This tour is about sewing for the transition from summer. While the last couple of days have finally been beautiful, it sure hasn’t felt like “Sew-long, Summer” much at all!

However, as they do, the seasons will change. In the transition zone, you can’t usually predict the weather, not will it be the steady over the day; it can be hot, warm, or breezy and a little chilly in a single 24-hour span! So for the interim: an elbow-sleeved jacket to toss on as needed. Too warm for the heat of summer (but perfect for the indoor AC), great for transition days when you’re not quite ready for fleece and definitely not ready for down & shearling!

HotPatterns 1031 Boulevard Cardigan-Jacket! I’m not even sure how long I’ve had this pattern, but when Melissa mentioned “transitions” in describing the Sewlong Summer tour…. it immediately jumped to mind. (And in keeping with the theme of another sewing group I’m in – this is made entirely from stash!)

I love HotPatterns’ drafting, but the niggling thing I don’t like is the “same weight/print” lines, regardless of size. I usually deal with this by carefully tracing out the size, or blended size, I need; this time I went with a straight size, and was out of the tissue I usually trace on, so I marked all the cutting corners with highlighter so my eyes would stay uncrossed…. and so I wouldn’t make a mistake in cutting!
The fabric I chose is an embossed poly knit. I know, poly! But it has good recovery, and looks fairly decent, so I gave it a try. I loved the texture.

The construction of this jacket went fairly quickly – perhaps my skill level might be considered intermediate now? The pattern is labeled intermediate, but what I think may actually push it to intermediate is the minimalistic instructions! On the plus side for speed is that I ended up not needing any pattern adjustments, a very rare thing indeed.

So…. a bunch of construction and detail pics! 🙂

And, the finished jacket! It’s very comfortable, just enough stretch. 

Blog tour notes! 

Check out the participants’ blogs:

• Sept. 12th Sewing by Ti,  Cindy Parrett,  Sewing Vortex, Renata Laura, Couturious, Nina Makes
• Sept. 13th mahlicadesigns, Musings of a Seamstress, Rainy Day Sewing, Sprouting Jube Jube, Sewing A La Carte, Anne-Mari Sews
• Sept. 14th AppleGreen Cottage, mahlicadesigns, Kaleidothought, PrettiModesti, Olive Ashby, Sewing Bee Fabrics
• Sept. 15th Lulu & Celeste, Diane Cullum of Two Chicklets, Adventures With Bubba and Bug, Wining Wife, The Pumpkin Room, Sewing A La Carte, Anne-Mari sews
• Sept. 16th Sewing by Ti, Musings of a Seamstress, Tales of a Tester, Almost a hippy, At Margareta’s Haus, Sewing A La Carte, Birds Of A Kettle

Don’t forget to enter the raffle, sponsored by Blue Dot Patterns, Zierstoff Patterns, and On the Cutting Floor. 

Fun discounts and coupon codes from our sponsors:

• Zierstoff Patterns 20% off patterns   Code: zierstoffpatterns20  Ends 9/17/16
• Blue Dot Patterns       25% off patterns    Code: SewLongSummer  Ends 9/17/16
• On the Cutting Floor   50% off patterns   Code: SEWLONG   Ends 9/17/16