Clear bin Fabric Destash Challenge - 3rd garment FAIL!

I don't post all my sewing fails but this is really a Fail! My idea for this beige/tan wool gabardine was grand like the inspiration:

source

But look at what actually happened:

Horrid!

Horrid! Horrid!

I think the main problem is the ribbon trim that I used. I searched through my notions stash and found this thin ribbon. I thought it would look better than a plain black trim. How wrong I was! Eventually I had to admit defeat and used my trusty seam ripper to rip all the black trim out.

I really need to sleep on this to figure out what I should do. This colour is still not good for my skin tone. What else should I try to do to salvage this? Any ideas?

Clear bin Fabric Destash Challenge - 3rd garment plan

The third fabric I choose for the 3rd garment of this challenge is this tan/beige wool gabardine. I don't know why I bought this years ago because the colour is quite unflattering for my skin tone. The fabric comes in 3 pieces so it's not possible to make trousers with them. I think I will make a jacket with it. I have just used this sewing pattern for a patchwork jacket (see here).

Since the colour of this fabric is unflattering on me, I'm thinking of making it more 'flattering' by adding some black to the jacket. Here are some inspirations I have collected on Pinterest:

 It will take more time and work than the last 2 garments. Hopefully it will work out well!

Patchwork jacket - Simplicity 3962

My fabric scraps box has been overloading for a while. So I chose some scraps and made a Patchwork jacket! I picked a rainbow brocade, a black brocade, a small houndstooth wool, a red plaid wool, and a black sparkly wool boucle. For the rest of the jacket I used this thrifted grey wool flannel that I had felted last year. I want the jacket to be warm!

I used a stash pattern Simplicity 3962. I have made a tropical wool jacket with this pattern before and I liked it. This is a great pattern as it comes with different cup sizes and the shoulder princess seams make the pattern easy to alter if necessary. The pattern is very straight forward and easy to use. I didn't even look at the instructions.

I used size 14. Since the scraps were of different weight, I used a lightweight fusible interfacing for the entire jacket. This turned out to be not such a great idea since the grey felt was already quite thick. The front facings and the collars are way too thick and doesn't lie too flat. Even the sleeves are a bit too stiff. Oh well! I'm wearing it anyway. Perhaps if I wear it more often it will become softer??

What I didn't consider when I was auditioning the scraps together was that the collar would obscure the top front fabric. I will remember that next time. Also, I think the shoulder pads are a tad too big for my already broad shoulders.

I'm looking forward to wearing this tomorrow to see how practical it is!

My Pattern Review for this pattern is here.