My Swap Jacket

I've been absent from the blogging scene because I wanted to concentrate on finishing my Swap . Well I didn't exactly finish, but I did complete my jacket and a matching skirt.
I decided to keep a time log and calculated that I spent a total of more than 30 hours including six hours of hand sewing on this jacket. I enjoyed the process very much but I have to admit that I don't want to make another coat of any kind any time soon.

For the jacket I used this OOP pattern that I included in my original Swap plan. ( My Swap looks nothing like that plan).

For the skirt I used this Mc'Calls pattern:



I used this same pattern for my daughter's skirt at Christmas time and made the same changes so I won't say much about it. If you want you can look here to see how I altered the style of the pattern.

For both pieces, I used a black and grey herringbone wool. I lined the jacket with a Kasha lining and the skirt with a poly satin (because I forgot to pick up some burgundy Bemberg and didn't want to wait until I got some) . I thought I would tie the two linings together by using the printed satin for the piping on the jacket facing .

Now back to the jacket.I made my usual FBA and added one inch at the side seams but didn't need it. I sloped the shoulders and took off a half inch from the shoulder width. I made some changes to the originalstyle by adding about five inches to the length (I added the length at the waist (1") at the hip (3") and at the bottom (1").




I also added welt pockets. On the original there were only flaps but no pockets.







The design details on my jacket are all centred on leather- the collar, the pocket flaps,the cuff piping, the bound buttonholes and the covered buttons.All of the leather came from that $10.00 leather skirt I bought from Value Villageand which I also used on these pants.














So here it is with the pencil skirt. I wore the suit today to church and got a lot of compliments. It really is an ideal outfit for church.





For more pics and construction details, look here .