2017 Flashback - Suit Jackets Galore Part 1

Confession - I have always loved suits.  Back in high school I had a black pinstriped pantsuit with a double breasted jacket that was my pride and joy.  It was a cheap ass polyester blend purchased at *Fashion Bug but I felt like a million bucks in it.  One year I wore it to school with on Halloween with heels and told people I was a lady mobster.  No one was charmed by my "creativity" or fashion sense. However this was one of two instances that my highly insecure self said...not outloud but internally.... "Fuck you guys, I look good in this suit." (The other time was when a boy I'd known for years  disparagingly said I was the only girl he knew that had sideburns. That time I internally said, "Fuck you I have great hair.)

All of this is a roundabout way of saying that in the summer of 2017 I blocked out about a month and a half to make a couple of suit jackets.  During the previous winter I'd been constantly annoyed about not having enough dressy options that worked with the weather. I didn't sew anything then for some reason, probably distracted by cake.  Instead I just bought several new pieces of wool while cackling with glee. Oh wool, you complete me. Let's go get brunch. Honestly though, who wouldn't fall in love with this plaid? Only a monster.....or maybe someone who looks terrible in green. I'll cut you a little slack if that's the case.

You guys know how I feel about plaid, we're soul mates. Also it's super hard to even find a predominately green plaid. As soon as I saw this on the Mood website I was practically screaming, "TAKE MY MONEY! I NEED THIS IN MY LIFE!" Didn't want this one to languish in the stash for a few years, so sewing it up was priority number 1. One needs all the green or red garments they can get for Christmas season theme dressing. Aka the best season of the year because everyone wears my favorite colors.

For once my existing pattern stash was rummaged through for a suitable pattern. Memory fails me but I think I bought Simplicity 1207 on a whim during one of my random Etsy pattern browsing bindges. Nothing de-stresses me like staring at new patterns.  That shoulder detail intrigued was very intriguing. I didn't realize it was a pocket until looking at the pattern pieces.  Sure the lady on the left has a handkerchief in hers but sometimes I'm oblivious. Probably distracted by the shoes the lady in red has on. Would buy! **Can I get Royal Vintage shoes on the phone and make this happen?  Also if you're wondering why the pattern number is different on this picture it's because Simplicity re-released the pattern about a month after I completed my jacket.  I haven't bought the new version check if the patterns have been tweaked to make them easier to sew.  Even so it is nice to be able say, "If you want to make this pattern you can easily get a copy."

Anyway, back to the yoke detail! Sewing it together was one of the most interesting construction processes I've had in awhile. It's a good thing I did have the original instructions to refer to because it still made me go......huh? Here's a photo I took mid sewing process to document the yoke area. What you see here is the back on the left with the yoke/back half of the pocket bag attached at the shoulders. On the right is the front with the back yoke area attached. The fronts have the other half of the pocket bag sewn in already. They're in lining fabric and you top-stitch the edge of the pocket before getting to this point.

To put these two pieces together press the seam allowance under on the "band" portion of the front. Then you lay it on top of the back and top-stitch everything into place. Pretty sure the pattern drafter wasn't thinking, "And maybe some crazy person will do this on plaid. That will be fun!" He was probably thinking the opposite. Of course I was that crazy person and was already past the point of no return.  Time for a walking foot, lots of pins and maybe a burnt sacrifice to the sewing goddess.  Though I like to think of her as a cousin of Jobu from "Major League" and she really just wants some alcohol. P.S. "Jesus, I like him very much, but he no help with curve ball."

As you can kind of see in this poorly lit photo, it worked! Bless whichever relative gave me the anal retentive fabric cutting genes.  All....The...Plaids....WILL...Match. Then months later you can smile smugly into your camera about how awesome your yoke plaids match.

The other detail to talk about is the buttons. You might have noticed that my version has 2 instead of 1 like on the pattern illustration.  Well when I muslined this up it seemed like the button was way too low to keep all of the jacket in place. The upper portion was gaping a bit in a non flattering way.  If I had to guess my low bust point might be to blame. Lurking down low and pushing everything about with abandon. Solution, more buttons!  I added another button 4.5" above the original button location. After wearing the jacket once I also added a snap to keep the bottom half in place. Gotta keep all those plaid lines in place.

