My Quilted Jacket, I Love it!

Success! It feels good, doesn't it!  Here is my new love.

 
Now it didn't happen without a struggle. In my mind, I saw a trapeze shape. In reality, I didn't have enough fabric. ( I didn't notice that it was only 48" wide , so I didn't buy enough ).

I used B5822   View A/B but in a length in between the two.The photo looks much wider at the bottom than it actually is, I think. This was how I envisioned it.

I wanted a roomy,light weight jacket  that would fit over a warm sweater to wear in the fall, especially to take to Ottawa with me (I always go to Ottawa in mid October and end of April, and never seem to have the right outerwear with me). So I made size medium.  Mistake,. Way too big! Sad because I had meticulously altered my pattern using my Craftsy classes Adjusting the Bust and  Adjusting the Shoulders and Back  with Katherine Cheetham . I highly recommend these two courses, by the way.

I know, you're probably asking "What! You didn't make a muslin, AGAIN? "  Nope!

I ended up taking off the sleeves, redoing my alterations for narrow sloped shoulders for size small , re cutting my sleeves and upper bodice front and back in small  and that made all the difference.

I didn't want double breasted. I cut the front as was and then used part of it as the front facing. I expected this  to result in  a single breasted  style but not so. I ended up with somewhere in between.
Because of this I had to give up the toggle closures I had planned. They just wouldn't do. I decided on bound buttonholes and leather shank buttons instead.

 

I opted for no collar because I didn't have enough fabric for one but I like this look. I can use different scarves to style my jacket. The bias  trim is faux leather . I made it myself. I would have preferred real leather  but I didn't have any.

My pockets come from V 8065, an old favorite of mine. Details on how these are made are at Diana's Sewing Lessons. I changed them up by adding a classic welt opening. The flap is faux leather but the pocket circumference is  a trim I had in my stash.

The  cuffs on the sleeves are constructed differently than the pattern instructions. I wanted the trim at the top  of the cuffs so I sewed them from the wrong side , brought them to the front and stitched in the ditched on the outside where the trim is .

I decided not to line my coat. I could have saved a lot of time if I had. Instead , I finished each seam a la Hong Kong with a silk/cotton animal print.

Now for a pic

or two,

or three,

etc....

I know that's a lot of photos, but it was such fun styling this coat!
My jacket is very comfortable and just right for those days before the bitter cold strikes.

And that's the end of the story! (More pics here.)

I hope you too had fun sewing this week. Come back again to see more from

Gratitude

This week, I wanted to take time to say thank you to you who stop by , read my blog, give compliments or advice and most of all encouragement. I so appreciate you. You could very well just stop by to have a look and move on but you take the time to leave a comment and that makes me keep wanting to continue  this blog.

Until I started writing my blog, I didn't really know anyone who was as passionate about sewing as I am. As I got familiar with the blogging world and I admit that sewing blogs are the only ones I read, I realized I didn't have to be embarrassed about my obsession with sewing because there are many of you who are too.

 It's really amazing how I've come to feel I know you by visiting your blogs and by the comments you leave. I don't want to play favorites but there is one of you who has stuck by me right from the beginning, even after I foolishly deleted my blog address by mistake one night and couldn't get it back. I had to make up a new one and lost my followers , but Vicki you found me right away and have always left such nice comments and I've come to know you will be honest if I want an opinion .
on something. I could probably look back and find very few posts where you didn't leave a comment.Thank you.

Ann, you've also been with me from the beginning .We have become such good friends. It was you who encouraged me to start my blog. I always look forward to our trips to Fabricville and our talks that can last for hours.

Then there's Linda, Jenny, Sharon, Faye, Claire, Andrea, Gail, Pauline, Jean,, Jane,  you managed to find me again after I changed my blog address and are still here today.


Of course there are others and I know I'm risking missing someone and I'm sorry for that.

