After I officially proposed my ACU transformation project, I went from excited to overwhelmed. I don't usually plan my crafts, they just happen when I'm bored, or I need something to serve a specific purpose. Plans are my pitfall. I've never kept a New Year's resolution (this year: washing, drying, folding and putting away laundry all on the same day. I'm pretty sure the basket of clean laundry has been awaiting folding for about four days now, and if I fold it, that buys me a few more days before I will feel the desire to put it all away. I hate laundry, more than anything.) So I took a step back for a couple days, and over the weekend I started breaking down the jacket.
I like taking clothes apart at the seams with a seam ripper. It saves precious inches, and it's interesting to see how things are put together. After trying to muscle through some super reinforced stitching, and stabbing myself in the hand with the seam ripper, this became a cut-apart-at-the-seams project. I did still have plenty of seam ripping to do to remove the zipper and velcro, but cutting the seams saved me probably a few hours, and countless injuries. Here it is (mostly) broken down!
I started with the back portion, since it was pretty much a flat open section, and I carefully laid out my pattern pieces. I wanted to make sure I fit as many pieces as I could with as little waste as possible, so it was like putting a puzzle together.
I decided to line my patterns with beige canvas, that way I could go farther with the jacket fabric.
Here's what I have so far! These are made from Michelle Patterns. Her patterns are simple and lovely. They come with really great instructions, you can finish them quickly, and they don't require a lot of materials. Pictured above are the Curvy Clutch and The Keychain Clutch.
The Zip Pocket Pouch is probably my favorite. I was terrified to work with zippers before I tried this pattern, and now I want to put them on everything. They make projects look more "professional" to me for some reason.
Last but not least, the little coin purses are a life saver over here in Europe. I never carried money when we lived in America, now we live in a cash-only country where the currency involves A LOT of coinage. Here's the pattern and tutorial, so you can make your own Coin Purse. I printed the pattern at 80%, and the inside area turned out to be about credit card sized, which is perfect for my purposes. The tutorial uses a snap closure, but I've used Velcro or snaps, and they both work fine. :)
Now I have to start really getting creative. I've used all of the nice flat easy pieces of this jacket, and all I have left are the crazy parts! Stay tuned, because this is going to get interesting. Hopefully in a good way!
--CJ
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