King of Pop Cardi

My mother in law is a charming woman, and a faithful Micheal Jackson fan since the days of the Jackson 5. After the Wizard of Oz, Micheal Jackson is definitely her favorite fandom. She collects his memorabilia and DVDs, and loves his music. So when I saw this fabric, the question wasn't should I purchase, it was how much should I purchase?

For the record, I went with 2 yards. I had no idea what I would make, but that seemed like a pretty safe amount. Eventually, based on my MIL's clothing taste and a desire that this should be fairly flexible attire, I decided to make the Women's Fairy Jacket by Ellie and Mac.

Why? Because it's gorgeous, it fits my MIL's free-flowing style and as outerwear, hopefully she'll get to wear it more than once a laundry cycle. Suggested fabrics included any knit with more than 25% stretch,  for which this CL fabric qualified. For this project I paired it with the LUSH Black Cotton Lycra from Snowy Owl Fabrics, which was thick and super wide (70").

Because it's reversible, I figured my MIL would have 2 options: she could wear it black side out - with little peeks of Micheal at the cuffs and the opening, or she could wear it Micheal-side-out, for a full-on statement of Jackson love. She, being a true fan, instantly opted for the Jackson love.

As a pattern, the Fairy Jacket was easy to follow and pretty quick to make. Following the instructions for sewing the cuffs together on the reversible version was a little nervewracking (and I had to pin and turn it several times for "proof of concept" before I actually turned my sewing machine on), and I'm pretty sure you could accidentally sew a twist into one of the arms if you just follow their instructions blindly. That said, I got through that step with some practice, and wouldn't hesitate to buy from Ellie and Mac again. AND...

My Mother-in-Law Loved it!

In terms of Lessons Learned, I think the big one was "don't go crazy and get the heaviest winter-weight CL you can find if you want the top to be reversible," because 2 layers of 11-13 gsm Cotton Lycra actually turn out to be rather heavy. As my MIL put it "this sweater is gorgeous - but it's also WARM."

Also, the requirement for stretch meant that this cardi was hard to get over another set of sleeves (and they showed underneath). Fortunately my MIL is one of the brave souls who isn't afraid to rock a tank top after 40 - so that's what she paired with it - but it does mean she's not going to be taking it off in fall or winter, and she'll have to launder it frequently since she is going to be wearing it with the sleeves next to her skin.

Not that I think she cares, mind you - she's clearly just thrilled to have a unique, one-of-a-kind hand-sewn garment from a beloved Daughter in Law. And the fact that it's one of her favorite fandoms is just the icing on the cake. I did a triple stitch about 1/2" from the edges to help the garment keep its shape, and she's already worn it on several outings.

Not bad for a gift of love that took 2 weeks (and countless hours of custom-fabric site-watching) to make!