Advice is good, good advice even better

I have to say I'm thoroughly impressed, the one line I just threw out in the last entry was enough for Taika and Laura to figure out exactly what I needed to do, without seeing my work, any patterns or complete instructions... I didn't think it would have been possible to get long-distance help with sewing, especially with something as specific as this, but I'm glad I was wrong. Thanks guys!

In any case, you'll be glad to know that although the original instructions didn't really open up, with a little help from my friends I managed to finish the jacket (sans sleeves, need to figure out the exact length for those). I'm now working on the decorations, black detail on the front edges which I'll sew by hand (another piece excellent advice).

And what I've learned from reading Taika's sewing diary is that one needs to keep themselves entertained while engorged in sewing projects... so I decided to see if it was possible to watch subtitled anime while sewing and I'm happy to say that it's entirely possible. Mind you, these are Naruto episodes that I've already seen twice so I know what's happening - but it definitely helps the time pass (but damn, I also now know that it took me nine episodes to get the sewing, pressing and pinning done today).

This takes time. We're still hunting for khaki/olive green twill or cotton for Jiraiya. Seems that that particular colour is not in season so I might have to do dye job to get it done...