Pattern
Simplicity 1207.  Since making my version this pattern was re-released by the company as Simplicity 8461.

Fabrics used
Wool plaid from Mood fabrics, black bemberg from Emmaonesock

Pattern changes/alterations
1. Graded pattern up from 34" bust to 36" bust.
2. Added 1/2" ease to the waist and hip.
3. 1/2 forward shoulder adjustment.
4. Added another button to the CF.

Confessions/Advice

The plaid matching might be on point, but on the other end of the spectrum we have the back of this jacket.  I had no idea this suit was so puffy there until taking these photos. Checked the pattern and yes I did neglect to put in my normal sway back adjustment.  Oops.  At least I've got plenty of ease to move around.

Husband Comment
"It has a lot of real estate for pins. Also the pattern illustration looks like an air hostess. Not you though."

My Final Thoughts
One good thing about blogging months after completing a project is that you know how successful of a wardrobe item it is.  I wore this one as often as possible from December to April. In fact I was always pissed if I'd worn it to church last week and didn't want to repeat my outfit.  I will admit that the color had a lot to do with that.  Pros for the actual design is that it's very comfortable and warm thanks to the wool and full lining. I do like the pocket yoke detail and it makes me think I need to pick up a pair of dress clips.  Simplicity 1207 isn't a pattern that I'm planning on sewing again, but I'm 100% happy that I did make one up.

During the summer of 2017 I made two other jackets, one successful, one that's a bit of a mess. It may be salvageable if I rip out the lining and maybe replace a collar.  Of course I hate taking apart finished garments so that one may never see the light of day. You'll definitely see the one that worked out even though it's a pattern repeat. Until then buy plaid and cake. I already am.

* Don't know how prevalent the Fashion Bug chain was but it was slightly better quality than Walmart but not as good as Macy's. Anyway the price was right so my Mom let us do a lot of our High School wardrobe shopping there.

** I happen to wearing the Royal Vintage Marilyn pumps in these photos and I'd give them a thumbs up.

It's an Easter Miracle

This could be an Easter miracle or more of a Dr. Frankenstein hooking up a corpse to lighting sort of situation.  Either way you slice it, the blog is ALIVE! ALIVE I TELL YOU!!!!! *cue manic laughter*

Sooooo how's everybody been?  Over here it's been snowing....every week. On the one hand I've gotten a few extra sewing days in. On the other I'm all, "I'm getting to old for this shit" every time my eye falls on the camera tripod. Unless you've got a winter coat to model who wants to go saddle up their team of huskies to go get some blog photos?  (Confession, if I did have a team of huskies I would 100% do a photo shoot with them. It would be a disaster, but probably hilarious.)

Anywooo, today it wasn't snowing or torrential raining and I thought, "Hey I've got myself all made up. Might as well take some blog photos." Looking around I saw that my son was distracted with his new Easter Shark* and my husband was happily eating his easter chocolate. I grabbed the tripod and ran out of the house before they could grab me and demand more food. FREEEDOM!   Well freedom to squint into the sun while dog walkers at the park wonder what the hell I'm doing. (BTW - One of them did tell me my outfit was fantastic.)

This wasn't what I'd planned to wear for Easter. There's a nice blue/white floral rayon number all ready to go for a festive Spring celebration....except it doesn't feel like Spring yet.  After sticking my head out the door I said, "NOPE, not suffering for fashion today....other than my shoe choice. Let's pull out the wool." And low, I clothed myself of in the fleece of a sheep and was happy. But how did I get here you might ask? Oh, oh, oh, I'll tell you.

At the beginning of the month I went on a pattern buying bender since it's only way to get myself excited about sewing up fabric that's as old as my son. Just give me something new and shiny!   As usual Etsy came through and hooked me up with a new Hollywood Pattern. Bam!

All winter I'd been staring at this glen plaid and thinking, "That would look nice in a suit jacket with some pleather. But what pattern would work?" Nothing really came to mind even though there are a healthy number of suit patterns in my stash.  But when I first clapped eyes on Hollywood 989 I knew it would be perfect.

The illustration doesn't show a version with contrast fabrics even though the construction makes it easy to add them. The collar is inserted in similar to a button down shirt collar, so you don't have to worry about piecing a facing on the inside.  The pocket flaps are only decorative, no worrying about sewing bias bound pockets in pleather.  I also decided to do the undersleeves in pleather so there wasn't a nasty plaid mismatch on the back sleeve seam.  There's some extra ease in the elbow area so it was impossible to match the two pieces across the seam.

