Santa Clara Hill Climb, 1940

Type II style Jacket, v.2 (part 2)

Ingredients: Organic 13oz raw (unwashed) denim from Cone Mills with hand-peened copper rivets on the sleeves and pockets; four colors of thread, mostly 100% cotton; and tack buttons from a distributor in L.A.

I used the old-fashioned style of felled seam, the kind where one of the two rows of stitching is covered by the fold of fabric. The fabric itself is very textured and interesting, and contains a lot of little slubby bits of cotton plant material. I'm pretty stoked that the cotton is organically grown as well; far better for everyone and everything involved in the process, and it's "more vintage" because organic is how everything used to be grown before WWII. I'm expecting this piece to wear and fade really well.

All in all I'm pretty happy with this project. It's the most complex piece that I've built yet, and I had a few challenges, but it came out looking pretty much how I wanted it to. The only real problem is that the armhole is about 1/2" too small so it's a little snug on the underarm. Also, I ran out of "donut-hole" buttons. I'm considering ordering another 3 yards of the same fabric and some more buttons; version 3 should be close to perfect.

late 1940's Type II style jacket v.2 (part 1)

I'll have to wait until "the photographer" gets home from work before I can get some better shots, but since I'm pretty happy with this project here's a few images.

Birthday Label

One of the really great and thoughtful gifts that I received from my family this year for my birthday. My Dad sent my Aunt one of my designs for my brand label and she used the embroidery function on her sewing machine to make this for me. Very cool. This was a good year for seeing how crafty and creative my family can be!

Birthday Shirt

My birthday was recently and this homemade shirt was one of the really great gifts that I received from my family this year. My Aunt is still using the same pattern that she bought in the early 1970's to make western shirts for folks in the family. Back in the day she even used to sell them to a local store. Really great stuff! Good timing too since I've been growing a 'stache as part of an informal contest at work.

Shipyard Workers, Maine

couples denim

The new jeans I made for Katie's and my A-1's a few months in.