Marfy 088 - The Star Trek Years

Perhaps that is a little unfair to the garment now that I look at the photos again.  I'm actually really pleased with this and it doesn't look as Star Trek as I had feared it might part way through the construction process.  I made pretty standard alterations to this.  Widened the back, narrowed the waist, and added an inch in length, inserting the extra length two inches above the waist line marks.   The pattern itself wasn't designed to be as fitted through the waist as I had thought.  Certainly it wasn't as fitted as I wanted.  But that's why we sew isn't it?  So we can have what we want.   I've taken it in a bit more at the waist and its pretty much how I envisaged it looking.  Its a similar fit to a favourite purchased angel fleece gilet and that was what I was aiming at.  I also shortened the length of the garment by two inches as it was hitting at a rather frumpy length as drafted.  Possibly because I'm not tall, possibly because I saw what I wanted to see in the catalogue picture and not what was actually there.

 

The hood, and neckline as drafted are a nice size.  The hood is slightly oversize but is clearly designed to accommodate only one person's head at one time.  Unlike some other hoodie patterns I've made.  The neckline fits closely and neatly, like a proper jacket neckline.  No draughts down your neck.. surely a key feature of a good hoodie?  I've found with some hoodie patterns that the neckline is sometimes oversize and uncomfortable to wear. 

 

The main garment is made in cheap black polar fleece.  The armhole trim is black shiny snakeskin with a knit backing, and the same snake fabric is used for the pocket trim.  I had forgotten this fabric could not be ironed.  And the places I've put the fabric really do need to be ironed.  As a result my snakeskin is a lot less shiny than it was on the bolt because it goes dull when the iron touches it.  But it looks better that way (less Star Trek).    The wrinkles on the back are due to the fleece sticking to my sweater I think. 

The hood is lined with black mystery fabric.  It was in a FabricMart bundle I think and I've no idea what it is.  Its sort of satin-y and quite heavy, with the circle print. My fleece was quite thick, and I am very bad at inserting front separating zippers at the best of times.  The pattern came with a facing pattern, but I believe the normal way to insert a front zipper of this kind is to sandwich it between front and facing and sew it, then flip the facing back inside again.  Theoretically this results in a smooth and well finished result.  Not in the hands of this cack handed Katy it doesn't.  So I tacked my two fronts together, closed, placed the zipper on top of the seam allowances and proceeded as normal.  Once the thing was finished I put bias tape that I'd made from the same fabric as the hood lining, over the zipper tape, sewing it by hand, and pushing the ends under the hood lining at the top and under the hem binding at the bottom.  The hem binding is the same home made tape, sewn to the hem by machine then to the jacket by hand.  If that makes sense. So there was quite a bit of hand sewing, but I was able to control the finish quality more easily so it was worth it to me.  I think I've seen similar arrangements in RTW. 

 And here is a close up of the snake skin armhole bands and the hood lining.  These bands are supposed to be in fur and I think I chose a less than sensible alternative as the knit has a thin and weedy hand compared to the fleece.  I rather fancy a version with a fake fur trim at some point in the future.  I can't believe how pleased I am with what is effectively only a muslin.  It is very wearable and very warm indeed, even without sleeves.  However, the original plan was to add sleeves.   I have checked the measurements and the armholes without the bands look as though they will accept the one piece sleeve from a Marfy Jacket pattern so the next version will have sleeves.  I just need to find a fabric to line the hood and make the seam/zip trim from.  I have a trip to Abakhan fabrics coming up very soon and hope to find something suitable there (I might even find some fur for this future version)

 

And finally, although I admit these pockets were not as professionally executed as they might be.... here is a photo of the cute pockets.  They are practical, a good sized pocket, and like all Marfy patterns, the pocket bags are drafted so they don't foul any seams but sit nicely where they belong.