Continuing my theme of weather incongruent posting, I'm going to take advantage of this 85 degree and humid day to post my spring jackets (note to non New Yorkers: this weather is normal for July, not May). First up is the Lady Grey jacket from Colette patterns. The fabric is a wool/cashmere blend from fabric mart, lined with silk twill. The sizing is RTW, or close to it; I cut a 2 for the jacket (I usually take a 0 in RTW tops, at least in brands aimed at adult women (vs teens/twenty somethings)] and am glad I didnt go smaller. I really like the jacket, but the armholes are strangly tight. They're plenty big enough relative to other jackets I own. but somehow feel tight when I wear them. Also, Colette seems to cut for a bigger bust than most Big 4 patterns. Not a huge deal for the jacket, but would probably be a problem if I tried one of their dresses. Fit issues aside, I do love this jacket, and will likely make it again at some point. I envision lengthening it to knee length for a really cute winter coat, but I will need to resolve the armhole issue so I can fit winter layers underneath. Also, for anyone curious about the medals on my dress dummy - those medals are NOT for sewing! I play in social sports leagues, and those are mine and the bf's from last summer.

The second jacket is perfect for wearing over suit jackets and all those other items that won't fit under my Lady Grey jacket. I wanted a loose jacket with a big portrait collar. Burda had a great one last fall, but was kind of averse to all that tracing (and having to tape together my parchment paper to accomadate the huge pattern pieces). I found vintage Butterick 9927 on ebay and used that instead. The pattern does not call for any closures, but I added 3 big buttons no problem. The fabric is camel hair from fabric mart; the lining is silk twill; the buttons are vintage.

This was my final dress in my basic black dress series, which I actually finished two months ago. Its McCalls 5971. Its a very flattering neckline on me. A tad low for work, but I just wear a sweater over it.

Thats all for now! I have been sewing, but mostly in 45 minute segments here and there, so its been taking me awhile to finish anything. We've had a crazy spring this year in New York - earlier in the week it was 55 and rainy, now its humid and 85, and who knows what it will be next week - and its had me kind of confused, sewing wise. Do I sew summer dresses? Stick with lightweight wools? Ive been stockpiling quilting cottons for months (it cheers me up in the winter) so I have about 10 summer dresses in the queue, but I also want to make some light grey wool skirts and dresses for work, and also want to make another double breasted suit.