Stylearc Austin Jacket

I made this Stylearc Austin Jacket a few months ago, but I must confess to hardly wearing it.  I think I chose the wrong fabric.  Having lived in very hot climates for most of my life, I haven't quite got the hang of layering.  Since I made this, I realise that when I want to put a jacket on, I want it to be weather proof in some way, to protect from wind and / or rain.  

The fabric I used is a viscose linen noil from maaidesign.  I don't even know what noil is.  I think I was swayed by the pattern cover, which has the jacket drawn up in this same colour. 

I left off the pockets, because the placement seemed a bit odd and not like somewhere I'd stick my phone.  I have enough scraps if I decide I want to add them later.  I made this a while ago, so I can't quite remember, but I think I might have made this 5 cm longer than the pattern indicated.

I did have perfectly matching thread for overlocking and perfectly matching toggles in my stash.  Shame I couldn't find a matching zipper.

Hopefully I can work out when to wear this jacket and so get some use from it.

Tessuti Sydney Jacket

Whilst I was getting photos of my dress the other day, I also got some photos of my Tessuti Sydney Jacket.

The pattern is designed for fabrics whose edges don't fray.  This allows for techniques that minimise bulk in the pocket openings, and in the darts, as shown in the photos below.

I bought the fabric from Morgan Marks, in a sale last year.  I had planned on making something for my husband, but it seemed perfect for this pattern, so he misses out.  The fabric has a little bit of stretch in it.  I have the same issues as other wearers of this pattern, in that I can't lift my arms very high whilst wearing it...so far that has only been a problem whilst driving.  

This jacket is great for wearing over tops with fuller sleeves.

Another Jalie Melanie Robe

I knew I wanted a summer version of the Jalie Melanie Robe, to throw on in the afternoons when the wind picks up.  I was thinking linen would be a good fabric choice, and then when I saw this gorgeous linen print in Fabulous Fabrics, I knew it would be perfect.  I love both the colours and the print.  It is definitely a fabric that makes me happy.

I have dressed it up and worn it out with jeans, but mostly it is for throwing on over summer clothes at home.

I made all the same changes to my pattern as my previous version, but I made one further change for this version.  I am likely to wear this open, and the tie dangles down and annoys me when it is open, so I made a secret inside pocket for the tie to sit it when not in use.

I lined the pocket up with the print of the fabric, so it is pretty unobtrusive from the outside.

This is definitely one of my favourite makes for this year.

Jalie Melanie Robe

This project has got to be one of my most successful upcycles.  I started with a wool skirt that I made in 2012 and have only worn twice.  I had kept the remnants from this project through several fabric culls, in spite of it being wool and my living in a hot climate for the last 20 years.  I was able to combine those remnants with the fabric in the skirt to come up with enough fabric to make a shortened version of Jalie's 2889 Melanie Robe.

I do have a picture of me wearing the robe, although the details are obscured by my scarf.

A made a few changes to the pattern.  Obviously, I shortened it.  I also omitted the pockets.  I did make a waist tie, but I find waist ties tend to come undone and I didn't like the bulky look of the tie in this fabric.  Instead I added a skinny tie to one opening, which I loop through the belt carrier to keep the robe shut.

I used a new approach to finish the seams and hems on this robe.  The Jalie pattern has 1 cm seam allowances.  As I sewed the seams, I sewed in 1 cm wide rayon seam binding.  Then I pressed the seam to one side, so that the binding was the top layer.  I then stitched down the other side of the binding tape to enclose the seam allowances.  I thought this would create a felled seam look on the outside, but in the wool fabric, you can hardly see the second line of stitching.  This was much less fiddly and less bulky than either felled seams or a Hong Kong binding, and neater than overlocking. 

I like the robe this length, and will probably keep to this same shortened length when I make a summer version in linen.

Reversible Anorak Jacket

Last year, when I was buying all fabrics olive and peach, EmmaOneSock was selling a fabric that was olive on one side and peach on the other.  So I snapped it up, but never got to making it up.  PR is holding a reversible garment competition at the moment, which provided the mojo for me to make up this plan from last year.

