So, in anticipation of the [question without notice, what's the term for something that only happens every four years??] Quadrennial (I just looked it up) Golightly Photo and Travelfest, we went mad and bought Mr Golightly some spiffy new clothes, so he wouldn't get arrested in countries less tolerant than our own, of balding, newly middle-aged men wearing body-shirts and flares, complete with hush puppies, from the 1970's. Actually, that's a bit unkind, he's probably worked his way into the early '80's by now. Maybe.
I held out for Sportscraft, which is an Australian clothing company that's been around since the 1950's, they had a bit of a rennaisance about 10 years ago & really got, as the Americans say, with the program - nice quality, good colours, conservative enough so you don't feel like you're wearing your 24 year old nephew's stuff, but not so conservative that people think you've shopped at that other menswear store that starts with L and ends with prostate trouble and arthritis.
The only reason, I have to say, that I make Mr Golightly buy Sportscraft is that nobody has seen fit to resurrect Gowings, which really was an Australian institution, established in 1868, and gone, all gone, by the end of 2005. Gowings was fantastic, a multi-levelled menswear store not entirely unlike DJ's or Grace Brothers, or whatever the hell it's called today, but it was, um, for want of a better word, and not trying to be unkind, ordinary. Comfortable. Domestic. You could buy Bonds undies, socks, swimmers, bowls gear, you could get your hair cut for $10, you could get everything from head to toe, even dinner suits and Birkenstock sandals .
Mr Golightly felt as happy as he ever gets shopping, shopping there, and I could take him once a year, wander up & down the floors, and come out knowing he looked respectable without being flashy, and that the quality was good. So good, in fact, that he's still wearing Gowings t-shirts and shorts from the 1990's. Which is the subject of a whole 'nother post, one we're not getting to tonight!
Anyway, we bought him this smart Navy jacket to take away on the Golightly Quadrennial Photo and Travelfest, in the hope that he'd leave his somewhat daggy shapeless polar fleece jacket behind. Hah! Did I say 'vain' hope? Should've.
The main concern, gentle reader, was that the Sportscraft jacket didn't have an inside pocket. I mean, really, what were they thinking? What item of men's outdoor apparel doesn't have inside pockets? Men need somewhere to stow things, that's the only reason they get away without being afflicted by the curse of the handbag!
So... I undertook to put one in. Now, you know that I have done dressmaking. For me. Skirts, pyjamas, blouses. Nothing complicated. Nothing tricksy. Nothing too challenging (apart from the Corset, of course). However, I've made a zillion pouches, lined, with no raw edges showing, so how hard could it be to gently unstitch the lining of the jacket, insert a pouch & restitch up, leaving on a zip?
This hard:
Not too hard at all, actually. I had to do a bit of hand-stitching at either end where the zip foot wouldn't go, but it doesn't look too bad. I did mean to have funky lining, though, but after making the pouch twice and realising I had it round the wrong way, when I did get it right, I couldn't be bothered to swap it back again. I used something not entirely dissimilar to this:
So everytime Mr Golightly opens the inside pocket in his ultra smart Navy Sportscraft jacket to get his passport out, I'm going to have a small chuckle.
That's probably it for me for a while, I may get to post from parts unknown, but no promises. Stay safe, gentle readers!
