Sweat Shirt Jacket

Way back when I was in high school I bought a sewing machine and actually made a few pieces of clothing for myself, and when I first started quilting and again got a sewing machine, I also made a few loose pairs of pants and some really easy tops and dresses. But since I've really gotten into quilting, it's been as if I don't really want to do anything else. Occasionally, I'll see something, like a tote bag, a jacket, or some other little thing which seems really cute and easy, and I'll be tempted to make it.

I know I can do it, but invariably, I'll get half way through and then have the hardest time finishing it. I just don't have the interest or drive to finish it the way I do with a quilt, and it'll end up hanging over my head like a dark cloud of guilt, sometimes for years, before I finally MAKE myself either finish it or give it away to somebody else who will.

And so it was with this little sweat shirt jacket. Years ago, I saw and bought a pattern for making these jackets. I thought they were really cute and they looked so easy to make, so I immediately bought sweat shirts to make one for each of my four nieces and nephews in Denmark.

At that point, my now almost 13 year old niece, Anna, was probably about 7-8 years old, and I started out making a jacket for her because the red fabric I had was at the time her favorite color. But, I only got about half way and then got stuck, lost interest, and the project was put away. Over the years it nagged at me and I occasionally looked at it, thought that I REALLY ought to get back to it, finally gave the other sweat shirts to children who could use them etc.

But it was only now - inspired by two years of Michelle's Closer Club - that I finally made myself finish it.

While it was much too late to give it to Anna, she had long out-grown both the size and the style, it happened to be a perfect fit for my Little Sister, Marisela! So perhaps this time, my procrastination wasn't such a bad thing after all?