If you read my previous post you will know that my lovely husband talked me into buying 1metre of Sherpa when I really only needed about 20cms. This meant that I had enough left over to make a little something.
I had Kwik Sew 4220 in my stash and decided that the gilet pattern would be perfect.
The line drawing shows a central zip, kangaroo style pockets and princess seams. I busily cut it out, then had one of those brain fizzing moments when I realised that it was designed for stretch fabrics and my sherpa had zero stretch. The vest had a 1.5cm seam allowance so I decided to reduce it to 1cm and hope that this would give me enough ease. I duly sewed it up and it was enormous! I had to unpick everything and resew with a 2cm SA and it’s still a little big, but this allows me to fit several jumpers underneath it. I used overlapping seams so that the shearling would show on the outside and made sure that the shearling side was next to my neck on the collar for snuggliness.
I wore it quite a bit in Hong Kong, where it was absolutely perfect to stop the evening chill.
And have worn it almost non-stop since I got to the US. It was exactly right to walk around the Air and Space Museum.
It kept the chill off when I paid an early morning visit to the roof of our hotel. Those pockets are perfect to keep my hands warm
I took it to Washington DC where I wore it constantly, including in the Old Ebbitt Grill, which is a gorgeous building and apparently the oldest saloon in DC.
It is really useful to layer under my 1960s reversible coat. The exposed zip was bought in Singapore about three years ago and I’m really happy to have finally used it. The scarf is knitted from Musk Ox yarn which I bought on our trip to Canada. It is the warmest scarf I own.
I still had some scraps left over so made myself a hat. I self-drafted the hat, based loosely on one of my sun hats. I didn’t line it so that I would have the shearling next to my head. I used some elastic around the inside of the doubled over brim.
It’s quite nice when I wear all the shearling at once.
I feel as though both these makes were a bonus as they were made from leftover fabric and I’m going to enter the gilet in the Sewalongs and Sewing Contests January challenge of Coats, Capes & Cardis, even though it is technically none of those things!