Her is my review entry for the Stylearc Romy Anorak.

Pattern Description: The description given by Stylearc is "This weekend Anorak is a great addition to your wardrobe. Make the Anorak in a lovely washed charmeuse or lightweight wool for a luxurious yet casual look. Wear the jacket open or zip it up to create a cosy look. The collar is soft and will sit beautiful opened or buttoned up. This anorak is unlined and comes with an optional tie belt."

Pattern Sizing:I made a Size 12 based on the Stylearc size chart. I am happy with this choice in size.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?I made quite a few changes, but it is still recognisable.

Were the instructions easy to follow?I didn't use them, because of all my changes.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?Like all Stylearc pattern, the design lines of this seem very current. I liked the idea of a soft jacket with oversized collar, which is why I bought the pattern, but this time around I have shrunken the proportions and my fabric is not soft or drapy. I would still like to follow the fabric suggestions and make another version in a softer fabric.

Fabric Used:I used a stretch cotton twill with a crisp drape. One side of the fabric is army green and the other side is peach. The base of the fabric is white, and it feels like the colour has been painted onto each side. I didn't pre-wash the fabric as I wanted to stitch it all together before washing, to give it more of that washed-jeans sort of look once it is washed. Because of the design and ease, I don't think it will matter if the fabric shrinks a bit with the first wash.

I chose a contrasting fabric for the collar. I didn't like the look of the whole collar showing the other colour when the collar is open, so I went for a contrasting, soft, minky fleece.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
Changes for fit:
- Made the shoulder dart much larger, to accommodate a very square shoulder.
- removed some fabric at the armhole edge of the upper front, to accommodate a narrow chest.
- the collar piece was adjusted to match these changes

Style changes:
- Shortened the jacket by about 8 inches
- Shortened the sleeve by 3 inches
- reduced the width of the collar by about an inch
- I omitted the drawstring at the hem
- Stylearc recommends French seams for a clean finish, which is a great idea for reversibility, but they only provide 1 cm seam allowances. 1 cm was pretty tight for my fabric choice, so I increased the seam allowances to 15 mm.

Changes for reversibility
- I didn't attempt the zipper. Other reviewers have struggled with the placement of the zip and buttons, and I wouldn't be able to buy a reversible zip locally, so I thought it would be easiest to just forego the zip and use snaps on the front closure. I think there are other anorak patterns out there that do a better job of the zip / zip instructions. I didn't realise until the 11th hour that my snaps have one good side and one "back" side. I decided to use them anyway, and put the back side on the green fabric, which has more of an industrial vibe.
- No zip so no need for front facings
- I made "hem bands" to finish all the edges (hem, front closure, sleeve cuffs) so that the wrong colour would not be folded to the other side (as it would in a traditional hem)
- I added elastic to the sleeve cuffs
- instead of a waist tie, I made a casing and threaded elastic through it to draw in the back waist. 
- I wanted pockets on each side. I didn't want layers of fabric at the seams that were going to be French seamed, so where I combined the original front panels and them split them up again, so that as many seamed sections as possible were single layer. I split a horizontal section for the waist casing. I split upper and lower panels into "thirds".
- I didn't want flaps on the inside pockets, so I changed the pocket design. I also had to change the pocket size and placement because I made the jacket shorter. In the end I chose patch pockets for the green side. The patch pockets were sewn onto the back of the pink pockets. The pink pockets were the whole size of the pocket panel, so that the patch pocket did not show through to the other side. For the pink pockets, I took inspiration from a RTW hiking jacket that I have had for 20 years. The upper pockets have a pleated flap that hides a zippered pocket. I lined this pocket with lightweight liberty. The flap neatly covers my zips, which do not colour match the jacket. I'm not sure how to describe the lower pockets...you will have to look at the photos!

There was a lot of changing of thread and bobbin. I'm pretty pleased that I only had to pull out one seam because I sewed it in the wrong colour thread. Sadly, my machine makes a nicer top stitch than bobbin stitch. I did play around with the tension and settings, but the stitching on one side definitely looks better than the other.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?I would like to sew this pattern again, more in the fabric / style that it was intended.

