You Look "Meh"-velous

OK, so remember my "meh" Kwik Sew pants from last week? (The ones with the mysterious pocket gathers?)

Well guess what?  I now have a "meh" jacket to go with it!


First, let's define terms so we're all on the same page.

I know, I know, in the photo the jacket looks nice, and I suppose it is nice, in a way.  But, not unlike its wearer, it has some issues.

My plan was to use this vintage princess-seam shirt pattern, cut off everything below the waist, and then add the same size waistband as my Kwik Sew jeans.  It worked!

However....

Loyal readers, after completing my last buttonhole, after yards of flat-felled seams, I came to the unwelcome realization that I had attached the wrong sleeve to the wrong shoulder -- or is it the wrong sleeve to the right shoulder.  Anyway, I think you know what I mean.

I tugged, I pulled, I twisted, but there was no getting around the sorry truth that, unless I was willing to re-attach my arms, I was going to have to perform some major surgery on this jacket.  And this after 6 pm.

I got my handy-dandy Gingher shears and I sliced those limbs right off (the jacket's, not mine).  I then removed all the remnants of the flat-felled seams, made new faux flat-felled seams (basically just folding under 1/2 inch and topstitching the armscye) and then re-attached the sleeve by edgestitching.

From the outside, you'd never know it.  (Just to clarify: the edgestitching on the seam running top to bottom below is holding the sleeve on; the second row to the right of it is purely decorative.)



From the inside....not pretty, but it works, and it didn't take hours to do.



Of course, this still leaves me with cuffs that button under rather than over (see pic), but I can correct that easily enough by zigzagging the old buttonhole closed and creating a new one on the (new) top of the cuff.





Never a dull moment, huh? 

It's annoying that I never seem to make these mistakes on Cathy's clothes, but only my own.  I hope this isn't a signal of creeping self-neglect or something.  I really do care about having my sleeves on straight, insofar as my arms are on straight and have been for years.

Readers, you can comfort me by sharing your own tales of "meh"-velous sewing.  Remember, these are not the gouge-out-eyes, bang-head-against-wall tragedies, but rather the D'oh! What was I thinking? experiences that, while generally not fatal, leave you with a garment that is, upon close inspection, an undeniable "meh."

Thanks for being there.

Happy Sunday everybody, and please, for my sake, take that extra minute to make sure your sleeves are on straight!