Today I’ve compiled a few of the really outstanding finished (and in progress) garments that have been popping up in the last couple weeks.
I was going to post a parade of finished pants and shorts yesterday as a finale for the sew-along but I thought it might be better to wait until the end of the Kollabora Jedediah Shorts Sew-Along contest as I know there are a quite a few of you still steadily working away on your versions.
Instead, here is a smattering of inspirational projects covering the whole range of our patterns (all three, anyways! I guess that might be too few to properly describe our offerings as ‘a range’…but we have more patterns in the works so it won’t be too long until the selection grows again!).
First off, are Jana’s amazing Jedediah Shorts which she completed as the sew-along came to an end (a miraculous feat since her sewing machine was giving her no end of problems…you would never be able to tell from the beautiful stitching on her end result!). I love the hand embroidery she placed on one of the back pockets! After seeing it, Matt is wanting something similar on his next pair.
Jana used a black variegated linen for these with a great pop of yellow as contrast. She added double top-stitching to the hem as per her boyfriend’s RTW pants and she customized the fit of the pattern by shaving off a bit of the width. I hope these shorts will get lots of wear ; I bet the black linen will look really nice and comfortable as it ages – I love how linen does that!
Thanks for sharing these pictures Jana! And thanks for following along and commenting on the sew-along; it was really fun to be working away on our shorts at the same time!
Next up is Layla’s Strathcona Henley! She was one of our test sewer’s for our newest pattern and she wrote a great blog article about her experience over on her blog, The Old Fashioned Way. Layla miraculously whipped this up on short notice after her email sneakily sorted our response confirming her as a test sewer into junk mail. I think she is a sewing super-hero for completing this in time to give us her two-bits before the Strathcona Henley and T-shirt pattern launch. There is nothing I hate more than sewing to a deadline…it’s the only time I ever seem to break needles as I sew!
The third gallery of photos on display are of Erin’s rendition of the Newcastle Cardigan. Her blog post, complete with a funny story explaining how this first menswear project came to be realized, is over on her blog, Seamstress Erin.
We’ve had steady rain for the last week and suddenly I feel more like sewing with cozy wools and sweater knits again rather than linens and light cottons. Erin’s version of the cardigan has really inspired me to sew up another version of my own (and this time, I actually mean MY own because I’m going to make a women’s version so that I don’t have to steal Matt’s anymore!). I love the purple and black knit that she used – it’s drape really makes it look soft and cozy. It pairs really well, I think, with the structured contrast shoulders and cuffs that she cut out of a heavy sweatshirt material.
She took some great photos – I especially like the cell-phone ‘action’ shot! Thanks for sharing a link to your post on Facebook, Erin! I am thrilled to have seen your version of the pattern! (And by the way, I love your anatomically correct heart embroidery pattern! I don’t know how you find time for all your projects while working on your Ph.D. – very impressive!)
To finish off this parade, here are a few single shots that I’ve found around the internet. Below, is an in-progress photo of Sarah’s cowboy pocket lining that she is using for her Jedediah Shorts – she’s uploaded the work in progress over on Kollabora so head on over to ‘heart’ her wonderfully whimsical fabric choice to give her a chance to win the Kollabora Jedediah Sew-Along contest!
And last, but certainly not least is a Newcastle Cardigan sewn by a man for HIMSELF – this is the first finished version I have seen that has been sewn by a man – something that Matt and I really want to encourage through Thread Theory. So we’re stoked to have seen this posted on Reddit! I really love the contrast band that he added, it turns the Newcastle into more of a bomber jacket than a cardigan which, I think, really works well with the silhouette created by the shawl collar. For someone who claims to not be very skilled at sewing yet, I think his results are SUPERB!
Thanks, everyone, for sharing photos of your projects! Seeing happy sewists sew up versions of our patterns is the reason I continue to love running my own sewing pattern company – nothing makes me happier than encouraging people to sew! If you have a photo of your work in progress or finished project made from one of our patterns, email us the photos at info@threadtheory.ca or send us a link to your blog post because we would love to add your photos to one of our blog posts or slide shows!