The last fabric that I bought before leaving NYC was this gorgeous felted wool. I went out looking for boiled wool as is suggested by
the Sydney pattern, but I didn't like the texture of boiled wool once I saw it. I instantly fell in love with this large buffalo check wool. It's thick and soft and the edges don't fray so it had to come with me.
The Sydney pattern by Tessuti is such a winner in my book. It's very easy to sew up in a couple of hours and the end result has a big impact. The hardest part for me was trying to figure out which pattern piece connected where as I was cutting it out. Because of the large check pattern I was trying to do a bit of pattern matching. In the end I just couldn't make it work and honestly I don't think it mattered, but if you decide to choose a fabric with an obvious print as I did be warned. The pieces come together a little like origami and it can be a bit confusing during the cutting out process.
I have some gray felted wool put set aside for another
Sydney Jacket, but I'm honestly still trying to decide whether I really need two jackets like this in my wardrobe. If I do try it again I was thinking that it would be fun playing with some decorative edge stitches such as the blanket stitch since the pattern leaves all of the edges raw.
