This project brought out my fickle side. At first I put in shoulder pads, but the jacket looked too 80’s, so I took them out and constructed my own version of shoulder shaping. With the help of this great article on making your own shoulder pads, I decided to use one layer of hair canvas and one layer of cotton quilt batting to give the shoulder some definition without any extra height.

 

I had two different versions of patch pockets on this jacket, first a set with a 40’s looking pointed pocket flap, then with another version with a straight pocket flap. The patch pockets didn’t work with the belted style (too bulky) so I ended up putting in in-seam pockets. Good thing the holes from the first two versions steamed out pretty well.

 

This jacket is made with a beautiful silk suiting, but the fabric is quite bulky and I had trouble making nice sharp turned corners. So, for the collars, before I stitched them together, I turned the seam allowances inside and mitered the corners, trimmed and pressed them really well, then I sewed the upper collar to the lining and the under collar to the jacket’s neck edge and then I hand stitched the under collar to the upper collar. It‘s a variation on a technique for finishing a notched suit collar with a felt undercollar. (You can find the instructions here:  ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Instuctions for sewing a felt undercollar) I’m pleased with the results.

 

I started with Simplicity 3562 (out of print, but you can purchase it at http://www.simplicity.com/) and made the following changes:

 

 

I made View A but cut the jacket for the length of View B

 

I reduced the width of the cuff by about 1″

 

I cut off the front overlap so the jacket closes with a zipper at the centerfront instead of buttons and buttonholes

 

I removed the overlap from the collar so it meets at the centerfront

 

I added belt loops and a belt

 

I added in-seam pockets

 

 

 

I was inspired by this Badgley Mischka jacket from their Spring ’08 collection:

 

 

I’m going to wear it with my yellow crepe de chine blouse and my black skinny jeans!

 

Ta-ta for now!