Denim On Top

Hello all, and thanks for the love in my last post! I feel all warm and fuzzy. At least on the inside, outside it is still a very chilly winter!

But, the cold weather just means more sewing time, right? Here's the latest from my factory of one.

This is Butterick 5926, a jacket pattern designed for stretch fabrics. This fabric is a denim look knit, really lovely, from Fabricland. The pattern has two lengths, just above the hip and just below, and two sleeve lengths, full length and bracelet length. I prefer shorter jackets, so that was a no brainer. I usually like to push my sleeves up, so the sleeve length was a bit of a debate. In the end I went with full length.

Sorry about the lighting - I was so impatient to get some photos after weeks of cold & snow.

It was tricky to choose a size, I usually go with a 14 from the Big 4, but I sized down to a 12 and I'm glad I did. It's snug, but without much structure or lining, I was trying to avoid getting too baggy. The one piece sleeves do have a dart, and there are back neck darts as well as a bust dart in the front.

I made a couple of small pattern alterations, the usual shortening of the body (3/4") and the addition of a back neck facing. One of the other reviewers on Pattern Review suggested it, and in the end it gave a less bulky finish to the back neck. The most time consuming part of sewing this jacket was my decision to use a hong kong finish on EVERY SINGLE EXPOSED SEAM ALLOWANCE. Brutal. I'm happy, but that decision easily tripled my sewing time!

I made a couple of small pattern alterations, the usual shortening of the body (3/4") and the addition of a back neck facing. One of the other reviewers on PR suggested it, and in the end it gave a less bulky finish to the back neck. The most time consuming part of sewing this jacket was my decision to use a hong kong finish on EVERY SINGLE EXPOSED SEAM ALLOWANCE. Brutal. I'm happy, but that decision easily tripled my sewing time.

I have some indigo print Japanese handkerchiefs in my stash, and used three of them to make the bias tape for the seam finishing. I had two with the smaller floral, and used the larger floral for the hems and armholes.

Also for this project, I used my new (old) Janome 657. Instead of double stitching the body seams, as instructed, I used the triple stitch and gave my new friend quite a work out. I ended up returning to my not new but less old Kenmore to attach the pockets and stitch the hems, since the Janome presser foot has only one pressure setting.

There's something about this jacket that really says "spring" to me, and I'm looking forward to wearing it more as things warm up around here.

Til next time...