Some of you found my blog later and I appreciate your support no less: Shams, Rhonda, Sherry, Vernelle. Maria, Rosy, Peg, Em, Sandra,Sarah,Mary, Alexandra, Towanda and of course there are more of you. There are also new bloggers visiting here that I welcome wholeheartedly.

And then there's Carolyn  of Diary of a Sewing Fanatic. Hers was the first blog I ever visited and I was hooked immediately. There's just something about that blog that just grabs you, doesn't it. I remember the first time Carolyn ever commented on my blog. I felt I had really arrived! I guess we are never too old to want to be in the "in" crowd! Lol !

 I have nothing to show you today except a peek at what I'm happily  planning  to work on. My pattern has been altered,the jacket is all cut out and I can't wait to get up tomorrow to get started on  this one. I bought this quilted stretch cotton at C&M Textiles in Montreal..My inspiration was V8660.  The pattern ,because I had it in my stash is   B5822      and included is my plan.

I want to have this finished by Friday for a sisters overnight get-together.

I do hope you found time to sew this week. Check in later to see more from

Silhouette Patterns GA's Jacket, A Failure

Oh my Gosh! I worked so hard and I just couldn't get this one to work! Its Peggy Sager's GA's jacket #1913 and is suppose to be copied from an original Armani jacket. I was so excited to make this one.

First, I should say that there are very few instructions provided for this rather difficult pattern so beware if it's on your to do list.

I didn't make an actual muslin but I sewed the lining first and it seemed like a good fit.

 I chose size 2 because the finished garment measurements seemed to be  adequate for my measurements. The sizing on Silhouette patterns is based on finished garment measurements and not on body measurements.

The sleeves had an awful lot of ease but I thought that because I was using  wool for the jacket, I could shape them, shrink them and make them fit.  Not so.

There were no real drag lines anywhere on my lining/muslin so I thought the jacket would be a piece of cake. Oh my ---!!! I was so wrong!

I spent a lot of time quilting faux leather to use for the front insert, the back side piece,and the collar , lapels, and pockets. So when I had the body of the jacket constructed and tried it on only to find these horrible diagonal drag lines from hip to bust, I was very disappointed.

 I checked to see if I had maybe stretched the wool adjacent to the front side insert but it seemed to still be the same size as the pattern piece!

What to do, what to do? I finally  pinched a dart adjacent to center front and that seemed to get rid of most of the drag line. I decided to complete only one side of the jacket with this dart sewn in, just in case I should be wasting my time.

Next, the sleeves and they were a real disaster. Way too much ease and they really looked awful.

I tried raising them  at the shoulders and pinned them and they looked a little better. I measured and transferred the fold to the sleeve pattern piece.

 I essentially chopped off about 5/8" of the sleeve cap. I then took out the sleeve , and recut and resewed it. Again, a little better but not perfect.


Was it worth while continuing or should I trash it? I had spent the better part of three days working on this thing by now. I decided to construct the collar and lapels and to apply them to the jacket. They were partly made already so why not?

That done, was I happy ? NO! but I just couldn't admit  defeat. I took out the other sleeve and fixed it, added the dart to the other side front, changed my mind about the leather pockets, restyled those and finished the darn thing. I even had trouble with the buttonholes!

I'm far from happy with this jacket and with the exception of the collar and lapels. It's barely wearable. I  despise this pattern and it's going in the trash! No point in it taking up space in my sewing room. But  to tell the truth, my problem was probably due to the weight of my wool in comparison to the quilted faux leather.

 

To tell the truth, now it's  too small and it will go to one of my sisters who is at least one size smaller than me. Here it is on Antoinette.

My husband pointed out that I don't often have failures, so I shouldn't feel too bad. But the worst thing about it is that I've been giving sewing lessons  for the past six weeks now in my home and my students will want to see how this project turned out. I don't want them to feel discouraged if they see that their teacher, after fifty years of sewing still produces a wadder. BooHoo!

I do hope you had better luck in your sewing room this week than I did! Lol.

More later from