On fewer patterns, more sewing

The more I go to New York to see my son and his girlfriend the more I am acquiring good fabric of the kind that I don't want to mess up by cutting into it with an experimental pattern.

This is elevating the importance of the tried and true pattern for me.

Of course I am and will be using new patterns but I am getting choosier about them. When I have something I really like I am going back to the patterns I know will work.

In the last little while I have made a few things from old patterns and liked them, in fact they are part of my wear a lot roster in way that my "on trend" garments, after a short while, are not.

Here they are. 

The first was this plain T shirt made in a cotton single knit. Nothing exciting and if I make it again I might bring in the sleeve seam for an update, but easy to wear. I used this old but still available Burda pattern:

In addition to attached dog, note rumpled sewing shorts and jewelled flip flops from Florida (can't buy anything like that here) the old legs need no introduction or explanation

My point here is that sometimes a good old plain pattern is pretty handy.

Which brings me to my most useful garment of the season, particularly now back in the province where fall passes for summer.

The fabric came from Elliot Berman in NYC and is sort of a knit quilted cotton/poly. A sharp eyed blog reader sent me good advice on how to sew this and that really helped.

I used an old pattern Loes Hinse's Sweater Coat that like many of her patterns is somewhat dated now, bringing up the shoulder/armhole seam and bringing in the sides so it had a more current fit. Next time I will also draft a back neck facing or apply tape over the collar seam - Loes always has you just serge this but that shows when the jacket is open.

For closures I used big snaps I got at M&J Trimming and they turned out to be a really good idea because the weight of them helps the knit front hang better, sort of a vertical version of a Chanel chain at the bottom of a jacket.

My favourite part of this pattern is the shape of the collar, which is flattering but not too high around the neck so it lies nicely, and the patch pockets set into the side seam.

Such a nice pattern, now it has been updated, why not use it again and again?