Well, I really just got lazy. I spent the rest of the morning working on the sleeves and decided that I really, really didn't want to make my own bias binding. I did that for my original Hot Patterns Wrapture Jacket and while it looked good, it was quite a bit of work. I was also afraid that the twill I was using would create too much bulk. So, I broke down and purcsed a package of bias tape. Several hours later I had completed my Anthropologie Geranium Sweater Jacket look-alike!

I'm going to post a full review over at Pattern Review tonight - I'll post a link incase anyone wants further information on how to make this jacket.

UPDATE I posted a review of the pattern on PR tonight. Here's a link with more info on the changes I made to the jacket.

I woke up this morning to golf ball size hail hitting the house, my body ached from Saturday's softball practice (and a bit of golf on Sunday), and the phone has not stopped ringing this morning - it's definately a Monday!

I'm determined to finish up this jacket tonight (I'll post when I'm done). I trimmed off the excess fabric in the banding area in an attempt to soften it up a bit. I'm now working on the sleeves - let's hope all goes well!

In between shooting BB guns and Taylor's softball practice (in 90 degree temps!), I managed to get in a bit of sewing time. It seems like I'm making slow, but steady progress on this jacket. Today I finished the banding and attached it to the jacket:

I wound up cutting out the section of the jacket where I wanted the banding to go. I think that it gives it a more finished appearance. The banding does make the jacket a bit stiff - I think that it's mostly because I didn't trim the seam allowanc. I'm going to have to see if I can do this before I go any further.

I also attached the facing to the jacket. Now I have the sleeves (more bands on the sleeves), the binding (which I am dreading) and a buttonhole to go.

I didn't have a lot of time to work on my jacket today, but I did manage to attach the collar:

Of all the problems that I thought I would run into, the collar was not one of them. But after constructing the collar and attaching it to the jacket, I realized that the collar is HUGE. I spent about 45 minutes fiddling with it to scale it down to a smaller size. I think that I finally have it the way that I want it!

I also started on the banding as well:

I played around with some scrap fabric first and determined that I would make 1 1/2 inch strips and sew them together in 1/2 inch seems to make the banding around the middle (and on the lower part of the sleeves). So far I've got 3 attached, so 4 more to go!

I plan on attaching the banding to the jacket, then attach the facing, then bind the entire jacket. WHEW!

Well, I've been talking a lot about my Anthropologie look-alike, so I'm happy to say, I finally got it started!

Alright, so it's not much, but it's a start! Since this jacket is unlined, I serged the raw edges to give it a more finished look. I think that the fit is a bit looser than the original, but since the original is a sweater knit and my fabric is twill, I'm not sure I'll be comfortable wearing something that tight.

Now that the basic shape is there, I'm going to work on the banding and attach the collar.

My jacket fabric has been cut! Thankfully Anthropologie has that zoom feature on all their clothing, so I've been closely studing the sleeves and the red band around the jacket midsection. I finally decided that for both of these areas, I'm going to made strips of fabric and sew them together to give it the layered, 'ribbed' look.

While I was picking up jacket notions (thread, interfacing, etc.), I stopped by Needle Nook Fabrics. This is a store that specializes in stretch fabrics and lingerie supplies (they have lots of classes too). I got some wonderful white cotton, lycra jersey and stretch laces for Jalie 2568. I managed to trace this pattern out, wash the fabrics, and cut everything out. I'm hoping that this pattern will produce the perfect pair of panties!

I had a really weird dream last night and in it, I was making my wrap dress (seriously!). I thought that was a sign that I should start on this pattern today.

So, I traced the pattern and started cutting into my fabric. After cutting a few pieces, I realized that this fabric is WAY too busy for me. It might not be so bad, but the design is too small and you've got it going in several different directions. I think that the whole wrap look would be lost in this fabric. Without any new fabric to cut into, I decided to focus on my Ready To Wear knockoff - the Anthropologie inspired Sea Bee Capris and Geranium Sweater Jacket.

I got the capris cut and mangaged to just barely squeeze out enough fabric for this pattern. I think that the denim must have shrunk quite a bit when I washed them. I also cut the pattern out for the jacket. I've been mentally preparing how I'm going to make this one - I think the best thing to do with the wide red band in the middle is to directly place it on top of the jacket instead of cutting the pattern apart and inserting it. I'm going to set it aside for the night and think about it some more.

As another entry into Pattern Review's RTW knock-off contest, I decided on one of Anthropologie's sweater jackets. I love the print, but darn if it isn't hard to find something similar out there. I scoured the internet for days searching several sites and wound up finding some similar fabric at Hancock Fabrics. It's a stretch twill (not like the sweater knit in the inspiration jacket) that will need to be washed several times to get a better hand. I'll also need to find some solid stretch red twill for the bindings and waist section, but I figure that will be much easier to find! The pattern itself will require some alteration, not something I'm motivated to tackle right now.