Tuesday, November 9, 2010

I'm still alive! With a spring jacket to show you.

It has been a while between posts. The longest it has ever been I think. There is a reason, but that shall be revealed in a later post... (so secretive!).

I have been doing a little sewing, but this project is from a while ago. Remember this dress, from this pattern?




Well, I finally got around to making the jacket and taking some pictures of it.


The fabric is a lightweight suiting from Tessuti Fabrics, and it was just gorgeous to sew with. It does wrinkle a little though, but Michael assures me it looks as though that is the way it is meant to be.

I made quite a few changes:


  1. Firstly, I didn't put the middle 'faux welt pocket' between the two other pockets. I pinned it all on, but thought it just looked messy. 
  2. I lined the little pockets in lining fabric. The instructions called for the edges to be turned under, but I have never been able to make nice rounded smooth edges doing that. 

  1. I didn't make the sleeves the way they were meant to be made. They were meant to have D-rings that you pulled together, and a placket. I tried doing that and ruined the sleeves. I had to go and buy more fabric. Woops! So I measured around my arm just above my elbow and made a cuff that I gathered the fabric onto. I think it looks nice. 
  2. I didn't put those weird looking ribbon ties on. I think it makes the jacket look too busy and convoluted. Plus, this is not a jacket that you 'do up'. It is one to be worn open a little frock or cute shirt. 
A view from the back:




All in all, I like it. I don't like the top stitching, which I think looks messy, but I unpicked it once and did it again with relatively the same result. Ah well.

It is a great jacket to wear over little dresses. I wore it to my work meeting today over the Cynthia Rowley racer back dress and felt very 'covered'. I've also worn it with my linen pants and a white t-shirt and was told by a work colleague that I looked cool (not in temperature, but as in 'awesome' - which is funny, as I am not 'cool').

I think I'll make another one - maybe in a really brightly coloured linen. What do you think?

16 comments:

  1. That's such a great jacket! I've got some teal blue jacquard I'm planning on making it in this weekend - thanks for the modification tips.

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  2. It is a gorgeous jacket! I think another in a bright colour would be great - and would go well with black when you want a bit of colour :)

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  3. Love the jacket, Rachel! You've got me imagining it in bright sunshine yellow now too :)
    ~Alana

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  4. I love this jacket. Every time I see one that someone's made I tell myself I must make it too. I think it would look fabulous in a strong, bright colour! (Canary yellow popped into my head, then I glanced up and saw what lazystitching had suggested!)

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  5. I love the jacket! I thought the pattern looked way to over the top, thats why I never bought it. The modified version looks great!

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  6. Gorgeous - it does look cool! I like the colour of this one but maybe you could make a denim one nest time?

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  7. love the jacket! I love that dress too. I may have to get this pattern. So many patterns I buy are because I see your great versions of them. Thanks for all the inspiration!

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  8. Your jacket is lovely Rachel. And dear blog readers don't believe her - she is 'cool'.

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  9. I forgot to say - your roses are gorgeous.

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  10. Such a sweet jacket! I love the tabs which provide interesting detail. They certainly don't need either ribbons (?!) or buttons. I also love the sleeves, which soften the overall look. It's a winner, and goes great with that dress!

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  11. LOVE the jacket....can't wait to hear your secret!

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  12. Great jacket! I love your choice of Fabric!!!!

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  13. Such a great jacket. I love all the extra special features. The sleeves are very cute. A perfect weight for Spring.

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  14. Very nice! I have this jacket in progress. I put the ties on and hate it so that kind of stopped my progress. I think I will remove the ties and go with it that way! I like how that looks on yours! Again, great job! Looks lovely!

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  15. That's a great little jacket to throw on over dresses! I like the modifications you made. Nice work, that would be a great 'make-again' pattern!

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