Happy Homemade - A Beachy Pull Over Parka...

Sunday, June 22, 2014

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So there was a sew-a-long going on over at You and Mie and Elsie Marley.  I'm not a huge sew-a-long person, but this one made me FINALLY break out a Japanese pattern book and make something.

Granted, I bought this book in English.  I have a ton of Japanese pattern books, and have yet to make a thing from them.  Mostly, it seemed like so much work - hunt out the pattern pieces, trace, add seam allowances, try to figure out the directions.  Well, now, having made one pattern from a Japanese book (even if it was in English) did make me really want to actually use the books I already have.

The pattern they chose was the Pull Over Parka.  I had seen this pattern made up tons of times in blog-land.  I was always kind of wishy-washy about it.  But, I really wanted to sew along, so I decided to make my kid one that's kind of beach inspired.  One of the things that Julia and I really like to do together is go to the beach and walk, and collect shells.  So, obviously, she needed a big pocket.  That's the inspiration.

I used some Riley Blake fabric for the contrast, and whale embroidery.  The main parka is made from white linen - yes, I'm a brave woman - white linen on a 4 year old...








So, my thoughts on the pattern - the neckline bugs me.  It's too low.  Other than that, there's things I really like - I like the bound neckline.  I like the drawstring waist.  This is a size 110 and it fits perfectly.  I like the ability to make a sweatshirt-type garment from a woven.

All in all, I'm really happy I did this.  There's other super-cute dress patterns in the book and now I won't be intimidated to try them at all!  Thanks to Meg and Cherie for organizing the sew-a-long and giving me some inspiration!

6 comments:

  1. It looks fantastic. Love the beachy vibe and your whale pocket is great. Except that you'd never want to unpick the neckline once it's sewn, you could shorten the elastic. I was surprised when I made the larger size that the elastic length was unchanged from the smaller sizes (earlier translated book) it was a beast to sew with the elastic stretched to absolute maximum but the resultant neck opening was worth the trouble.
    I look forward to seeing your next Japanese adventure!

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  2. super beachy and super cute!

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  3. Suuuper cute! I love how summery and beachy it is! But yeah, my pre-schooler wouldn't be able to keep that clean for 5 seconds! :P I was going to say the same thing as Lightning McStitch, that shortening the elastic might help a little bit. But even then, the neckline is large. I think it's a style thing, but my personal preference would be to bring the neckline up in both the back (a little) and the front. Anyways, wonderful job! It's so fun!

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  4. It is so adorable!!!!! I just love the pocket. I'd love to give this pattern a try.

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  5. This is really cute! I love that contrast fabric

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  6. Whoa, is that an embroidered Orca? So freaking cool! This got lost in my feed and I just saw it now! One of my favorite hoodies that I've seen. I have the book, but haven't actually broken into it yet. Inspiration!

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