Saturday, June 18, 2016

Dreaming jackets



I have to admit to an obsession with making the perfect jacket lately. Since my last post I've completed an unlined Style Arc Cindy jeans jacket in a stretch woven, have another plaid and faux leather combination finished awaiting closures and am now working on the scaffolding for a traditionally tailored navy blue wool blazer.  

So first lets talk about the Cindy, a slim fitted jean style jacket that lends itself to more sophistocated styling.  The design lines, with extensive shaping in the centre front panels and princess seams really enhance the fit.  I made a size 12 and only adjusted the sleeves - my usual widening and shortening.  I also decided to sew the upper pocket flap into the front yoke seam as it didn't make sense to stitch down above the seam line and used a self yoke at the back rather than a facing.  The latter alteration proved to be quite tricky and not recommended if working with difficult fabric.  Mine definitely fell into this category - fraying a lot and somewhat resistent to pressing.  I'll definitely make another jacket like this.  I saw a fantastic version using contrasting fabrics on Pattern Review that really has me thinking. One of the other things I love about the pattern is the way it showcases great buttons.  Do you like these fantastic decahedron shaped buttons by Marc Jacobs that I found in a jar at the Fabric Store in Sydney?  I have made several flawed attempts at a wearing photo, but black fabric against Sydney's winter grey sky doesn't make for good photography.   

As the photos suggest, I've also been working on some traditional tailoring.  
The patten is an oldie V2853 by American designer Anne Klein.  I'm following Alison Smith's classes on Craftsy.com.  She is a fantastic teacher who illustrates very well not only the how to of traditional tailoring methods, but the purpose of doing things in a particular way.  I'm not sure why my canvas looks so lumpy in this photo as it is actually quite smooth.

Hand-sewing has always been my drug of choice, so as you might imagine, I'm addicted!  Hope to show you more soon.  Meanwhile, happy sewing!