Camo Tamarack
Pattern: Pattern: Tamarack Jacket by Grainline Studio
Fabric: Cotton-Linen blend from Stone Mountain & Daughter + silky rayon lining and wool batting from Stitch Sew Shop
Sewn up: September 2020
My first jacket! Also my first time quilting, first time lining something, first snaps, first welt pockets. Having never quilted before, it took me a minute to warm up to the project – I cut the pieces last fall, then they sat in my closet for a year. But I broke them back out this September by necessity of not having a jacket, and sewed it up over the span of two weeks.
I felt particularly motivated to have a great jacket to wear out and about, as I had somehow, despite all the heavy news this year, found myself in a real life rom-com dreamscape late in the summer. Having met someone I was very excited about, my heart was high with hopes of wandering arm in arm around the city in all of its chilly fall glory, with my arms also covered in this fun jacket! Sadly it was not to be, and we parted ways just as this jacket got its snaps. All of these photos were in fact snapped by my friend Anne about ten minutes after I sobbed into my hands while she patted my shoulder supportively from a social distance - it is a testament to her healing powers that I look (and felt) so happy in these photos!
As it turns out this jacket is fun to wear out and about when it’s just me. I take long walks most days, and somehow the wool batting keeps me very warm when it’s cold, and not too warm when it’s less cold - which pleasantly registers this jacket in my mind as some sort of magical mood ring. I think it also signals to strangers who can’t see my face on account of my mask that I’m a friendly person, and acts as the occasional conversation-starter (something that happens less frequently this year and that I truly miss). I love having such a cheerful and distinct thing to wear out in the cold, and it feels much more like me than the black jacket I would otherwise have on (why are all winter jackets black?). I already have another one of these, equally flashy, almost all the way sewn up on my sewing table!
Process shot - I bound all the seams in the outer fabric, which makes for a really pretty interior!
~ Photos and tears mitigation by Anne Smith - thank you! <3
Drawing process reel: Floor photo, pencil sketch, digital drawing.
