Dorothy's Fleece Jacket

In my last post, I showed you the purses that I had made my childhood neighbor, Dorothy. I thought it would be fitting to show you the jacket that I made her as well.

Since I knew that she would probably be saddened by the sudden change in her living situation and she would most likely be much chillier since she had moved to Wisconsin, I thought a nice fleece jacket would be a good winter gift. When I saw this paisley print, it spoke to me and what it said was "Dorothy".

The pattern for her jacket was the same one I used to make a similar fleece jacket for my mom (pics to come, someday) so I felt comfortable that I knew what I was doing. That, unfortunately, was my first mistake. One of many.

Apparently in my overconfidence, sewed the upper front parts of the jacket to the wrong lower front parts. This I didn't realize until I tried to put the sleeves in. I assumed that I had sewn something else on incorrectly, so I ripped out the stitching from the front to the back and sewed it all back together in what I thought was the correct configuration. It wasn't until I went to put the zipper in that I realized my true mistake. By then it was too late to tear it all apart, so instead of a zipper, I improvised with some bias tape button holes and some custom covered buttons that matched the blue fleece lining.

I don't know how much traveling Dorothy will do while up in Wisconsin, so I assumed that she would probably use this jacket to stay warm in her living areas rather than use it to try to face the cold outdoors. I considered the fact that she may be living with neighbors who may mistake some of her items for their own, so I chose to give her a hand embroidered monogram so that she will always know that this jacket is hers.

I hope you all enjoy it as much as she has.