Seamwork Andi

Here's my finished jacket, on me. Insert usual disclaimer about dirty mirror, no make-up, etc. It's a long weekend - maybe I'll get to one or the other. Or not.

And here it is on Zillie. I wish I had done a better job of aligning the pockets but that's water under the bridge. Eventually I won't see it. Especially since I know this jacket will get worn a lot both in the house as an extra layer for those cold days we actually have in Florida and outside the house to run errands, etc. This fabric is so nice and cozy to wear without being too hot in the house.

Back view. I decided to go ahead and insert elastic at the hem. I almost blew the opportunity though, because I put on the snaps first, but thankfully realized before I did the second snap at the hem that I needed to hold off until I inserted the elastic or else I wouldn't be able to since the snaps block the channel.

The annoying pocket. But it's a pocket and I'm glad to have both on this jacket. Perfect for the phone, dog treats, chapstick, whatever.

Inside view. 

This is the snap tool I ordered from KamSnaps. It, the necessary dies, and the snap pieces arrived on Thursday. Very fast shipping from California.

Here's everything and the envelope it was all shipped in — laying on top of my on-deck pattern to be cut out today hopefully, around watching football playoffs.

I'm not going to lie - it was kind of a struggle to get everything aligned on this thick fabric with the handheld tool. Moreso for the bottom parts of the snap because the dies and snap pieces are smaller and a little more fiddley and my fingers are big. But I took my time and plowed on, and I'm happy to report that I didn't have any mishaps. I'm sure the honkin' big tabletop setting snap press would be easier to use but aside from the higher price, I didn't want to think about where to store that thing later. If I found myself all of a sudden needing to set tons of snaps, I'd probably upgrade. But the handheld tool does the job just fine too. It's certainly easier than the old purple or teal multi-layer plastic setting tool from Snapsetter that you whack with a hammer and hope the prongs all got caught. Just me?

Before doing the real thing on my jacket, I watched a few YouTube videos (highly recommend this video from Sew Many Creations), laid out all my parts and pieces and got very familiar with them, and then I did a practice run, below. I'll probably have to do all of that again the next time I install snaps because I won't have any muscle memory after a month goes by.

Here's my new jacket in its home. It will be nice to give my ratty black RTW cardigan a break.

Parting shot: Cyrus living his best life. We love him so much!