Pretty Pattie

Oh Pattie! How much stress she caused me. But in the end it turned out very well!

I cut this pattern 5 weeks ago, and other than a break to make The bliss of Mrs Blossom dress, I’ve been stitching little bits of this jacket, making improvements on the fit and fiddling around with “tailoring techniques” (which in the end were kind of useless), and having tiny hissy fits every time I tried it on

But in the end I am so happy with it I don’t even care about its remaining imperfections!

Blouse from ASOS, Patent black shoes from ASOS, Handbag - Op Shop find

So let’s go back to the start  – I wanted an early sixties style mini-skirt suit. Something for work that was in a cute fabric and nice cut

I used a navy polka dot print from Spoonflower on Organic cotton sateen. Sateen is maybe not the best fabric for tailoring as it tends to hold creases but is easily ironed out. And I did have to reinforce some of the edges in twill tape to prevent future stretching.

I used Lilac bemsilk lining for the insides

I used 2 patterns from Burda - Mini Skirt 08/2012 #135 and Jorinde Jacket 4112

The mini skirt was easy and since I've made it a few times before and it was done in 2 hours. It fits wonderfully and is the neatest lining I've ever done!

The jacket however was another matter. I didn't calculate the hours I spent on it so I can’t explain in that capacity how much I worked on the jacket. Luckily the fabric was quite good and can deal with being handled with a few times and there was a lot of unpicking and restitching especially with the sleeves.

The bodice was too big so I narrowed that down, but at first I didn't narrow down the sleeves as well and that created the first sleeve issue. So I took them off and slimmed them down a little. After that I was almost done and was close to finishing the lining, but the sleeves still weren't right. I really just wanted to finish the silly thing, but my inner voice was screaming “just do the bloody thing properly!” so I unpicked it again, removed the flannel underlining from the sleeves and took them in dramatically and made sure they fit before sewing them in for the last time.

  

  

The actual instructions for the jacket were not that great so I used the tailoring instructions from my sewing book. The book had recommended flannel underlining the bodice and sleeves which worked out nicely for the bodice, but as mentioned it was not ideal for the sleeves.

The top half of the jacket also has been interfaced – this is to keep the shoulders and top of the back neat and smooth. Considering I took out the shoulder pads, the interfacing is doing a nice enough job of keeping the shoulders smooth.

Front

Back

Side view with cuffs

Skirt with lining

Finished jacket with wrinkly sleeves

Welt pockets

I used the button kit that I had bought from Fabric a Brac for both the front buttons and cuffs

Lilac Lining

I couldn't help myself but do a dorky Kathy McGowan pose!

I’m pretty happy with how it is considering its my first tailored jacket. The fit could be a little better across the bust and the shoulders as it’s still a little baggy, but after all the mucking around its good enough for work.

I’m keen to make another jacket but maybe with another pattern and armed with the knowledge I now have from making this it should be a little easier.

We all have to try in order to know how hard or easy something is right?

My next big project won’t be for a while now. I think I’d like to do a few fun and easy projects just to get my mojo back before setting in to make a coat!

I hope you all had a great weekend!

Cat xo