Liz Haywood has begun publishing an e-zine called A Year of Zero Waste Sewing, and the March edition has a pattern for a zero waste jacket, the Make it Modular Jacket Pattern, and I decided to make it. I found a sweater knit that had a strong diamond checked pattern, and away I went. I drew up the actual pattern pieces because I needed to pattern match, but forgot to take into account the seam allowance was 1.5cm, not 1cm. I knew my pattern matching would not be fabulous but I was hoping it would be acceptable. I also found a big weaving flaw running through the whole thing which really put paid to the zero waste aspect as I wanted to cut round it. Can you see it?

I made the whole thing, tried it on, and neither Mark nor I liked it. We decided it was the fact that the fabric didn’t suit me. I was considering what to do with it when a friend visited with her daughter and it went home with them. So that’s sorted!

I still wanted to make one, so had a hunt and came up with a old woollen blanket that I bought for $2. It was made in the Albany Woollen Mills, so very local.

I quite like the pale pink and thought it would be perfect for the jacket.

The only photo I took during the making process was this one, where I was using a clapper given to me by Jenny @joeandroxy. I have to say that it made a tremendous difference to the finish of the jacket, although now I’ve worn it for a while I’m going to tidy it up a bit when I get home.

I’ve been wearing it on my trip to Hobart, and it’s just like, umm, wearing a blanket! It is so warm and even the notorious Hobart wind didn’t penetrate it, although my face got pretty cold at one point!

I wore it to catch up with Julie @bayhaus7023 and Sheila @sheilasewsherclothes at the Royal Botanic Gardens. We wandered around looking at the beautiful landscaping and the autumn colours before having lunch. Sheila and Julie were also in clothes they’d made, and of course, sewing was mentioned once or twice!

A couple of things about this jacket. I didn’t belt it as it was too bulky and I’m not keen on belts wrapping round my waist. There was a lot of layers of thickness to sew through at various stages, and I’m definitely not showing you the insides – they are not pretty! Oh all right, I’ll just show you how I neatened up the neck and how I used the label – after I scrubbed it! I did consider unpicking the labels and sewing them back on, but I quite like the fact that they are still attached to the blanket.

Sheila and Julie told me about the new fabric shop in town (ApplePip Project) so I hurtled down there for a look. I haven’t bought any fabric – yet!

I have worn the jacket pretty much full time, and the scarf that Meggipeg gave me from her Painted Threads collection, goes with it so well. This one is entitled Kings Park in Spring and it’s cashmere so it’s light and warm.

We stayed at Salamanca near the wharf and you can see how glorious the weather has been. It does belie the cold though.

We walked to Sandy Bay and found a couple of good spots for photos. I had added a knitted hat and fingerless gloves by this stage as it was late afternoon and was getting chilly.

It’s not the most perfectly made jacket but it cost me $7.50 (pattern and fabric) and I couldn’t be happier.

Bonus photo of Miss G playing with the dog’s ball from the busy book I made. She really likes the feel of velcro. I love that she’s wearing a playsuit that I made her. It’s from a vintage Kwik Sew book that I found in an op shop for $1. Such great value. The poodle that you can see at the bottom of the photo was made for me by my mother and adorned a circle skirt. There was the black poodle on one side and a white one on the other, and we had a black and a white poodle in real life, so I loved that skirt.