It’s Monday again.
Working overtime Mon-Thurs this week to be off Friday… I think this is my first time doing this since I started working from home? Last year I had a bunch of extra time to burn at the end of the year so I didn’t have to ration my vacation days.
Anyway, the past week has been ALL JACKET ALL THE TIME!
What jacket, you may ask? Because I didn’t mention it last post, I don’t think. It was a military jacket for a production Bye Bye Birdie – after all the crying and gnashing of teeth of the 2 month build of my husband’s suit jacket last year, I made a suit jacket in less than week.
I mean, it wasn’t exactly the same project as Chase’s jacket but still. A lot of what I learned from that build last year really helped this year.
Mock-up done in some lining fabric. They wanted a military feel but not outright military – suit jacket mixed with military. So I frankensteined 2 patterns – Simplicity 8528 and McCall’s M4745. The lapel/collar of the simplicity jacket, the back seams, sleeves and hem of the mccall’s jacket. And in both cases taking them up a LOT because the actor was smaller than the smallest size. I only had one measurement to work with – 30″ waist.
So I got this mock-up assembled and sent off for a fitting. Thankfully it fit him pretty well. I added some width in the front panels when I cut the real fabric.
Real fabric was a stretch tweed that was actually really nice to work with. Front panel is self lined. Left the back unlined.
It does NOT fit my dressform well. Or me. So it was hard to get a decent photo. The hips and boobs of the dressform get in the way LOL. Finished the interior edge of the front lining and collar by hand and the hem on the back by hand.
I also made a quick shirt for underneath it out of some gold satin. I didn’t take any pics of it apparently though.
Saturday afternoon-night-Sunday-morning I spent laboring over the gold satin trying to make the trim for the jacket. We wanted to trim the lapels/collar and the sleeves with it. That satin did NOT want to cooperate. Going around all the edges of the collar… the satin just rippled and looked tortured – which it was, by my fourth time ripping it off and trying to reapply it. I finally finished it, Sunday morning. Put it on the dressform, stepped back… and immediately it took the jacket off the form, got my scissors, and removed all the trim. It just looked TOO BAD. I could not send it out into the world like that.
Mom and I went up to try it all on him – Jacket fit ok, a little snug and a little bit in the back of the sleeves. Pinned where to let it out and where to take it up, and mom and I made the decision to use some trim she’d bought for the jacket instead. (Mom made the pants.) It looks really cute on him so I was overall really happy!
The trim worked SO MUCH BETTER! I had this on in 10 minutes vs the 10 hours I spent on the satin.
Got the alterations made, button holes done (2 messed up, of course, can’t ever do all the buttonholes easily), trim applied.
Interior sewn back up. Done? I hope so.
Mom’s taking it up to the theater this afternoon and fingers crossed it fits him better. I let it out at the side and side back seams – couldn’t let out the back seam because it buckled funny when I tried. Worst case scenario is adding a panel. Hopefully not.
I did finally try this on:
Overall really happy with it. Need to figure out shoes and now that I’m (hopefully) done with the jacket I can get back to working on the snoods. I’m seriously over the snoods but I can’t find anything I close enough to just buy soooo… onwards.
My office was in a seriously messy state all week due to working so quick on the jacket. But I discovered this sad cartoon girl face in the trash on my floor.
Luna was being a trashball all weekend, but late last night as I was finishing up she curled up in the midst of Chase’s photo tour equipment he had in my office and fell asleep, it was cute.
That’s all I have this week. no art update – last week was too busy with the jacket.
And not much of a Sims update this week, either. I’ve made life too easy for them. After they all finished college I got a few of them jobs. But they’re all happy and healthy and well fed and having a good time. The only hiccup they ever have is only having one bathroom and they’re constantly walking in on one another. When they all get up in the morning it’s like, ok, who has to go the WORST, ok you go first, quick!
But that did lead to the one death so far. I was trying to get Hux into the bathroom because he really had to go. But somebody else got in there before him and shooed him out. He walked outside and immediately peed himself. So he became “very embarrassed.” I got whoever was in the bathroom out and sent him in there to take a bath. But then Rey came in to use the toilet and walked in on him and he went from “very embarrassed” to “mortified.” He got out of the bathtub, changed into his normal clothes… and disappeared.
Immediately I see the rest of the sims turn “blue” which means they’re all sad. But there’s no urn, no grave stone, the Grim Reaper didn’t appear… nothing. Hux was just GONE.
Despite not having a grave or urn his ghost has called a few times inviting the other sims to the Spice Festival or whatever. LOL.
But since I had an open space on the lot now, Rey and Kylo had a kid. He is Han Skywalker. He’s a troublemaker. I had to put his bed outside of the main bedroom and lock the door because he would go in and scream and wake all the adults up otherwise. STay out in the dark living room by yourself, toddler! I don’t care if you’re scared!
In terms of other relationships, Hux and Poe were kind flirty for a while. But Poe was the least upset when Hux died (at least, he stopped being sad faster than everybody else). And for some reason half of them have “bad’ reputations and I have no idea why. Like Snap Wexley has an “awful” reputation. He hasn’t done anything. I don’t get it LOL. Oh and Connix got hit by lightning but she’s ok.
I’m mostly just letting them do what they want beyond making sure they go to the bathroom and don’t walk in on each other.
I’m really wanting to buy Tiny Living. I had no interest in it til I found out there are murphy beds that can kill sims. Now I want it. Do I really want to spend $10 on murderous murphy beds for my Star Wars sims? Yes, yes I do.
I’ve decided next family on the lot will be a family of tiny faced vampires. I dunno why.
Oh! I nearly forgot.
Chase’s first pass at printing my Raddus Bridge Leia bracelet. He’s got some tweaks to do. But I randomly saw it on the stairs this morning so I took a pic. LOL