One other interesting design element is that the jacket does not have a side seam in the normal place.  The front piece wraps around to where the back bodice dart might be positioned. A fish eye dart is used to shape the side seam instead. But you'll have to take my word for it because my plaid matching is obscuring all vertical seams.  Thank god for that CB seam because that make sway back adjustments even easier. (Looks like I need to take out a bit more for the sway back looking at these pics. Darn curvy backside.)

Pattern
Hollywood 989 - Jacket only.  Probably should grade up the skirt because a one with an inverted pleat would be a nice addition to the wardrobe.

Fabrics used
Plaid wool with a bit of a boucle texture/medium weight pleather. Both of these are long stashed Emmaonesock purchases.  The cobalt lining is also from the stash, originally from Gorgeous Fabrics.  In fact even the interfacing, shoulder pads and buttons are stash. A 100% stash project!

Pattern changes/alterations
1. Graded the pattern up to a 36" bust.
2. Standard for me forward shoulder adjustment of 1/2" to shoulder and sleeve cap
3. Decreased sleeve cap height 1/2".
4. 1/2" extra ease added to waist and hip for my pear shape.
5. 1/4" sway back adjustment.
6. Took 1/2" out of the center back seam at the waist.

Confessions/Advice
- No tricky construction issues on this one if you're an old hat at jackets.  See what I did there, old hat. *wink, wink*

- Desmond convinced me on using these buttons that were in the stash.  I was going to self cover some buttons with pleather instead.  After mocking one of those up I admitted that Desmond's pick looked better. More Sparkle!

Husband Comment
Him - "Oh it's got shiny parts. It's like a hybrid of a leather jacket and hounds tooth." 
Me - "It's plaid, not houndstooth."
Him - "Are you sure?"
Me - "YEESS. Who has a fashion design degree around here?"
Him - "Hmmmm, well the plaid is houndstoothy."
 
My Final Thoughts
This baby turned out just like it looked in my head.  I've also worn it all day and wore like a dream. So warm and comfy. This patterns is going in the "would make again" pile.

My sewing machine has been humming all winter so there are plenty of garments I could show you.  But will I?  Maybe Frankenstein's monster could ghost write for me. His grasp of English is probably better.  Until then enjoy your chocolate haul!

*Easter Shark patent pending. It's a real thing and not something I just made up for my shark obsessed 7 year old.  The Easter shark brings steaks, chocolate, and a stuffed shark for you to hug. He's awesome for all ages.

McCall's 3242 - The Pendleton Jacket Knock Off

Last year I feel deeply in love with the Pendleton 49er jacket.  At first I was all, "Oooo look at me, embracing boxy plaid garments. How shocking!"  Then I slowly remembered that my mother had a closet full of 90's style Pendleton suits with plaid jackets and matching kilt style skirts. These were in the hall closet that also held all the family photo albums.  Sometimes you'd tunnel yourself in there to get out the pictures but also to sniff the wool/cedar blocks. (Unrepentant wool sniffer since my early years.) Sooo yes, we all become our parents eventually, but with slight variations. :)  Also I wish I had a closet to fill with just wool and cedar for my boy to sniff.......Digression finished.

After buying my first 49er jacket I discovered a bunch of other great things about the garment.

1. Giant patch pockets you can throw just about anything in. Phones, kids toys, pens, measuring tapes, snacks, your toy frog eating the snacks, etc.

2.  The roomy fit lets you put all manner of shirts underneath.  Well maybe nothing bulky around the wrist area but I can work around that. Three quarter sleeves anyone?

3. Plaid fabric helps hide food stains if you happen to be a be one of those people who's hands randomly release things without your brain's instruction. (I am one of those people.)

4. Wool fabric does it's job of being a great insulator without making you feel overly sweaty.

5. Boxy fit goes great with swing pants and man-ish shoes making it a practical work outfit. (Pants are the Living History Smooth Sailing Trousers once again)

Basically the 49er jacket is exactly the kind of layering garment I want in my life right now.  However the thought to make my own didn't cross my mind until my father gifted me 3 yards of plaid wool for Christmas. Should I try to copy one of my vintage Pendleton jackets or was there a vintage pattern out there that was similar?  To the Internets, the power of Google compels you!