Conclusion: I love the finished result. Thinking through the pockets was a bit of a brain drain, but I got there in the end. I can't decide which side of the jacket I like best, so I guess that makes for a successful reversible garment!

Floral Bomber

Once again, I'm late to jump on board a trend, but never mind.  Here is my take on the floral bomber.

The fabric is a printed tricot athleisure knit fabric from EmmaOneSock.  The navy / silver ribbing is from Craftymamas.  

The pattern is Simplicity 8418, which I picked up for a couple of dollars in a Spotlight sale.  I was choosing between this pattern, Burda 6478 (which I got at the same sale) and the Jalie Charlie Bomber. This one and the Burda had raglan sleeves, which I wanted. When I compared the Simplicity and the Burda pattern, this one was more fitted than the Burda. I liked the pockets on the Jalie, but shipping of Jalie patterns is so expensive that I usually buy a bundle all at once and I wasn't ready to order a whole heap of Jalies just at the moment.

I have hardly ever sewn a Simplicity pattern. My bust measurement put me at a sz 14. Sz 12 was the largest in my pattern envelope, so I started with that.  I should have made a muslin, but being a simple design, I thought I would get away without one. There were lots of changes on the run.

- I didn't line the jacket

- Square shoulder adjustment

- Prominent shoulder joint adjustment

- I changed the pockets to welt pockets. I used the Burda pocket piece and Jalie instructions to draft my own pattern piece. I used 1 cm welts, but I wish I had chosen 2 cm welts.

- I shortened the jacket by 2 cm. I would have liked it shorter, but the pockets were already in place, which was a bit limiting.

- I shortened the sleeves by 2 cm.

- My rib bands were a little narrower due to fabric shortage. I made the rib bands a little longer than the pattern because I thought my rib was not overly stretchy.

- I took the sleeve seam in by 2.5 cm (total width reduction of 5 cm), all the way up to the under arm, which raised the underarm by 2.5 cm, tapering back down to 0 as I sewed from underarm to waist.

Attaching all that ribbing was a very familiar process...I must have made a lot of sweatshirts as a child in the 80's...the Knitwit era!

It was pretty hot putting this jacket on for photos today, but it will be snuggly if the weather ever cools down.

Little Black Jacket

I was completely seduced by the video, "CHANEL: the Secrets of the Little Black Jacket".  I have watched that video so many times now that my heart starts beating a little bit faster when I hear the music accompanying the video.

I don't wear much black, but the seduction was so complete that I could not get the idea out of my head.  I set out to make my very own version.

I chose to make a version with cropped sleeves.  I wore this jacket on a trip to Melbourne in winter.  I layered it over a long sleeved merino top to combat the cold temperatures.  The cropped sleeves turned out to be quite advantageous, as whenever I put my elbows on the table whilst sipping / sampling the local cuisine, I did not have to worry about putting my beautiful wool tweed in any crumbs or spills.

I have made a couple of similar jackets now, but this is the first time I have made one with a button opening.

I chose a different pocket placement than my inspiration jacket.  It is actually difficult to get the pocket placement right for a button opening jacket and have them look okay when the jacket is worn both open and closed.   There must be some formula to get each the right distance from the centre front.  I hand-sewed these pockets on at least twice, very late, on the evening before I flew to Melbourne.  I am a little disappointed in the pockets.  I made a template, but being fully lined in silk, the pockets ended up a little misshapen.  I needed to stabilise either the tweed or the silk.  I was rushing these the day before I left.  I have enough fabric left to redo them at some future stage in my life when I am blessed with a little more time.  Once I started wearing the jacket, I did not notice the uneven pockets any more.

 

 I placed two buttons on each sleeve, and a button on each pocket.

 All the button holes are fully functioning.

I made spanish snap button holes (more detail here)

I used many hand-sewing techniques on this jacket, but I did not set the sleeves by hand.    I used the method in the Threads article "Shortcuts to a designer jacket" (Jan 07).  I have yet to bind the armhole sleeve allowances.  I might take the jacket with me over the summer to complete this hand-stitching.

