Why is it that with some projects you love every minute creating? And others you dread coming back to? Burda 8185 is one pattern that I just loved!

I sized this one up since I read on Pattern Review that it ran small. It turned out a bit big so I probably could have cut this one inbetween sizes instead of going one size up. So what are the the things that I loved about this pattern? I liked that all the pieces went together so well. I loved all the topstitching, the zipper, and the carriers on the 'waist'. Most of all, I love that I didn't have to pay $40 for it!

I did run into a few problems - for one, I never did figure out what a schmal was. I gathered from looking at the photo it's the area where the collarband and the jacket come together. None the less, that's the area I topstitched! My fabric was also a pretty heavyweight denim, so some areas were difficult to topstitch - the carriers were almost impossible to get under my presserfoot!

so since the completed project photo is so dark, here's a (very) large more detailed photo:

So now here's my question. Should I distress it or keep it as is?

Suprise, suprise. I got a lot of sewing done yesterday! So much, in fact I got about half the cropped jacket finished! So, I sat down to pick up where I left off and then, ran into problems......

I got the collar attached. Now I am supposed to baste the edges and topstitch the collar and the schmal. What in the heck is a schmal? I'm guessing it's the portion of the neck\collar edges? I've never heard of that one before. So, I shrugged off that got ready to topstitch and then.... ran out of thread. I'm psyching myself up to head to the store to pick up more. Let's hope I get the color right!

So, I've been talking so much lately about making this cropped jean jacket, that I thought I better put it up on the sidebar! This pattern is a bit different that what you might find in RTW cropped jackets right now as this one has a front zipper. I think that it ought to give this an interesting look - however, I'm not thrilled with my zipper as it is almost impossible to find a 10" heavyweight separating zipper.

For the fabric, I am using a dark indigo heavyweight Ralph Lauren denim that I got from Fabric Mart's denim bundle.