Vintage style jacket

Here it is, here it is!! My first ever jacket!

I'm pretty proud of myself with this make.  After two muslins (my maximum number I'll ever have the patience to make, I've now decided) the fit is nice and slim and the length is just right.  Having arms about the same length as a T-Rex, being able to get the arm length spot on is very satisfying.

Ah, satisfaction

The pattern came from the Built By Wendy Coats and Jackets book and whilst the basic shape of the pattern is fine, I did have to make quite a few alterations to get it to fit me.  I deliberately used a book, rather than a commercial pattern, as I wanted to try to learn as much as I could about jacket construction before attempting a commercial jacket pattern.  I wouldn't necessarily recommend this book to absolute beginners though - even though there's a good amount of detail on making and adjusting your pattern, once you start constructing your jacket, the instructions are pretty sparse.

Although there are lots of jacket making skills I still need to learn, there are a fair few I can now tick off my list.  I feel like I have at least a basic understanding of jackets, which will give me a bit more confidence when I venture down this path again, perhaps trying my hand at this elegant beauty….?

So, on to the jacket itself.  The main fabric is a reasonably heavyweight wool I found by some miracle in my local charity shop.  The buttons are plain, 1940's utility buttons from eBay and I lined it with a teal/duck egg satin lining.  As documented here, I loathe and detest slippery lining fabric, but this one didn't behave too badly (it wouldn't dare, the look I gave it whilst I was cutting it out was terrifying).

I improvised with the collar as there wasn't a pattern for the shape I wanted - the result isn't bad, just a bit bulky under the top edge.

I made my own facings and after a few false starts, managed to create a successful three way party between jacket, facing and lining. Hoorah.

Behold my beautiful lining

Despite my surliness towards the lining, I loved the feeling of first trying on the jacket and sliding my arms in.  It felt so luxurious and professional, I just had to repeat it a few times (make that 20).

The bottom edge of the lining fabric was very prone to fraying, so I attached it to the main jacket with bias tape.

I did the same thing with the sleeve lining too.

Because the fabric was such a bargain (£3 for three yards of the grey wool and £1 a metre for the lining in a closing down sale), I did initially view the whole project as a practice, but once the lining was in, I realised that this was a jacket I could easily wear out and about.  And being grey with a light blue lining, it will go with most of my handmade clothes.  A pretty good result for five pounds I think. Have a lovely weekend. x

Jacket fitting delights

I'm steaming through my autumn to-sew list (which admittedly only had three items on it) and am now fully engulfed in the delights of jacket fitting...

As this is my first time making a jacket, I thought I'd better break my bad, dirty habit of winging it with patterns and make a practice muslin first.  I'm using a pattern from the Built By Wendy Coats and Jackets book.  Even though there are 23 different variants of coats and jackets to choose from, in typical annoying fashion the one I have in my head isn't there, so I'll be mixing the jacket and collar of two different patterns.  There might not be a pattern for my imaginary jacket in the book, but I did find a drawing:

Very plain and uncluttered, with princess seams and a classic collar.  Nice.

So, going by the size chart, I cut out a medium jacket and sewed it together.  One word of warning for anybody interested in trying out this book: the patterns run small.  I'm a UK size 12 top, sometimes even a 10 depending on the style, and I'm short (5' 2").  So any tall or busty sewists (or even tall AND busty sewists for that matter) beware of the chest width and length of these patterns.  Admittedly there are no seam allowances on the hem, but the shortness of this first effort does make me look like some hideous mother of the bride

WAY too short, and not in a cool, Sammy Davis Jnr kind of short…

No, more like this pair….

As well as being too short, it also didn't fit across the bust.  There will be a button extension added but it was still too tight.  And as for the back.....

Imagine stretching for something on a shelf in a shop?  Not a pretty sight.

Much as it killed me to do so, I decided a redraft was called for. and heart breakingly, a second muslin.  I made the following changes:

- Added five inches to the length.

- Measured the distance it gaped apart at the bust, divided it by four and added it to the side seams as advised in the book.

- The second attempt was much better but the shoulders seemed large, so I made a small vertical tuck right down the back and that seemed to do the trick.

These muslins are shockingly unflattering, but I've managed to see past the cream calico and imagine it in a lovely grey wool with a teal satin lining.  So far so good.  The next steps for me now are to cut out the final pattern pieces, draft the facings and put scissors to cloth (gulp).   I'm liking the look of it so far though.  x