Somethings just need to be Quick and Easy

Sometimes I get too bogged down with trying to make things perfect. I am going to Hawaii in just a few weeks and want to make some new clothes for the trip (Many of my things from last summer do not fit.) One thing I really wanted to make was a cool, light weight brown jacket of some type. I considered several patterns, and then thought, "Get a grip girl! You only have a couple of weeks to get all this done!" I decided to use Simplicity 4082 for a couple of reasons. Number one - I've made it before, loved it, and wont have to make any fit adjustments. I also have a Vogue jacket I considered that is easy and I've made before, but it is more fitted.
Reason #2: This jacket is loose fitting, which will make it cooler. I picked out a great tobacco colored rayon/linen blend from JoAnns and cut it out yesterday. I started fusing the facings and realized my interfacing was not going to work. It was bubbling and not looking good. I pulled it all off. I had to drive my dear son to Fresno yesterday, so while we were there, I stopped at the JoAnns there because it is twice the size as the one in my town. Well, they still only had 3 choices of black interfacing, so I picked "easy knit" because it does not need to be preshrunk and has more body to it than "sheer knit" which was super light. The other was a non woven and gray. I didn't even try it.

So, today I start thinking about how I'm going to finish my seams. My perfectionist self started thinking about what fabrics I have that would make a good Hong Kong finish. Now this would mean cutting and seaming the strips and making four rows of stitching, plus folding and pressing for each seam. OK, I decide that using seam binding and the binder foot will be much faster, which it would have. I also practiced doing some flat felled seams and then again had to give myself a talking to. We are going for FAST here, not couture. I serged all the seams.

I did fuse the entire front of the jacket to give it some body, but really, to help with the wrinkling. Linen and rayon both wrinkle terribly, and I don't want to have to iron on my vacation. I did not fuse the back or sleeves because I want it to be more breathable.

I am finished with the main body now and only have the collar, facings, bottom hem and buttonholes to do. I'm hoping to finish this tomorrow.

I also want to make a pair of brown shorts and a dress and top out of this pink and brown rayon crinkle fabric. I just saw a tip in Sew News (first time I've bought this magazine in years) about working with crinkle fabric. I think it was an SB tip, to serge/roll hem the bottom edge and then dampen it and pull it through a tube sock or ribbing of some kind. Use an iron to dry it and the hem will stay crinkled rather than stretched out because if the stitching. I think I will try it on some scraps - if it works, it will make the blouse and dress easy to finish!