Googling "vintage Pendleton pattern" took me to some long dead message board where several vintage pattern numbers were suggested. I had Froggie write them down for me and then we surfed on over to Etsy to see what was available.  Low and behold Etsy had most of the patterns mentioned and McCall's 3242 was perfect!

Perfect doesn't really describe it because McCall's 3242 is an exact copy of the Pendleton 49er jacket. Shoulder pleat in the same place? Yes.  Back yoke gathers? Yes.  Collar has same curved shape on the outer edge? Yes again!  Obviously someone in charge at McCall's thought this design was popular enough to copy for the sewing public. I thank you sir or madam for doing all the work for me.

Construction was easy pleesy since the style is basically a cross between a jacket and collared shirt. Well as easy as plaid matching can be.  My walking foot does help a bunch to keep everything matched up after it's been pinned. The only construction details I changed was tweaking the pocket placement, flat felling the side seams/under arms and serging the armhole seams at the finish.  At the end you get a very pretty inside where the only exposed seams are the armholes.  Nothing like a pretty inside to make you feel accomplished.

Pattern
McCall's 3242

Fabrics used
Light weight plaid wool that was a gift.

Pattern changes/alterations
1.Standard forward shoulder adjustment to the shoulder seam and sleeve
2. Reduced with of cuff by .5".
3. Took in side seams about an inch.
4. Lengthened sleeves .5".
5. Reduced the width of the pockets .5".

Confessions/Advice
-The fit came out a bit roomier than I'd wanted.  Probably need to grade the entire pattern down one size for the fit to be similar to my vintage jackets.

-The color in the plaid are probably a little too 60's for regular wear.  I do like that kelly green though.

Husband Comment
"You finally made something with decent pockets. Good job."

Bonus son comment, "That doesn't look to good.  I mean you look good, but that jacket doesn't." (I'm still laughing about this.)

My Final Thoughts
McCall's 3242 is a excellent copy of the Pendleton 49er style. As with our modern Big 4 patterns I think it comes with a little more ease than I'd like.  Mind you I muslined the whole thing up and decided the ease was fine, so I have no one but myself to blame.  I'd like to give this pattern another go with a heavier wool plaid after grading it down a bit. That should give me the exact fit I'm looking for.

Long story short, Excellent pattern but check your sizing. And with that I'll leave you with an action shot.

See you next time with the exact opposite of this jacket.  Fitted, Floral and Floucey, Oh my!

PR Hacks - Upgrading Butterick 6169

Hello everyone!  Hope those of you also on the East coast are keeping warm and safe during the "Blizzard of 2016." We've got at least a foot of snow on the ground already and the storm is not expected to stop until sometime in the wee hours tonight. I foresee a shit ton of shoveling in my future. At least I've got my Froggie pit crew permanently on hot chocolate making duty.  In the meantime let's procrastinate on all that shoveling by talking about this month's pattern hack.

After two months of knit garment hacks it seemed right to give woven fabrics their turn.  I took some inspiration from PR "Best Patterns of 2015" contest entries and finally dusted off my copy of Butterick 6169. Seemed like a great way to finally sew up at least one of those pleather fabrics lurking in my stash. (Let's not talk about how many more are left.)

Butterick 6169 is one of those patterns that is the perfect base for pattern hacking.  So many different design ideas popped into my head that some severe editing was needed. There's only so many weeks in the month for sewing after all.  In the end I went with adding a yoke, changing the front hem line shape, and drafting a collar.  Oh and I changed the in seam pockets to zipper inset pockets.....because I like to torture myself with pleather. ;)

To get all the juicy drafting details hop on over to the PR blog. 

P.S. Sewing all that pleather was a nail biting experience so I decided to have a little fun with the lining. Meoooow, behold my Jungle January insides! 

P.P.S. - This morning I was a little out of it and accidentally deleted my December PR hacking post.  After spending way too much time googling, "How to recover blog pages," it occurred to me that having all these posts in one place would be very helpful.  I've added a "PR Hacks" tab to the header and will gather all the article links there. That should make finding a specific hack easier in the future. 

