Megan Nielsen Dawn Jeans / A.P.C. Sweatshirt / Smartwool socks / L.L.Bean penny loafers
Hello! It has been such a long time since I\’ve written a blog post–so long that apparently blogger got a refresh and I barely know how to use it anymore. Oops! Apparently it\’s (finally) time to migrate to wordpress, I guess. Anyway, I have a project to share with y\’all today so you\’ll get at least this one last post on blogger 😉
Honestly, I can\’t even remember what month I made this Wiksten Haori in–it belongs to the blur of mid-pregnancy. I know it couldn\’t have been first trimester because I don\’t think I made a single thing during those three months, and I know I wore it last December, so it must have been in October or November 2019! Twenty NINETEEN! I never fell for Wiksten patterns like so many of you did, but last fall, I knew I wanted an oversized jacket for camouflage. I work at the public library and y\’all, I haaaated the thought of all my library patrons asking questions about the pregnancy. With twins especially, I didn\’t relish the idea of having the same conversation (Aw, boy or girl? Twins?! Do twins run in your family? etc. etc.) with every stranger that popped in to use the printer. Hence, a giant jacket, large enough to disguise a second trimester twins bump but light enough to look unassumingly indoors-y.
I did make some changes to the pattern–like many people I only used the one half of the neck binding, to make it narrower. I also changed the pockets and collar/front band seaming. All of these were inspired by Japanese streetwear brand Visvim. Here is one version of their Dotera coat, from FW18 I think:
I was not going to attempt welt pockets with pregnancy brain fog, but I kept the angled pockets by just redrafting the pocket piece and sewing it into the front band and side seam. If you look at my close up shot, you can also see that I have a seam mid-front band, and some interior ties, also inspired by this coat. I added some interior patch pockets and I can\’t remember if that was based on this coat or not! My plan was to add zigzag topstitching to the front band too, for a full copycat look, but I ran out of coordinating thread and haven\’t gotten any as of today. I could still do it, I suppose.
The exterior of this is Robert Kaufmann Ventana twill, the same fabric I used for my Deer and Doe trench. The lining is a mid-weight linen. I included the photo of the back with the lining rolling out because I would suggest anyone making this pattern use a little self-fabric facing on the hem–it would give it a bit of structure and prevent this from happening. In the Visvim coat, you can see that there\’s some of the exterior fabric visible at the hem on the inside. I assume this is a more traditional coat hem but for laziness\’s sake, using a self-fabric facing would let you follow the instructions as written and doesn\’t involve any drafting beyond one rectangle for which the height doesn\’t really even matter.
If you are here at the end, thanks for reading! Let\’s all place bets on when google stops supporting blogger.
xoxo,
allie
ps: apologies for the indoor photos–it\’s all we\’re getting for the forseeable future haha
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Can we see a photo of the twins? Names? Thank you.