Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Jacket's done and some other stuff

First of all, let me say thank you for your kind comments. And all of them positive, as I had asked for! That whole energy thing is a force to be reckoned with.
green cord jacket
Now, back to the jacket. This is the cuff. I have sewed it to the wrong side of the sleeve, sewed the ends together and turned them and now I have pinned the folded and trimmed edge to the outside. If you make the photo large and look closely, you can see the line of stitching that attaches the cuff. The folded edge will just cover that line and the cuff itself will be sewed to the sleeve with topstitching.
green cord jacket
Here I am, sewing the cuff to the sleeve with a line of topstitching.
green cord jacket
Once I had finished ALL the topstitching (each line has a duplicate, parallel line so there are two rows everywhere), it was time to attach the snaps. I just use the kit snaps and they come with two tools. You cut a tiny hole in the fabric with this one tool, by hammering it through the fabric and then you put the snap pieces in place and hammer them together using the other tool to crimp the pieces of metal together.
green cord jacket
It works pretty well until the hammer slips off the tiny tool and smashes you in the thumb. Not a crisis (although it does really hurt) but when you have chemo, the chemicals break down your blood cells too and you can bleed pretty badly, so I iced this as soon as I had smashed it.
green cord jacket
Once I got back upstairs, I realized I could hold the tiny tool with a pair of pliers and couldn't believe I had not thought of it before. It was a slap myself in the head, duh kind of moment.
green cord jacket
And here it is! I am all decked out with Christmas colour accessories because Christmas is tomorrow. I bought some large scarves for my now bald head but I find I am most comfortable in this little knit cap I got from the MEC for bike camping, or all the old scarves I bought for my beloved dog when she was alive. Wearing her scarves is a sort of homage to her too.
gift bag
And then I had some time to make a couple of gift bags that can also be used as shoe bags. When you live in snow country, you wear boots everywhere but bring your shoes when you visit peoples' homes and shoe bags are always welcome.
gift bag
I had two pieces of some upholstery fabric that were just big enough for women's shoe bags. The only thing I miscalculated was the size of the pocket for the draw string. If in doubt, leave more room.
gift bag
I was using this fairly fine, nylon cord I had so I thought I didn't need much room. And it does move through the sleeve well enough.
gift bag
But the fabric is so thick that it doesn't bunch up much and it would have been better to have a slightly larger casing. However, I am not willing to re-do it now. Anyway, if it's just for shoes, it doesn't need to be tight at the top.

I wish everyone a Merry Christmas for tomorrow.

12 comments:

Shannon said...

Your jacket is wonderful - you certainly do look like Christmas wearing it with all the red accessories!

You brought a tear to my eye when you spoke of your dog's scarves - isn't it amazing how love much a pet brings into our lives?

Merry Christmas - I wish you serenity and joy for the new year.

Linda said...

Aggh. You make it all look so simple

Claire S. said...

I just knew I was going to love that jacket - great job !

Merry Christmas !!!

Vicki said...

Merry Christmas :)

Anonymous said...

The jacket looks really good paired with black, love it!

Hope you are having a very nice holiday. It is over here, almost midnight now.

Heather

JuliaR said...

Thanks Shannon. "Serenity and joy" are lovely wishes.

Darwen R., I try! But didn't you see my boo-boo!?

Thanks Claire and Vicki!

Heather, I wore it with red yesterday and it was a little bright! I think black may be the best complement. White might be good too.

Diana said...

Love that jacket!
Now that Christmas is over, have a wonderful new year!

Anonymous said...

Julia, I have to ask-are you Dutch? With a name like Ringma from Ontario, it makes sense. My last name is Veltkamp and we live in Manhattan, MT, another heavy Dutch area. It's fun to track the immigration of the Dutch to the US and Canada. A really strong people!

JuliaR said...

Marty, my grandfather was Friesian and immigrated back in the 20s. I carry his surname but that stubborn Dutch is blended with the equally hard-headed Scottish from my mother's side. I guess I am Saxon through and through! Combine that with being a Canadian and I positively relish the damp cold. Not! Actually, I compare myself with a seal as they love basking on a rock in the hot sun. Or a dog that follows the sunshine through the house as the day moves on. You can tell I miss being outside on a bike. Soon!

JuliaR said...

PS Marty, I see you are near Bozeman which is mentioned in "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance", which I am currently re-reading. I didn't know the Dutch had settled in Montana. I have never been but I understand it is beautiful. In fact, I want to visit those big, beautiful western states one day. I am also reading "The Daily Coyote" which I got for Christmas this year, after following the blog all the past year. So much to do!

Anonymous said...

Montana is very beautiful. The winters can be brutal, but being from Canada I'm sure you understand all about that! The Gallatin Valley where we live is surrounded by mountains. It is strange when we travel not to see the mountains rising up on the horizon. The Dutch settled mostly south of here, creating their own farming community, churches, etc. More than 90% of all seed potatoes sold in the US are grown in this area.

That said, I don't think I'm really created for this climate. Since our retirement, we have spent a little time in Mexico, on the Pacific coast. Now there's where my body wants to live! You and I could find lots of warm rocks to sun ourselves!

We have a former pastor/friend who is from Hamilton, Ontario and now pastors a church in Brampton. We keep threatening to visit him, but so far we haven't gotten there. I do like Canada-so clean and friendly!

Ann Made Studio said...

Your jacket looks wonderful on you!
You did a great job.
After reading your earlier post my first reaction was OMG and then WOW, honestly you have such a fantastic attitude! I agree that a Positive attitude brings strength and energy!
You are totally claiming this quote- "Affirm the positive, visualize the positive and expect the positive, and your life will change accordingly".
Thank you for sharing your experience.
BTW :) I think I'm one of those Canadians that apologize when I bump into furniture :)...I like that....good one :)
I wish you all the best in the New Year.