Echoes of childhood there! But the reason for it is this jacket;  No I haven’t been attacked by a large dog, I did this deliberately and what is more I did it to the other side as well!.

I made the jacket a few weeks ago and when I finished it, it looked like this,

and I have to admit it was a bit of a “that’ll do pig” moment   [ref.BABE, just in case your wondering].  Can you see what I mean? It is not often I invite people to look at my bust area, but really? –  just look! Even allowing for my lousy photography you can see how out of proportion it all is and I am certainly not that well endowed.

I knew I was in a bit of trouble when the jacket kept being put back in the wardrobe. It has never been worn and would probably never have seen the light of day again if it wasn’t for the lovely Janet Pray and her Craftsy course “Sew Better-Sew Faster”. Never mind the Sew Faster bit, although that can help sometimes, it is the Sew Better bit that got me.

She starts off with what you might think are just basics and if you have been sewing for more years than most people have been alive you could just think “yeah, yeah……”. But she really has some gems [obvious ones, granted – but ones I hadn’t thought of] right at the beginning.  I will do a review of what I found particularly helpful in another post, but her professionalism and common sense really appealed to me and although the jacket made during the course is nothing like the one above, I made a mental note ” no more that’ll do pig” – get it right “.  SO the jacket came out, the lining came out, the front seams came out, more fitting, more pressing, more sewing and then putting all back together, what fun!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I did promise some pictures of my lovely new sheds, which I am sure you have all been dying to see. But even if you’re not, here they are – they still fill me with delight when I look out of my kitchen window. All I can say is ‘thank heaven for little girls, because they bring lovely sons-in-law into your life who can do things like this.[Only joking girls]