag is my personal favorite triumph. Those labels, in fact, were the priciest part of the project at $4.50. Everything else was free or pennies through swaps and salvage. Nice, right? 

Right. I love it and I feel fabulous and fashionable. So that rules.

Here's the pattern. I bought it in the sew indie bundle over the summer after stalking the pattern for a year or so.