Saturday, July 27, 2013

Denim jacket Simplicity 2209 part 2

Have you ever made something and you got too involved in the construction? With the sneaking suspicion that it would not be the right style for you? That is how I felt once I put the collar and facing on this jacket, but I figured I would push on since I had done the sort of fancy bias half lining technique. And I am really glad I did, because it fit my friend Alice perfectly and she thought the fabric was really great. So instead of me having a new jacket she does, and I am really happy that it found a home! Here is the previous post with the details on the bias lining.

A with pocket2
What didn't work on me turned out to be just right on her. She is tall and lean with a swimmer's physique (because she swam competitively in college, whew, that sounds exhausting) but that means she has proportionally broader shoulders than I have. I have been finding that while they fit in most places the Simplicity patterns are too wide across the neck and shoulders for me, causing gaping necklines or shoulder seams falling off if I don't do a lot of adjustment. But for this one I was thinking it would be a casual and loose fitting jacket so I left the pattern as is. 
Here is the jacket on the dress form. I think there are shoulder pads just placed in the jacket in the photo on the left, I was trying to see if that made it fit better. Which it kind of did, but also looked a bit weird and not the casual and soft look I was going for. On the jacket back you can see it without the shoulder pads and the shoulders are collapsing, falling off the from - which is a bit broader than I am so way too big on me. 

Black denim jacket frontblack denim jacket back
The inside, with all my rose red serger stitching.  When I started on this I thought I might do bias tape binding, so I rummaged in my storage box and didn't find enough packages of a single color to use. And then I thought - who am I kidding - I do not have the patience to bind every seam, no way! I would rather put a full lining that stitch all that tape on. It looks nice but I run out of ambition after about 1 yard.

black denim jacket inside front
I did do one nice edge treatment which was to sew on the fusible interfacing and then flip and press which encloses the edge so nicely. I don't have many opportunities to do this because I rarely make any unlined jackets. You can see the facing with the fusible, and then it is topstitched in the same red. I first wrote about this when I made a vintage shirtdress and links to that post still pop up all the time.
black denim jacket facing fusible
I really like this denim and have about 1 3/4 yards remaining so I am going to play around with other patterns and see if I can squeeze a different jacket pattern on it. Unfortunately for Alice it is still hanging around my sewing room because as you can see - no button yet. Could you believe I could not find one button in my vast collection of button jars to put on this jacket. Oh well, Saturday I am heading over to Stone Mountain and I will have to actually buy one. (that sounds cheap but really, who doesn't have a zillion solitary black buttons in their stash, and yet not the right one?)

black denim jacket close up front
Maybe it looks nicer with the front open anyway.  Of course still needs a button since that loop is there!

A jacket front open
I have a few projects in the works including a couple of items for my sister - she never asks me to make anything but recently she did plus she found the right fabric in my stash. A small miracle.

Happy mid-summer sewing, Beth

Here is a pink geranium that I have grown from a cutting. Time to confess I am a bit of a geranium thief. Just snap off a little stem, no one will miss it, and look how nicely it is going. This one came from a planter in front of the post office...our secret, OK?

rose pink geranium

21 comments:

  1. This little jacket is just beautifully constructed - lucky BF Alice for being the receiver of this! And I am also quite apt at taking the odd cutting or two...or three...

    ReplyDelete
  2. A beautiful jacket, Beth! I love the style. It's too bad it didn't fit you, but it does look great on your friend!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sorry this beautiful jacket didn't work out for you, but I must say your friend wears it very well. Very pretty!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love the jacket, too. Great fabric, beautiful sewing!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Its a beautiful jacket and I'm glad that it's going to a good home and friend!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great fabric - nice that you have enough to sew again for yourself.

    ReplyDelete
  7. oh i love it!!! what cool details on the inside too! very lucky friend :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ha! a geranium thief! I've a cousin who pinches everywhere as well - and here in florida that can bring a lot of goodies! I imagine it's the same where you live. Your flowers are so pretty. Cute jacket and friend.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Lovely results on the jacket, and how nice that you have such a lucky friend who comes in just the right size! :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Gorgeous geranium.
    Glad you found a wonderful home for the jacket.
    It's a gorgeous piece of work.
    I think most sewers have lots of buttons but buying the right one to finish off a project is the best reason to buy more buttons :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Such nice work- sometimes the doing is just as fun as the wearing...

    ReplyDelete
  12. Geranium thief, ha ha! It looks pretty.
    The jacket looks great on your friend.
    How was Stone Mountain? I really enjoyed that store on PR shopping day. I've pretty much stopped buying buttons for the reason you state--when I make a new project that needs them, I don't seem to have the right ones or the right quantity in my button stash.

    ReplyDelete
  13. p.s. I also love how you used the red rose contrast stitching inside!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Lucky friend!! What a beautiful jacket, inside and out.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Beautiful jacket! Alice is a lucky gal!

    ReplyDelete
  16. You are such a generous friend! The jacket is lovely and looks great on Alice. I like your approach to binding the seams--"Who am I kidding?" is one of my sewing room refrains, too. I have never used contrast serger thread for a fun inside, but now I'll be looking for an opportunity to try it.

    ReplyDelete
  17. You are a good friend! Wow. Alice looks fantastic. (One of my former college roommates also was a competitive swimmer. Hard work, for sure!)

    ReplyDelete
  18. That looks like such a well-made jacket! I'm so glad it looked so good on Alice, she got lucky!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Great Blog posts on this Jacket and what you encountered with it...and I think many can relate to the perfect button problem...and Black to boot.
    Where else I can relate is doing something and realizing "forget it takes too much time syndrome" Also happens to me and I just wish I had more time but the reality is we have so many projects we want to get to.
    I can see the jacket fits her so nicely, beautiful jacket. Lucky gal!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Lucky friend. Your jacket looks wonderful on her. The inside finishing is so professional. Confession - I also pinch off shoots of easy to root plants or raid the throw away bin of the landscapers at my work location. New varieties of coleus, and angle wing begonias always attract my attention.

    ReplyDelete
  21. It's beautiful and perfect for her height (which seems to somewhere in the lucky giraffe range *sigh* XD)

    ReplyDelete