Rambo IV: A Celebration of Friendship

Could there be a movie tagline any more antithetical to the Rambo movies? Actually, I don't know the answer to that question, since I've not actually seen a single Rambo movie. However, I have it on good authority (i.e. Mr. Cation, who hasn't seen them either, but has heard more about them than I have) that there are a lot of explosions, chasing bad guys, and general mayhem in those movies, and unless Rambo is unexpectedly doing it to rescue his best friend, I think I'm safe in saying that My Little Pony this is not.

If you've been hanging around the sewing blogosphere, you may have seen all the fun, quirky garments being made of old Rambo III turbans; the Rambo project is the brainchild of SeamstressErin, whom I've had the pleasure of meeting only once in real life (this is mostly my fault, as I keep having other obligations during her meet-ups), despite us both living in (vaguely) the same area. Still, I would consider her a bloggy friend (isn't it funny how connected we can feel the people from the internet, just because we happen to sew?). So when she contacted me about this sewalong/blog tour (what is it exactly?), I was pretty excited to see what I could make out of such a historic piece of fabric.

Said piece of fabric was tricky, though, since it was roughly 26" wide and two-ish yards long, woven unevenly, and stretchy to boot. I have to admit I was stumped for a while, and thankful that I was the last on the tour, but as time went on I got more and more panicky -- all the other bloggers have been making such unique garments and raising the bar! But after more thinking about what I actually needed in my me-made wardrobe, I decided that I needed to make some kind of cardigan/jacket/outwear-y thing, even if it might not be super impressive-looking. It would be a challenge to squeeze it out of such an oddly-shaped piece of fabric, but I managed by making the whole thing quite short. The weird lapel shape was my attempt to make this piece more trendy, like a waterfall jacket but not. I don't know if it worked.

I originally wanted them to drape instead of flop open, but the bias tape made them a bit stiffer than I anticipated, plus there's not actually enough fabric to drape with, really. 

I just finished up the French Pattern Drafting course with Lynda Maynard at Canada College, so I took this opportunity to test out the sloper I made in class. I must say, it was the easiest thing ever to use -- I just drew a new hemline, modded the bodice for the front overlapping section, and boy were those sleeves easy to set in! It's amazing what you can do when you know a pattern fits you already.

I think I might like it better this way, with the overlap. 

I like that it has a vaguely Chanel-jacket feel, what with the boxiness and three-quarter sleeves. 

Since the turban fabric was so unravelly, but I also didn't have enough left to make bias tape, I opted to finish the edges of the jacket with a combination of coral seam binding on the inside and cream colored bias tape on the front edges. I really wanted to avoid buying any new fabric or notions for this project, so I made the cream satin bias tape from the scraps of Elaine's wedding dress. Hence the name of Rambo's imaginary fourth movie, A Celebration of Friendship. This cardigan is brought to you by a combination of internet friends and real life friends!

This is a better representation of the true color of the fabric. The setting sun made for some rather washed-out pictures above. Here's it's pretty obvious that the stripe irregularities made for non-symmetrical front pieces. Oh well...it was a "design decision!"

The stripes being ever so slightly off on the sleeves would bother me more if I could see them when I'm wearing it.

Summary:
Fabric: Mystery turban fabric, 26" x 70" and stretchy with weird snags and irregularities.
Notions: Polyester cream satin bias tape, 1/2" double fold, four yards of rayon seam binding
Hours: Probably about eight, with planning, modding my sloper, cutting, sewing, and finishing.
Will you make it again? Nope, because that's all the turbans I have!
Total cost: $0.30 for the thrifted seam binding
Final thoughts: I like that this is in fairly neutral colors, so it will go with a lot of things, and it's perfect for summer since it's lighter weight than a sweater-y cardigan. I go back and forth, though between liking the weird lapel thing I came up with, and thinking it looks ridiculous.

Anyway, thanks for the opportunity to sew from such unique fabric, Erin! I'm grateful to be included in this group of such amazing ladies!