Like many of you, I have gathered quite a few resources on the techniques to make a quilted jacket, including several Threads articles and Claire Shaeffer patterns.  As far as I was able, I stuck to the methods shown in the Chanel video.  I think they machine their button holes, so I did differ in that regard.  There was quite a bit of stabilising with what looked like iron-on Vilene tape.  I did a lot of hand-basting and hand felled seams, though the front edges and princess seams were machine sewn. 

I don't normally talk about costs on my blog, but I thought some of you may be interested in the cost to make one of these iconic jackets.

• Linton Tweed - 2 m 44 pounds, shipping 30 pounds ($135 - I have enough left over for a pencil skirt, should I decide to make one)
• Silk charmeuse lining from EmmaOneSock - 2 yds @ $25/yd, shipping, say $10
• Braid, from M&J Trimming - 5 yds -  $24.90 (I bought enough braid to go around the hem, but did not use that much.  I left the braid off the hem because I wanted it to be easy to let-out / take-in the jacket if required, anticipating that this jacket will be around for decades :)
• Metal Chain, from M&J Trimming - 2 yds $5.96 (I haven't added this yet.  I am wondering if I bought the wrong weight of cahin, because it doesn't feel heavy enough to affect the hang of the jacket)
• 14 buttons, from M&J Trimming - $37.52 (1 spare)
• Shipping from M&J Trimming $19.95
• Pattern - it was adapted from a Patrones pattern.  I'm not sure how to cost that in.  I visited my sister's sewing teacher, who helped me fit my muslin and adjust the pattern in a 1 on 1 session (what a joy that was!) for which I paid $100.  The pattern was heavily changed, so much so that it is not worth giving the pattern number.
• Vilene tape ~$15 from Spotlight
• poly-cotton remnants and interfacing remnants from stash - considered free
• thread - say $12

Of course, some of that is in $US and some in AUD, but at the time, the 2 currencies were close to parity, so I am ignoring that fact.

All that totals to just over $400.  a lot for one piece of clothing but a little compared to RTW versions.

I think I need some help styling the jacket.  These jackets are supposed to be very versatile, but so far, I have only paired it with jeans or a pencil skirt.  Probably doesn't help that not much of my wardrobe is in neutral colours.

Pink, frilly, boucle jacket

Sewing is a funny business.  A technique you wish to try here, a pattern waiting for its moment in the sun, a fabric sale there, and next thing you know, you have a frilly, pink jacket.  

Actually, this pattern may never have come into being if I didn't have a fight with my partner over book week costumes.  Originally, the Grand Old Duke of York was going to be Humpty Dumpty.  Only somebody wondered why I would put that much effort into my son only to have him going to school to look like an idiot.  I stormed off in a huff, with no place to go but the sewing room, where I chose the most time-consuming project that I had on hand.

The pattern is Vogue 2923 DKNY, which was printed in 2006, but is still available from Vogue clearance.  I'll show you a picture of the muslin, as it looks quite different made up in a medium weight linen.  The collar becomes a flounce the flows down the front opening and curves around to form the back peplum. I must say that sewing does not always bring out the best in me.  I was quite the miss-cranky-pants when I was fiddling to get my muslin right, and children wanted things, you know, like to be fed, or driven somewhere compulsory.  The linen for this muslin was gifted to me, but it actually doesn't look too bad...maybe I should have had my fashion moments in the eighties with all that peach and apricot.

I have previously attempted a Chanel-style jacket, which is my favourite jacket, but I decided that this time around I did not want the jewel neckline. I wanted something a little less classic.

The fabric is a boucle, with a high percentage of cotton.  I was hoping that it would be what people in other climates might consider a summer weight jacket, but it is a bit bulkier and warmer than I was anticipating.

The pattern has darts.  I was wondering how best to mark the fabric.  I even paused from my frantic sew-a-jacket-in-a weekend pace to read some of the blog "Go Chanel or go Home".  The first dozen or so entries did not mention marking fabric.  It was then that I realised that the traditional Chanel style jackets have princess seams for a reason.  I decided to fudge my marking and remember this as a lesson for next time.

