Keiro Blyth

I first saw this pattern a little less than a year ago, when an acquaintance of mine had made one of her own. I was completely in awe and though I could never make anything like it. I was encouraged when she said it wasn’t too challenging, and the hardest part for her was picking the fabric. I’d already made a quilted, so clearly the next step would be a quilted jacket!

The pattern comes from Grainline Studio is a pattern company out of the US. For more info and patterns, you can check out their website!

So, I ordered the pattern in from The Makehouse, a sewing store in Victoria that I’d taken some lessons at before.

The Descriptions on the pattern reads:

“Designed with the transitional seasons in mind, the Tamarack Jacket is a warm and stylish quilted coat perfect for spring and fall layering. Follow one of the two quilting designs included, or design your own to make your Tamarack totally original to you! You’ll stay toasty thanks to the inner layer of cotton or wool batting, while the roomy welt pockets will keep your belongings safe and your hands warm.”

As Victoria is in a permanent state of “transitional seasons” I thought this would be perfect. Now, I just have to gather my materials, and decided on fabric and batting!

I finally got my jacket pattern last week, and am still preparing all the materials I need, so in the meantime, I decided to celebrate by making a shirt!

This is my second boxtop from the indie pattern designer All Well Workshop, and my first time doing a ruffle.It took an evening and an afternoon. This blue gingham is a repurposed old curtain I found secondhand at value village.

I’m already starting a third boxtop, this time with no ruffle, but adding long sleeves, in a light pink linen I found also at value village. All of this is good practice as I warm up and gain more skills for the upcoming jacket.

I’ll talk about the pattern in more depth my next post!

Post #1

For my open inquiry, I’ve decided to work on furthering my sewing skills. In the past I have made a couple tote bags, a couple shirts, a dress (with lots of help), MANY drawstring bags, and more alterations than I can count. This all began with a fascination with embroidery, which led to mending, a comic about my great need to sew, owning FIVE sewing machines, and finally making a giant quilt with about 2000 squares. A big focus for my sewing is sustainability. Through slow fashion, I am better able to understand the work that goes into making clothing, I can choose my fabrics thoughtfully, usually opting for secondhand, and I value my clothing more. Almost all the clothing and fabric I buy is second hand, which is very important to my practice.

So, my plan is to make a quilted jacket! Incorporating my love of quilting, clothing, and sustainability, as all the material I will use will be secondhand and scrap fabric.