Saturday, January 4, 2014

Star Wars rebel alliance wool and leather sweater

I am baaack! I took an unexpected break from blogging through most of December. It is easy to get swept away with the holiday season. Mostly I just took a step a back and enjoyed the time with my family.
Though I started probably a dozen new projects, I didn't finish any. However, all those unfinished projects means that I have a starting point for some fun new things to share! Since I enjoy lots of different forms of art I would like to expand my blog projects to include more than just sewing from time to time. Today, though, I am going to share more sewing...but for the first time I am sharing a manly sewing project!


This is my husband, Kale. He often complains that I never make anything for him. For Christmas, his wish finally came true. I made him a wool and leather Star Wars rebel alliance sweater. Okay, fine, it's faux leather, but it just doesn't sound as tough that way ;)

Sewing for giants has it's challenges though. And, I am only kinda joking when I say "giants". This one here is 6 foot 7 inches tall. I know, wowza, right!? When I hold this sweater up to myself it goes almost to my knees. I kept thinking it looked way too big, but I guess that is just because he doesn't have many properly fitted garments. 


 Since this was supposed to be a Christmas gift, I had to just guesstimate the chest size. I used the Jalie Men's Polo Shirt pattern because it is the only men's pattern I own. It is a great pattern because it comes in sizes from 2 boys through Men's XXXL (See the boy's faux polo shirt I made using this same pattern). I had to modify it a bit but it gave me a great starting point size wise. I basically modified the pattern to make it T-shirt style, then cut the shoulders to add the shoulder accent.


I lined the faux leather shoulder accents with a lightweight jersey to make it more comfortable against the skin. The Star Wars rebel alliance symbol was stitched right on top over the chest. The faux leather did want to stick to my presser foot a bit. I could have used the tissue paper trick to keep my presser foot from sticking but I wanted to be able to visualize my edges well because I was sewing around some tight curves.


My original plan was to just sew this up and add cuffs to the sleeves and waist to make up the extra length. But, since I was silly and cut the sleeves last, I ran out of fabric and had to cut the sleeves a little short. The six inch cuff was not going to be enough. I fought with my self quite a bit on what I was going to do. I thought I might be able to get way with using a  different fabric for the cuffs and make them extra long. Of course, I couldn't find a fabric I thought fit the wool and leather look very well. So I ended up piecing in a strip of leather. Actually, I really like how it turned out!

Now that I know all I only have to add about 10 inches to the sleeve and body of a normal human sized pattern I will probably be doing more giant sewing in the future. Okay, I admit, I only had to add 6 inches, but it felt like 10! Ha!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! I am excited and refreshed for the new year. Can't wait to share more new fun stuff!




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