It also did not occur to me to match plaids.  Not that I would have had enough fabric anyway.  Next time, I need to order more fabric to match plaids.  By some fluke, the pockets pattern matched perfectly.  Only then I decided to move them to a more flattering position.  I did not muslin the pockets, but I would recommend including them in the muslin if you are going to trim them with a contrasting trim, as the trim gives a very strong horizontal line.

I trimmed the seam allowance and a bit more off the collar and sandwiched the selvedge fringe of the fabric between the upper and lower collar.  I wish that it had occurred to me to account for turn of cloth in this bulky fabric, because the collar does not sit as flat as it should.  I don't think it matters much on a frilly, fluffy jacket.  

I did not have enough fringe to trim the pockets, so I wove a few strands together to make a trim.  Nothing too fancy because I did not have many threads available.

I caught the collar between the jacket and the lining as I bagged the two together.  I quilted the jacket after it was constructed, as outlined in a Threads magazine article.  After reading the "Go Chanel or Go Home" blog I now know that typically the panels are quilted before construction.   If you look closely at my inside-out photos, you will see that I quilted in shapes to suit the pattern pieces, rather than vertical lines.  I used a walking foot for the quilting.

You can see that I have not trimmed and bound the armhole seam.  That is because I have enough fabric to make a matching blouse or dress or tank plus skirt.  I want to cut these out before I cut the bias strips necessary to complete the armhole.  That could be sometime off as they are not at the top of my sewing queue, and besides, it feels as though the winter weather is over here.

I love the lining fabric.  I have had the boucle a couple of years and was patiently waiting for the right colour silk charmeuse to present itself.  A cut length of this pink print fabric went on sale at EmmaOneSock.  I had admired a skirt and blouse made up in this same fabric on net-a-porter and had been stalking it for a while. It wasn't until it went on sale that I realised that it would be a perfect match for this jacket.  Nothing like a sale to get the creative juices flowing.  I'm not sure what this silk fabric is called, but it does not have the sheen of charmeuse and is more of a habotai weight.

A few quick photos on me.  I made the muslin one weekend, the jacket the next and put the finishing touches on today.  No time to dress up for a photo shoot though, so you get my spent-almost-all weekend gardening hairdo.  I wanted to blog tonight though, as I am anticipating a busy month with little or no sewing and blogging.  No front-on photos though, because the boucle is hardly slimming.  I have bought a length of white denim (on sale, again) which I will hopefully make up into slim jeans to match, with a top in the pink lining fabric to complete the outfit.  One day.

Rainwear II

Well, the sound of rain on the tin roof at night was enough to motivate me to finally sew those buttons on.  Here it is...

 

  

I keep changing my mind as to whether I like it or not.  Today, I like it.  I think the not-liking is because the construction is not quite to the standard that I would like.  The welt seams were going all very well until I hit the curved seams.  Sadly, the curved seams are in very prominent places, being the tops of the shoulders.  I had lots of trouble with the pockets, as mentioned previously.  I have noticed that the Burberry cape that was my inspiration piece does not have pockets.  Obviously, their designer knew that the pockets would be difficult!  Also, my buttonholes could be improved.  I only ever do regular button-holes with regular thread, but I think perhaps a different treatment was needed for this fabric.  Ahh, the fabric.  I do love the fabric.

Now, if only it would rain when I was out and about and not when I am curled up in bed.

PS for pattern and fabric details, see my original post.

Lined Jacket

Well, this was the last item in my winter wardrobe. I nearly didn't make it, but then patternreview had a lined jacket comp and I saw that Eddi Frantz left a comment on my blog encouraging me to sew this classic style (I can't believe he visited my blog...if you pass this way again Eddi, I love your columns in Australian Stitches!). He recommended a metallic fabric, but I had already purchased this wool. Halfway through, I was a bit despondent at how drab it looked, so then I changed to these rather fanciful buttons. It was a tough project by I am satisfied that it fits so well...no hollows at the bust or straining at the hips.

PS the photos are just plonked in this blog because I am on a borrowed computer and I need to get the photos up before the competition deadline.