Thursday 13 January 2011

Attempts to reline a jacket

Avid readers (I flatter myself) might remember that a while back I mentioned that I was planning on relining my favourite jacket, a vintage Jaeger tweed jacket that I picked up for a snip from a thrift store. The lining was in pretty bad shape but I wore it for about 3 years before getting round to doing anything about it.

The jacket in action:

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The jacket, plus mangy lining:

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Made in Britain!

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This Christmas, in an alcohol-fuelled over-confident moment of madness, I decided the time had come to do something about this shoddy lining. I set about carefully (as careful as one can be when one is three sheets to the wind) taking the lining out, then took it to pieces to serve as a pattern. At this point caution went out of the window and I completely forgot to follow the very clear, very useful tutorial over on Sewaholic.net, instead opting for a DIY approach. Sigh.

Jacket sans lining:

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The dress, donated by my Grandmother, that will be hacked up for new lining material:

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I cut out the new pieces of lining, using the old pieces as a template, but not bothering to make proper pattern pieces out of paper first. As a result, using slippery material as a template to cut out slippery material, the new lining pieces are looking decidedly wonky. Also, having not looked at them since Christmas, I just got them out to start sewing them together and realised that I cut one of the pieces backwards, meaning I have to cut another piece but the only material I have left now will involve going over an existing seam, leaving a seam line halfway up one piece of lining. I keep telling myself no one but me will notice.

The kitchen floor situation, as of this evening:

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The new piece that needs cutting out, plus seamline. Sigh.

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On top of that, when I laid everything out on the kitchen floor earlier this evening, I put one piece down in what I hope was a puddle of water (where it came from, I have no idea since no one has been in the flat all day) so it now has a dark stain that I hope will vanish when it dries. I'm on the borderline of giving up and starting again (or just shelling out the £60 to get it relined professionally, luckily this isn't a financial option) so have retreated to my study to drink some wine and read other people's much better, more professional blogs about their much better, more professional forays into the world of crafting.

I feel a bit of a failure right now.

6 comments:

Tasia said...

Oh noo! Don't feel like a failure. Most people wouldn't even attempt re-lining a jacket, that's an big undertaking. You get an A for Ambitious!
And, if it helps, I didn't make paper pattern pieces either. (Why bother, you'll only use them once!) So, walk away from the jacket, give it some space.. and then go back and tackle it! Somewhere in my tutorial I wrote 'it doesn't have to be perfect' and it doesn't. The main goal is to give your jacket a new life with fresh clean lining, and leave it better than it was before :)

SewHappyGeek said...

Ya poor thing! Seriously, the seam won't matter! No one will know! You could always try doing it when you're pissed...drunk driving your sewing machine! Lol! That's what my stitching looks like when I practice free motion embroidery!

Lainey said...

Chin-up. We learn far more from our mistakes than from getting things right first time.

M-J said...

haha, Amy I know I shouldn't laugh as it tis a terrible predicament, but your writing style had me in stitches! I know how much use that jacket gets so it is a shame its not all working out, and such a pretty patterned material to use as well (I love anything jadey coloured). However, if it all fails and you need to get some new material/send it to someone more experienced/start from scratch, be happy in the knowledge that you gave it your shot and dealt with it with humour! Also, a lesson to be learned about drink/crafting. Just look at Heather's wallpaper (not the actual wallpaper, more the application technique towards the door, when several glasses of wine had been consumed!).... xxx

M-J said...

P.s. I am an "avid reader"! x

Unknown said...

Aww, thanks everybody! I'm feeling a bit less sorry for myself now though I clearly haven't learned, I'm mid-way through a glass of wine and contemplating trying again!
I think I might have a bath and watch Hugh's Fish Fight instead, much less dangerous!
Hope everyone has a nice weekend :-) xx