Introducing Ava and Betsy

Guess what peeps?  Not only is it a holiday Monday here in the states, but it's also new Bluegingerdoll pattern time. Woo Hoo, let's party with grilled burgers and sewing! Just don't mix the two unless fire and grease stains are how you like to unwind.

But enough of my nonsense, let me introduce you to the Ava Jacket and the Besty skirt.

The Ava Jacket is a slightly cropped kimono affair with 3/4 length cuffed sleeves. You can make it with a contrast collar/cuff, like I have, or use the same fabric for the entire jacket. My Ava has a 100% viscose shell and silk charmeuse collar, cuffs and lining.

Oh hello, pleased to meet you gallant prince outside of my photo frame. Check out my cufffffs.

Betsy is a pencil skirt with 3 different views. I'm wearing the high waisted view C, made up in silk satin. As you can see this baby has several style variations to tickle your fancy. Mmmmm so many pencil skirts, so little time.

I like multiple darts for my butt and I can not lie.  Sadly this pic doesn't show the great detail that is pleated kick pleat. Let me assure you that it is awesome.

For more in depth descriptions of the patterns and much better pictures than mine, hop on over to the Bluegingerdoll blog.  If you like what you see, you can pick up the new patterns in PDF and paper form over at the store at 10% off through the 28th. Hot patterns right off the printer, YUM!
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P.S. I'm wearing the Closet Case Files Nettie bodysuit with Ava and Betsy.  More on that later cause it deserves it's own post.

ModCloth Knock Off - Part 2

*In the last episode of "Handmade by Heather B," Heather and her trusty sidekick Frogore were engaging in the dark side of pattern mashing, hoping to clone a Modcloth jacket.  Were they successful or did their creation run amok? Stay tuned to find out*

After my second muslin, I was feeling pretty confident that the shape was pretty close to the inspiration garment.  Let's just take a look at that again.

I decided to redraw the back peplum seam a third time and mock up the body of the jacket in fashion fabric.  That way the question of a one or two piece sleeve could be put off as long as possible. I was also hoping that given enough time Frogore might convert that sleeve for me. I should have known better, he only makes candy disappear.

In the end I did convert the sleeve to a two piece in a way that was truly heinous and will not be spoken of again. (No tutorials on that people. I don't want to teach you bad habits that shouldn't work.) The only other tweak made was to take in the front edge by 3/4", for a more pleasing look.

Since the search for jacket weight skull fabric came up dry, I did a bit of stash diving and decided on a lace print synthetic of some sort. At least that's what I think it is since it doesn't hold a crease that well. This mad scientist really should keep better notes on the stash since the "abby normal" brain can't remember jack.  But without further ado I give you.... My Creation! Frogore throw the switch! MUHAAAAHAAAHAA!

First up a front and back collage so you can do a little compare and contrast with the original garment.

Close up on the buttons and collar.  I must be standing a bit funny because the collar doesn't look even on both sides.  I assure you that despite an "abby normal" brain I can balance a collar evenly.  Just take this fun sized candy bar and nod your head yes.

Like the inspiration garment, the jacket is closed with self covered buttons.  On the other side is one silver button to keep the overlap from flopping around.

Trying to give you a decent photo of the sleeve head but failing. How about a process sleeve head shot instead?  The only thing I'm not entirely happy with is the support for the sleeve head.  I bought very nice shoulder pads from Gorgeous Fabrics, but the heads could really use more support than that.  What kind of support I'm not sure. Frogore should have done a little more research for me.

Here I must be really excited to show you my lining, or maybe Frogore was making funny faces at me while we took pictures. He is quite the cut up.

Finally cause I like you and Halloween's supposed to be about treats....a nice collage of my decorative seams. I'd offer you more chocolate but it seems to have gone missing.

So what did the towns people think?  We'll some of them weren't too sure of my 80's linebacker shoulder line. I managed to convinced them that it's what all the fashionable mad scientists are wearing this season.  The rest were immediately won over by the snazzy lace print and constructed a catwalk lit with their torches.  I'm currently demonstrating my "Blue Steel" while Frogore pockets their change for the next project.  Happy Halloween!

ModCloth Knock Off - Part 1

Hello everyone, long time no post.  I've been sidelined by a series of minor head colds, social commitments and some secret pattern testing.  I'm not done with all those things yet, but I didn't want October to end without talking about my lined jacket project.

