Just an Australian Girl, Up in the Tokyo Streets*

* 5 points if you get my lame attempt at a pop culture reference....

Well, I'm not in the Tokyo streets (unfortunately), but I am rocking around in a Tokyo Jacket by Tessuti. I only became interested in making this recently. I desperately wanted a loose, swingy, casual jacket. The Tokyo fits the bill.

I made this in a medium-weight viscose from Tessuti. A lovely fabric - frays like hell, but drapes in the most amazing way. Didn't slip under the needle either. It has a self-stripe that adds a teeny bit of interest.

I tried on the size extra-small in Tessuti Melbourne one day. It fit, but I perhaps needed a smidge more room across the shoulders. So I made this in the size small. I am thinking for my next one I might revert back to the extra small, but keep a small at the shoulders. This size small feels a tiny bit too big and slips off a tad.

That young girl of mine cracks me up

I left off the pockets. The pattern has you put the pockets on, hem the back section and then join it at the side seams. This means your side seams are not tucked under a hem. That didn't appeal to my anal-retentivness, so I left the pockets off and joined it at the side seams before hemming it. I hand-stitched the hem, and instead of attaching the collar band by stitching-in-the-ditch, I also hand-stitched it. You can sort of see in the picture below.

This jacket is a nice sew. It is rewarding - you get a jacket, but for no where near the effort you have to put into a more tailored jacket. I highly recommend!

What are you sewing this long Easter weekend? I have to sew Miss M a few pairs of pants, and I'm hoping to start sewing a more tailored jacket too.....