Hi! I'm Shae from Saflower Designs. If you are like me, you probably have an entire hard drive full of super cute dresses for your super cute little girls. My daughter loves wearing them as much as I love sewing them. The nice thing about all the millions of patterns is that there is a ton of variety and options and I can pretty much find whatever fits my mood. Well, here is my problem; I also have a little boy. I can probably count all the boy patterns I have on one hand. I always feel so bad because he wants nice Momma made stuff too. I can only make him so many button up shirts and pj pants before he decides to start a rebellion. Well, there just aren't a ton of boy patterns out there. I mean sure, there are a bunch of pants, button up shirts, and T-shirt patterns, but they all kind of start looking the same. There are only so many ways to reinvent the wheel without it starting to look like my son is dressed in a Home Ec project. Sooooo, when a new boy pattern comes out that actually has some unique features, I'm going to jump all over it!
Let me begin by giving you a rundown of all the features of the Blazer. First and most obvious is that it has a hood. My son is totally obsessed with hoods. I mean, he freaks out if his sweatshirt doesn't have one! If you don't have a huge fan of hoods on your hands, this pattern also gives you the option of a collar.
Along with an awesome hood comes elbow patches! I'm going to be honest here; I was really excited to get to that step so that I could try out the appliqué stitch on my new Janome.
This pattern also include the option of epaulets on the shoulders.I chose not to include them because the hood kind of hides them. Another thing I didn't include were the darts. If I had made this for my daughter I would have included them. I think it's awesome that she gives you that option! Most patterns I run into don't put that kind of thought into the fit.
Let's talk about the pockets! My son is obsessed with hoods, but even more obsessed with having functional pockets. He even has a list of demands when it comes to these pockets! Basically, has has to be able to fit his whole hand in, he does not like having a flap, but if he HAS to have one, then there can't be any sort of closure. Basically, he has to have easy access for collection his rocks and sticks. It's a good thing this coat comes with nice size pockets! I did change them a little to make the flap non-functional, and the buttons are just decorative.
Canaan's Incredible Blazer is fully lined. This means you can do a nice layer of fleece in there if you are currently stuck in this crazy cold weather going on right now. I happen to live in San Diego so there was no need to add any warmth to it.
If I had to pick a skill level, I would say this is an intermediate level. There is quite a bit involved in the construction and it is definitely not a quick sew. It actually took me a few days to finish, but I feel like it was worth it. I did have problems with the sleeves, but that's because I really have an issue with easing in sleeves. I ALWAYS get a ton of puckers and they take me forever to do. This is not unique to this pattern! This is me on every pattern with sleeves. If you are like me, you will want to give yourself a ton of extra time because there are actually four sleeves if you count the lining. If this were a girl's coat, I would just leave the puckers. Technically, I still have puckers, but I ran out of bad words to use while I was trying to get rid of them, so I just left them in.
There is a little bit of hand sewing in this pattern. You will have to hand sew the opening in the lining that was used to turn the blazer right side out. Not a big deal, but I know there are people that have a total aversion to hand sewing. I'll let you in on a little secret, I still haven't sewn mine up. I was running short on time, so shhhhhh, don't tell!
The other thing I will mention is that there are 30 pages to print. yes, it is a lot, but for a pattern like this you need it. I do like how all the pieces went together. You know how some patterns end up with like five pages across and six pages down and if just one of those pages is askew, then nothing else seems to line up just right? Well that isn't a problem with this pattern. Each piece is just three pages so you don't have to move all the furniture out of your house just to have enough room to lay it all out.
Overall, this is a very well written pattern and the results are great, just ask my son! He can't wait to wear it to school. There are plenty or photos and the directions are clear and easy to follow.