On Making a Sweater Coat and Giant Bubbles

So, I made Jayce a sweater, but I didn't knit it.  Which is kind of an awesome way to make a sweater, in my opinion.   

I got this incredible brown woven fabric at the Knitting and Stitching show in October.  It was a beautiful mix of browns with the occasional red and yellow, it's Alexander Henry, and when I acted disappointed that the guy only had about a meter and a half of it left he gave it to me for 10 pounds.  Awesome.  I have never sewed anything with this type of fabric before and I was a little unsure of how it would turn out but it was so nice that I just had to give it a shot! 

I used the Five and Ten Designs Volume Two book for the pattern for this sweater coat, which you may remember is what I used to make Hannah's Tablecloth Rain Jacket.  (PS-The coat and dress volumes are both on sale now with a Black Friday discount, so if you've been on the fence you should get it this weekend.)  I used the basic pattern block, a size 6 with the long length, and fully lined it.  The bodice is lined with a really plush soft fabric and the sleeves are lined with a brown silky fabric so that it is easy to put on over a long sleeved shirt.  I had originally planned to add a hood, but now that temperatures have finally dropped into the 40's I know that Jayce will be less likely to wear this as a coat and more likely to wear it as a sweater, and I didn't want to deal with a bulky hood underneath his winter coat.  So I swapped the hood out for a big fuzzy collar and it worked.

However, it was in the 50's on this day so he did wear it as a coat for the pictures. :)

Also, the toggles.  I have never used toggles and I think they look just so cool.  I wasn't sure how stretchy the fabric would be and I didn't want it to warp out of shape with a zipper, and I was worried about doing a buttonhole with sweater/plush fabric combo, so toggles seemed like a good option.  They keep the sweater snug around Jayce's torso without pulling anything out of shape, and I think the detail looks really good.  I love it.   

Jayce loved it.  I kept trying to flip the collar down, but he kept popping it back up because he liked how soft it was on his neck, which was a-okay by me!

 

When we were leaving the Science Museum there was a man outside with an enormous bubble maker and a ton of kids were running around chasing the bubbles, including mine.  In case you were wondering what it looks like when a huge bubble breaks over a kid, see the above right picture.  So cool.

I was so so glad that I had my camera. 

It was all sorts of magic and excitement until Hannah wiped out big time and got a huge goose egg right in the middle of her forehead.  Then it occurred to me that a ton of slippery bubble liquid on the pavement with lots of running excited children is actually a terrible idea.  Sigh. 
Oh well.  It was good while it lasted I guess.