Readers,

I was racing against the dimming light late this afternoon to capture a few pictures of the jacket work-in-progress.

My makeshift photo studio works pretty well!

It’s turning out really well. The wool-cashmere blend has a lovely spongy texture that made sewing in the sleeves a dream–perfectly smooth sleeve caps even without sleeve heads.

These two fabrics look as if they were made for each other. But I didn’t always think so. I originally planned to pair the leopard print with black. But I think this spicy brown is more interesting; don’t you?

Some stitching and judicious tucking give a sense of the finished garment.

As you can see, this is far from complete. The fronts, back and under collar are sewn together, but I just laid the upper collar unit on top and hastily folded and tucked to simulate a finished garment. I grabbed the unsewn belt and tied it around my mannequin’s middle. She didn’t seem to mind.

Looking as good going as coming.

Now everything is returned to the sewing domain for further stitching.

Just enough of a preview to keep me going and sewing.

Getting closer!