Over the past few weeks the Wife and I (mainly the wife) had a go at turning a blanket into a wool bush smock for a winter outing I had coming up.
It was a nice little journey to take together and work on a bushcraft project without be me hidden away in a shed or the garden.
The wife is very crafty with the sewing machine, however has never attempted to make any items of clothing.
If your on Instagram please go give my wife some love on her post of the smock, i would love he to know how proud I am of her skills and effort in this project - https://www.instagram.com/craft2cake/
We attempted to get everything we needed out of one blanket so this sometimes meant we had to change the design and be frugal with the material we had. It was always going be a long smock which took a lot of the material but we worked with it.
The first cuts
I had to admit we made a mistake somehow after using an exisiting jacket as a template, so we had to add a extention panel to allow the smock to fit comfortably when sitting.
The hood was a major pain the backside with off cuts we had, but we came up with this design which also incorporated the edging of the blanket. The hood was lined with fleece on the inside.
The boss at work sewing in some cuffs.
The wife used her skills to add some finishing touches.
As I said we tired to get all the part from the one blanket, but did not have enough for the pouch, however I had another old blanket that hasn't been used for years. Turns out it made a nice feature and as you will see later seems to go well with the overall look.
Late nights on the sewing machine, which is why I am stood out side for some fittings... it was rather warm with it on sat in the house.
some details
The smock was put to use last weekend on a weekend in the woods with minimal gear.
It kept me nice and warm over and played a big part in my sleep system in a natural debris shelter and fire.
It was a great project and there are a few things I would change for version 2.
First two blankets would have made the job way easier and a lot less head scratching.
While I like how it came out I would change the hood design and incorporate some draw cords and a draw cord around the waist.
The wife wont let me use the new sewing machine, however I would like to get the old one out and have a go myself on the next project (with her guidance of course)
Finally I would add full length zips to the side, something I had planned on doing however we were running out of time and I had not sourced them before starting.
Great fun and a nice challenge. More to come I am sure.
ATB Tim
It was a nice little journey to take together and work on a bushcraft project without be me hidden away in a shed or the garden.
The wife is very crafty with the sewing machine, however has never attempted to make any items of clothing.
If your on Instagram please go give my wife some love on her post of the smock, i would love he to know how proud I am of her skills and effort in this project - https://www.instagram.com/craft2cake/
We attempted to get everything we needed out of one blanket so this sometimes meant we had to change the design and be frugal with the material we had. It was always going be a long smock which took a lot of the material but we worked with it.
The first cuts
I had to admit we made a mistake somehow after using an exisiting jacket as a template, so we had to add a extention panel to allow the smock to fit comfortably when sitting.
The hood was a major pain the backside with off cuts we had, but we came up with this design which also incorporated the edging of the blanket. The hood was lined with fleece on the inside.
The boss at work sewing in some cuffs.
The wife used her skills to add some finishing touches.
As I said we tired to get all the part from the one blanket, but did not have enough for the pouch, however I had another old blanket that hasn't been used for years. Turns out it made a nice feature and as you will see later seems to go well with the overall look.
Late nights on the sewing machine, which is why I am stood out side for some fittings... it was rather warm with it on sat in the house.
some details
The smock was put to use last weekend on a weekend in the woods with minimal gear.
It kept me nice and warm over and played a big part in my sleep system in a natural debris shelter and fire.
It was a great project and there are a few things I would change for version 2.
First two blankets would have made the job way easier and a lot less head scratching.
While I like how it came out I would change the hood design and incorporate some draw cords and a draw cord around the waist.
The wife wont let me use the new sewing machine, however I would like to get the old one out and have a go myself on the next project (with her guidance of course)
Finally I would add full length zips to the side, something I had planned on doing however we were running out of time and I had not sourced them before starting.
Great fun and a nice challenge. More to come I am sure.
ATB Tim
