A Bright Yellow Canary or just an Easter Bunny?

Knights is [was] a local department store in Reigate that sadly closed at the end of January after many years in the town. They had a small haberdashery department and I went in during the week in the final days before closing to see what bargains were being offered . I fancied some fleece but all they had left was a very bright yellow although it was good quality polar fleece. There was only 1.5 metres on the bolt but I took it anyway. I also bought a couple of metres each of some cotton prints but I've added them to my stash at the moment.

I have previously made a couple of fleece jackets following a Craftsy Class I bought quite a long time ago that included the pattern for this jacket. However, I deviated from using all fleece to use some dark navy blue large rib knit fabric [from Goldhawk Road] to line the inside of the coat collar and for the cuffs to lesson the impact a trifle. In the end I had enough for a matching beanie hat using the same ribbing for for the band.

The jacket is really snug and warm despite being very lightweight, however I do think I look as though I'm about to set sail in a lifeboat!! I know that the sailor look is in at the moment but I'm not sure this is what the catwalks actually meant to convey!!!

At least it'll be good to wear on my bike and I won't get lost in a crowd.

Close up of matched yoke and zip

The tricky bits of this jacket are getting the zip to sew in without any rippling effect and to match up the yoke edges perfectly. The Craftsy Tutor gave same excellent tips on how to do this successfully and I'm pleased to say they worked a treat. She showed how to use narrow double sided tape to gently position the separating zipper on each side before stitching and whilst this did make a sticky mess on the needle, it was soon cleaned but the end result was a perfect zip insertion.
 
To match the yoke edges was also simply achieved by marking the zip tape where the yoke meets the centre front edge once the first side of the zip is stitched in place so placing the second side exactly on the correct mark made this a doddle. The end result is a professional finish that definitely elevates it from a homemade look.

I was concerned about the bright colour of this fleece and I probably wouldn't have chosen it if there had been others to select from but now it's made up I'm very pleased with it.

The matching beanie

My Mother often told me that yellow was not my colour as it gave me a drained look!!!! Whenever I see yellow fabric I remember her words but I hope even she would have been proud that I have created such a good jacket.

It's amazing how much influence your parents' can exert with even a small throw away comment. Have you been haunted by a well meant criticism?