That Jacket in My Senior Picture...

 The pleated velvet skirt is turning into one of THOSE projects in which every time I put the needle in the fabric something goes wrong.

So I'm taking a pause from my stitch-picking-out to post a wee bit of sewing joy that came my way today.

I have been hunting and hunting for a pattern I used back when I was a (koff koff) sophomore in high school.  Yeah, that would be age 15.

It was the first time I made myself an honest to gosh capsule wardrobe.  Nobody called it that back then, of course, but that's what it was.

I bought two chunks of poly double knit from the local Ben Franklin store...one a navy blue crepe and the other a blue and white micro houndstooth...and made

1) a jacket and gored skirt from the navy

2) a pair of pants and a skirt from the houndstooth

3) a reversible vest...navy on one side, houndstooth on the other

I bought two ribbed knit turtleneck bodysuits, one white, one navy, from JC Penny and I was set.

I wore the jacket for my senior portraits...we didn't do that drape thing in our neck of the woods...

This is the best pic I have of it.  You can't tell much about it; that was a sleeveless turtleneck top under it, if I remember right (pics were taken in June...).

I have no idea what happened to that pattern; I had been kinda low key looking for it on vintage sites for, well, a really long time. it didn't help that I couldn't remember which pattern company it was. One night last week I found one of those sites that has a bazillion patterns and just started scrolling through the 1970s listings, just to see if I could find it.

I found it, and found an Etsy seller that had it in a size 12, which was the largest I could find.

It came today.

It's cut, of course, but it's all there and 'm going to trace it and see if I can alter it up to fit my current shape.  It has such interesting lines; the back is princess seamed.  It's unlined, and the pocket flaps are fake, so I may actually upgrade it a bit and make a lining and put pockets in.  We'll see how it goes.

If I ever get that (grumble grumble) velvet skirt done...