The Pattern Review Lined Jacket contest fell in the month of October this year and it's one that I always sign up for.  Probably because jackets/blazers have always been my favorite garment to complete. I might not wear them much, at least the blazers, but oh do I like sewing them.  Besides some day my child will take CEO mommy seriously because I'm wearing a kick ass blazer.  Shhhhh a girl can dream.

This year I decided use the PR contest as a kick in the pants to finally knock off this ModCloth jacket.

The sleeves, the peplumish back, the asymmetrical closure! I love it all.  I'd also give my eye teeth for that skull fabric but you can't have it all. Sniff, sniff.....psst modcloth suppliers, call me.

Now if I'd been a good "clean" pattern drafter, I would have finally made myself that blazer block and drafted this from scratch.  Inside I decided to change my name to Frankenstein, stitch a bunch of patterns together and then further hack them to shreds. I'm a monster I tell you, A Monster!!! I had my assistant "Frogore" collect these bodies....I mean patterns...for my crimes again science/fashion.
1. For the main body - Sewaholic Cordova.  Princess line seams, check!
2. For the sleeve - Style Arc Gabby jacket. These are the funky sleeve heads you're looking for.
3. For the collar/lapel area - Random Burda Jacket in one of my old mags. Sorry, Frogore was a little hazy on this one. He just threw a collar at me and said, "Make it work."

So I half haphazardly traced these three patterns together and then made a few changes.
1. Made the lapels bigger and similar to shape to the inspiration jacket. Also make the upper collar band thicker.
2. Turned the front shoulder princess line into a armhole princess line
3. Added a back peplum seam line and a front diagonal seam line.
4. Changed the CF to an asymmetrical overlap.
Then I threw it on a table and waited for some lighting while yelling "It's Alive!!"  Ummmm no really, I sewed it together while Frogore ate Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

Here are pics of muslin number one.  I didn't put the sleeves or facings on it cause I knew it would need changes....and cause Frogore didn't get me more muslin.

The first version wasn't too bad considering I was just winging this whole drafting thing.  The front was close to the original other than looking a little long.  In the back the peplum seam line was too high.  I wanted it to lay on the small of my back, but it was a few inches above that.  I also felt it wasn't as curvy as the inspiration garment.

I went back to the drafting board and changed the location and shape of the back peplum seam. Then made muslin number two, this time with sleeves!  Frogore finally came through with the muslin once I hid his candy.

This time the peplum seam was in the right location as far as height, but the shape just made it look like a weird butt cut out.  I was also debating about turning the one piece sleeve into a two piece sleeve.

What did I do next?  Did I end up with a fashionable blazer or one that caused the towns people to chase me with lighted torches?  Tune in next blog post to find out!

Motorcycle Momma* - Burda 135

*No motorcycles were harmed or even photographed in this blog post. This blogger is only a Faux-Badass and the mere though of climbing onto such a vehicle makes her back away slowly until she reaches her knitting and cooking eating chair. Mmmm chocolate chip.

I don't want to jinx anything, but this might be the first FO of a jacket/coat extravaganza that might rival the "legendary" summer of dresses. Or maybe I just have tons of stashed coating taking enormous amounts of space in the fabric cave.  MOAAAR COATS IN EVERY COLOR OF THE RAINBOW!!!!!  Ok, Ok, let me calm down a bit and talk about Burda 135 first. Then we can get into Jacketrama/Coatpaloza....name pending.

In the spring I was being a good little stash buster and looking for patterns to pair with stashed fabrics.  Burda 135 caught my eye because I'm a sucker for a pattern with interesting design elements. This one has a three piece front, quilted elbows/hip area and fun eppulates   It seemed like the perfect thing for the lightweight wool/cashmere coating I'd bought on a whim/epic sale.  I was going knock this out right away but got stuck in the "the pants fitting cycle of hate" until the weather warmed up.  (spoiler, I ended up not making pants but making a gazillion dresses instead.) Well the weather's back to being cool and this baby finally got sewn up.

Now are you all excited to see photos of a jacket where all the interesting details are obscured by the color?   Yes? To compensate I lurked around one of my neighbor's fences to give you a new background to stare at.  PS. I've always said I don't like 80's fashion yet here I am wearing leggings and tunicy sweater. You win fashion cycle, you win.

