The Benefits of Slowing Down

Friends, are you fast?  Let me rephrase that: do you like to get things -- sewing projects in particular -- done in a hurry?

Partly because I have a lot of time to devote to sewing and partly because I am impatient by nature, once I get started on a project, I'm usually anxious to finish it.  When I'm on a roll, I can literally sew all day and (almost always regrettably) into the night.

But I'm trying to convince myself to slow down a bit.  Case in point: my jacket project.

Remember how I told you that Mood didn't want me discussing my work-in-progress before I posted the final results on their site?  Well I was wrong.  So remember this swatch, a Marc Jacobs poly silk taffeta with a soft-focus photographic daisy print?



Well I now own two yards.



The plan is to create a windbreaker-style jacket and matching shorts.  I know it's a bit over the top but I'm going for it.

The jacket came together in no time.  I had the perfect matching YKK separating zipper from Sil Thread (which they cut to order for $1 extra).  Total: $4. 



The details of attaching it are too tedious to go into (it took hours) but once it was in, I didn't like it.  It's going to be exposed, so it has to be really, really nice.  This zipper, while it matched perfectly, didn't feel substantial enough once it was in.  So I unpicked the whole thing and am going to upgrade to a better quality zipper.  I'll use this one for something else.

Because of the bold print, I've decided to go with a very simple jacket design.  Something like this, only in daisy-print poly silk taffeta.  And raglan sleeves.



I haven't decided on how I'll deal with pockets.  A patch pocket -- the original plan -- will interrupt the pattern.   I should do a single welt diagonal pocket, which will look cleaner.  I just don't like the idea of an exposed pocket bag in what will be an unlined jacket.  (I bought lining just in case, but it doesn't feel right in the jacket, which has a lot of body already.)  Also, the idea of cutting open the jacket front scares me.  It's taffeta, after all, albeit extremely sturdy taffeta (it also doesn't water spot).

Honk if you love daisy prints.

So I'm taking two steps back and allowing myself to take a break from this for a few days.  If I want, I can start on the shorts, which should be more straightforward.  Since the fabric is so unusual, decisions that seemed final are changing.  The biggest challenge is that this not end up looking like a rain jacket.  The sheen and stiffness of the fabric gives it that quality.  Lord knows what Marc Jacobs did with it.

My other challenge is that I am likely to use every last bit of yardage.  In the absolute worst case I could purchase more, I suppose.  I hope not to have to, so I don't want to mess up.

In closing, friends, do you ever have to talk yourself into slowing down for the good of a project -- when you're racing for no reason other than some combination of enthusiasm and impatience?  Does your project end up looking better as a result?

And how about zippers?  Do you splurge for the fancy ones (like Riri's) or are YKK's good enough?  Before now I never gave zipper quality a second thought.

I still have a week to get this done, which sounds like plenty of time.  Maybe I need to make some more vintage underwear...

Have a great day, everybody!