I’ve been away on a Fibres West retreat and a couple of days before I left I decided I needed some jackets that weren’t fleece. I had a small wool remnant in my stash and made the Itch-to-Stitch Lisbon cardigan but wanted to hack it like this one.
I was thrilled that a zip I bought in a closing down sale in Montréal proved to be absolutely perfect. It’s plastic but painted to look like metal.
I was in the throes of making this jacket when Sarah, my patternmaking teacher, came by for a coffee. I’m a terrible person and asked her advice about the collar and before I knew where I was we were making it, and she even did some of the unpicking, which seems to be an ongoing feature of my sewing! I think this goes above and beyond the call of teaching…
Anyway, I managed to get it finished in time and even grabbed some photos before I left.
I had finished the whole thing, tried it on and then realised that there were no pockets. It just didn’t occur to me until my hands went looking. So the side seams were opened, and a single layer of pocket inserted and sewn to the front. With the coverstitch, of course!
The zip veers off to one side so that the collar becomes asymmetrical when the zip is done up fully.
The massive collar means that my neck and ears stay warm.
The jacket is very fitted so that it keeps me really warm. I duly took it off to Muresk, which is a really cold place, and it totally did its job. Here I am looking sartorially elegant hanging out near the dye pots. 
Please note the handcrafted name tag. This is the best I can do – a bit of electrical wire bent into shape and glued onto card. All of this is from REmida, our local recycling centre.
And here with my head in the pot checking on my stuff. 
I am really pleased to have a wool jacket that functions like a fleece. I did try to finish a second jacket before the week away, but just couldn’t quite finish it.
The wool is from Knitwit and they still had some today if anyone local wants to get some.