I'm sassy cause I got my skull stud booties on. It's just a matter of time until I start putting studs on everything.

Obligatory back shot showing that I once again shirked my sway back adjustment. Seems wishing that I don't have one never works.

Pattern
Burda 3/2013 #135 Here's the technical drawling again since my photos don't do the design justice. Not shown in this drawing is that all the princess line seams are top-stitched which makes them even sharper looking.

Fabrics used
The shell is wool/cashmere herringbone coating from Fabricmart.com.  I bought this last December during one of their giant sales and was displeased to find it was rather thin.  A little stash marination and actually sewing with the fabric improved my opinion of it.  The quality of the blend is great and it worked up perfectly for a transitional weather jacket.

The lining is a roll end I picked up from Hot Patterns while they were doing a bit of fabric selling.  I loved that pattern so much that I conveniently "forgot" that ivory looks hideous next to my skin.  The fabric was labeled as a cotton but thankfully is very slippery and works great as a lining. Ivory problem solved!

Lining in coat cause I like flashing my linings *wink, wink*

Pattern changes/alterations
1. I started with the size 42 and graded up the waist and hip area using the method described here.
2. Normal 1/2" forward shoulder adjustment.
3. Sleeve cap forward shoulder adjustment also of 1/2".  Miss Leila clued me in on this trick for one piece sleeves and it works like a charm on two pieces sleeves as well.  Basically you cut the sleeve cap and move it forward the same amount as you did the shoulder seam.  Then cut down the over hang on the front and add to the gap in the back.  I promise to write a post on this with decent step by step pics, but for now just look at my sleeve post change.

5. After making up the shell in the real fabric I found there to be waaaaaay too much ease for the design aesthetic.  In my opinion, which you may take with a grain of salt, a motorcycle jacket should be rather trim and sit close to the body.  Instead the jacket was baggy like a duffle coat, which is fine if you were making a duffel coat, but so great for this jacket.  I took in both side seams removing 4" of ease. I know 4", that's cray cray!
6. This meant each armhole was 2" smaller so I had to get a little creative with sleeves to get them to fit into the new armhole.  I took in the underarm seam about an 1" and then eased in the rest in my sleeve cap gathers. Go wool, enabling my bad sewing!!!
7. The pattern calls for snaps to hold down the eppulates.  I only had gold and colored snaps on hand so I ransacked the button stash for some black buttons.

Confessions/Advice
1. I didn't do a sway back adjustment because of sheer laziness and I "thought" the muslin looked fine without one.  In retrospect I would put a small 1/2" adjustment in at my lower back area.

2. If I had took in the side seams at the muslin stage then I would have reduced the height of the sleeve cap to compensate for the smaller armhole.  Thankfully the black wool disguises that the sleeve heads are puffier than they should be.

3. I feel that the princess line seam on the front is too far away from the bust apex to give you any good bust shaping.  This makes the front boxier than I though it would be looking at the technical drawing. Not a deal beaker but it's a good thing to be aware of.

4. I was thinking about not quilting the hip area but the fusible batting is very thin and did not add much additional bulk to my already bulky hip areas.

4. I've made a decent number of Burda patterns and am generally fine with their basic directions and minimal notches. But on this pattern you had to trace together two shell pieces for the lining.  If I wanted to draft my own lining I would.  When I'm paying for a pattern that says it has a lining I expect to have the pieces drafted for me. Grrrr

Husband Comment
"It would be perfect if it had pockets."  What can I say, the man loves pockets and I did find myself trying to put my hands in the non-existent pockets during pictures. Hey sewing mice, magic me some pockets on here!

My Final Thoughts
I was a little heart broken when I put this on in the middle of the process and realized it was huge.  Thank god my on fly fitting mods were able to size it down without ruining the whole thing.  Now that it's all finished I think it's super cute and can't wait to wear it out.  Another bonus, other than the fusible batting needed for the quilty parts all other supplies were from the stash!  Ahhh such a good feeling to actually use things you half haphazardly spent money on.  Um I mean I successfully executed a project that I planned and bought supplies for.....yeah that's it.

Hey construction guys, what you looking at?  Haven't you ever seen a women set up a tri-pod and take about 50 pictures of herself before? No?